Well, as you know if you have read this blog for any time, The PeeMan lives on a farm in Maine. Don’t picture mechanized agriculture or advanced animal husbandry – think more along the lines of a “hobby” farm(at least I think that’s the current lingo.) Nonetheless there are chickens and occasional pigs, a requisite old tractor, garden rows, apple trees and a pond. As for the name, well my wife won’t let me call it the PeeFarm and she loves the bright red berries that decorate the barren late autumn landscape every year so Winterberry Farm it is.

Raspberries – now I am a bit allergic to fresh berries so I don’t quite enjoy them as much as others. My wife and daughter love them and traveled 2 hours north(yes – farther north)and dug up a friend’s excess bushes and transplanted them here. There is a patch of soil that is rather poor and all attempts at gardening this plot have met with pitiful results. So, the perfect spot for the hardy raspberry! Winterberry Raspberry Patch is born.

Chickens – I just don’t understand keeping and feeding critters all winter long and not getting a single lousy egg from them. But, my daughter wants chickens and now at least for a few months we have eggs. Eggs coming out our ears. Interestingly, our chickens tend be late morning layers. They like to take their time and enjoy the morning I guess – prima donas!

Flowers – My wife and daughter have decided to experiment with growing cut flowers. Experiment is the key word. No pressure, no expectations – that’s how my wife likes to operate. So, various beds are being prepared for planting the seedlings that have been growing at my daughter’s house. The cardinal rule in Maine is no planting before Memorial  Day and since we had a couple of nights right around freezing even this week, far be it from us to mess with the wisdom of the ages.

Spring Cleaning – perhaps this conjures up pictures of a feather duster and a few boxes filled with odds and ends destined for the thrift store. Well, you can forget that. Spring cleaning at Winterberry Farm is signaled by the arrival of a full size dumpster. And since my middle daughter is getting married what better opportunity for her to sort through all the childhood memorabilia, treasures and keepsakes that have been sitting in my storage spaces for years! Today in fact began the great purge.

Trout – Today also marked the arrival of some very special guests to Winterberry Farm. I was finally able to secure some Rainbow Trout for my pond. I took my grandson with me to pick up the 7″ beauties and most of the family watched the great release of all 50 of them into their new habitat.

Dogs – What farm is complete without dogs? Our two golden retrievers Zeke and Riley fit the bill – at least theoretically. The “stress” of laying around the house and occasional tennis ball chasing has led Riley to age prematurely. The dog is only 7 and his prescriptions cost more than mine! But, the arthritis seems to be affecting him less and he seems to be getting around better these days. Getting around is no problem whatsoever for Zeke! In fact, in the space of 24 hours this week, he managed to get into it with both a porcupine and a skunk. As you can imagine, neither he nor his people came out on the good end of that deal!

That’s all the Winterberry Farm news for now!

Until I find more words . . .The PeeMan