Today's Take - 3/21/2015

It was a fairly productive day today - 14 eggs collected and the two mean Muscovy drakes harvested and in the freezer. Tomorrow, I hope to get out for a bit and pick some nettles while the gettin' is still good.

We're also going to attempt to integrate our "tractor girls" into the main flock of chickens tomorrow. Here's hoping that the pecking order shake-up doesn't get too hairy before everyone settles in.

I may divide raspberry canes and  put more radishes in tomorrow, if the weather and the limits of my energy permit. It's 50/50 at this point... ;)

For the record -
Duck Eggs - 5
Chicken Eggs - 9
Ducks, butchered - 2 (dressed out weight was 5 pounds +/- each)

Summer's End Harvest, Early September

I haven't been diligent or scientific in my tracking of our farm and garden's productivity this year, but some preliminary numbers for food harvested and put by so far are-

Apple Cider - 3+ gallons
Hooker's Sweet Corn - 1 bushel (so far)
Poppy seeds - 1/2 cup :\
Cucumbers - About 4 gallons (pickled - does not include what we've eaten fresh or fed to the bun-buns)
Carrots, tomatoes, radishes, beets, peppers, beans and peas - no idea! ;\
Sugar Baby Watermelons - 2 (so far)
Pumpkins - 4 (so far)

The garden was somewhat feral this year. With everything going on in our lives, it was really a miracle that we even had a chance to plant anything at all. This is the very first year ever that we didn't have any summer squash at all. The ducks that live in our garden ate our squash and sunflower starts multiple times. We ended up with ONE sunflower! For all their cuteness, ducks can also be selfish little jerks...

This week or next I hope to get out and forage for apples, pears and hawthorn berries. I haven't made hawthorn jelly in a few years and I think that it's about time to remedy that. ;) I'd also like to start putting up some food for the critters, in the form of dehydrating some corn, seeds (pumpkin, mostly) greens (beet tops, bolted collards, kale, etc.) and herbs to dole out sparingly over the dark months. I'm no longer working full-time plus, and am absolutely relishing the reprisal of my full-time farm-wife role.

Tentatively slated for early October - harvesting our Muscovy ducks. Based on the horror stories I've heard about cleaning and plucking ducks, I'm pretty nervous about the process. Oy...

Carrots!

Sixteen pounds of them!

Among them, this... er... showpiece -

You're welcome 

Today's Take - 8/28/13

I've been doing an atrocious job of keeping track of our garden haul these past two weeks. And of course, it'd be just when we're getting tons of stuff too. Figures!

Zucchini - 11 pounds
Yellow squash - 4 pounds, 4 ounces
Eggs - 4
Goats milk - 1/2 gallon
Chamomile - 1 ounce
Tomatoes - 1 pound
Sweet corn - 7 pounds (weighed after I shucked it)
Scarlet runner beans - handful
Peas - handful

Today's Take - 8/18/13

Zucchini - 3 pounds (another 2 or 3 were thrown to los puercos)
Yellow squash - 3 pounds
Pattypan squash - 10 ounces (just one squash)
Tomatoes - 8 ounces - mostly cherries
Yukon Chief sweet corn - 2 pounds
Chamomile flowers - 1 ounce
Sweet basil - 2 ounces
Goat milk - 1/2 gallon
Eggs - 6

We have two visitors in the goat pen this next few weeks - Fritzen & Oreo! They are here for "pregnancy camp" and Buckley is ON THE JOB.

The pumpkins and summer squashes are taking over the garden! The flower/botanical bed is getting invaded by the naked-seed pumpkins and the strawberry bed is being taken over by the sugar pies. I've had worse problems. ;)

Still only the one sunflower open. Seriously - what's it gonna take?!?

Bill harvested just enough corn for dinner tonight. It is GORGEOUS!

Today's Take - 7/22/13

Russian Red kale - 2 pounds, 14 ounces
Basil - 2 1/2 ounces
Golden beets - 2 pounds, 2 ounces (I really need to just pull the rest of these. The slugs seem to love these the best. :\ )
Bulls Blood beets - 2 pounds, 14 ounces
Blackberries - 3 ounces
Eggs - 8
Goat Milk - 1/2 gallon

Today was the first day selling our goodies at our farm stand. I wouldn't have chosen a Monday to start, but the girls were very keen to sell their marionberry lemonade to passersby, so I figured, what the hey? They didn't sell a thing, and ended up drinking all of their own lemonade, but then again, it was a Monday, soo... better luck next time, I hope! If the blueberry farms open this weekend we should see tons of traffic, so hopefully we'll have at least one customer.

