Hello Everyone!
My have we been busy since February - and there is still so much to do! Let's jump right in.
Floof had her first litter in early March. Just when I was ready to give up on breeding, she had a beautiful litter of seven kits. They appeared to be healthy, and seemed to be growing well. Unfortunately the whole litter was lost to an unknown cause. What a trial that was for all of us. We had tried and tried to get Stormcloud and Floof to breed. I reached out to all my Angora acquaintances for help and advice. We just couldn't pin down what the problem was. When the litter came we were all surprised. And then we were all heartbroken when we lost all of them. Worse yet, Floof lost a scary amount of weight, and I was very worried for a good stretch of March. Luckily we've got her back to good health. The photo above was taken today. Both Stormcloud and Floof are officially over a year old. I have recently re-bred them. If it took, we may see a litter at the end of June. This is our last breeding for the year so fingers crossed everyone.
We also created a dedicated 'bunny barn' for Stormcloud and Floof to live in. There was a theory that Floof was too anxious because of the amount of visitors we get, and she stopped caring for the kits. Hopefully this new environment better suits her maternal needs. They booth seem very happy in their new space.
We've got most of our crops in for this growing season. This year we've planted peas, beans, cherry-tomatoes, a special cultivar of peppers, cucumbers, and green onions. This year I'm trying my hand with more herbs as I did so well with the parsley last year. I've got two varieties of lavender, two varieties of thyme, rosemary, sage, lemon grass, basil, lemon balm, two varieties of parsley, catnip, spearmint, and dill. My raspberries are on track to produce this year also.
Our second attempt at growing escarole hydroponically worked so we will be expanding that soon. We have set up a third option to test, and are in design mode to try a fourth as well. Wow does the escarole look good folks. I've cooked up a couple of heads and it's just as tasty as it looks!
We are continuing our education in agriculture. I'm currently involved in an herb class and are learning so much! I've officially joined a spinning guild, and the members have taught me even more about natural fibers!
Pattern design is coming along and I hope to have it published by this fall!
This weekend Stormy will be participating in his first ARBA show so wish him luck!
I hope everyone has had a productive and fruitful spring!
Best wishes from Hoppy Mountain.