Up at the crack of dawn for Miss Laverne to get her AI done. She was a pretty good sport about it for the most part but since she is such a big girl it took a bit longer than expected. Grateful for the help from @arizonamobilevet Dr Burrows and his patience with her!
Fingers crossed things will go our way!
Yesterday’s harvest was the last of my purple cabbage, some artichokes, and some kale and chard varieties.
I have a jam packed weekend coming up between workshops, everyday life, and a small side gig help with a friend. So somewhere in between those jobs I will be pickling the cabbage and cooking up my artichokes.
Garden days are the best of days.
Sundays we do chores. Although I have been successfully dodging the dishes because it’s a bleeding nightmare in there. 🫣 My cauliflower is finally almost ready to be harvested! Chamomile blooms are keeping the bees happy. My cilantro is out of control but I love the flowers and the fragrance brings me peace. Spring trees (bananas, figs, orange, & olive) were moved again for optimal sunlight. Piggies got their weekly bale of alfalfa and Jan is still stuck up as ever (unless you have a treat to offer her). Not featured, moving meat birds around, cleaning up their stinky sour brooders, and making sure they have a safe area to keep growing into delicious chicken dinners. We also let some of the goat kids out to gen-pop. The Boss calls them “the orphans” 😂, their moms are still here and alive but they’ve been separated so long he forgot about that. Hope you all had a great weekend too!
I have some extra produce available for anyone in need! This week we’ve had a few donations to our herd. Some of the produce is in great shape and as I am sure our herd will love it, I would also love to know a family who needs their bellies full can come take some for free! PM for pickup.
Iceberg lettuce
Romaine lettuce
Cauliflower
Bell peppers
Celery
Russet potatoes
Lemons
Parsley
Happy Weekend!
Goat kids got some cute new jams to keep warm on this chilly rainy day! They seemed fine, mamas are a bit weirded out. But they still figured out which kids were theirs.
Surprise! Two more goat kids landed this afternoon. Mama Poppy didn’t get the attention she deserved from me as I was pinned in the kitchen making caramel sauce. But she did wonderful bringing in one doeling and one buckling. So 4 goat kids in a little over 24 hours.
The days are never dull around here. And I wouldn’t want it any other way!
Two newest kids on the block! Two cute black and white bucklings born to Chia who is a first time freshner. She did a great job handling birth and so far is showing excellent signs of being a good mama.
Milking time. And as a young Pauly Shore once said, “wheezin da Juuuu-eeewce”.
Having dairy goats is a commitment, but it’s not as scary as you might think. You don’t actually have to wake up before the sunrises to get started. When we had our first goat in milk that’s exactly what I did. And I was constantly exhausted. Then a friend of mine said “milk them when you want to milk them”… what a concept!?!
So I switched up my routine to better fit my day to day. An absolute game changer. I currently have three goats in milk and two more due next month. And milking is all done bu hand.
Right now we get between 1-1.5 gallons of milk per day. To make sure we are using it wisely, we make cheese, caramel sauce, yogurt, I use it in soaps, cooking, and of course we also consume it.
I recently bought a cheese press to start working on some new hard aged cheeses. I am pretty excited about that.
Got goat questions?!? Ask away!
Sundays in the garden. I harvested some kohlrabi’s, romaine lettuce, chard, and some daikon radishes. My poor radishes should have been three times larger but the aphids swept through and ate all the greens. But that’s ok. Leaves me space to get more radishes and beets in. I hope you all are having a relaxing Sunday spent in the sunshine doing things that bring you happiness! ☀️ 🌱
Celebrating year four on the homestead! A lot has changed over this last year and I am very proud of our progress. We currently have 30 laying hens, two roosters, 13 ducks, 20 young chickens (four might be roosters), 47 meat birds, 15 goats, seven pigs, three alpacas, two dogs, and one cat.
The garden is going strong and we have continued to sell out of farm fresh eggs all year long.
This kind of life is busy, chaotic, stressful, exhausting, unpredictable… but it’s so rewarding and fulfilling.
Took this little clip last night when I headed out to do the evening chores.
So cheers 🍻 to four years!
If anyone has spare time, I am bottle feeding three little kids at 8am, 12pm, 4pm, and 8pm. (ISH) I have to milk their mama first thing in the morning and with all the other duties of the day, well it gets tiring. So if anyone wants to swing by and help out at any of those times just walk out to the pasture cause that’s where you’ll find me.
I got two littles on mama while she was on the stand this morning but that certainly was short lived. Dang goats, sometimes they’re just the best and sometimes they’re not!
And just like that, three mama goats and seven kids later. All in less than 24 hours. To say it was a bit chaotic would definitely be an understatement. But we managed. I have been milking one stubborn mama and bottle feeding two of her kids. The one I was pretty worried about has made some progress but also still has a ways to go. Here’s the line up… Sesame had 3 kids, 2 boys Barley & Hops, 1 girl Pumpkin. Next was Willow this morning who had two girls Juniper & Hazel. Then Clover (the OG) had 1 girl Parsley and 1 boy Turmeric who will be referred to as “Ric” and he was a BIG boy. Clover delivered around noon and I watched them both drop. Such a fulfilling experience. So if I smell like goat for the next five days or so, keep yo comments to yo self!
For those of you waiting for a batch of meat birds hit me up! I am getting ready to order and need a final bird count. I will be ordering 20 for our family plus a meat bird workshop. Anyone interested in meat birds processed by me for your freezer need to order now!
My morning haul from the Gilbert Farmers Market! #azlocal30
New bar in the lineup. This is my “dirty hippy” bar. Cedarwood, Patchouli, frankincense, & bergamot. Made with Bentonite clay and cocoa butter.
10 week old kune kune piglets available! Gotta find them new homes. Message me for details.
We’ve got some pure bred Kune Kune piglets available to purchase! For breeders or meat pigs. They are seven weeks come Monday and have already started on grain and alfalfa. 3 girls and 3 castrated males available. But only 5 for sale. Keeping on a male and whatever is that last pick of the litter for our own bacons. Message me for pricing and availability. I can answer any questions you may have about the breed. I absolutely love this breed and raising them.
Rendering a ton of lard today!
Making fresh goat cheese today! Let me know if you want to purchase some.