Aim high! ;)

Yesterday I forgot to mention that I noticed a bud had formed on one of my Hungarian Blue bread poppies. I don't know why, but growing your own poppy seeds seems so badass to me! I hope that I manage to get a worthwhile amount out of them, or short of that, that they at least self-sow and bring a bigger crop next year.

Today's Take - 7/16/13 & 7/17/13

Goat milk - 1 gallon plus 1 pint
Eggs - 12
Bulls Blood beets - 3 pounds, 14 ounces
Cylindra beets - 1 pound, 4 ounces
Cocozelle Zucchini - 3 ounces
Russian Red kale - 2 pounds
Marionberries - 2 ounces
Blackberries - 2 ounces

Golden and Bulls Blood beets, about to go in the oven

Corn & Melons - The corn hasn't grown much taller as of late, but the tassels are finally starting to pop out and open. Our cantaloupe vines have grown long and beautiful and are blooming like mad, but so far, no fruit has set. :\

Squash - The zucchinis have just begun blooming sporadically. I've picked two small zucchinis every other day this week. The Yellow Straightneck squash have just started blooming and fruiting too. I think I'll have a few ready for picking as soon as tomorrow.

Beets - I've been harvesting a few per day this week, mostly because the slugs are trying their level best to eat them before we can. I've been roasting them in small batches and freezing them. Hopefully they won't turn to mush when they're thawed. I've been giving the greens to the pigs, but am going to start socking away a few for us soon too.

Greens - Still harvesting upwards of a pound of kale per day, lately, I've been sharing it with the pigs, since our freezer is already well stocked with kale. They pigs go nuts for it!

Berries - They're just starting to ripen, so I've only managed to get a handful here and a handful there so far. Something about this year's weather has them growing like mad right now. when they finally do come ripe, we're going to be buried in them!

Herbs/Botanicals - I was so happy to see that my German Chamomile have finally started blooming! My coneflowers aren't far behind. :)

Today's Take - 7/13/13

I thinned the Cylindra beets a little more today. I think that my "helper" at the time may have decided to put in two seeds per hole, because that's what I'm seeing a LOT of. So we may have some slightly deformed beets coming up. Oh well, it's all good!

The pigs managed to completely undo their string of hot wire, so lucky Mr Bill got to go out there and straighten that mess out, a task for which I do not envy him. The smell down by the pig pen is getting intense. I'm wondering how exactly we determine when they've reached slaughter weight. Do you just eyeball it, or use a weight tape, or...? when the time comes I know that I'll miss those squeaky little pigs - stink and all - but I also know that their meat will come in mighty handy in the coming year. Organically raised meat is crazy expensive and I can't wait to take a break from having to buy it for a while!

The Turkey Boys seem to be settling in fine. In the evenings when I go out to water the garden, I can hear their little ascending whistle-y peeps coming from their run inside the coop, floating all the way over to my little ears in the garden. :) Here is a video of some young Bourbon Red Turkeys that sound remarkably like our Midget whites -

Tomorrow is scheduled to be our first soapmaking day of the year. Bill pasteurized and froze the milk this afternoon, tomorrow, it's go time. I'm 99% sure that we're going to do a double batch of Homegrown Lavender, since if we can only get one type of soap made in time for the Love our Local market, we want it to be one that is sure-fire awesome. ;)

Busy, busy!

