This weather is unbelievable. Its been above freezing during daylight for several days running. Not only that, but when I drove through Palmer after dark a couple nights ago, it was 52 degrees. Seriously unprecedented highs... and quite a diversion from normal February weather in southcentral Alaska.
The pussy willows will be budding anytime now, hopefully not too soon or they will certainly be killed by the hard freezes that are sure to come. There is no way that we can escape the cold weather that will unquestionably smother us before April. March should be full of surprises for us.
Be all that as it may, I'm kind of enjoying the warm. The chicken house is cleaned out, the bucklings are sleeping outdoors even while separated from their mother, and the greenhouse is warm during the day. Pavement has thawed long enough to dry in the places where drainage is adequate, and snowmachine trails are holding up nicely.
Onions, greens, celery and peppers have not popped up in their seed trays yet, but we're eating fresh sprouts by the handful now. Its never been so tempting to shovel off the windows on the cold frames, but I must restrain myself. February 21 is just too soon.
I jumped on the opportunity to buy 28 more birds, and we brought the Iris goat home. We tried out a couple of other goats recently, but they didn't work out for us- so we're goat shopping yet again.
Friday found me in Anchorage at Organic Alaska doing a taste-testing with Lori O.'s regular customers. It went off like a bang, and I'm so grateful to see that the community of Anchorage is drooling for fresh food. The goatshare business seems to be growing of its own accord, and is keeping me pretty darned busy keeping shareholders stocked while milking and tending and cheesemaking. YEAH!
In fact, I'm one seriously busy mama these days... and the way I figure it, we're only operating at 1/3 capacity right now until more does freshen. Its looking like my initial milestone of 12 milking does and 120 hens is a wise achievement to plateau at for awhile- it will be plenty of work for me to manage during the weeks and months that Ben is gone guiding hunters.
Some of the chickens I brought home have a scaly leg mite infestation, so they're requiring treatment daily right now while isolated. And I figured out that 3 of my 4 guineas are roosters, so I'm planning to butcher two of them and a couple of hens today.
I guess I better quit writing and start working... and I'll catch up with you'all at a later date. Cheers!