Black Walnut Day

Black walnut day in October. 

Rain in peaty browns.

Rivulets on top of leaves. 

Black walnuts, ready.  

Air so cold, 

fingertips feel numb. 

Black walnut day, in October.

Goat Girls Get Ultrasounds (: (Silly, I Know)

If...if you had told me ten years ago that I would one day be calling a vet to come out to the farm and perform ultrasounds on goats...I would have laughed you off the face of this planet. But, that is just what I did this past week. Amelia and Fiona, my two main Nubian milk goats, were starting to come into milk and this during the week they were supposed to leave to be bred! What to do? I couldn't imagine that they would be pregnant (Amelia had triplet boys in March and I separated them at 12 weeks). It was heard of, but not common. Still, I couldn't send them off to be bred 'if' they were pregnant...and they had to be bred on time or there would be no milk in the spring. What to do? Call the vet. Oh, for a picture. I wish I had taken a picture.

Goat, on stanchion, munching her grain. Vet, with ultrasound wand and fluid and little electronic ultrasound box screen....  Did I mention that a goat ultrasound shows much of their goat insides that digest all that hay they eat? Well, there, I did. Anyhow. No goat kids/no secret mystery pregnancies. Breeding continues as planned.

It turns out that milk goats tend to be what is called 'precocious'. That is, they can come into milk, sometimes without even being bred, and produce milk for years this way.

Tomorrow, the two of them will go to visit their gentlemen goats for a few weeks and Mr. S'more will get to visit the Ewe ladies.

Aren't you glad you stopped here to ready today? A little birds and bees blogging. (:

Busy day of apple sales. Very hot here in Michigan for October 8th! 80 degrees. 4 different sets of family friends stopped today to visit, and the phone rang from out of state...all at the very same time.

The moon is shining brightly in the twinkling night sky. The chickens are calling softly out to each other on their perches in the coops. The goats are ruminating.  The children are tucked into bed.

I am tired.

Thanks to everyone who voted for Lesser Farms in the cider contest. We are in 2nd place and it ends tonight. Thank you for taking the time. We appreciate it. Thank you, too, for supporting small family farms. And remember, to try and buy organic food anytime you can. Every little bit helps.

October 3 - More Short Notes

The sun is the protagonist today...playing front and center in the autumn warmth, Indian Summer. Ladybugs are out in droves, landing on arms and face, biting sometimes. It is okay; we soak up the sun while we can.

Two of my does are 'mysteriously' coming into milk...one day before being taken to see the 'gentlemen goats' for breeding /:  Further details as we unravel this, ahem, goat mystery.

My list was excessively long for groceries and errands this morning. I have been holed up selling apples and working here. I didn't make all my stops, but did treat myself to a container of my favorite raw chocolate from Arbor Farms natural foods store in Ann Arbor and managed to procure meat, bread and milk in lieu of the two loaves I baked on Saturday, the steer that is due to be sent to market on Wednesday and the, ahem, goat mystery.

More details to follow on these happenings. (:

PS: Our farm, Lesser Farms & Orchard, has been nominated for the Best Cider Award from Ann Arbor.com! We have until this Friday to garner enough votes to win. If you would like to vote, you can do so at www.annarbor.com/bestof

Thanks so much! We hear from lots of people how they think our cider is the absolute best, but it would be great to win an award to prove it! (:

PPS: For some reason, spellcheck is not working on blogger, so please excuse any typos. (:

Long Shadows - Short on Time

So very busy, this autumn season is. With apples, cider, harvest, school. Too much, really. My writing has been scarce. The words roll around in my mind, waiting for my feet to stop and to be put on paper, or here.

Lack of time is plentiful, and so I will write short notes until my feet can move slower and the world rests for the winter.

October 1, 2011

The sun is more golden this afternoon and I notice the shadows have changed. The leaves on the trees clack with a knowing that frost will soon be here. Birds sing only the necessary songs.

I gathered goldenrod to dye the wool with. Washing wool and finally putting it out in the crisp fall air to dry.

Unloaded a truckload of pumpkins with Amanda and gathered a half bushel of chestnuts with Albert.

The help for the day served themselves from a dish of homemade lasagna and a fresh apple pie.

The chill was unmistakable in the air tonight. Woodsmoke fills the air here and there and it is time to have the woolens out of the drawers.

Picked the leeks from the garden and will make leek potato soup when time allows.

October 2, 2011

Sun is bright and air is windy and crisp. It will be another very busy day. Served fried oatmeal squares with our own maple syrup, strong coffee and cider for everyone to drink (well, not coffee for the children) (:

Back to the apple room, the eggs and making soap.