Goat Milk - 1/2 gallon
Eggs - 8
Cylindra beets - 2 pounds, 12 ounces

Today's Take - 7/6/13

Nothing pulled today except dinner veggies and a few sugar beets, just to see how they're coming along. They're still pretty small but their greens are massive! I hope that the piggies like enjoy their little after dinner sweet. ;)

Lettuces - 8 ounces
Cylindra beets - 13 ounces
Sugar beets - 6 ounces
Sugar snap peas, Alpine strawberries, Garlic chives & Sweet Basil - a handful for our salad
Goat Milk - 1/2 gallon
Eggs - 4

Today's Take - 7/5/13

Lettuces - 12 ounces
Basil, thyme, lemon balm, chives - Just a few sprigs, enough to make an herby viniagrette
Beets - 8 ounces? I didn't weigh them, just thinned a few, then incorporated them into our dinner plan.
Eggs - 10!
Goat Milk - 1/2 gallon

Today's Take - 7/4/13

Happy, happy Independence day to you, 'Murica!

I spent much of my day of freedom bushwhacking Scotch Broom and blackberries in the chicken yard, followed by a few hours spent curled up in a ball of pain because I accidentally ingested the teensiest bit of coconut oil in the form of a dollop of canned whipped cream on top of my fancy coffee beverage. Coconut and palm oils are the darling of the Paleo/GF diet movement, and therefore are now showing up in EVERYTHING. Booo.....! :\

Anyhoo, before agony struck, we managed to haul in -

Russian Red Kale - 15 ounces
Eggs - 7
Goat Milk - 1/2 gallon
Basil - 2 ounces
Oregano - 3 ounces
Rose petals, Hollyhocks, snapdragons, borage & lavender (for soap, tea & potpourri)- Handful of each

 The greens bed that giveth and giveth :)

First Minnesota Midget Melon blossoms! :)

Today's Take - 7/3/13

Nuttin' fancy today, but the Kalepalooza marches on!

Russian Red Kale - 1 pound, 6 ounces
Goat Milk - 1/2 gallon
Eggs - 7

By the way - I noticed the very first blossom on our pumpkin plants yesterday. Wahoo!

Today's Take - 7/2/13

Besides taking from the garden, I gave a little too, finally putting in the chamomile and calendula that I started indoors Way back When. 

(By the Way, if the text/font in my posts looks Whacky, the sudden death of my dubble-you and kyoo keys are to blame. I'm having to past letters in When auto-correct doesn't catch my drift. Oh, bother...)

Russian Red Kale - 1 pound, 12 ounces
Lavender - 4 ounces
Goat Milk - 1/2 Gallon
Eggs - 6

Today's Take - 7/1/13

Russian Red Kale - 1 pound (2.99*)
Buttercrunch Lettuce - 11 ounces (2.49*)
Romaine - 12 ounces (4.99*)
Basil - 1 ounce (2.49*)
Eggs - 10 (found those hidden Guinea eggs, 2 days worth anyway...) (4.29*)
Goat Milk - 1/2 gallon (Chardy still sneak-feeds Bramble, so her output is pretty slim.) (10.38*)

*Prices based on similar, comparable, organic products at Ralphs Thriftway (ralphsthriftway.com), our neighborhood grocery store. $27.63! Not too shabby for a day's take on a little hobby farm. ;)

Our First Harvest of Summer 2013!

It wasn't the most exciting or enormous haul, but I'm still glad to be growing (and eating!) my own food again. :)

Today's Take -

French Breakfast radishes, greens included - 5 pounds, 2 ounces
Cherry Belle Radishes, greens included - 6 pounds, 9 ounces

My mighty haul!

The biggest single radish of both varieties weighed in at 7 ounces! These babies were beasts, I tell you!

Today's Take - 8/29/12

Froo-its! We have all manner of pie and jam fixin's busting out all over just now. :)

This is just the tip of the apple iceberg, and the blackberries don't show any signs of abating soon either. Yay for free fruit!

*Eggs- 5

*Apples - 10 1/2 pounds

*Blackberries - 1 pound, 10 ounces

Today's Take - 8/8/12

Bill & I are doing a little garden-sitting for a friend, so today when we stopped by to water and pick, we scored BIG on the veggies.

Beanapalooza!

I'm going to have to find out exactly what variety of beans these are, because they're insanely huge. Seriously, some were a good nine inches long! We chopped up a handful of them and one of the zucchinis and added them to our chicken & dumplings tonight. Delicious!

