Waiting Games

    Much has happened on the farm since I last wrote. The winter solstice has come and gone and very slowly now the days are growing longer, although the cold which usually accompanies winter's arrival has remained to the north. This is not entirely a bad thing as I have two does which should kindle this weekend and the less than arctic chill will help the little hairless kits to stay alive until they are nestled under mom's nest of hay and fur. Isaac had to be put down and in true farmer fashion I performed and amateur necropsy to report to the vet on my next visit. I did this with tears in my eyes as Isaac reminded me much of his father Chase who I had grown to love. I also did this because two of my does seem to be suffering from what ever ailed Isaac and Chase. Isis and I went to the vet armed with this information and some poop for testing and what we got was very little results. The tests revealed nothing and she encouraged me to continue with treatment I have developed and been following. Isis is pregnant and due to kindle Saturday as is Iris and so preventative antibiotics are out of the question. I continue to feed them lettuce, carrots, celery and anything they will eat to keep them from losing weight and I play the waiting game. I wait to see if they'll start to eat after kindling and I wait to see if the blood line I was pinning my hopes on will continue. I wait to see if I'll be disappointed and wonder how much more disappointment I can put up with in one year.
     There are other projects on the farm that need to be completed. The raspberry canes need to be cut down and the chicken run needs to be finished but time, weather and money have had most of our projects on hold. The weather hasn't been cold enough to allow the raspberry go dormant enough to cut and the rain has kept me from doing anything with the chicken run. I had hoped to buy more hanging hutches and materials for another structure but money hasn't allowed for that. I had hoped to have the hard cider bottled by now but with an exceptionally slow fermentation it still sits in the carboy waiting for my hard working yeast to complete their job and so I play the waiting game.
    We have also had some great successes on the farm. I sold our first trio of breeder rabbits and we have processed more rabbit meat than ever. We had our facebook page liked by Buy CT Grown, which promotes the buying of local farm grown products, this should provide some great exposure for our little farm and hopefully move us toward our goal of becoming a full time rabbitry. I also had my first contact from a local restaurant about featuring rabbit as a bimonthly menu item. This summer after numerous visits to the town hall we obtained approval to have honey bee hives in town which we hope to add to our farm within the next two years. We also added sun chokes to our garden plot, a first for both of us, which is a highly saleable item in many farmer's markets, co-ops and health food stores. We need to add more more rabbits, hutches, and purchase hives and bees to make this happen and so we play the waiting game. Patience is listed a biblical virtue and as much as we need it in life we certainly need it on the farm. Farming requires patience, tenacity, planning, endurance, hope and waiting all of which we have grown in this last year. I hope you'll continue to play the waiting game with us and see how this " Little Farm in the City" does from here.