having fun with the goats

Zolena (aka Zoie)  loves to clown around, here she is asking for grain.  Goats are all about fun and good food, they keep us all smiling with their charm and humor. 

Jersey is a total sweetheart, she will always be the one hanging around the most for attention.  Jarin calls her glamour girl because she is such a beautiful, girly goat.

Stormy flying through the air, he loves to climb the rocks and does the most amazing leaps off of them,

the higher they are the better the ariel stunt.

Running and leaping and off to play in the meadow.

6am call

I got up this morning a little before 6am and started a fire.   As soon as I was done the phone rang, it was the Post Office saying my package of chicks had come in.  I said, "I'll be right there!"  I got the kids up, made a quick cup of tea to go, and jumped in the car.  It takes me a little less than 20 minutes to get down our hill, through the valley, and into town.  I made it back in time for us to have a peek inside the box, then I ran the older kids to the bus stop.

10 days ago, I ordered 25 jumbo Cornish cross chicks from McMurray hatchery.  We've never ordered chicks through the mail, so this was a fun new experience.  In my order they also included an extra freebie, "a special rare chicken".  We'll let it grow and feather out, then it will join the laying flock,  and wait to see what kind of surprise chicken we got.  They also included 3 extra chicks, possibly in case a few died in transport.  Well, I'm happy to say they're all alive and thriving.

Kaley is the next to wake up, I take her to the bus stop an hour later at 8am.  Here she is holding one of the babies as we all sit by the warm fire.  We know these are meat birds, I told her that they're really only bred to grow and get big for a certain amount of time, like 8-10 weeks.   This will be our first batch of chickens that we are specifically raising for meat, 28 chickens will be ready right around Thanksgiving time.   I will raise them with the best life I can give them, and as we sustain them now, they will sustain us.  I am going to love going into winter with a freezer full of the best homegrown chicken. 

You can see my surprise chicken is the only black one in the bunch.

A curious thing

Joon our black nigerian dwarf goat is getting white spots all over!  She's 2 and a half years old, and I think she's always been solid black, until now, you can see a few spots in this picture, but up close, she's getting them all over.  I'm not sure what's causing it, but we're kind of watching her new look unfold as more and more appear.  

She seems healthy and is eating alfalfa hay, some grass hay, and lots of salmon berry greens.  I give her dry cob at feedings, with a sprinkling of black sunflower seeds, along with a handful of alfalfa pellets.  All the goats have loose minerals to eat any time they want to. I'm milking her once a day and have been for the last couple months, she seems happy and frisky.  We're planning to have her bred the first part of October for kids to be due next March.  It will be interesting to see if her spots stay or disappear. 

meet the new rabbits

Meet our newest Champagne d' argent buck, his name is Filbert (in light of a Filbert tree I planted in front of the rabbit cages several years ago).  Can you tell how curious he is?  I had no idea that a rabbit could be so friendly and funny, he runs to the entrance when I open his cage, and says hi, he loves to be pet and talked to, he likes fresh sticks to chew, and loves alfalfa and dry cob (corn, oats and barley).  He is 13 weeks old,  pedigreed, and will be a fine breeding buck here at Applegarth.  In the picture below you can see he still hasn't gotten all his silvering that comes with maturity.  When Champagne d' argents are born, they're all black, they turn silver as they age.

Pictured below is our newest rabbit, an 11 week old American Chinchilla doe.  She's roomed next door to Filbert and they seem to like each other.

Here's a little history on the breed.

The American Chinchilla rabbit was created in the 1920s using Standard Chinchilla rabbits and breeding them for larger size. This was to create a rabbit with a larger pelt and bigger body for meat.  It was one of the more highly paid for pelts at the height of the fur industry.

Originally, it was known as the American Heavyweight Chinchilla, it is one of the few rabbits that is truly unique to the United States. Now it is one of the Rare Breed Rabbits, seriously threatened with extinction. The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy has listed this breeds' condition as Critical, and they are encouraging more people to raise this fine breed of  rabbit as a heritage animal.

