December 2009

I added six Muscovy ducks this month—one drake and five ducks. They're hanging out with the chickens until I figure out their shelter needs. Three of the ducks put themselves to bed each evening in the chicken house, but the drake and remaining two ducks head for the pond at sundown. They show up for breakfast each morning in the chicken yard. Watching them swim in the big pond is a treat, joyously splashing and playing like children.

King of Hearts went back to his farm at the beginning of December. He lost his "goaty" smell after several weeks here. Male goats have some interesting habits, such as encrusting their head in urine, curling the lower lip and sticking out the tongue. Apparently, this is VERY attractive to female goats. I don't get it.

Strawberry plants are blooming in the hoophouse, in spite of recent temps in the low 20s. Collards, Swiss chard, spinach, turnips, radish, beets and several lettuce varieties continue to do well.

November 2009

More berry plants went in this month in raised beds—gooseberry and elderberry join blackberry, raspberry, strawberries and blueberries in the orchard. Garlic is planted, a little later than last year, but rain kept me from working the ground. I'm using my own seed grown from this year's crop.

I've put up a shelter to store hay and straw until I can get a barn built. The pastures need a lot of work next year to improve grazing for the animals.

October 2009

Milk and egg production has slowed down with October's arrival, along with cooler temperatures and fewer daylight hours. This means less time to get things done on the farm, and I'm finding most of my evenings after work go towards animal chores, making weekends even more precious. This month will be devoted to preparing for the winter ahead -- winterizing animal shelters, tending the hoophouse garden, and making sure the goats will be back in milk come spring.

King of Hearts, a Nubian buck from Humbug Farm, will spend the month here at Argosy. Hopefully I'll have goat kidlings come Spring.

September 2009

The raised beds are finished in the hoophouse and the plants are thriving: lettuce, collards, swiss chard and some volunteers that popped up on their own -- tomatoes and cucumbers. I've left them to grow, hoping they'll make some progress before the cold weather sets in. Two sets of paved walkways, separating the three raised beds, are nearly finished, leaving the other half of the hoophouse to complete. In this next phase I'll build potting tables, provide an area for potting soil and organic amendments, and access to water -- when I find some extra time. I also put in blackberry and raspberry beds in the orchard.

The goats are now registered with the American Dairy Goat Association (ADGA).

August 2009

This year, like last, August was a complete blur. Most of my time was spent harvesting, canning, freezing or drying produce. It's a real challenge to keep up with both garden chores AND animal chores.

One of my hens hatched another chick, bringing the total born at Argosy this summer to four.

July 2009

We finally found some time to open the bee hives and harvest some honey, after ordering an extractor from Brushy Mountain. A great discovery—the bees will clean all the excess honey residue off the extractor, if the equipment is left outside. Wish we could let them loose in the kitchen.

The pace has picked up in the garden with weeding, watering, picking and processing taking more of our time. See the garden slideshow.

June 2009

Ursa, a Great Pyrenees puppy, arrived at the farm this month. She'll serve as livestock guardian once I've completed her training. For now, she's a white fluffy ball of energy, intent on chasing the goat kids, turkeys and chickens.

Goats turn out to be pretty cool. Not only do they provide milk, but they also work as a land-clearing crew, eating up briars and poison ivy. Electric net fencing allows me to move their pasture around once a week, opening up new territory for them and gradually clearing land. I'm building a milking shed on skids which will enable me to move it as needed. And I built a milk stand using a plan from Fias Co Farm. See the milk house slideshow.

The 14 young pullets purchased in February started laying eggs this month, bringing the hen population up to 24. I have way too many roosters though, so I'll soon be processing a few of them to bring peace to the barnyard and food to the table.

In the garden, green beans are coming in great batches, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and squash are ready, while sunflowers and other cut flowers provide a beautiful backdrop to the garden. The carrots, peas and Swiss chard are ignoring the hot weather. The young blueberry plants produced a handful of berries. Strawberries haven't been very prolific. Yukon Gold potatoes are delicious and the little French fingerlings were a good choice. I also harvested the garlic crop this month. I set aside the largest bulbs to use as seed in the fall and it looks like I'll have plenty to sell after the curing process is complete.

After trying several soft goat cheeses, I finally ordered a cheese press and made the first one-pound wheel of cheddar cheese, coated in red wax. The aging time on this recipe is just a month, so I'll have my first slice come August.

Flies have been unrelenting this month, with my Jersey cow Isabelle taking the brunt of the assault. I talked to several local feed stores looking for an organic solution, but as in many areas of our society, the "easy" answer always involves some kind of potent chemical. Do you really want to drink milk or eat meat from an animal regularly drenched in poison? I finally found an herbal mixture that, when sprayed or rubbed on her coat, offers some temporary relief, when combined with a fly mask made for horses. She does present a strange sight though, standing in the pasture.