I just couldn't make myself go to the Buddhist services yesterday morning, and it is probably just as well, my throat was sore yesterday, and this morning it is very sore and I have nasty laryngitis - I squeak instead of my normal voice. Very odd - I usually pick bugs up from my students, but I didn't notice anyone in class with these symptoms. There were lots of absences but I chalked that up to end of the semester spring fever. Oh, well, it is 63 degrees outside right now, and the cherry trees are blooming, and the peach tree's big pink buds are going to unfurl any second now, and the apple trees have smaller buds just starting...spring is well on it's way. Today, grocery shopping, finish writing the Social Psychology test for tomorrow, paint the beehive parts that need painting, and work on the garden. The vet is coming this afternoon to give the ponies their vaccinations against West Nile and rabies, and then the farrier later to give them a manicure. Then, more work on the garden. Going to plant lots of vegetables and herbs this year. The last two years, my gardening efforts got stalled by too much stuff going on at the end of the semester. This semester, much fewer demands on my time. So, weird that I am sick. Left over conditioning from all those years being a student where the end of each semester had to be a crisis. But, no more.
Today the implement company delivered our new to us 2004 New Holland tractor - we will try it out for a few days and make sure it will do the tasks we need it to do. Darling hubby is so excited, he is going to take tomorrow off so he can get some things done. :-) The old Oliver was just getting too fragile, and whatever is the matter with it now seemed like it was going to require a major overhaul, so we are experimenting with moving the farm into the 21st century....
Having a tractor payment makes it even more important to make the farm self-supporting and sustainable. One possibility is growing more fruit - the blueberries and raspberry crops this year have been great, due to the lack of a hard late frost and all the moisture. The apple trees are doing well too.
I've been looking at various schemes for intensive fruit management but if it worked so well, how come more people don't do it?
