Farm Friday

Last Saturday we ended up going to the farmers’ market after all, but it was a very slow day. Since we were still waiting for our fall crops to come in and our summer crops were going away, we took the week off from deliveries. That’s not to say that we took the week off. Here’s a few highlights from the week:

We picked up our GMO-free, soy-free pig and chicken feed from Sunrise Farms, a good 2 ½ hours from our house.

We also stopped at Edible Landscaping, which was just a couple of miles off our route, to get another fruit tree. We ended up leaving empty handed but I did try an Asian persimmon off of the many persimmon trees that grow on the property. It was so delicious that I decided to save the seeds to try my hand at growing some next spring.

We got a call from Bon Appetit Management Company, letting us know that we did not get the grant, which was nice that they didn’t just send an email. While we were somewhat disappointed, we knew all along that it was a long shot. Besides, the entire process connected us with a food service organization with an ethic that matches our own and we got some good publicity.

My senior girl Dixie (16 year old cat) ended up having surgery – three teeth were extracted. She had serious inflammation of her gums a few weeks ago and an antibiotic shot helped some but then it came back with a vengeance. She’s slowly recovering and it pains me to see her not at her best.

Speaking of pets, Ginny is doing fantastic on her whole food diet and I have become a slave to her, spending hours processing our “seconds” (produce we can’t sell and have too much to consume ourselves) into nutritious food that I’m putting in the freezer for the coming months.

We’ve had more mushrooms. Not only are some of our shiitakes coming in but we’ve found yet another chicken of the woods (2 pounds!) and the chanterelle patch is getting ready to take off. The mushrooms love this fall weather.

We've harvested sweet potatoes over the last two days, with Bill digging them up and me helping to sort and pack them up to put into the basement for curing. We've already had customers asking about them.

Yesterday we sold 10 of our goats. They were all girls that we were fond of but our herd has gotten too big. The good news is that the went to a family farm where they will be loved and appreciated. Here's Bill rounding them up - see the girls following in the distance?

Have a great week!