The Crop Report

My 4H garden has a really great start this year. Even though it was cold and rainy this May, there has been enough sun to make a difference. I finally saw some bees too! They've been arriving too late in the year to pollinate the fruit trees.
My strawberries are leading the charge with one berry ripe already. The blueberries are close behind, working on some pale white berries. The blackberries and raspberries are yet to bloom.

I bought fruit trees at a sale last fall, Honey Crisp and Liberty apples, Italian plums, and a Montmorency cherry. Thanks to the bees showing up in time, they all have small fruits starting. New this year is a black Mission fig tree I found at Sunday Market. It already had large green figs on it. I hope I can find a spot in the yard it will like.

The compost pile is again sprouting some wheat and oats from spilled goat chow. Those naughty things! Rather than waiting for the oats to produce grain and dry, I usually pick the long deep green leaves and feed them to the goats. I have some corn seeds, but haven't found the best spot for them. I should hurry, though as it's nearly July!

Betty Babies, Finally!

We had pretty much given up on the idea that Betty would ever have babies. We drove her all around, even as far off as three hours away, to see various boys, but nothing worked. She taught us that babies weren't exactly necessary last year, by producing over 1000 pounds of milk, without having babies first.

Last fall, things seemed a bit different with Betty, so we took her in to see yet another boy, a young but very well pedigreed Toggenburg from a fancy show herd. We weren't exactly sure if she was pregnant, as she didn't look as amazingly huge as Flopsy.

This was Betty's lucky year! She had the cutest two baby Toggenburgs ever, a boy and a girl. Now that she is producing milk in the normal order, babies first then milk, she is giving an amazing amount, nearly equaling her sister, Jelly, well over a gallon and a half per day.

They went to the same farm as Flopsy's babies, who are getting in on the little Toggs' picture. We think the Toggs look like they are ready for business right off with their substantial Swiss snow boots, versus the dainty Nubian designer heels.