Today's Take - 8/5/13

Zucchini - 6 pounds, 12 ounces!
Yellow squash - 3 pounds
Peas - 2 ounces
Chamomile - big handful
Goat milk - 1/2 gallon
Eggs - 7

Squashapalooza!

Today's Take - 7/23/13

On my garden walk today I noticed several of Bill's Italian bees working the heck out of the borage. :) I'm glad that they like it, because the stuff is threatening to take over the whole flower bed! The lemon cucumbers are setting fruit like mad, though none have ripened yet. I hope they keep pumping them out until market time in August!

Zucchini - 7 ounces
Peas - handful
Golden beets - 2 pounds (These are the last of them. They were too small to harvest, but had been so ravaged by slugs that I thought I'd pull them and feed them to the piggies before the dang slugs could eat them completely.)
Eggs - 6
Goat milk - 1/2 gallon

I heard a pair of ravens gwawping just outside today. I find them and their intellect fascinating, but my interest is tempered by fear for my poultry. I have heard more than a few stories lately about ravens flying off with eggs, young birds, etc., and our Brahma-caunas are still petite - maybe 2 pounds each - which sounds like a reasonable serving size for two hungry ravens.

Speaking of birds, last weekend when we were out in Budd Bay, fishing and crabbing for our supper, we got to see a bald eagle up-close and personal as it swooped down to grab our discarded leftover crab bait, some freezer burned flounder. It's easy to forget how massive they are when you ever only see them high above you against a scale-less sky. we do get to see them here at home fairly often, being as close to the water as we are, but when wearing my figurative farmer hat, I am generally less inclined to just sit back and appreciate their size and beauty, and more likely to fret over whether my animals might catch a hungry predator's eye.

Today's Take - 7/21/13

As you may have noticed, daily dispatches have been... less than daily. My record-keeping has never been stellar, but I really was hoping to get a whole month straight of farm product on the official record. Guess not. :\

Anyhoo, today's today's take is even better than usual, because we took the boat out in the salt and brought home a few crabbies. Yum!

Fisherman Bill with one of our soon-to-be tasty crab. 

Red Rock Crab - 3
Goat Milk - 1 gallon
Eggs - 9
Blackberries - 4 ounces
Zucchini - 7 ounces
Yellow squash - 5 ounces
Peas - handful (are these things every really going to take off or not?)
Russian Red kale - 8 ounces
Oregano - 1 ounce

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 - 7/15/13

Zucchinis - 4 ounces
Golden beets - 2 pounds, 10 ounces
Eggs - ?
Goat Milk - 1/2 gallon + 1 pint (The girls always seem to have a little bump up in production when they eat mostly pasture, rather than hay.)
Lavender - 7 ounces
Hollyhock blossoms, borage leaves (for soap & tea) - a few handfuls

Today's Take - 7/14/13

Russian red kale - 1 pound, 12 ounces
Leaf lettuces - 1 pound
Snow peas, cherry tomatoes - handful
Eggs - 7
Goat milk - 1/2 gallon

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 - 7/12/13

Russian Red Kale - 1 pound, 12 ounces
Sweet Basil - 1 ounce
Snow Peas - 1 ounce
Eggs - 7
Goat Milk - 1/2 gallon

I spotted my first baby zucchini today. YAAAAAY!

Today's Take - 7/10/13

Once again the peas needed picking today, in spite of my plan to let them go until the weekend. I think I'll leave off picking them from now on though, unless they get redonkulously big, in which case I'll keep on pickin'.

I had my first ripe cherry tomato straight off the vine today - heaven. I have a few more sitting in the kitchen windowsill ripening, and quite a few more still on the vine, all in varying degrees of greenness.

The tomatillos are blooming and fruiting like mad, though none have reached harvest size just yet. I anticipate that we'll be able to make another good sized batch of verde salsa if the plants keep on kicking them out like they are now. Speaking of verde salsa, that reminds me that I need to add more apple cider to my vinegar jar, so that we have enough for canning salsa when the time comes. Note to self: Get your ACV going!

