Goat Sport, of a Sort

One fun thing to do on a Saturday afternoon is feed the goats some garden gleanings. Today we had a bucketful of Chinese cabbage that had gone past its prime. It was madness! 

There was a scrum.

Buttons emerged victorious!

Jasmine got hers!

They seemed to be having a good time, and I think everyone got a leaf or two, one way or another.

Summer Bounty

Every summer here on the hill, several times a day, I have to stop what I'm doing and just take notice. The color green saturating the landscape, the feeling of cold mountain water on hot skin, the breeze that precedes a rainstorm, the way it stays light out until nine, and of course, the food. So much variety, and everything tastes so good! 

Last weekend we visited Sherman Hill Farmstead in Franklin, NY and Dirty Girl Farm in Andes as part of the Catskill Family Creameries Open House, which you can read about at http://www.catskillsfamilycreameries.com/index.html The farmers and cheese makers were really nice, answering all of our million questions; we barely made it home for evening milking! Sherman Hill's aged cheese made an excellent snack while we cleaned and cooked the chanterelles we found on Monday.

Chanterelles  and delicious cheese from Sherman Hill Farmstead

Speaking of snacks, I can't walk by the sugar snap peas without eating at least one. I never get tired of them!

After the birds ate all my sour cherries, I wised up and covered the raspberries with bird netting. So far, so good - I harvested the first full pint on Wednesday. Breakfast has been extra special ever since. 

 Bird is a very patient harvest dog. He helps sniff out chanterelles and waits so sweetly in the garden...

...while I pick cauliflowers bigger than my head! If you have them too, make this: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/mfk-fisher-memorial-cauliflower-casserole-10000000523815/ 

Or this: http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/the-minimalist-pasta-with-cauliflower/?ref=dining

Or do like Farmer Fin's sister, Little Debbie, and steam the cauliflower until tender, chop into tiny pieces, and toss with tahini, lemon juice, salt and pepper. 

Selfie with cauli

A few summers ago, I had sour cherries for the first time. I bought a quart at a farm stand and made one precious jar of jam. This spring, Farmer Fin bought me two little cherry trees for my birthday (and planted them for me too). Unexpectedly, the sour cherry tree bore fruit a couple months later. I anxiously watched it ripen, until one day, it was almost there...and the next, there were only pits left on the stems. Curses! What could I do, but head downstate to pick sour cherries. With the help of some friends (thanks Levy family!), I came home with seven pounds of them.

The other day, I put on an old red shirt and got to work. It took forever to remove the stems and pits. I decided to make two batches of preserves. Here's my basic procedure (after the jump):

Pasture Pilgrimage

With 19 goats in the yard this summer, pastures get ravaged pretty quickly. Fortunately, we can hook the portable electric netting to the perimeter fence, and we rehabilitated the old length of netting, so now we have three 150-foot lengths plus 100-200 feet on the perimeter fence. This allows us to extend and move the goat yard as needed, without necessarily moving the sheds, which saves a lot of time.

Their current pasture is lovely with all the hot, humid weather we've been having, because part of it is in the forest. In the photo above, you can see the grass they've been eating for two weeks in the foreground, and the tall stuff that they just got access to in the background. The trees on the right are within the yard, so the herd can graze in the shade.

I joined Violet and some kids in the shade. They ate grass. I watched.

 The others saw us, and they wanted in.

Junie, talking with her mouth full

Vervain with a tasty blade of grass

 Who's that hiding behind Vervain? I believe it's little Peony.

Peony is growing fast! Must be all that grass.

As the summer progresses, their pasture is moving farther up the hill. Soon they'll be at the top, where there are plenty of trees to shade them from the summer sun, and plenty of space between us and those kids, who are getting pretty loud and find all sorts of reasons to holler their little heads off. In a month or so, we will start the descent. By the time fall turns to winter, they will be close to the house again.

Gamboling Piglets

Our new tenants crack me up. They get all excited about treats like milk and strawberry tops, and they get all excited about water because it usually means treats are soon to follow. So every morning and evening, and sometimes in between, this is the action in the pig pen. The sound in the video is the hose, but at the end you can hear the piggies snorting too. Other than that, it's pretty self-explanatory.

Morning Menagerie

Summer vacation is upon us, so Farmer Fin and I got to do morning chores together today. The sun was still gentle, and all the animals were patiently or impatiently waiting for food and water. Here's what we saw:

Thirsty goats

Before: Hungry Piglets

After: Enjoying Some Milk

These Guys Are Always Hungry

More Elegant Birds

Celeste

Four years ago, in the early spring, we got our first farm animals, six red hens, from the Cobleskill Agway. They looked pretty much identical, so we gave them one name: Celeste. They were great layers, each producing an egg a day all summer and fall. Production went down a bit that winter, but as soon as the days started getting longer, they were back to the egg-a-day routine. 

Celeste in the Early Spring of 2009 or 2010

Over the years, they have died off, as chickens seem to do, from mysterious sudden diseases or hawk attacks, but one of the Original Celestes still exists. I swear she's still laying, though it's hard to say for certain because since then we acquired a half-dozen Barred Rock hens and then, last year, some Celeste impostors, who look like her, but lack the Original Celestes' commitment to quality (and quantity). This spring we went on a sort of Quest for Celeste, and  thanks to the friendly folks at Agway, we found the source of the O.C. and picked up six new Celestes yesterday.

New Celeste, Right, Mingles With the Flock

Destiné the rooster is one happy guy with six new pretty ladies in his flock. There was some hen beef at first, but Destro just strolled up and said bok bok bok, and that was that. He went on to give the new girls a "warm welcome" right away. He's good like that. The new Celestes are still figuring out where to sleep and lay eggs. Farmer Fin found one in the grass last night.  

On the Left, an Egg From One of the Older Hens; On the Right, the New Celeste's First Egg

I guess we will be making some little omelets soon!

This Moth

This month, we have had 4.36 inches of rain, 2.85 inches more than the average rainfall for June so far, according to the National Weather Service. On Friday, there were flash floods in nearby villages.  Our valley friends in Middleburgh are still cleaning up from a foot and a half of water swelling over Main Street. 

Even on the hill, it's pretty swampy. Luckily we had planned to move the goats' pasture on Saturday anyway. They have been evacuated to higher ground (time for the Cotton Hill Summer Workout), and we humans have had our muck boots on all weekend.

This morning, I found this giant moth with one wing submerged in two inches of water in a seed tray on the stoop. I carefully lifted him out and set him down to dry his wings on the warm stone. I guess he's a male Luna Moth: http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/luna_moth.htm

A little later, he was gone! Hopefully he is reproducing like crazy out there. I guess, I hope, that he is a metaphor for desperate situations in general . Just when things look hopeless, good luck (and being really pretty) can come along, lift you up, and set you free. May we all fly dry for a little while.