The grass is beginning to grow, the shad is blooming, the daylight hours are stretching. The blue-sky days are particularly vibrant lately and the moon has been so bright at night it has woken me from slumber. Although we had a few brief flurries of snow early one morning last week, we are inching ever closer to warmer days.

Happy belated Mother’s Day to all. At my house, I was treated to a pancake breakfast, and gifted art made by both my husband and daughter, and a pair of earrings from my mom. Juna, who has taken to occasionally calling me “Mother” (perhaps it is from her British heritage), was overjoyed at the opportunity to open gifts, even if they were not her own.

We visited Mytoi later in the day, knocking on the wooden railing to let the turtles know we were there. We counted six painted box turtles but no sign of any large snappers yet. The rhododendrons are beginning to bloom in the garden and many of the daffodils are still going strong. On this visit, we were particularly impressed by a fully leafed-out copper beech, so much further along than the beech in our own yard just down the road.

Two Icelandic ewes and their twin lambs have arrived at Slip Away. The ewes, with their shaggy coats and light eyes are stunning. For sheep, they seem bold. They will walk right up to the edge of the electric fence when humans arrive and I saw one mama stamp at the dogs when they came too close. The four black lambs stay near the ewes as they graze.

Chappy has a history of sheep grazing, and it feels right to see them on the land once more. As many will remember, for several years we grew our main vegetable crops in the rolling fields around the Slip Away house and farmstand. The contours of the land and the quality of the soil made this prohibitively challenging and eventually we were granted a lease for more suitable land down the road at Wasque Farm. Since then, the Slip Away fields have been pining for animals, until now. Many thanks to Peter Kirn, Collins Heavener and Lucy Leopold, the guardians of this flock, for making it happen.

We will be opening the Slip Away farm stand Memorial Day weekend. I was hoping to get going a bit earlier this year, but with all the cool weather the past few weeks many of our first crops have been delayed.

If you are hungering for some Chappy grown produce, though, you are in luck. Margaret Knight has been stocking the Cooler at Blueberry Cottage (203 Chappy Road) daily with green onions, watercress, salad mix and some cut herbs. She also has many perennial plants for naturalizing and permaculture, including raspberries, chives, walking onions, wild arugula, mache and herbs. Stop by to see what is available any day except Sunday.

You can also now order one-time flower and vegetable shares for the summer months from Slip Away on our website slipawayfarm.com. I thought this might be perfect for individuals who are visiting the Island for a week or two and cannot participate in our full season CSA.

The Jeffers and the Kidders have decided not to open the Chappy Store this year. I imagine social-distancing would be challenging in such a tiny space.

Enjoy the week.