Harvest Monday

eggplant & jalapeno

Well here I am late again. Just so many things to do and think about around here! This week for once there were no cucuzzi to pick! I think because gourds are night bloomers and pollinated by moths and we've had some cold nights so no insects were around. Which means I'll be pulling things down and revamping that space as soon as I can get to it.

This little pile of pumpkins weighed a lot more than I thought it was going to!

I picked some of the pomegranites.

We're starting to get down to 30-32F early in the morning so next week I'll probably pick the rest of the pomegranites

The new pullets are laying 5-7 eggs a day.

While the garden is not producing a lot there are a few things, along with milk and eggs. I need to get more things planted but having a hard time getting to them because there is so much other work to be done. Many things I couldn't get to when it was so hot and now the days are getting short. I always feel like I'll never get caught up and get things the way they need to be. 

Milk production is down slightly with the shorter days and the girls coming into heat. Bambi has been bred to kid in March so I will dry her off at the end of the year or sooner if need be and milk Esmarelda through, breeding her next fall. I don't need tons of kids or huge amounts of milk

Totals for last week

Pomegranite 2# 8.5 oz

Pumpkins 82# 8.5oz

Milk

Bambi 4 gal, 6.75 pints

Esmarelda  9 gal 5.5 pints

Eggs 46

I didn't weigh the pathetic showing of peppers and eggplants

Thanks for stopping!

Harvest Monday

Welcome to Harvest Monday, a great blog hop hosted by Dave over at Happy Acres And why am I late to the party this week? LoL. Because I am a crazy, stubborn old lady with a one track mind sometimes. 

 

A single yellow zuchinni, Japanese eggplant, Lemon Spice Jalapeno

Really I was getting my act together, had part of this post done, had my little video all uploaded and then forgot all about it while I dealt with all that milk. 

the cucuzzi are still going strong

all the eggs are from the  pullets now

All the older hens have quit laying for the winter but the new pullets are laying well.

goat milk

While milk production is slightly down due to heat cycles it is still a lot.

This weeks totals

cucuzzi 31# 6 oz

eggplant 1# 4.6 oz

eggs 43

milk

Bambi 4 gallons, 2 pints

Esmarelda 7 gallons, 4.5 pints

Thanks for stopping by, be sure to stop over at Happy Acres and see what everyone else is harvesting.

Farmer Friday

Pinto Bean & Bentley

Been another doozy of a week. I had to work my part time job 3 days instead of just 2 so that cut into my project time a lot. Then on Wednesday morning Bean was yelling her head off. Sure enough she was in a full standing heat. Not sure what happened, since I thought she was in heat the week before. However there is such a thing as a short cycle where a doe can come into heat close together. But as far as I know she and Bentley had a successful date and we should have kids in 5 months.

Back side of the big chicken house

I've been working on making repairs to my big chicken house, being very careful looking for the rattlesnake. So far no sign of it. I'll probably do a little video about this and the mistakes I made when I built it. In the meantime there is a page about it here; Big Chicken House

Fresh Goat Milk

In spite of the girls having their heat cycles and our weather being wonky I'm still getting a lot of milk. I did make a couple of batches of cheese.

Death Nap

The first time I found a goat stretched out like this I was panic stricken to say the least. But 'death naps' are a regular occurance.

pomegranite

The little pomegranite tree is almost ready to pick, but a squirrel got one first.

Goat Milk Soap "Orange Coffee"

Goat Milk Soap "Cedar & Sage"

I did get some soap packaged up that was ready so a couple of scents are restocked now. I really need to get more made so I don't run out of anything again but it's hard to do with so much other stuff going on. 

Thanks for stopping by. See you next time.

What Happened to Harvest Monday

Bentley

What happened to my usual Harvest Monday post? Well some crazy stuff happened last week!

It all started on Wednesday when Bambi came into heat and went on a date

This fence is trashed

And it ended with a demolished fence and two bloody bucks. So then I had to spend all my time on Friday securing a different spot for Bentley

 

So I wasn't able to pick any vegetables for Saturday's Farmers Market.

Things are a little bit calmer now, with more distance between the boys and so far no girls have come into heat this week. Kind of holding my breath on that.

Anyhoo Harvest Monday is a great blog hop hosted by Dave over at Happy Acres so hop on over there and see what everyone else was able to harvest!

eggs

goat milk

I did get a total of 50 eggs last week and a combined total of 13 gallons, 5.5 pints of goat milk. Whew, hopefully this week will be better!

