This is an excerpt from this weeks Harvest Note, which goes out with every CSA share.  The Farm Apprentices write the note each week and it includes updates on whats going on at Calypso, what to do with stuff in your CSA share, some pictures and stuff.  I'm responsible for this article.  It reads a little more formally than my blog usually does (which is probably a good thing).  The stuff in bold isn't in the article that got sent out, but was included here for your benefit!

Growing Up Farm

Growing up is hard for all parties involved in it, as every hallmark movie, coming of age story, and Harry Potter book will tell you.  Kids struggle to find their place in the world, seeking independence as their sense of self grows.  At the same time parents struggle to keep their own sanity while attempting to remember when soccer practice starts (or how to communicate with Harry after being murdered with the Killing Curse.  Parenting is different from family to family).  One might think that this sort of angst around growing older is unique to humans. 

It isn’t.

Why are you in our cage? -Ducks

We received a paddling of ducks last week, that are only a few months old (incidentally, did you know that the word for a group of ducks is a "paddling"?  Google did!)  While already large, they still behave like tiny ducklings, following one another in circles around their enclosure and waddling-scared from anyone who tries to befriend them (I'm particularly proud of the phrase "waddling scared", I encourage you to try doing this around your living room, maybe after a few glasses of wine)

WHAT AM I!? -James

The ducks aren't the only confused youngsters at Calypso though.  James and Hellen, our two “bummer” lambs (we had to bottle feed them, as their mothers rejected them) are not quite sure what they are.  “Am I a Lamb or a Person?”, their insistent ‘baaaaing’ seems to say, though more likely it translates to “bring me that bottle right NOW!”.  While shoving them back in the pen every time we open the gate isn’t the most fun for us or for them, we hope they learn it’s for their own good and appreciate it when they grow up.

Our new chicks are growing up fast, and four of them were introduced to our flock of chickens this past week.  Neither party seems sure about the other, but chickens are not the brightest crayons in the box, as it were, and will probably forget to be confused pretty quickly.

Other babies on the farm include various baby birds in nests, bird boxes, and in one memorable case on the floor of the washing station.  After our first harvest, we went to wash salad mix, and were confronted by a peeping baby robin.  As we tried to put him back in his nest his siblings began to frantically peep and squawk as well, and one of them decided to jump ship.  At this point, from the wild blue yonder came two screaming bolts of avian fury given form.  Mamma and Papa Robin began to attack us with every ounce of parently rage they could muster, and eventually we just left them the heck alone.  Score: Birds 1 Farm team 0