Firsts

Here on the Farm of Hale the past few days we have had some firsts. To start with, I got my first tick of the season which is a sure sign of spring. It was attached to the back of my leg. We usually don't have too much of a problem with ticks or chiggers because of the chickens. They do a good job of controlling all the bugs around the farm. Another first I had this weekend, that further proves the arrival of spring, is I saw my first snake of the season. Last year I killed 5-7 snakes on the farm including a couple water snakes, a couple king snakes, a hognose snake, and the only poisonous one- a copper head. I hope to not have as many this year because I have cleared out a lot of the underbrush and snakey type areas and I have more animals this year which helps to keep snakes away. Anyway, back to the snake I saw yesterday. It was just a garter snake which isn't a bad snake but I tend to kill all snakes good or bad. This one got away before I could get something to kill it though. Garter snakes are the first snakes to emerge in the spring (don't you love the little educational tidbits I put in my posts).

Our other first is food related. We have started doing about half our grocery shopping at Sam's Club. We did price comparison and found that at least half the stuff we buy is cheaper for us to get at Sam's. Anyway, we heard a couple weeks ago from Margo's dad that Sam's was about to start using new milk jugs. (Her dad works for Dairy Farmers of America). Well, they had them today when Margo bought groceries. Here is a pic of the new jug she got today.



Here is what we know about why they are using these new jugs. They don't require the milk crates to hold them and haul them since they are box shaped. All they do is put them on a pallet- they stack one layer on top of the other with just a piece of cardboard in between the layers. They also don't use racks at the store anymore to hold the milk. They just put a pallet of milk in the cooler at the store and you just take one off and when a layer is gone, they remove the cardboard in between and start a new layer. This saves them from having a person put the milk in the crates, stack the crates on a pallet, unstack the crates at the store, and put the jugs in the racks. I think it is a pretty good idea and design. It will probably take some getting used to by consumers but so far I like the new jug just fine. I like that the hole is on one corner of the jug, this requires less tipping and aim to get the milk into my glass than with the old jugs. The new jug is also less transparent as well which helps the milk last longer and it says it uses less shelf space.