# What are your signs of spring?



## norseofcourse (Feb 3, 2015)

I am sooooooo ready for spring!!  We are more than halfway through winter, and around here we've got about six more weeks of winter, give or take a few (no matter what the groundhog says LOL).

So, I was thinking of what I look for as spring arrives.  I know all the normal signs of spring - the robins coming back, the first crocus, seeing the new sprigs of green grass.  But anyone who farms, even with just a few critters in the backyard, has their own 'signs of spring'.  Here's a couple of mine, I'll know spring is coming when:

Enough snow melts that I can open the pasture gates in *both* directions.

The huge pile of ice (from chipping it out of frozen water buckets) melts.

What are your 'signs of spring'?


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## BrownSheep (Feb 3, 2015)

MUD....
And there is a smell. I can't really describe it but I swear I can smell when spring has hit.


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## Baymule (Feb 3, 2015)

Tree frogs chirping in February, looking for love!


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## OneFineAcre (Feb 3, 2015)

This isn't farm related but in North Carolina a sure sign of spring is the Tarheels choking in the NCAA basketball tournament


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## Goat Whisperer (Feb 3, 2015)

I'm so ready for spring too @norseofcourse ! 

I can't wait to milk once it is warm again! 

"What are your signs of spring?"

The hens start showing up with clutches of chicks. Sometimes the surprise gosling. 

See lots of our neighbors drive by on their tractors to prep their fields. 

GRASS!!!!!!!!!

The neighbors honey bees.

and...... PYRENEES HAIR! Lots and lots of pyr hair!


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## SA Farm (Feb 3, 2015)

Shedding - goats, dogs, horses, etc.
Snowdrops
Baby animals of all sorts!
Buds on the trees, new grass poking through the snow/dead grass.
Etc


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## norseofcourse (Feb 4, 2015)

@BrownSheep - I think I know that smell, too!

@Baymule - I forgot about the spring peepers, I love that sound!

@Goat Whisperer - oh yes hair - here the dogs shed, the ponies shed, and the sheep shed!! lol


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## Hens and Roos (Feb 4, 2015)

when we start making maple syrup- we usually only get a couple of weeks to collect maple sap before the trees start budding


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## Chivoville (Feb 4, 2015)

when it's not pitch dark when I get home from work....And lots of cardinals... and a pasture full of of clover to mow...


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## Southern by choice (Feb 5, 2015)

OneFineAcre said:


> This isn't farm related but in North Carolina a sure sign of spring is the Tarheels choking in the NCAA basketball tournament


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## secuono (Feb 5, 2015)

Ewes getting wider, slower and then lambs show up!


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## bonbean01 (Feb 5, 2015)

I keep look out for the first dandelion blooms....yes...I see it as my first sign of spring and every year I take a photo of the first dandelion bloom....yellow and fat like the sun


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## Baymule (Feb 7, 2015)

I love dandelions! I have made dandelion jelly, dried the petals for tea, used fresh petals for tea and made dandelion wine. Yum!


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## frustratedearthmother (Feb 7, 2015)

@Baymule - how was he wine?  I want to try my hand at wine-making but I'm a little intimidated.


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## goatgurl (Feb 7, 2015)

my x's grandfather made dandelion wine that would take your sox off.  in fact he made wine out of anything that didn't run.  spring is already at my house, now that's not saying that we aren't going to have more cold weather, even snow and ice but the ducks are doing the duck dance and laying eggs, the chickens are in the mood for love too.  Katie is shedding hair by the handfuls.  every time i brush her i take the hair and put it in bags in the trees for the birds to use in their nests.  no peepers yet but i know they're coming.  and the daffodils are poking up thru the ground.  spring... personally i can't wait.


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## Baymule (Feb 8, 2015)

@frustratedearthmother I made 2 batches of the wine. The first turned golden clear, was beautiful, and had a fizz to it! It was good and light tasting. The second batch never did clear up, stayed cloudy, didn't fizz and had a lot of alcohol in it! Here is a link to what I wrote about the wine on TEG.

http://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/dandelion-wine.15409/

And a link to the jelly

http://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/dandelion-jelly-recipe.13496/

A thread about dandelions

http://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/dandelions-not-a-weed-i-made-tea-pg-3.13173/

Try the wine! The iced tea is really good too!


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## ldawntaylor (Jun 2, 2015)

For me a sign of spring is the flocks of robins leaving.  I still remember being a little confused when those birds showed up in January that first year.  I mean, it had only gotten cold enough for ponds to freeze the first time about three weeks earlier.  If memory serves those robins left in March that year.

Lisa


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## zachbelle (Jun 2, 2015)

Days getting longer, snow melting, ducks and chickens starting to lay again, "The smell of spring", its so funny because the first snowfall I am always so excited and in awe at the beauty of it then come December 26th I want it all to go away and cannot wait for spring for the next 3 to 4 months! lol


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