Is Spring here yet?

I love wintertime.  The trees are beautiful when they lose their leaves and sleeping through the cold days of Winter.  Apple and peach trees have those long, undulating limbs.  The only green I can see is the magnolia across the road and some pine trees.  Winter can be a tough time of year having to fight the weather each day, but it doesn't make me like it any less.
Then the day comes when the best part of Winter is planning for Spring!!  That day came yesterday for James and me.  I really started thinking about it a few weeks ago when some little green lemons started to emerge on my Meyer lemon tree.  Up til now, I have only grown house plants and carnivorous plants in my sunroom except for the lemon tree.  I have had it for about 18 months and these are the first lemons!
James is going out to scoop poop today, start tilling up the gardens, mix the compost in.  This will wake up the dormant soil a little and get some oxygen flowing under the surface.  He will also get all the nitrogen rich chicken poop out of their house for the garden as well.  Pig poop is rich in phosphate and we need to clean their pen out too, but we will save that for another day.  We still have plenty of time while Spring is still two months away...

Woke up to a Winter Wonderland

We woke up to about 7 inched on the ground this morning.  We are topping 8 now and it's not supposed to stop until tomorrow.  The dogs love it, pigs are having fun, llamas and fowl are grouchy.  Enjoy the pictures.

Snow Clouds Are Rolling In

The sun rose to meet a beautiful sky this morning.  It is 5 in the evening and looking a little gloomy.  I love this type of sky.  The snow will meet us before midnight and continue on through Tuesday morning.  Everyone has been fed for the night and now we hope that we don't lose power through the night.  One day we hope to be powered by other means, but that takes some big cash.  So for now we rely on Blue Ridge Electric Coop.  Please, BREC, help to keep the power on.  We have a fire place, but we have 19 ft. ceilings :(
I will get some nice pictures of the animals in the morning.  Stella will build another snowman.

It's Just The Cycle Of Life

I only see the pigs to feed them because they are not really my friends.  We've had them since August and I have done a fine job staying completely unattached.  I know that Prosciutto and Capicola are part of the cycle of life.  They are having a great life here at Black Opal Farm.  They have a spacious pen to run around and chase eachother, they not only eat grain and corn, but fresh veggies, fruits, breads, and meats.
The feedlots at industrial pig farms are far from our farm.  The pigs never soak up the sunshine, they are only fed grain.  The antibiotics they are given keep them healthier because of the crowded unclean living conditions they are forced to endure.  As piglets, their tails are cut off because in the feed lot it is so crowded that the pigs will chew eachothers tails off.  These pigs reach maturity in 3-4 months which is 7 months less than a normal living pig.
Yes, my pigs have a very nice life.  They are physically and mentally healthy.  Sometimes when they are playing and throwing around their hay, they make me smile.  This doesn't mean that I won't be able to eat them, oh no.  It means that I think I will cherish the meat even more than I once thought I would.  And sometimes when they are being cute, I do get a little sad that they will give up their lives for me.  Then I remember that in every bite of homemade sausage that my daughter eats, I know exactly where it came from and what that animal ate. 
Our first slaughter will be tough on me, and I know that.  The next time will get a little easier.  Thanks for listening.