May 2009

Argosy Farm had it's first birth this month. One of my Key West hens went broody and, after diligently sitting on one egg for three weeks, hatched out a little chick. Wish now that I'd had more faith in her ability as I would have slid more eggs under her.

The garden is progressing and is well-planted with a much wider variety of vegetables than I had the previous year. It was a challenge getting everything into the ground on schedule. Seedlings did well in the hoop house, strawberries are producing, and looks like I may have some fruit developing on the fig tree. Spinach, lettuce and mustard greens are still looking good, but as the days heat up I'll see those vegetables slow down just as the beans, corn, tomatoes and other vegetables hit their stride.

I built housing and fenced a paddock for three goats that arrived from Humbug Farm this month. Emmy and Jalapeña are Nubians, and Heidi is a Nubian/Saanen mix. I'm getting milk from Heidi and Emmy so I'm now working my way through Ricki Carroll's book Home Cheese Making. So far, I've tried easy queso fresco, a quick farm cheese and yogurt. Chocolate goats milk is also pretty good and it makes excellent ice cream.


A week after the first goats arrived, I added two-month old Nubian twins, Zora and Zada. The older goats aren't too thrilled with the new additions.

And to round out the month, we added a handful of Red Bourbon turkey chicks, a heritage breed.