Arrival of Babies has Begun

Jewel, one of the beloved riding ponies, had her foal yesterday! It is earlier than we expected, but seems to be doing well, as it is already running around. Many other births are just around the corner, like the nanny goat who is about as wide as she is long! We'll keep you posted.

Updates

Here's a quick tying-up of loose ends on previous articles:

Sugaring off- We ended up with about 3 litres of syrup at 2:00 in the morning. The syrup is darker than last year and stronger tasting, but we're not sure what all the causes are.

Moving the chickens- Our hens adapted very well to their new environment, although whether their drop-off in egg production was due to the move or the cold or both, we'll never know. They quit laying almost completely for a couple of weeks, but since then have rebounded nicely to about 18 eggs a day, with at least one hen sitting on a nest of 14 eggs.

We're feeling the rush of spring work now that the snow is gone. Every day has little excitements, the smaller, the better! Let us know what your group will be the most interested to learn about, we'd love to hear from you.

Sugaring Off

The more there is to write about, the less time there is to write. Today was, (and still is, maybe for a couple more hours!) sugaring off day. We had been freezing the sap from 15 Manitoba maple trees for a couple of weeks now, and the freezer and the snowbanks were beyond capacity. So today we had a wood fire burning in the fire pit, starting at 9:00 in the morning, and we've shrunk 38 gallons of sap down to just a few. By the end of tonight, we'll have the finished product, probably in half-a-dozen jelly jars. I'll let you know what the end result was.

Many other exciting things are happening, but you'll have to hear about them another day. I should mention that in July, we are doing a little less intense tour, suited to kids on summer vacation, and we are accepting a little smaller groups. We also will not be taking bookings for August this year, so plan ahead to book in July. Please contact us with any questions at all.

Where would we be without stairs?

We've got a staircase to the hayloft! After much planning and almost a week of work, the stairs ascend beautifully beside the barn door, ready for so much foot traffic in a few weeks. From the top landing, looking out over the river, we saw a large otter scamper across the ice and plunge into the water. That sighting was a family first!

Our excitement is building as we see the calendar filling up and the ground thawing and drying.
Our direction signs are in production, our driveway sign is ready to be picked up tomorrow and we're thinking about fence painting. Large areas of grass are almost dry enough to rake. The long daylight hours help us change our schedule to match the increased demands on our time.

One teacher has made a request to include some information and demonstration on our maple sap collection during her kindergarten class' tour, as this nestles in nicely with their study of trees through the seasons and their uses. We will gladly comply, and would love to hear any other input on how we can tailor your tour to where your class is at.

We had a new date open up today- May 31 is now available due to cancellation. We also still have May 14 and 16, as well as May 30; June 27-29 and many days in July. Please contact us with any inquiries.

Let's call it spring!

Now the river has risen, the sap is running and the rubber boots are out! It must be spring. Sure, this week we're having a little secondary winter, but it's a small glitch in the real agenda- SPRING! We're thrilled to see the farm thaw out and to be able to prepare for our first tour in about six weeks.

There is a special preparation going on for the beginning of new life. Mr. Farmer delivered a batch of duck and chicken eggs to a nearby incubator. These eggs will be timed to hatch on the same day and will be the fuzzy balls of down that are so special for the children visiting in the first few weeks.

We still have a few days available in May: 14, 16, 18, 30
as well as June 27, 28, and 29.
We are also taking bookings for the first two weeks in July.

With any questions or to make a booking, contact us.