Spring Chores at the Lippitt Farm

Spring brings a wide array of chores at the farm.  It is time to prepare for spring planting and for all of the new animals that will be born.  The gardens and fields must be plowed to break ground for spring planting. The farm grows vegetable, grains, hops, and hay for the animals. One chore is plowing the fields and garden plots.  Here is the first plowing with the newly repaired 1830's plow!  Farmers Wayne and Marieanne are working with Zeb our Percheron to plow a garden plot outside of the Lippitt farmhouse.

The farmers fertilized the hop yard with compost last fall, and now are putting up the poles for the hop vines to climb.  This year's hop vines will be trained to climb the wooden poles.

Spring is also the season of births on the farm. Our Cayuga ducks, Dominic chickens, and turkeys are laying eggs. The farmers are encouraging broody hens to sit on the nests and hatch more young for the farmyard. The ducks have made a nest and are sitting on it dilligently.

Daisy Mae is a Milking Shorthorn cow and provides milk for the farmhouse to bake, make butter, and  cheese.

Daisy Mae had a calf in mid-April. The calf is 3 days old is this picture.  Help name our new calf!

Our sheep have just started lambing.  Here are the sheep enjoying the sunshine and one of the triplets born 4/26/2010.

Spring on the farm is a season of constantly changing weather, hard work, and pleasant surprises.