A Busy Summer at Little Tail Farms
- Laurie
- Aug 18
- 3 min read
Summer has a way of stretching wide here on the mountain. The mornings spill over with golden light, the afternoons hum with work, and the evenings settle soft and slow. This year, the season has been especially full, our fields and barns brimming with new life, each day unfolding like a chapter in a story we never tire of telling.
Calves in the Clover
The Highland pasture has been alive with the gentle rhythm of six new calves. Their coats, blonde, red, white, silver and black, catch the sunlight like brushed velvet. Some are bold, trotting right up with curious eyes and soft noses for cookies, while others linger close to their mothers, watching the world from behind a curtain of shaggy bangs. In the cool of the morning, you can see them chase one another through the clover, all kicks and tumbles, as if the meadow itself were their playground.
A Barn Full of Mischief
Over in the goat barn, the air is louder and livelier. Sixteen baby goat kids arrived this summer, each one with a personality as bright as the spots on their coats. They leap with the confidence of acrobats, then collapse into little piles of napping ears and hooves. It seems every time we walk through, there’s one tugging at a shirt hem, another investigating a bootlace, and a third already plotting the next escape.
Gentle Lambs
Among all that noise and play, the arrival of two lambs brought a quieter joy. They follow their mothers faithfully, nibbling at the edges of tall grass, their tiny bleats softer than a whisper. Watching them graze in the evening light feels like stepping into an old storybook, peaceful, timeless, and true.
Puppies in Training
In the back of the barn, seven Great Pyrenees puppies are growing into their paws. Fluffy as clouds, they tumble after butterflies and wrestle in the grass, but even in play, you can see the seriousness of their purpose taking shape. Already, they shadow the livestock with a natural instinct, pausing to sit watchfully at the edge of a pasture, as if they know their role is to guard what’s precious here.
Waiting on Piglets
And still, the story of summer isn’t finished. In the quiet corner of the pasture, we’re waiting on a litter of KuneKune piglets. Soon, we’ll hear the unmistakable chorus of curious grunts and see round bellies wobbling through the grass. It’s a kind of anticipation that makes each day sweeter, knowing that the farm is still holding surprises yet to come.
Sweet Gold from the Hives
While hooves and paws fill the fields, the air itself hums with another kind of work. Our seven bee hives have been busy gathering from wildflowers, turning sunshine into jars of golden honey. The harvest is sticky and sweet, a taste of summer captured in amber, and a reminder of the quiet threads that tie this farm together - bees, blooms, and the steady patience of nature.
Shared Stories
This season, we’ve been blessed not only with new life but with new and old faces, families on farm tours, couples tucked away at the Highland Cottage, and friends lingering at the farmstay. There’s a special joy in watching our guests bottle-feed a goat kid, brush the shaggy coat of a Highland calf, or taste honey still warm from the comb. Sharing these moments has made the farm’s story richer, each guest adding their laughter and wonder to our own.
The Heart of Summer on the Farm
And so, summer rolls on, long days stitched together with chores, nights filled with a tired kind of happiness, and every hour carrying the sound of beginnings. Tiny bleats, soft moos, playful barks, the hum of bees, and the rustle of little hooves in tall grass, it all blends into a song that belongs only to this season, only to this place.
It’s the sound of Little Tail Farms at its busiest, and at its very best.
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