This is my first American Chinchilla rabbit, she is unbelievably soft, her fur is exquisite, plus she's a real sweetheart, and loves attention.  These are the two breeds I'm going to focus on, the Chamgagne d' argents and the American Chinchilla's.

Fall bounty ~ Gathering Hazelnuts and Filberts

Hazelnut trees can be found all over our Northwest woodlands and the hedgerows of older farms, they are our native species of nut.  Through  the centuries these nuts have supplied so much more than just food for settlers and natives. They have long been associated with wisdom, even magic, and everything from witches' wands, to royal sceptres and water dowsing rods were made from their precious and pliable wood.

The common wild hazel grows in abundance all over the Northwest, and seeking out its nuts is one of the easiest foraging jobs, (alongside blackberrying, which you can often do at the same time). Fresh, green hazelnuts are crisp, and slightly sweet, an utter delight when compared to the dried store bought ones.

Right now is the time to harvest as the nuts are falling from the trees, you will have to be quick to beat the squirrels.  When you know what a hazelnut tree looks like, you will see them everywhere.  Last week I went hazelnut and filbert picking next to where I work, these are the pictures of the trees I picked from and the nuts once I shelled them.  

I don't know how old these trees are, but they're probably around 50 years old, they bear loads of nuts that were dropping everywhere as I picked them off the ground.  When you stand below an old hazelnut tree, you feel small as they tower overhead, cathedral-like in their magnificence.

Below is a picture of what the nuts look like growing on a branch.

Pictured are both filberts, the longer pecan looking ones,

and hazelnuts the traditional round cobby ones.

If you don't have time to gather your own hazelnuts at this time of year, you will find them in farmers' markets where they sell commercially cultivated nuts. They're bigger than wild hazelnuts, but just as delicious when very fresh, check the frilly casing that it's not too dried out.

Along with hazelnuts, there are also filberts, the difference between the two is that hazelnuts are round with short, frilly husks that expose the end of the nut, while filberts are longer, thinner and covered by their husks – their name comes from St Philbert's Day on August 22nd, the date when hazelnuts are supposed to start ripening. .

Once you've eaten your fill of fresh hazelnuts, dry any you have left over. Store in a dry, airy room or shed in shallow layers in slatted boxes, or hang them up in mesh bags. Turn them regularly, or give the bag a shake, to ensure they're drying evenly and, once dry, remove the husks and store in a cool, dry place. And then you'll have hazelnuts!

Dried hazelnuts and filberts are a great addition to all kinds of dishes – toasting brings out their yummy flavours. Whole or chopped, they add crunch to autumn salads and stuffing's; ground, they're very good in biscuits and cakes, particularly when paired with chocolate.  I definitely have squirrel-like tendencies this time of year as I harvest and stash in preparation for winter's cold. 

back into a good routine

Finally I feel like nesting and cooking and cleaning, it's not that I haven't been cooking or cleaning, it's just that now I have more time to devote to it.  This whole last month has been beautiful and sunny, and I've been outside both working at the nursery on weekends, and working on our growing farm.  Now that the kids are back in school as of last Thursday, and husband is leaving for work early, I have some much needed time to work on things.  I have missed looking at other blogs and writing in mine.  The tiny bit of computer time that I've had, has been spent checking my email in the evening and that's about it. 

If you've been following this blog, I just wanted to say hello, and let you know I didn't intend to be gone so long,  guess I just needed a break and didn't realize it.  I'm feeling inspired, and have even spent some time catching up on other blogs I follow.  I should know by now that Fall is always the time of year I begin to feel more creative.

Many things need my attention right now, especially my house. I have painting to do before the weather turns cold and wet, and cleaning and organizing that need to been done, kind of like Spring cleaning, only in the Fall.  I'm harvesting crops today as tonight is a harvest moon, picking the rest of my green cabbages for sauerkraut and kimchee. And this morning I picked a giant zucchini, that grew out of control over our hot weekend, I'll make a couple of zucchini breads.  There are black berries and filberts to harvest and greens to continue to sow.  The garden has taken off with all the gorgeous weather, we are still picking strawberries, aronia berries, carrots, beets, onions, broccoli, kale, lettuce, potatoes and turnips. The pickling cucumbers are almost ready to harvest, and the delicata squash is growing like crazy.  The vegetable garden is the best this time of year, in September it shines.

