Are May and June always this crazy? Yes, yes I believe they are. In the months leading up to this time I know that crazy is just around the corner – but knowing isn’t the same as living, is it.

It started with the cows. “Come on, pardner,” I said to Rony this morning. “Let’s go check on our cattle.” They’re not technically our cows – we are pasturing them for a friend. Three beautiful Lowline calves. They’re happy now, but when they first got here they were not. We were just sitting down for lunch when I saw them barreling down the driveway, heading straight for the road. Cows are fast! I did not know this. Luckily, there was a car going down the hill, coming (slowly) towards them. The cows veered away from it, saw our car blocking the road, and decided the best course of action was to run down our Amish neighbour’s driveway. Luckily, he has a gated field and, better yet, a helpful demeanour. It was a lucky day.

The very next day, another friend kindly picked up four Corriedale lambs for us from the breeder. Those little lambs were adorable for exactly twenty-four hours. Then the shearer came for our ewes and suggested shearing the faces of the new lambs – that way, they wouldn’t be too hot in the throes of summer. Somewhat practical. Mostly hilarious. They look a little bit like aliens now – sheep aliens with a large forehead and a beard.

After a few failed attempts at running cows and sheep together, respective ruminants are now happily grazing in adjoining pastures. The sheep were terrified of the miniature cows. It didn’t matter one bit that the cows completely ignored them. Sheep are silly creatures. I do love them anyway. They crowd around me when I walk them out to pasture, and then I have to hang out with them for a while, otherwise they’ll walk back with me. Sheep are rather pleasing to the ego.

This year we are planting an acre of milpa – corn, beans, and amaranth. An acre is quite a lot for people who don’t own a tractor. We had a beautiful Blessing of the Seeds a few weeks ago, where many friends showed up and marked the season. We celebrated seeds, expressed gratitude for community, and together we planted two of our three very large fields. It was such a wonderful start to our season. I am endlessly grateful for our community.

Buddy, the lamb who showed up last month, is doing well. We have started weaning him off the bottle. The kids are not sad about this, and neither am I, because bottle feeding lambs is cute but also such a drag, especially when there are a million other things to do. Plus, I suspect Buddy is older than we thought, because his voice has started cracking like a teenage boy’s. Time to stop bottle feeding, for sure.

I’m also happy to report that we’ll be in the Owen Sound market as of the end of June! This is the first time we do a market, and I am very excited. We’ll be selling all things amaranth – alegrías (Mexican amaranth squares), popped amaranth, flour, and amaranth CHOCOLATE. That’s right. It is so, so delicious. We will also have some yummy ChocoSol chocolate bars. We are growing amaranth and pupmkin seeds for them this summer – such a great partnership.

Ok, off to the garden I go. I’ve been using the wheel hoe to weed the milpa, and it is so satisfying to see those tiny weeds disappear before they can grow into a jungle.