The 2012 Season Begins

So my first week back to the farm has been both exciting and disappointing.  Bad news first, the rototiller is dead.  It is a sad day, we spent a lot of hours together; working up soil, preparing beds, and destroying weeds.  Not sure yet whether it is worth fixing, or if I will get a new partner in crime. Now for the good news. All my trays of seeds have begun to show life.  Baby tomatoes, peppers and eggplants poking their heads out of the soil.  I think this is my favorite part of gardening, seeing the seedlings.  Whether it is in a tray or in the garden, it is new life, all neat and tidy, and in the case of beds, still freshly worked, weed free and perfect.  I will post some pictures of my babies when I get a chance. And speaking of babies, my plunge in to the world of rabbits has been very exciting so far.  I've been getting to know E.B. (named by my favorite young neighbours, short for Easter bunny) my white New Zealand doe, and on Easter Sunday she had a wonderful litter of little, pink, wiggly, ratlike bunnies.  It is her second litter, so hopefully she is well experienced because I certainly am not.  I haven't looked too hard into her nest of white fur that she pulled out and made for them, I don't want to disturb them too much, but it looks like around 8.  And with 8 babies to feed, I have noticed that she is drinking and eating more than ever. This also means that I will soon need to purchase a nice buck for the next batch of rabbits, as well as work on some new cages for them all.  Once the little rabbits are about 6 weeks old they will be weaned and put in a new home outside that will allow them to eat grass, get some exercise and some fresh air while they grow up.  The rabbit tractor can be pulled to new patches of grass as needed. The next couple of weeks should be interesting, with the gardening really getting started, day old chicks arriving eventually, as well as some laying chickens.