Missing Willow Farm

Thanksgiving is four months away and our turkeys are already huge.   Dang it, we started too early.  We”ll either have humongous birds in November or will have birds available early.  These things have been a bit of trouble for us this year and eat a LOT.  I think we’ll probably just grow our own holiday birds from here on out.  We’ll find something else to experiment with next year.

Actually, both of them!  That’s a gorgeous brandywine tomato and our very first canteloupe of the season.  It’s a small variety, like single serving sized.  We’re also harvesting okra.  The seeds were a gift.  I am thinking we’ll fry some of it and I’ll make a batch of gumbo.  Mmmm… gumbo!

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That’s Kat on the left side of the flock photo, with one of her boys standing behind her looking at the camera (the other one was off cavorting somewhere).  It’s hard to believe he was born just five months ago!

Tomatoes are just coming in for some folks around here but, since we start early, it’s time for us to harvest seeds.  If you want to save seeds, it’s important to select only heirloom tomatoes.  You shouldn’t save seed from hybrid vegetables because they won’t produce true in the next generation.   I’ve started the process by selecting only the best specimens and letting them get overripe.   I’ll post some more photos of the process when we’re all done.

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It’s hard to believe our lambs were born just a few months ago.  There’s one little one we’re still able to catch and annoy pet.

Nugget, our little Sebring banty chicken gave us about a half dozen eggs this year then stopped laying.  She didn’t, however, stop sitting.  She parks herself in our kitty litter/laying box and refuses to move… even when someone who actually is contributing to my egg carton shows up.  As soon as Columbia, one of our Rhode Island Reds lays her giant brown egg, Nugget will settle in on it and wait for it to hatch.  Since we kicked our mean roosters out of the barn, that won’t be happening.  I’ve found her on as many as four eggs.  When the Americaunas start laying, she’ll have to flatten herself out even bigger to keep them all warm until we can gather them.

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Jenna helped us dig fingerling potatoes in the garden this morning.  This is also known as napping under foot/getting in the way.  🙂

Purchased as females, three of the eight chicks we purchased in February ended up being roosters.   Boo!  We kicked them out of the hen house when we discovered one of our hens hiding and almost pecked to death.  We dressed her wounds and gave her a shot of penicillin (we guessed on the dosage!) and she’s doing much better.  They free range, but never far from the ladies.  We hear roosters in the distance from a neighbor’s farm and now have our own crowing here at home.  For now…

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Our Jenna  lives to boss around our sheep.  And chase her wubba.  And ride in the Mule.  I give her treats and let her out in the morning and invite her to ride in the Mule instead of running behind it.  I love her and she loves my husband.   It’s like he makes the moon rise.  She watches his every move, greets him with a toy, and gives him her very best behavior.  sigh.   No fair!

Certified by the Guinness World Records organization in 2007 as the hottest pepper in the world, the Bhut Jolokia (aka Ghost Pepper) rates at 1,067,286 units on the Scoville scale.  It has since been replaced as the world’s hottest, but let me tell you I wouldn’t want to try anything hotter!  We received a seed last July to grow our own.  That is very late in the season for starting peppers but gave it a try anyways.  The seed ‘took’ and we overwintered the plant under lights in our dining room.  It has taken off like crazy!  I’ve only used a few so far, in jars of homemade dill pickles to add some heat.  I bet those are gonna be amazing.  I plan to dry them for pepper flakes, freeze a few and save some seeds for next year.  I’ve pickled peppers before and we usually don’t end up eating them so don’t want to do that.  Any other suggestions?