The only other thing that I picked today were a handful of borage flowers. Bill and I hope to make a batch or to of soap this weekend, so I set some borage in olive oil to infuse. I think we're going to make a batch of Homegrown Lavender soap, and maybe a second batch of something else if we have the time and gumption. I don't know just yet.

By the way - we saw one of Bill's honeybees (one of the Carniolans, I think?) in the garden today, checking out the beet greens for some weird reason. At least we know that they know that the garden is there, I guess.

So, the pickin's were slim again today, but everything is still steadily moving in the right direction. :)

Peas - 1 ounce +/-
Borage flowers - handful
Goat Milk - 1/2 gallon
Eggs - 7

Today's Take - 7/9/13

I had meant to forgo harvesting anything between now and the weekend, when we're hoping to have the farm stand open for business. what I didn't count on, however, was that my sugar snap peas, who are not used to having 2 days in a row unmolested, would spaz out and grow 4-inch long pods, like, overnight.

And so, between Scarlet and I, we picked 20 some of the biggest pods which ended up weighing in at just over an ounce and a half. Snow peas weigh practically nothing. :/

I also went ahead and harvested some kale, just because I want to keep it happy and growing, and hopefully stop it from bolting in this heat. Tomorrow I'm going to go and give the lettuce what-for in the hopes of keeping it from bolting as well, though it may already be too late, in which case it shall be piggy salad.

The 'maters are looking lovely! I predict that our tomato landslide is about 2-3 weeks away. I know that I'll regret saying it once I'm up to my eyeballs in red orbs, but right now I say - bring it! Our basil is also doing beautifully, so I anticipate being in for an epic spaghetti sauce canning season.

I know that our paltry harvest isn't much right now, but the garden is right on the edge of it's tipping point. Any day now the zukes, cukes, corn, melons and tomatoes are going to positively explode. :)))

Russian Red Kale - 1 pound, 2 ounces
Sugar Snap Peas - 1 1/2 ounces
Eggs - 9 (Plus a few under the Policauna hen known as "Bitey Pants" that will have to wait until morning to be retrieved. D'oh!)
Goat Milk - 1/2 gallon

Today's Take - 7/8/13

Nothing from the garden, except two strawberries and one cherry tomato. I'm letting things beef up between now and the weekend, since we're hoping to open our farm stand up then. The eggs are fewer today, which is always a disappointment. I wonder who is not holding up their end out there? Hmmm...

Anyhoo -

Goat Milk - 1/2 gallon
Eggs - 3

A picture of my lovely farm stand, pre-paint job -

we've already had a few passersby inquire about what we're up to. :)  I'm hoping that between word of mouth and the impending blueberry season, which brings tons of folks from all over the area to our little out-of-the-way place, we'll do a fair bit of business. The girls have decided to throw a lemonade stand in the mix to fully capitalize on the warm weather. Keep your fingers crossed that folks will like what we have on offer!

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 - 7/4/13

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!

Critter Update - 4/20/13

Today four baby goats went to new homes! Both of Sophie's kids, Sidney's boy and Hope/Liberty's (I can't keep them straight) girl. The folks who took the goaties brought us a few chicks too. We now have six Light Brahma/Americauna chicks being fostered by our silver-laced cochin, Lacy.

Since kid-fest '13 began, we've sold 1 doe in milk and six babies so far. Hop & Liberty are on hold for another family, pending Hop's little guy's successful weaning, and one little wether and one little doeling are earmarked for one of the hub's co-workers, who will be trading us turkeys for the two kids.

Since Sid & Soph are still well in-milk, we'll start our much-anticipated milking tonight. Chardonnay, who was the last to deliver, is still nursing her twins for another few weeks, but will eventually also be a milker for us this year.

I can't wait to make cheese, soap and cajeta again with our milk, and I'm sure the pigs are looking forward to having a belly full of milk-soaked bread and pastries each evening for dinner too.

