No one was more happy to see the arrival of Spring than we were on the farm (and we are still getting occasional overnight temperatures in the 30’s). 

Students from Misericordia University were faithful in helping out on a bi-weekly basis. On the colder days, we worked indoors on picking and carding the wool. As the weather started to turn warmer, they were a huge help in cleaning up the property, getting ready for our Spring work. 

We also hosted the Confirmation class of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Hunlock Creek and the Junior Youth Group from Our Lady of Victory/Gate of Heaven in Dallas. 

It seemed like a long winter, lots of time to ponder and discern our next steps. The barn plans were cancelled after we were unable to raise the needed funds, and we took it as God’s Providence to return to our original mission of focusing on growing food for the poor. We are grateful to everyone who donated to the GoatFundMe page - know that your gifts will be put toward our new ventures.

 

Without the barn for winter housing, we re-homed our sheep and goats - not an easy decision, but the right one. The pasture proved too wet and muddy, which was detrimental to the health and well-being of the animals, especially their hooves. All went to friends - a young family who has been wanting to raise dairy goats, a friend from Carmina’s spinning guild, and another friend who had taken some of our lambs over the last two years (including Dew, our bottle-fed ewe last year). We have visiting and fleece rights! Carmina has already visited the ewes several times and even helped out with the shearing, bringing home fleeces from Fern, Ivy, Didi, Louise, and Dew. 

 

Farmer Larry reminded us that our original plan when moving to the farm six years ago was to grow food for the poor, and over time, the animals slowly took over the land, as we used more and more of it for pasture. Now we are back to focusing on crop production, with plans to plow up the upper field and fill it with potatoes, tomatoes, beans, peppers, cabbage,  corn, and anything else you can think of!

 

In the spirit of Peter Maurin, we offer our farm to those who cannot homestead on their own property and are jointly raising pigs and ducks with several friends. We are also bringing back the bees - Larry is going to plant a small field of buckwheat near the hives, as well as a sunflower patch. 

 

And we will also, of course, have chickens - there is nothing like farm-fresh eggs!

 

Volunteer opportunities abound - planting will begin late May and weeding is needed all summer long. There are also several building and painting projects on the list. If you are interested in helping out, email us at [email protected]. 
 

Let us pray for each other. Ora et labora!