Spring at Green Hill Springs Farm
First but not last, we have gone to gmail! You can now reach us at greenhillsprings@gmail.com for questions about beef and lamb. (Beef available June and November; lamb available October/November.) Our twitter feed remains the same. Also we can still be reached by phone at (540) 833-2325 which is actually 833-BECK; fancy eh?
Winter/Spring has brought much delight as well as sorrow to our farm. Late February ushered in the birth of two new lambs to mother “Rosie” in the snow. Rosie is “Sweetie’s” daughter. Sweetie was one of our first flock purchased the summer of 2006. In the succeeding weeks, it seemed that we awakened each day to one or two newborns, wobbly-legged and learning to suckle from their moms. We’d eagerly call to our daughters that there was in fact “another lamb born!” Together as a family we’d quickly slip on our crocs and warm coats, step outside, and hear the lambs delightful first “baas” to their mothers, echoed by a protective and loving low bleating sound from their moms.
One Sunday morning brought many gasps as we staggered outside, bleary-eyed, coffee in our hands. Sweetie had given birth to two lambs. Oh, but there was another ewe laying down; Oh no; its a still-born. But wait, what is that newborn baaing we hear in the woods? I walk through glistening wet grass into a dense bramble thicket behind the corral, across the fence into our neighbor’s property, and there he is, what a rascal, how did he find his way into here and who/where is his mommy? “Rascal” became the beloved house-pet of daughter Asha. A sweet, healthy little lamb, he became a favorite of us all. His mother, probably due to having a still born never accepted him, so it was up to us; no problem! But wait, this early morning wasn’t over. Coffee still in hand I walked back to find Sweetie, with not two, but now licking a third small lamb. “Eric”, I hollered into the woods, “come here now, you won’t believe this.” And I stuck my head into the shed once more to see Sweetie with her three lambs, and there were four! The two small ones were finally about to stand up and nurse and were named “Tyson” and “Gus” . Sweetie was a wonderful mother to four eager lambs, but we supplemented with bottle so that they all could get enough. Hannah, our youngest daughter, immediately bonded with Tyson and Gus.
Now we had three mouths to feed but Asha and Hannah had three lambs to follow them everywhere. Sadly, the story ended sadly with Rascal, Tyson, and Gus dying later that week, after we were already very attached. One found his way out of the corral on a very cold night, the other two probably with internal injuries from another very protective ewe. A dozen lambs later, the chapter of spring lambing closed in April with the birth of “Bandit” and “Yoda” , two full-blooded Dorper (breed) males. These really little tykes (Dorpers breed small but strong lambs) were a hit on the farm and their mother was the most fiercely protective of them all. We moved the whole flock up into the woods that week as part of our rotational grazing schedule to have less impact on the land. That very evening we had our second ever visit by coyotes (the coyote parents are feeding their young this time of year but it is rare for them to visit our farm.) We realized the next day that Yoda was gone. The very cycle of life that we love on the farm taught us a hard lesson that it indeed is a cycle. We love them while they are with us and we are sad to see them leave. We enter May with a profound appreciation for life, and for the life that these little ones shared with us this year.