In the rabbitry I have a new 9 week old American Chinchilla coming tomorrow.  I decided to go with American Chinchilla's instead of Silver Fox's after seeing them at the fair this year.  About a week ago we sold Peppermint our Angora rabbit, a real nice lady came all the way from the San Juan Islands to buy her,  she is going to be bred and will use their fiber.  Several weeks ago I also rescued 2 rabbits from a house near my work, some people moved and left them.  The 2 rabbits looked awful and I've been watching them come back to health with good food and care.  Pictures will be coming soon.  I am planning to just stick with the 2 breeds for now, the Champagne d'Argents and the American Chinchilla's, both are meat and fur breeds in the 9-12lb range.

The goats are doing great, I'm still milking both Joon and Zolena, and get about a gallon a day, between the 2.  We've been drinking it, baking with it, and making yogurt.  I've also been in contact with our Nubian's breeder to discuss a good buck to breed Jersey to, as we're getting close to that time.  Our newest baby goat Snowdrop is still too young to leave her mother, but we're looking forward to her coming here around early October.   Fencing is my next big expense, as I want to increase their paddock size considerably.  About a week ago, we laid out the corner posts for the new goat barn... patience!

I'm still working weekends, but that will wind down around the end of October, and then won't start up again until the first of April, the nursery business is seasonal around here.  So all through the dark and cold winter you'll probably find me here writing more.  I'm planning to make soap in a couple weeks, and will use the goat's milk.  I'm also planning to make a variety of cheeses, and breads, and will write about both.  Jarin has  resumed building the cabin, so some new pictures will be coming of the progress there too.

Here at Applegarth farm, we have been working at getting more self sufficient than ever these last 10 years, starting with gardens, then bees, fruit trees, rabbits, chickens, and now goats.  I can finally tell you, our land and animals are sustaining us, as well as we are sustaining them.  It is one of the best feelings I've ever felt, to eat everyday the freshest food, that we've grown, planted, harvested, and milked.  To start a fire and heat and cook with wood we've cut, chopped and stacked. With small steps you can look back in time and see how far you come over the years.   Day by day the choices we make determine our future.

late summer; kids, gardens, the fair, and goats

We've been having the most incredibly beautiful, warm, sunny, summertime, weather.  I've been outside as much as I can soaking it all up.  Can you believe I even ate a ripe tomato off of one of my plants that I started by seed, a big deal for me, since it's the first one in 2 years.  Last year none of my tomatoes ripened it was so cold. Every few days I've been watering, and my squashes will be ready to begin picking any day, I have Sunburst patty pan, Zuccini, Rhonde de nice, and Delicata squashes I planted, the pickles are ripening and the basil is growing.

Today I was outside picking the last of the black currents and gooseberries, I've been freezing most of the berries I pick, and when the kids go back to school, I'll make the preserves and jams.  I also harvested 5 large cabbages today and will make the first batch of sauerkraut, I still have many more to harvest, and will turn most of it into sauerkraut and kimchee.  I like fresh cabbage this time of year to make coleslaw, and to put in soups and salads, and we've been eating lots of broccoli, kohlrabi and kale.  This is our most abundant time of year,  we have been eating from the garden almost everyday for most of the summer, but now more than ever, plus we'll have many things that will go all the way to late October.

It's that time of year again, that we've been school shopping for the kids and getting them all ready to go back to school.  They've been having fun this summer just hanging out being kids, and now it's almost time to get back into the school routine.  We're planning to go to the river a couple times in the next week to swim and pick blackberries, by the end of August the river slows down and is safe for the kids to swim and play in it.  This time of year they're all wondering who their teachers will be and who will be in their classes. 

