Walker Mountain Hike, Growing Pigs
Saturday was Amy’s last free Saturday of the year as the Abingdon Farmers Market starts back this week every Saturday from 8:00-12:00. We took advantage of the beautiful day and went hiking with cousins. Parking at the top of the Walker Mountain overlook on Route 16, we hiked a few miles along the top of the mountain and came out at the farm. We took this hike a year ago (it’s not an actual hiking trail), but it was steeper and more laborious than Amy recalled it being last year. Last year Hasten kept count of his falls. Falling 17 times last year, he was proud to have only fallen 6 times on this trip down the mountain (no pun intended). Wren on the other hand was not as sure footed, falling down at least 50 times according to Amy. Carter has grown heavier since last year’s hike, but she walked a good bit on the homestretch after sleeping through most of the hike. It was a good day.
Easter Sunday after church some family and friends came over for an afternoon of food and fun in the yard. Speaking of yard, I got the mower fired back up after its hibernating through the winter months. Usually I don’t start mowing until mid April. I’ll admit it’s usually a little shaggy looking by then, but this is the first time I recall mowing in March. Hopefully we have a good growing season ahead of us. And hopefully not as windy. This has been the windiest season I remember. My memory isn’t great, so that doesn’t mean much.
On the farm this week, I moved the pigs in the woods to a new paddock. They’re growing. With cattle prices ridiculously high, we haven’t been buying back as many, which means we are understocked heading into spring. With more grass than our cows can graze, we’re going to graze 137 poundage heifers this summer for C&H Cattle. We got them turned out this past week.
We’ve been keeping our egg laying hens in the brooder through the winter. With our first batch of meat bird chicks coming next week, we need to get the egg layers out and turn it back into a brooder. We sold most of our egg laying hens, but we’re keeping a handful in the back yard to clean up our kitchen scraps. The kids have been helping me put together a new coop for the yard.
Yesterday Amy made a quarterly delivery to Farmville. Continuously grateful for families throughout the region trusting us with producing their food.
I didn’t listen to a lot of books this week while farming, but I did finish “The Hope of the Gospel” by George MacDonald. Here’s a few more quotes:
“The master does mean that we must take on us a yoke like his, we must take on us the very yoke he is carrying."
“He lives for us; we must live for him. The little ones must take their full share in the great Father’s work. His work is the business of the family.”
“Death is but our visible horizon, and our look ought always to be focused beyond it. We should never talk as if death were the end of anything.”
“Labor is a law of the universe and not an evil. Death is a law of this world at least and is not an evil. Torture is the law of no world but the hell of human invention. Labor and death are for the best good of those that labor and die. They are laws of life.”
Have a good week.
Will