Year in Review

I never have as much time as I would like to write about our farm. I always have a running list in my mind of the things I WANT to write about. Only a small percentage of those make it here.

So, as the year winds down, I thought I would go through some highlights from the year, as well as fill in some gaps.

Highlight #1

We had baby pigs on our farm for the first time!

Speaking of pigs, here is our sow Ruby. Have you ever seen such a big pig?? I mean, she’s almost as tall as our 5-year-old. Good thing she is friendly.

Highlight #2

We expanded our goat herd with Salvador Perez (or Salvy), our little grey buck, and three more little females. Sadly, we lost our littlest goat this past weekend. Not quite sure what happened, but Gage worked and worked to save that little goat.

We are getting ready to comb cashmere for the first time next year. Excited to send our cashmere fiber off to the fiber mill and get back some beautiful yarn!

Speaking of yarn, my “knitter’s block” seems to be ebbing and flowing this year. I certainly haven’t knitted as much as in past years, but I was determined to make this little dress for Willa for her 1 year birthday. Luckily, it is big enough, she will be able to wear it for awhile. 🙂

P.S. Thanks, Amy Shepherd for the awesome pictures!

Back to the goats, something that happened this summer is that we almost lost Petunia, our little red goat – and our friendliest goat. Gage was out in Western Kansas helping with wheat harvest when Petunia was bitten on the face by a copperhead snake.

You can see how swollen her face is here. It’s a miracle she survived!

Seems like the crises always happen when Gage isn’t around … Murphy’s law, I suppose.

Highlight #3

We hosted three groups on our farm this summer:

…a Farm Bureau Day Camp

…a summer Science and Adventure Camp

… and the Kansas Rural Center high tunnel workshop. We really enjoyed having so many people out to our farm this past year, and hope to continue this in the future.

Highlight #4

In the midst of the summer craziness, I somehow forgot to mention that we got a new kitten.

This is Charlie.

He is a total spaz, but we like him. He has been known to alternately jump into fire pits, and jump into outdoor showers. He may not be the brightest cat we have ever had, but he sure is entertaining. 🙂

Charlie is weird and wonderful, and luckily likes little kids.

Highlight #5

We significantly expanded our beekeeping operation this year. We nearly doubled our number of hives, now being at around 21. We have big plans for the bees next year, and hope to expand even more.

Incidentally, this is what a REALLY BAD bee sting looks like. And also why I haven’t yet gotten my nerve up to start beekeeping with Gage.

Highlight #6

We had a BUMPER year with our vegetables and fruits! We rarely ran out for our faithful customers at farmers market …

And had plenty left over to can …

… And eat fresh. Pretty sure this baby girl was alone responsible for eating an entire bushel of apples in the month of September.

Applesauce for the pantry!

Lots of Caprese Pizza‘s this summer!

This fall, I have been experimenting with our fresh carrots. So far this Glazed Carrot recipe is my favorite. I will post the recipe soon.

I’ve tried, tried, TRIED to find a good use for all of the green tomatoes we had in November. Made this delicious looking green tomato pie.

It was NOT delicious.

Experimenting this year with the low tunnel we got from the Kansas Rural Center. So far, we have been enjoying carrots, spinach, lettuce, and hopefully soon – cabbage.

It’s good to have help when digging carrots. 🙂

Highlight #7

We added the fuzzy little Jack Jack livestock guardian to our family!

He is just the best. We love Jack Jack and have faith he will turn out to be a great guardian for our goats (even though some may argue he might be “over-socialized”)

The kids love Jack Jack.

Jack Jack loves the kids. Maybe a little too much. He will NOT leave Willa alone. It is pretty cute. Even when he plants himself right in front of her so she falls over him.