Here goes... first post from Hillspring Farm.... we just started Lambing time here. These 4 Tunis cuties were actually born 3 years ago, but it's not every day I take a camera to the barn. You're looking at 3 girls and a boy... can you tell which one he is?  Wrong !  The little boy (Lead) has darker face and his twin sister Lutitium is "on top".

These lambs are born with the red coloring all over. Their fleece turns creamy white as they age, while their faces and legs remain red, giving the Tunis breed, it's nickname, "the Red Heads".

Here's one of our Tunis ewe lambs in September after her fleece changed color. First time I laid eyes on a Tunis, I fell in love with their large ears. Tunis are mellow, sweet sheep... easy to handle, a medium size with many traits that organic farmers, like us appreciate such as being good thrifty grazers. They are also prized by chefs and "slow food folks", being on the Ark of Taste. They are the oldest American land race of sheep, dating from the first "couple" to arrive from Tunisia in 1799.

Hillspring sheep not only provide quality meat, but also lovely wool for spinning and knitting.

Lambing is not all that's happening at Hillspring Farm... seed packets are arriving and garden log books from previous years are being consulted... when to start the first bedding plants ? Last year, I started celery & thyme on April 7th and noted that it was perfect... so for all you folks who start seeds in February... good luck with keeping them from getting leggy. I've done this and always regretted it. I like sturdy, fat plants, rather on the small side to eliminate transplant shock. Early April starting for the slower germinating, slower growing plants works best for me... and not until mid-April for peppers, tomatoes, brassicas and flowers. And that's my gardening tip for today. May all your seeds be blessed and abundant,  Linda Dee