We went to the Evergreen State Fair on Thursday, which lucky for us is right in our own town.  This is truly a country fair, with lots of horse events, logging, rides, and local judging of jams, baking, produce, artisan brews, quilts, paintings, photos and lots more.  It was fun to walk around and see all the animals, crafts and booths that were set up, the local granges set up the most amazing displays of garden produce and canning that you can imagine.  Of course I had to go look at the goats, and rabbits, and I thought our goats were more beautiful than any I saw there, not that I'm prejudice or anything.  We also watched a couple of the 4h goat shows. Then Tessa and Jarin watched the bubble gum blowing contest while Kaley and I ran around looking at the baked goods on display and some of the booths.  We found her a beautiful aquamarine ring that fit her little finger, it will be a nice ring for her to remember summer and the fair, as she looks at it during school hours.

The goats have a happy routine they seem to like.  Milking is going well and we have settled into a comfortable rhythm.  I love that every time I go out to visit the goats or chickens, I'm bringing back armloads of the freshest milk and eggs.  I have been drinking more milk than ever, I think we all have, it's that good! The yogurt is also delicious, it's light, tart and tangy, and with a little honey is just right.  The goats have won over the hearts of everyone, they are so lovable and call out for attention.  We also try to give them one or two walks with us everyday, and they run as fast as they can and leap and play.  It puts a smile on my face to watch their exuberance and happiness.

We've been discussing plans for the new goat barn, what it will need, a milking room with power and hot water, a feed room to store hay and grain, and 4 stalls... might as well put the dream out there.  We are planning to go look at a couple goat farms that have had goats for 20 to 30 years, and we'll see how they're set up after living with goats for so many years.  They are the farms where Jersey and Zolena came from, both are farms with many years of raising goats. 

The chickens are all thriving, we have Henrietta and the Cuckoo Maran sitting broody again, this will be their Fall chicks, they began sitting about 10 days ago.  The older pullets are getting big and looking like small chickens, I still can't tell which will turn into roosters yet.  The smalls chicks are growing and their mom is back on the perch and is letting her chicks sleep by Henrietta since she's sitting broody, she even lets them come sit near her at night.  In rabbit news, I also picked up my Champagne d' argent buck last week, he's only 8 weeks old, and is so cute an cuddly, he has one ear that flops to the side that gives him some personality. 

Anyway that's the current update for what's going on around here.  Hope everyone is safe on the East coast with the hurricane beginning to touch down there, I was glad to read the winds have slowed a little.   Good luck, stay safe!

Golden Retrievers ~ Breeding Notes

Timing and patience were required for our first amateur breeding of two young Golden Retrievers. We were both new, the stud owner and myself, and the dogs were new to all this fun courting stuff.  And court they did, Summer was flagging and doing all the things that a brazen flirt would do to attract a males attention.  We spent the first week watching and nothing happened but the courting routine.  We wondered what was wrong.  Ace's owner contacted her breeder and got an encouraging email, he told the method he used, mainly patience and timing.  Later in the heat cycle is better, getting them together with the male from the 12th through 20th day, the last week of their heat cycle.  We persisted, and in the end, they tied on the 14th day of her heat cycle after 6 days together.

We met the owners of the stud we chose Ace about 8 months ago, and in our conversation we talked about our dogs, and found out that she had a gorgeous male golden.  We all went, along with Summer to meet Ace a couple months ago.  We also looked seriously at one other male in our area, and I talked with 5 or 6 breeders in the Seattle area.  In the end we chose him, Ace is a 4 year old blond Golden, the breeder didn't fix Ace because he was too nice of a dog, and he is.  He's handsome and smart, calm and easy going, plus he's well put together and a real gentlemen.   He adored Summer and enjoyed every minute of their 6 days together.  

Dogs are pregnant for 63 days, so the day they bred was last Tuesday August 16th, her due date (if she is pregnant) will be October 18th.  The owners of Ace will get to have pick of the litter for the stud fee, and their neighbor wants to buy one.  We may keep a blond female, but will see when the time comes.

As a young girl we had beautiful English Springer Spaniels, my parents had our female bred twice, it was so much fun to help out with the puppies and watch them grow.  That is my only experience with having new born puppies, so it will be a fun learning experience for all of us this Fall.  Puppies are ready at 8 weeks old, so they'll be ready for new homes around  the middle of December, we'll have Christmas puppies!!  I am going to love taking some fun holiday pictures with them and our family this year. 

