When we broke for lunch today and tried to decide what farm story to share in the newsletter this week, neither of us could alight on a single clear thread of thought.  From her sheepskin bed in the corner, Malaya let out a deep snore; even the farm-dog was tired just thinking about the whirlwind of a week we’d had, still sleeping off back to back visitors, work parties, and a day of chicken butchering.  

We’re still not sure if this week’s scorecard has Team SweetRoot pulling ahead or falling behind, but it does explain why we might all be happy to join the dog on the napping rug.  To give you a quick look at our week by the numbers:    

• Moved to new pasture:  196 chickens, 12 sheep, 1 moveable sheep barn, 5 chicken coops/ tractors, and 7 strands of electric fence netting.  
• Soaked:  4 pairs of work clothes on an epic rainy Monday harvest day
• Broken andRepaired:  one tractor clutch.  (requiring one new tool, two half days, two farmers, and 5 FaceTime calls to a farmer father.) 
• Opened:  just over one acre of new ground (former sheep pasture), for late-season crops and cover cropping. 
• Delayed:  onion planting, greens seedings, hoop house planting, farmstore finish work. 
• Recovered:  onion planting, courtesy of 8-person family work party, farmstore drywall mudding and taping, courtesy of after-work-party with two other friends.    
• Harvested:  149 lbs of greens (and rising), 18 young meat roosters. 
• Eaten:  9 lbs market leftovers, unknown during-harvest snacking greens. One roasting chicken (yum!) 
• Days since market:  almost 7!