Every year I realize how much more there is to learn and know and just how much less (proportionally speaking), I have a handle on. My boys, my man, and I are growing up in the best way I know possible - on a farm. We learn something new all the time. Each year at kidding season, I become less and less stressed. With each new kidding experience, I learn to better recognize signs of labor, signs of issues, and how to get a kid up on its feet more tenderly and efficiently. Each year gardening, I incorporate less mechanization and more no-dig practices. Each spring pruning the apple trees or blueberry bushes or raspberry bushes, I become more confident and ruthless - benefitting my harvest later in the summer or fall. Every month that passes with my man, Todd, I become a better communicator and more devoted partner. Each month (day, moment) parenting my two beautiful sons, I learn to be more patient and to give myself a bit more grace in all the things. I will never arrive as a dairy farmer, or gardener, or orchardist, or momma. I will continue to grow and work at all these things.

And so, even though I'm in my late-thirties, I'm growing up with my boys and Todd, here on Phillips Brook Farmstead.

Oh, lovely spring - the warmth of the sun, the grass beginning to green up, and lots of time outside! Although we celebrate the equinox, for me spring really begins with goat kidding - sometime in late March or early April. It is always a bit hectic, but oh so fun! Those fluffy little goat kids, hopping about at just a few hours old just never loses its sparkle for me. Spring also brings seed starting, apple pruning, cleaning up the farmstead as the snow dissapears, and puddle jumping. There are usually a couple of bigger projects that I try to get done in late spring - building a pig pen or upgrading fencing around the garden or putting in new plants - each year it is a little different.

June is a beast for me. It seems to be the month when the garden needs the most work. I am still getting seedlings planted, usually finishing up a new garden bed or two, and those things that have been planted for a few weeks need tending. Then there are the weeds. If I have not gotten my mulch down yet, the weeds come on fierce in June! July and August are hot and windy on our hillside. Goats go out in moveable fence paddocks during the day and have to be brought in at night. Milking is happening twice a day and I start making soft cheeses. Animals all need feeding and watering multiple times a day. The meat birds (ducks, chickens, turkeys) need moving in their tractors and moveable pens. Berry season graces us in late July and August and my family eats our weight in raspberries and blueberries, trying to freeze the extras. Thank goodness teaching gives me the summer 'off'!

I love all four seasons here in New England, but there is something about autumn. Those crisp days, beginning to wear cozy sweaters, and the colors! My surrounding hillsides never dissapoint when it comes to donning fall colors. In fall I go back to school and try to pair back on farm projects. I usually transition to milking once a day  in the morning. I lease a goat buck to live with us temporarily to make sure the does are bred for spring kidding (those are some stinky weeks on the farm). Weekends bring meat animal processing,  and I am blessed to have family who happily help me with this! One weekend it is the turkeys, another it is the chickens, and another is th pigs. The boys help with as much of this work as they want to. It is such a good feeling to have those freezers full of meat. I try to do some vegetable processing/storing also. In the past couple of years, we have honed our fermenting skills also!

Winter finds us cozy indoors.  I love the holiday season and deck the halls of our little home! Once January hits though, we slow down and rest. I have usually dried up my milkers and appreciate the break. Tending my woodstove is like a religion to me - each morning coaxing the flame from the coals, each afternoon getting home from work and getting it going to keep us cozy for the evening. It brings me much joy. All the meat animals have been butchered and the milk goats and laying hens that remain get hay, grain, and water daily, but this chore time is quick compared to summer. I cook the vast majority of meals for my little family from scratch - we start our days with homemade bread french toast or egg scrambles and finish them with homegrown meats and vegetables. It is all about the cozy smells and feels all winter! This season really prepares me for getting back out there when spring kidding season hits.