A much needed update...

Happy New Year to all!!

The posts have been few this winter season. The holidays and an infant have kept us very busy, indeed! So, as I look out the window in our small breakfast nook, I will do my best to bring everything up to speed.

While I sit here typing, I'm eating a most yummy piece of toast. Honey toast. The honey from a local farm up near Canyonville, Oregon. The bees live among dense blackberries, making their honey taste especially yummy. The toast portion, Rhubarb made. Homemade sourdough bread has become his specialty this past month. The sourdough starter has found a loving home on the kitchen counter; fittingly, next to the bread machine. French toast has become a welcome Sunday morning breakfast. Made with a hint of cinnamon, the sourdough bread turns ordinary French toast into perfection!

The chickens have been laying around a dozen eggs a day. Sometimes more. We never find ourselves in need of eggs. Quite the contrary actually.

Rhubarb has been busy putting in the raised beds for the garden this year. According to him, and also in my opinion, ' it's gonna be a killer garden this year'! The garlic has already gone in the ground. I think I'll be making garlic my thing. I love touching it, peeling it, and cooking with it. So I think it and I will be suited for each other! We have also already started some arugula, cilantro, and greens, in the family room, by the big south facing doors. I love arugula! Nothing is better than a handful of arugula on a fried egg sandwich. Try it sometime.

We had a slim rationing of a few beautiful days. I was able to do a fair share of leaf blowing (oak leaves are many around the property), and Rhubarb also managed to get a fair share of the garden work done. A proper start to the New Year!

We're anticipating a very fun filled year. Friends being invited to the farm. A fruitful harvest. New and exciting cannings. Watching the little Murg in the garden. Perhaps some baby goats in a month or two. And maybe even some rabbits for eating. Lapin.

So, if you find yourself in need of some farm fresh, organic, free-range eggs; and are in southern Oregon...stop on by...we have some!

That's as much of an update as I can muster at this time. More soon. With more photos!

~Goonie

Soon to be Halloween!

Halloween is just around the corner! More photos of the farm soon to come! I've realized that I can finally mow again...a sweet form of zen for me. And, I can also weed-eat with the weed whacker if I so choose. How I do love to neaten up and tidy outside. I was avoiding power tools while I was prego...but now...I can just dig in. With her on my back, in a sling, possibly. :) I'll also be setting up an archery range, where I hopefully won't lose too many arrows. I'm 9 months out of practice after all. :)

Baby's first Halloween costume is in the works, and the Autumn-ization of the front porch is also in full effect. Rhubarb will be master of the jack-o-lanterns this year. Plotting has already begun. My pumpkin carvings are always sadly rudimentary smiley faces. And I lose patience with the whole process rather quickly...and am more in favor of pumpkin loaf or pumpkin muffins as opposed to carving. One does need to sustain the carvers with adequate baked goods. :)

The garden has gotten many loads of sandy loam from the nearby pond, and raised beds are being constructed. We will NOT have 70 tomato plants next year.

The chickens are not yet producing eggs. They've been with us since April, and need to start earning their keep. :)

We'll be heading over to the coast soon to pick Chantrelles. Mushies!!!

Shmoagy has healed up very nicely since his car accident...or incident I should say. His leg doesn't really quite work the same as it did before, but he manages quite nicely. And yes...I did use the word QUITE quite a bit in this last paragraph. Quite!

If I don't post sooner...Happy Halloween to all...and Happy Birthday to a certain someone. :)


Goonie

THE HARVEST!!

A sampling of this year's harvest.

Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Eggplant
Peppers
Winter Squash
Miss Daphne :)

...some easier to harvest than others :)

The Goonie-Rhubarb Clan...thus far!

Well,

This is as far as professional photography as we get. We just thought it would be neat to have some 'posed' photos of us while I was still ginormously (not a word I know) pregnant! So there you have it! Posed, Pregnant, and Rhubarb! :)

Picture TIme

Peppers
Apples
Cat next to Catnip :)
CORN
Sunflowers along chicken run
CHICKENS!!
Green Beans
Looking through the apple trees

September

Well,

What's been happening lately? Quite a bit actually.

-Goonie had her baby shower in August...a lovely event. And now, she is officially 37 weeks pregnant.

-We took the boys (Dweezy and Sputt-Butt) in to the vet to be neutered, but were informed by the vet that they are not old enough. We just assumed they were older than Tini, (who we now call Neener), just because they are double her size. So, their manhood's are still intact for the time being. :)

-We had some really nice weather near the end of August. 70 degree days, patchy clouds, light breeze, just heavan! Autumn is definitely in the air!

-The chickens are thriving under the loving eye of Rhubarb. Daily buckets of chicken scraps, keep them plump and happy. They especially love watermelon rinds and beef. Hopefully, by the end of Fall we should have our very own eggs!

-The garden is very happy. The beans are producing a large handful of beans a day, the corn...hasn't gotten quite enough heat...but still bears some pretty tasty ears. The eggplants have flowered and may squeeze in a fruiting by the end of the season. I just picked 5 cucumbers yesterday, and the tomatoes plants, (60 in all), are on the verge of bombarding us with fruit! I have picked a few tomatoes...but not enough to feel overwhelmed. The delicata squash have at least 10 squashies on them...something to look forward to; and the pepper plants, even though ravaged by deer, have pulled through, and I think we'll be able to get a few peppers off the plants.

-The herb garden is also very happy. The rhubarb plant has taken off and really dug it's roots in. The basil and parsley are insane, and the sage's are doing really well. All in all, a very nice herb garden for such a busy summer.

-Shmoage got hit by a car. We found him laying by the front door one morning, not getting up for his breakfast, (very unusual for him :) ), and discovered he couldn't walk, and he had some nasty lacerations where his bones and such were exposed. An emergency vet run revealed he had a fractured pelvis, and was one lucky dude to even still be alive. After six days at the vet's office he was ready to come home. He can't really walk right now, but will again in time. He has to stay contained in a small crate, get 3 doses of medications daily, and be hand cleaned for a while; but the doctor said in about 6-8 weeks he should be fairly close to normal...bodily functions and all. His accident couldn't have come at a more convenient time...baby on the way and all. :) But, he's my other baby...so he has us suckered.

-Our septic tank has been having issues. And after a rather massive indoor shower leakage, the decision has been made to put in another line. That should make any leakage nonexsistent. And that's definitely a happy thought!

-Rhubarb has expanded his fermentation projects to include the ongoing making and drinking of Kefir. If you're unfamiliar with Kefir, it's rather like liquid yogart. Rhubarb aquired some Kefir grains locally, and is now make it very regularly out of our unpasteurized goat milk. I prefer making it into smoothies...it cuts the tang a bit. But he's a purist about it...and drinks it fresh...with little refinement. Note: if you should visit Goonie Rhubarb Farm sometime in the immediate future, you may be asked to sample some of his Kefir. :)

-Goonie has been in full nesting mode, and has rearranged the living room, the bedroom, and the family room. With loving help from Rhubarb, obviously!

-It's almost time to light up the woodstove! Autumn is just around the corner...and we can smell it. And by next month there should be another addition to the farm...Miss Daphne Freya...who we all casually call 'Ducky' for short!

That's all for now.

CIAO

Goonie

Rhubarb on the tractor!!