Chickie Baby

The bad news is that something's been eating our chickens. I noticed that there seemed to be fewer of them, and my suspicions were confirmed when I discovered a slaughtered hen caught in the fence. It was a pretty grisly scene, and we've been on chicken alert ever since. I thought we had lost five of our dozen hens, until one morning, before milking, Farmer Fin hurried me down the hill. This is what he wanted to show me:

Unbeknownst to us, one of the red hens somehow slipped away, laid an egg, and sat on it for three weeks until it hatched. Celeste is a mommy! She's a good one, too. It's hard to even get a picture of her chick; as soon as I get close, she spirits it away under her wing or into some tall grass. Chickie Baby follows its mother around all day, eating bugs and chirping constantly. Yesterday Celeste brought it up to the chicken yard and showed it how to eat chicken feed, like a chicken.

Chickie Baby is adorable, but its a hard world for a little chick. I hope the rooster is looking out for his baby. I also hope the baby turns out to be a hen.

Adventures of the Very Small

The triplets are three weeks old and summer is in full swing. It's a good time for adventures. Last week, they went out in the pasture with their herd for the first time. 

Taking It All In

Exploring

Mr. Kitten Chewing on Willow's Milk Face 

The big world is a little overwhelming when one is so very small, but there is so much fun to be had.

Also, the kids made a new friend. Bird, the Cotton Hill farm dog, has been accompanying us to the night-time feeding lately. He is not immune to the charms of soft little animals. In fact, he likes to lick their ears.

Look at that vicious pit bull! The littles were scared at first, but now they like to smell him, too. It's a peaceable kingdom up here on the hill.

Friday Recipe: Goat Cheese Pesto Dip

Lots of parties in the summertime! Pair fresh goat cheese with summer produce for a quick, tasty appetizer to bring to a barbecue or garden soirée. If you have a garden or a friend with a garden, or go to your local farmers' market, you are probably seeing a lot of garlic scapes lately. A scape is the top, or stem, of the garlic plant. They are curly and whimsical!

There were tons of scapes at our market (http://www.delmarmarket.org/) last week, and they will probably be there again tomorrow. Combined with spinach, arugula, or a leafy green herb, like basil or parsley, garlic scapes make wonderful pesto. You can see my arugula hiding beneath the scapes there.

For the pesto, fill the bowl of a food processor with a bunch of scapes and your greens. Add some good olive oil and process for about a minute, until it all begins to come together. Then, add a scant cup of toasted nuts or seeds. If you are a literalist, you should use pine nuts. If you can't afford them, pumpkin seeds work nicely, as do almonds or walnuts. Save a handful for a garnish! Process until a sort of paste forms. Be sure to leave some chunky bits in there; texture is good!

Then, spread four ounces or so of good fresh goat cheese on the bottom of a dish. I used this pie plate because it's glass, but you probably have something prettier, don't you!

Spread the pesto on top of the goat cheese, just enough to cover. Those garlic scapes are pungent, and you don't want to overwhelm! Then, sprinkle the toasted nuts on top. Voilá! Grab some crackers and head out. Don't worry if you're fashionably late; it's summer, and you have goat cheese. Have fun!

Kittengoat Update

In case you were wondering, little Mr. Kitten is hanging in there, thriving even. At two weeks old, he has probably doubled in size - he's at least three pounds now. Mr. Kitten loves milk! He has an overbite! And knobby knees! He mews! Go, Mr. Kitten, go.

Summer Kids

Monday marked the end of the 2014 kidding season at the Cotton Hill farmstead. It's unusually late for it, but the lovely Vervain just refused to be bred in a timely manner back in the fall. Better late than never, I suppose. 

Vervain

I was out for the evening, but Farmer Fin reported that when he went up to fill the goats' water after milking, there was Vervain with three tiny babies. The littlest one is no bigger than three pounds. We call him Mr. Kitten. I'm trying not to get too attached. One of the black ones is a girl, though.

For a sense of the tinyness, look how big my hand looks compared to their heads! 

It feels kind of peculiar to have tiny babies again. The bigger littles had to grow up fast so we could put the new ones in the nursery pen without getting squashed. They seem to be enjoying life with the herd, although they are not thrilled at having gone down to one bottle a day. 

Very Hungry Babies

Speaking of milk, Vervain is a chip off the old block: like her mother Violet, she makes a remarkable amount of milk. Welcome to the life of a working goat, Vervain!

Farmscape

A snapshot from the garden.

Spring is lovely here on Cotton Hill.

Look What Came in the Mail Today!