The Forest Path - March 2020
What a month, right??! Like schools and businesses across the state, we had to cease our programs mid-month due to Covid-19. We had a ton of fun before that happened and are grateful for the beauty and everlasting wonder the forest provides even - maybe especially - when everything else feels so uncertain. I’m glad for the ability to share some of that with you!
One exciting development this month was that Hazel, the little sheep we got in December finally was comfortable enough to come and eat treats from our hand! What finally worked was having a group of super sweet kids visit every week for our homeschool program. They were very patient and calm week after week so it’s no surprise that it’s them who she came to first. After that first show of bravery, it didn’t take long for Hazel to come as eagerly to us as the others. Now we have three fuzzy faces vying for front row access to snacks.
After a mild December and January I felt pretty confident saying that our little bit of February snow was all we’d have but Oregon keeps us on our toes and this happened in mid-March. It only lasted a day but sure was pretty.
Babies arrived! Six chicks came to join us on the farm. The pale yellow one below is a breed called California white. The gray and brown baby is an ameraucana and she may lay green eggs when she grows up. We’ll see! We were really looking forward to having our spring break campers help take care of them - or really just hold them a lot - but we’re hopeful that our summer campers will get to meet them.
We spent our last spring homeschool class exploring the creek and it was a beautiful, sunny, splashy, wet day. We were all disappointed to have to say good-bye without our end-of-session party that was scheduled for the next week but it was a great last class nonetheless.
The forest is awakening from winter and every time we step into the woods there’s something new blooming. It’s such a beautiful time of year!
the first trillium flower
salmonberry flower
wood violet - they come in yellow too!
Bigleaf maple blossoms
Oregon grape - our state flower!
Japanese maple leaf buds
I’ve saved the BEST for last! At the very end of the month, after weeks of thinking “any day now . . .” Hazel gave birth to two healthy lambs! I happened to go out to the barn what was probably just minutes after the first was born. I called the rest of the family and we watched the first take her first steps and the second be born. It was textbook perfect and Hazel is a great mom. She stomps her foot at us and glares when we get too close but we’ve gotten some lamb snuggles and they are curious, bouncing babies. The dark brown/nearly black lamb is a ewe and the brown baby with lighter face markings is a ram lamb. We call them Opal and Eamon and we’ve taken so many photos that I think they deserve their own blog post. I’ll get that up in a few days but for now, here are some cute ones. You can also see more photos and videos on our Facebook page.
With so many canceled and rescheduled programs, April will be quieter than usual around here. We miss sharing our forest farm with visitors. We know it’s not the same but we’ll continue sharing the forest and the animals with you via Facebook, Instagram, and our newsletter. We are so glad to have ways to stay connected!