Besides the joy that is the influx of milk made available to us by weaning off and selling a few babies, I also  very much appreciate the reduced feed and hay bill, and the lessened impact on our pasture. At our fertility/baby boom peak, we had 20+ goats on this little piece of property, which is waaaaay more than it could sustain. We're grateful to the babies for bringing their Mamas into milk for us, but we don't plan on keeping more than one this year. It'll be one of Chardy's babies, who are so identical that I can't tell one from the other. Pictures forthcoming!

Today's Take & Booze News - 9/23/12

Today's take isn't really much to speak of, except to mention that Sidney's milk production seems to finally have begun its decline. We "only" got about a quart and a half from her for the past few days, instead of the usual half gallon. Drying off time is approaching.

Drying the girls off to give their little bodies a break, and, to prepare them for breeding back, is a bit of a mixed blessing. On the one hand, the milk will definitely be missed for the 6+ months that we won't have it. On the other hand, milking during a cold, wet, dark Washington Winter is zero percent fun for the farmer and the goat both, so it makes sense to take a break then.

The hens have been laying a bit less too, not on account of the weather, as we have a pleasant Indian Summer going - for now. Most likely, it is because some of the gals have begun their molt. Molting is the yearly bad-haircut-grow-out phase of chicken adulthood. In years past, the gals have left it 'til much later in the season, counter-intuitively commencing their feather loss just when the temperatures take their great initial dips. This year, it seems that the hennies & roos are slightly ahead of the game.

The real news for today is the booze. ;) Bill and I did our first racking of this year's ciders. My batch is about 2 gallons of blackberry apple cider, made from the juice of 30 pounds of apples and 6 pounds of wild blackberries, and using a packet of Lalvin V-1116 Montpellier cider yeast. Bill's is  nearer to 3 gallons of all-apple cider, made from 70 pounds worth of homegrown apples, and a packet of Nottingham ale yeast. Both tasted very promising, with mine having a very full body, sort of the cider-y answer to a Merlot, and Bill's being very light and crisp, reminding me a bit of champagne on my tongue.

I can't wait to see how these babies finish out!

*Eggs - 4
*Goats Milk- 1 1/2 quarts

Today's Take - 8/17/12

Well, it seems like our extended, super wet Spring, followed by these past two weeks of miserable heat may have finally paid dividends in the form of a berry landslide.

Today the girls, some friends and I went back to the u-pick blueberry farm just up the street and managed to pick 2 pounds of berries from just 5 or 6 bushes. They were chock full! We'll try to get back and pick a few more once or twice at least before the season wraps up, because at $2.25 per pound for organic, I intend to fill up on berries for eating fresh, making jam and freezing for use in baked goods and breakfasts throughout the next year.

The marionberries and blackberries are also pretty epic this year. Just today I picked a pound of berries from a bush that grows in the chickens' yard. I also got a lot of unwanted attention from the cluckers while picking, and so shared a berry with them for every 4 or so that I picked for myself. They would scramble and race each other to every berry that dropped with the winner then high-tailing it away to a secluded place in which to snarf down their prize. They haven't been waiting on my kindness though - they've been helping themselves to all of the berries that they can reach. You can definitely tell how high they are able to jump, based upon the total absence of berries below about 18 inches off of the ground. ;)

As much as I whine and complain about this crazy weather, I sure am thankful that it has provided us with so much beautiful food.

P.S. - The apple trees and pear tree are loaded too! YAY!

*Goat Milk - 1/2 gallon
*Eggs - 15!
*Marionberries/blackberries - 1 pound
*Blueberries (u-pick) - 2 pounds
*Garlic (from Lisa) - 28 heads!
*Potatoes, squash, basil & beans (also from Lisa) - Lots!

Today's Take - 8/12/12

If you count the blueberries from the organic u-pick berry farm down the road, today's take has berry buttermilk waffles written all over it. :)

*Goats milk - 1/2 gallon
*Eggs - 9
*Blueberries - 1 pound, 6 ounces
*Wild blackberries - 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