Farmer Friday

Bentley

Welcome to Farmer Friday, a recap of the goings on around here. Boy it's been a week and I'm physically exhausted and super stressed out. Miss Bambi came into heat on Wednesday so I took her to have a date with Bentley.

Things weren't going too bad until Bashful tried to get in on the action and Bentley took offence. Bentley proceeded to mangle the cattle panel and weld wire fence in between them.

This cattle panel is trashed

I fixed things up as good as I could and prayed the fence would hold up. It did, just barely. Both boys are bloody, Bashful from breaking his scurs (small bits of horn) off and it looks like Bentley cut open the back of his neck, probably from broken fence wires. So I decided to make a quick hoop shelter up in the hill pen and move Bentley up there, I am hoping that the extra distance between the two boys will help. All of that occupied all of my Friday, I didn't even pick any vegetables for market.

Pinto Bean and Bentley

I had wanted to breed Pinto Bean to Bentley also and it looked like she might be at the very end of her heat cycle so I moved her too. Poor thing didn't have a clue what was going on, although she did stand for him a couple of times that I saw. But after that she just yelled and yelled, wanting to go back to the girls pen. At this point though I'm a bit afraid of letting her out, afraid of what Bentley might do to the fence. Since she's not milking or anything I'm going to leave her in for a bit, to make sure she is bred. And try to figure out what to do next.

Thanks for visiting, hope you have a great week.

Harvest Monday

Fresh Goat Milk

Welcome to Harvest Monday, a blog hop hosted by Dave over at Happy Acres Thanks Dave! Milk is still the most abundant harvest this week with a total of 13 gallons and 7.25 pints. 

Japanese eggplant, Lemon Spice jalapeno

eggplant, Lemon Spice and other peppers

There were some eggplants along with Lemon Spice jalapeno and a couple of other peppers. Totals are down because it's been hot and dry and I just haven't been able to get out and water like they need it.

Cucuzzi

Still lots of cucuzzi and the vines are still going crazy. Some folks at market are adventerous and giving them a try. Leftovers go to a friend with pigs, she says they love them. Just over 6 pounds. I'm wondering if I missed some.

colored eggs

Still just getting about 7-8 eggs a day mostly from the new pullets. Giving serious thought to hatching the bigger blue ones from a couple of Legbar hens. Chicks that hatch now will begin laying in spring and will lay well most of the summer and fall when the older birds quit to molt. I just don't know if I have the time and energy....

Thanks for visiting and be sure to check out what other folks, in other parts of the world are harvesting too.

Farmer Friday

Sunday about 430am

Welcome to Farmer Friday, a recap of the past week. Saturday I went to the Superior, AZ Farmers Market, it was a good day. The weather is still too hot but we were able to be inside in their Chamber of Commerce building. Then Sunday as I was filling the kettle the faucet came off and water was shooting everywhere. But I was able to shut the water off pretty quickly and fixed it later after I did chores.

Fresh Goat Milk

I made cheese a couple of times during the week with the overabundance of milk. Most of it ends up in the freezer which is getting pretty crowded.

I spent about 2 hours on Wednesday morning cleaning up stuff in the driveway. I would really like to be able to drive all the way up to the shed and goat pen to unload feed instead of carrying it all the way up. Not happening any time soon but I'm a little bit closer.

Filling a raised bed

I haulded a lot of mostly finished compost and topped up two raised beds. It's really still too hot to plant most fall crops but I needed to make space in the compost area and I want to be ready as soon as it cools off a bit. I could add shade cloth and sprinkle a lot to get seeds going but really don't have time to babysit things right now.

Then I spent a lot of  Friday morning turning about 2 cubic yards of compost. There is still about that much more to go and then I will have room to muck out the girls pen. I will be really happy when I can get some of the hillsides fenced off for the goats. A lot less pen mucking then!

Nice wrap

I had two .22 rifles, both of which had been having issues. A friend looked at them, used parts from one to fix the other and added a nice wrap to the stock. We went up the creek to check it out. We discovered that some of the ammunition I had was the cause of jamming. It really didn't like a couple of brands at all. So we sorted all of those kinds out of the stash. I should be good now for varmint hunting.

I hope everyone has a great week. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Harvest Monday

More Japanese eggplant & a lone Lemon Spice Jalapeno

Harvest Monday is a lovely blog hop hosted by Dave over at Happy Acres Thanks Dave! Not a lot to harvest this week, some Japanese eggplant, one or two jalapenos, a few other things.

Honeynut squash

Honeynut squash

Most of the Honeynut squash were ready to pick. There are still a few solid green ones out there, I don't know if they will mature properly or not because the vine looks mostly dead. But I was very happy with the ones I got. A few still had green stripes but their skins are hard and their stems are hard and dry so I think they will be fine.