Thanks Ace!

vegetable garden

I start my day walking out the door, over the stepping stone rocks, and looking at the entrance to my vegetable garden, on sunny mornings, the sun shines as early as 6am on the garden, and it's a wonderful time to work or walk around looking at all the new growth of each plant.  The garden is fenced with concrete pillars for posts, to add a natural touch of art, there are drilled holes in rocks and placed onto the posts that have a bolt coming out the top.  We have rocks incorporated into many projects, and it's a theme in our architecture.  There are still wooden gates and arbors to be built in the garden, but for now it's safe from the deer, and for that I am grateful.

Once I enter the garden, this is the center path, with strawberries and flowers on the left, the concrete bed is on the right.  Straight ahead on the right are the young fruit tree rootstocks, on the left is the rhubarb, more strawberries, a grape arbor, with 3 grape vines, raspberries, wildflowers, herbs and asparagus.

This is taking a right in the garden after you go around the concrete bed.  There are turnips, raspberries a large elderberry tree and more strawberries.  I've also got some carrots, onions, potatoes and elephant garlic planted.

Kale, garlic, and lettuce

We'll  have plenty of cabbage for fresh eating, both the purple and green variety, 

and lots of danish ballhead cabbage for sauerkraut.

Broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and kohlrabi, all of these love our cool rainy weather.

Purple Kohlrabi is delicious, and does well here.

This is my warm season crops, like cucumber, basil, lichi tomatoes, zuccini, sunburst pattypan squash, and delicata squash.  They are so late this year, I wonder if I'll even get a crop, the warm season stuff goes quite late around here often in October.  More motivation to get my greenhouse set up before next Spring.

My garden is a work in progress, each year I've spent making one big bed, by composting a small mountain right in the middle, and spreading it all over.  I bring in wheelbarrow loads of rabbit and chicken manure from cleanings, also weeds, kitchen scraps, wood ashes, straw, leaves, and coffee grounds.  Compost can just be made that easily, be sure to watch your brown and green ratio, and let sun, rain, and time do the rest.

Once the big beds were made, I then create a small path down the middle, and have square or rectangular beds, that are set up permanently so they are never walked on, and can be reached to maintain. 

Currently the first of August, I've just planted more greens, and will also plant more carrots, radishes, and kale.  Weeding is always a job that needs to be done, and some paths still need shade cloth and wood chips spread on them, I need to spread compost on more of the beds, and harvest some root crops, then there's successive sowing of greens and radishes, I always have a long to do list for the garden during the growing season.  Then there comes a point, usually in the early Fall, when everything seems perfect and the harvest is at it's peak, I will take a break working on the outside, and really go into high gear putting food away for the winter through canning, freezing and drying. 

We're in the middle of our summer, and this last week was our first solid week of sun we've had almost all season.  We've had so much rain and cool weather, the sun felt so good to all of us.  I hope you're enjoying your summer as much as we are. 

milking goats

Kaley loves to help me with the goats, she milks Joon our little Nigerian Dwarf, and I milk Zolena our Lamancha.  New routines have been established since the goats arrived, feeding, milking and tending to them takes time in the morning and evening.   Sometimes it means milking a little earlier or later than my ideal 7am, and 7pm milking times.  Goats like routine, with regular feeding and milking schedules, it takes me 45 minutes to an hour in the morning and evening to milk and feed everyone. 

I am so  thankful for the goats, and am happy every time I get to milk them, it has been a dream of mine for many years to have dairy goats.  Finally, I'm at a stage in my life where I can truly appreciate all the home made dairy products and their value and nutrition for our family.  Now, in the early mornings and evenings as I walk across our field toward their barn and paddock area and hear them calling to me, it takes me back in time, to a farm wife, and a part time dairy maid, where there were few cares in the world other than the closest people and animals of home.  I feel like I'm right where I'm supposed to be in life. 

 Zolena is our main milker, she's a Lamancha dairy goat and she gives almost a gallon of milk per day. Plus she's super sweet, and lucky for me the milk stand and all her milk supplies came with her. 

