Tuesday, June 7, 2011 By: seasonsofgrowth

long awaited update.

Hello friends.
About time you say???? I apologize for the delay in bringing you this update. A few computer difficulties but we are back up and running for the moment.
So much has happened since we've last written. Erik and I made a huge leap and decided to buy three goat kids. One, Ruby is a LaMancha milking goat. We eventually will breed her and have more babies and then start milking her. It will be around a year from now before we can do that. The other two, Billy and Molly, are meat goats although I think there is not a chance in the world I could ever eat either of them. Way too cute! I think You'll agree! They were from a young mom who had triplets. They were smaller and got put on a bottle because the mom wasn't producing enough milk for all three babies.

Molly is on the left and Billy on the right. We have to bottle feed all three of them every day. twice a day. We will prolly start weaning Ruby soon. She is a bit older than the others already eats hay, grass and goat feed quite well.
We still have the 6 chickens... But we had to mourn the loss of the three duckies. We found out that the feed that we were using from our chicks (that they told us would be fine for the ducks) was medicated feed and within 3 days our ducklings were belly up. Lesson learned... ducks don't like medicine.

The birds are getting rather large. We have fashioned a home for them in an old water tank we had for horses back in the day. Once we have a home built for the goats we will  repair the chicken coop (which has been used as a temporary home for Ruby, Billy and Molly) and put them in their rightful place.

Erik and I have both started work at a coffee shop in  Sibley, Iowa. The Lantern is about a 25 minute drive from Hospers... I LOVE IT! Making coffee brings joy to my heart. Adam, the shop owner roasts all the coffee in shop and let's just say he knows what he's doing. I have so missed working on a real espresso machine and pulling shots with my own hands. The last two establishments that I worked at used fully automatic espresso machines.... which takes almost every bit of art out of preparing lattes.
I am bound and determined to master getting a rosetta with every cup I pour. I'm getting a few in... but consistency is going to be the trick.

The garden is almost all planted. I think we have just a few things left to put in. We have 8 different types of squash, sweet corn, bush beans, pole beans, sugar peas, snap peas, carrots, cucumbers, lemon cucumbers, 3 types of pumpkins, 3 types of gourds, 4 kinds of melons, red onions, sweet onions, yellow onions, 4 types of tomatoes, 5 kinds of peppers and I'm sure I am forgetting something... but eh... you get the idea. Its pretty much huge!

We've got sprouts coming up from most of the squash. I'm very excited to watch how quickly everything takes off, now that its in the ground and the weather is warm (above 95 yesterday and today)

We've had some time to do some small projects for my mom. Erik helped her spray weeds this weekend, a job put off way too long! We've always wanted to grow morning glories on this fence near our garden... so Erik and I made a flower bed along the edge of it... Planted those morning glories and some four  o'clocks there yesterday. 

I've been enjoying some of the flowers that already have bloomed. The Lilacs. which are all done with... and my Dad's pride and joy...

The man loved his peonies... we have these blooming all along our drive way... conveniently right next to the garden.
Mom, Erik and I have been looking through some books and magazines for good recipes make with our fresh veggies when we get them. We made a gingered spaghetti salad last night with chicken, cucumbers, red and yellow peppers. Absolutely delicious.
I'm gonna end the massive blog and eat some leftovers now!!! Thanks for reading!

J Rae

1 comments:

Cassie said...

Jordan this is so awesome!! Drinking fresh raw goat milk is going to be amazing. I can't wait to read more about your farming adventures. Miss you two!!

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