Cucuzzi

More cucuzzi. The vines have gone crazy. I was thinking of beginning to chop them back, thinking it would cool off soon but we are still at the 100+ mark. I have been selling a few of them at market. Of course no one here has ever heard of them so I have to educate them. Many of those that have tried them have been coming back for more, saying they liked them, so I will probably grow some next year, just maybe in a different spot.

Fresh raw goat milk

The goats are doing well. Bambi is still at her steady 6 pints a day. Esmarelda was hitting 12 but then she came into heat which dropped her to about 8 for a couple days. It's coming back up though since her cycle is over. 

chicken eggs

While egg production is no where near what it should be for the number of birds I have, the 7 new girls are now all laying regularly. As soon as the weather cools down I will be reducing the flock quite a bit. There are too many old nonproductive birds out there, they are not even breaking even on their feed bill.

I do have a couple of Legbars which lay blue/green eggs of good size. Those girls are only about 2 years old and they are laying right now. I have been keeping their eggs back because I would like to hatch some. Birds that hatch now will start laying in spring and fall hatched birds tend to be bigger than those raised when it's warmer. They will also lay most of the summer when the older birds quit to molt. I used to do a fall hatch regularly but haven't in a few years. I'm actually not positive I have the time and energy but going to give it a shot. Worst case scenario I get overwhelmed and either find someone to raise the chicks for me or sell them off. Time will tell.

Harvest for the week of September 30th

Eggplant 1# 9 ounces

Cucuzzi 8# 12 ounces

Eggs 46

Milk

Bambi 5 gallons, .5 pint

Esmarelda 9 gallons .75 pint

Harvest Monday

Japanese Eggplant

Welcome to Harvest Monday, a blog hop hosted by Dave over at Happy Acres The summer garden is winding down and the fall garden is not yet started to any degree. It has been too blasted hot. We are back up to 100+ this past week, so I seriously doubt there will be any fall tomatoes other than a few cherry types. The heat is also slowing down bed prep and seeding of fall crops.

Eggplant & Jalapeno

Cucuzzi

There were a few eggplants and jalapenos and a lot of cucuzzi. A lot of my market customers have tried the cucuzzi and have come back for more so I'm happy for that.

The milk explosion continues

Egg production is still low

Esmarelda is still giving me 11-12 pints of milk a day and Bambi is still on her steady 6. The last new pullet has started laying so that makes 7 new steady layers. But most of the old girls quit when it got hot in the summer, then they started molting. Most of them are going to freezer camp as soon as it cools off enough to do that because I'm in the red every month for feed. 

 There are a couple of Legbars laying nice size light blue-green eggs and I'm seriously contemplating hatching chicks from them. Chicks that hatch in the fall tend to start laying in spring and lay well over the summer when the older hens quit and I have the biggest market for eggs. I'm still at war with myself over it though, will I have enough time and energy to raise them well. I don't know, I'm going to think about it some more before I actually do it. And I'm going to check with some 4H families if they'd like to hatch and raise chicks until they are big enough to sex, in exchange for some of them. I would pay for their feed in exchange for their doing the work.

Farmer Friday

Diamondback

Welcome to Farmer Friday, a little recap of my week around here. Last weekend the diamondback rattlesnake was still hanging out in the chicken house. My friend tried to catch it but it got away from her. I have not seen it in about 2-3 days now so not sure where it went.

Esmarelda before milking

The milk explosion continues with Esmarelda now up to 11-12 pints a day in two milkings. I'm just happy she is so good on the stand and is soft and easy to milk.

Pinto Bean

Bambi's daughter Pinto Bean gets a little snack after the milkers are done in the evening. The other night she did not want to get up on the stand and decided to eat her snack like this. She did eventually get all the way up but I was cracking up at her antics.

pumpkins I did not grow

I was gifted a large lot of pumpkins, some of which were a bit moldy and squishy. Those went to the chickens right away and the rest to the kitchen floor to stay coolish. I have been feeding them to the goats and chickens.

eggplant and jalapeno

There were still a fair number of eggplant and a few regular and yellow jalapeno peppers

loofah

There are several good size loofah's out on the trellis

Lemon Spice jalapeno

cuccuzi / cuccza

Not a huge amount of things going on around here this past week,just trying to keep everybody fed and watered. It was cooling off and now it's hot again. Trying to prep for fall plantings in the garden is hard when it's hitting 100+ all the time.

Don't forget to stop back by next week for Harvest Monday!