The first day my Lamancha doe came here, I christened her new name to be Zolena, she was called Ace.  I didn't want to call her Ace, so named her from a character in the Jean Auel Mother Earth Series, the head Zelandonii's name was Zolena, she represented the Earth Mother.  So in the end after much thinking about different names, the original name Zolena it is.

I have 3 stainless steel buckets and a strainer I carry out to the milking, along with a towel and tupperware full of hot sanitary water.  The biggest bucket has ice water in the bottom third, the second smaller bucket sits inside the biggest bucket, and the strainer sits on top.  I milk into the smallest bucket and pour 5 or 6 times throughout milking in through the strainer and into the chilled bucket.  By the time I carry it into the house a half hour later, the milk is cold, I then pour it through another filter one more time and pour into jars to put in the freezer for a couple hours, once it's real chilled, I refrigerate it.  It is so fresh and delicious, I never used to drink as much milk from the store because I knew it wasn't so good for me, now we're all drinking a glass everyday.

All the goats like to watch the milking ritual, and see if there are any goodies in it for them.

The reason we do it all, fresh goats milk...the best!

berries in the garden

 The red currents are ready to harvest in my garden, I'll make jelly with both the red and black currents. 

A yearly ritual on our farm is to make some black current juice at harvest time, it's a delicacy that only happens once a year, and is a highly nutritious energy drink.

We are in our abundant time of harvest, so many berries are ripening and need to be picked and processed.

Hinnomaki Red gooseberry bush, ready to harvest, I have 3 varieties of gooseberry, and love the taste of them all.  The skin is tart and the inside sweet. We're still getting a smallish harvest and may just eat out of hand this year. They are delicious cut up in salads too.

Above is an Autumn Brilliance service berry, there won't be enough berries this year to do very much with, so I'll most likely use them in a small pint of juice.

I have 2 different types of strawberry bushes, Benton is a June bearing strawberry, that starts getting ripe around mid July.  With Benton, we have have 3 to 4 weeks of strawberry abundance, not a day goes by that we're not out there picking.   The other variety I have is Tri-Star, an everberring type, that will go on after the July harvest, and then produce the rest of the way through summer and Fall and to the first frost.

We have many bushes of raspberries that I've been spreading throughout the garden over the years.  They are finally getting big enough for a great harvest.  The blueberries won't be ripe until the end of the month, we're higher up than the valley, so most things ripen two or three weeks later.  We usually have blueberries in late August, September and October. We have 15 blueberry bushes, 9 of the bushes are very old, that I  have spent 5 years bringing back into good production.  Some are early, mid and late blueberries, so we have them all the way to the first frost.

I'm also growing a few other berries, Aronia, Pinapple strawberry, and several more varieties of gooseberries and service berry bushes.  I took cuttings in the Spring, and will multiply the berry bushes through propagation, that way we'll have more plants to get a good harvest from each berry variety. 

Berry bushes take a couple years to get into great production, but they will still produce a little even the first year, more the second year, and the third year on you will have a good harvest.  They should be one of the first fruits planted on a new homestead.  Be sure to add some compost every year, and  protect them from the deer, and you will have years of fresh organic fruit to eat, can and freeze.

Is this really all for us?

Long before the goats ever came here, we were getting ready for them, the fencing was a big job.  Here are the goats looking out over their new pasture.  They are more deer-like in what they eat, and are browsers more than grazers, they love to eat salmon berry and blackberry bushes.  The pasture is meadow and forest with salmon berry and blackberry bushes edging almost the entire pasture.

Jersey has won over everyone's heart,

she will just come and stand beside us to be loved, scratched and petted

Looking the other direction of the pasture.

My new Lucky Star Lamancha saying "thanks Mom"

She is sweet and beautiful, and produces a gallon of  the most delicious milk a day,

I never thought I'd own a Lamancha,

 now I'm so glad I do. Her little ears are called elf ears.

Joon bug is such a sweetheart,

she stands perfectly still on the milk stand, and let's little Kaley milk her twice a day.

She likes having new friends to share her pasture with.