Agriculture

 TURKANA FARMS, LLCWinter Stasis, Photo by Mark ScherzerSheep Overboard!Hi all, Mark here.The farm seems frozen in place just now. We are in winter stasis. The young pullets that arrived in late August have not yet begun laying eggs. It is still too early to start seedlings under lights for spring. With high temperatures in the teens and a brisk north wind, I'm in no mood to trim fruit trees and berry bushes. Contemplating the stillness brings its own pleasure.There was a slight flurry of activity while my partner, Eric, and I were in Québec and friends Arthur and Bernard were farm-sitting: two lambs born on December 27. (The eweling has been named Bernarthur in their honor.) These are very early births. Apparently Suleyman IV, this year's ram, had just reaching breeding capacity when a few cool nights in early August triggered a surge in his hormones. Cool weather, as you know, triggers sexual hanky panky. It is a phenomenon of animal husbandry fully explored by noted zoologist, Dr. Cole Porter, in his