I think I'm going to use the cukes (pickling and slicing varieties) to make a jar of bread and butter pickles. As for the mountain of beans, we will probably blanch and stir-fry them with dinner for at least the next few days. *stomach grumbling* :)

*Goats Milk - 1/2 gallon
*Eggs - ?
*Cucumbers - 1 pound, 9 ounces
*Zucchini - 1 pound, 3 ounces
*Beans/Haricots - 2 pounds, 6 ounces
*Handful of Red Romaine lettuce, peas and cherry tomatoes

Today's Take - 8/5/12

*Goats milk - 1/2 gallon
*Eggs - None collected :(
*Chicken harvested- 1, about 6 pounds, "King Kong", 17 month old Austalorp rooster

Today's Take 3/14/12

You know your life has become a little odd when you have the following exchange with an otherwise friendly barista-

Barista: So what are you up to today?
Me: I'm finally going to pick up my goat...
Barista: Awwww!
Me: ...from the butcher.
Barista: *stunned blank stare*

Yep, today was the day to pick up our goat meat from the butcher shop. For a 70 pound goat, our guy dressed out to a somewhat disappointing 37 pounds. We did not keep the entrails, hide or horns, just the meat and a few bones for bone broth and dog treats.

Here's how our 37 pounds broke down-

*3 pkgs Sirloin Steaks, 1 lb, 13 oz total weight
*7 pkgs Loin Chops, 3 lbs, 5 oz total weight
*2 Leg Roasts, 7 lbs ""
*2 pkgs Ribs, 2 lbs, 14 oz ""
*2 Shanks, 2 lbs ""
*5 pkgs Shoulder Steaks, 4 lbs, 12 oz ""
*6 pkgs Rib Chops - 3lbs, 3 oz ""
*10 pkgs Ground - 11 lbs ""

As I was putting the meat in our chest freezer, I also noticed the pheasant that my husband took last November/December(?) that were never weighed and logged. There was a total of 7 1/2 lbs of meat, which it takes God knows how many pheasants to make.

So our freezer is bulking up again, with some 45 pounds of goat & bird. I've never cooked either goat or pheasant, so dinners around here might be a little interesting during my learning curve. ;)

Today's Take-

*Goat meat, 37 pounds
*Pheasant, 7 1/2 lbs
*Eggs, not yet collected

Our First Livestock Harvest

We decided some time ago that we were going to harvest Spike. It wasn't an easy choice. We did not get into goats for the meat, but for the milk, fertilizer, shrub-trimming and companion aspects of livestock ownership. That being said, Spike wasn't really helpful in any of those areas except for the pooping. He was ornery, mean to the little goats, constantly escaping and destroying his pen, his house, bins and cans of various critter foods, etc. He was a sneaky little tornado of smash. And so, it was decided that we would harvest Spike, rather than pass him and his many issues on to a new owner. It wasn't a decision undertaken lightly. We've been seriously contemplating it for the better part of 6 months now.

After Spike's last escape, during which he went on a tear smashing feed cans, binging on and spoiling the girls' grain (and in the process giving himself a wicked case of the trots) and just generally destroying everything that held still, we decided with absolute certainty that the time had come. The arrangements were made with the kill guy and the butcher, and today was the day.

Fortunately, the man who dispatched and field dressed Spike was an absolute pro and did a mercifully quick and clean job of it, which is a great comfort to me, knowing that Spike did not suffer unduly and was treated with skill and dignity to the very last.

Unfortunately, the job had to be done early in the morning, and near the front of our property, lest our other goats see/smell the goings-on and become unsettled.

This meant that everything took place within view of the road, and may have been witnessed by some unsuspecting passersby.

Having been in this very same situation myself as a child, I can't help but feel badly for anyone having to see that first thing in the morning.

In spite of us having formed something of a callus when it comes to the less pleasant aspects of farming, like culling, harvesting and euthanizing our animals, chalking it up to being part of the reality of growing-your-own, it is still hard when that moment comes that you must make the final call about whether an animal lives or dies. We never take it lightly, and we never feel good about it, but we recognize that as stewards of livestock, whatever their intended function may be, end-of-life decisions are part of the package.

And so we said goodbye to Spike today. We pray that his spirit is free and at peace, that what remains of him here on earth will nourish the families that it feeds, and that my children will take from this experience an appreciation for the circle of life and the sacrifices made along the way.

Sometimes navigating this simple life feels extraordinarily complicated.