Once again it's been nearly a month since the last blog but things have changed. The last post described the ground as unyielding as stone and the deep cold of winter as never ending. I must admit that this winter has been tough even for a seasoned New England hunter and trapper like me. As a fur trapper I often deal with sub-zero temperatures and crazy amounts of snow, I trap muskrat and beaver under twelve plus inches of ice frequently checking traps at three in the morning but I must admit this winter was tough. We still have the farm to run and rabbits to breed and sell but the harsh winter made things very difficult and only one litter was born during the deep cold. We bred the does in March but only one took and the other two missed, which is a term rabbit breeders use to describe a pregnancy which doesn't happen after breeding. Last year I bred all three does at the end of February and we had three litters in March but we had Chase, I can't say if that was the difference but my heart says it is, I miss my faithful buck..
Kathy and I had gone to Vermont, lots of snow, for a quick break and had hoped for litters of rabbits a few days after our return. We were instead blessed by one litter and two misses once again there was disappointment but two weeks later things have changed. The snow is gone and the soil can be worked, all the frost is gone and so the real work begins. We have had a few days in the sixties and the warm soil has granted plantings of lettuce and another chance to breed the does. I have cut the raspberry canes, covered them with rabbit manure and wood mulch to prepare for the coming growing season. I have cleaned most of the debris left by the harsh winter and we have found, much to our pleasure, that the blueberry bushes are doing well.
I have a new job now which demands many more hours of my time but I am still devoted to the growing of our farm. I have been working many more hours than I care to but I have still had a chance to work on the farm. All the beds have been treated with a fresh layer of rabbit manure and most of the old stems have been clipped and composted. I walk through through the paths of our little farm and notice the changes, I can see the rhubarb leaves spring up and see shoots of asparagus pushing up through the soil, it's almost time to think about planting season. We have been cleaning up the garden beds and waiting for spring, which came and went almost a month ago. We are ready to start this busy season, the does have been bred once again, lettuce has been planted in containers, the chicken run has been enclosed and all around us there are finally signs of life
