Chicken Class 101 - Partnering Together

I've been asked by a number of you when our next chicken class is.....and I know some of you are so anxious to have a bit of Chicken Education and Confidence under your belt. . .

. . .well, we still have not calendared a class (busy busy busy over here) but my friend Caroline of Boho Farm and Home has her Chicken Class 101 scheduled and it's going to be fantastic.

You may not know this - but there is a smattering of us gardeners/farmers/chicken/goat people who actually partner together, team up and share knowledge. We work together and network together to get the information out and educate our community and to build community.

So, if you're ready to jump into Chickens.....here's the link for all the scoop. Go HERE for the class.

Lylah's Herb Table

When Michael and I moved back into the 9080 house, one of the first things I planted in my potager (kitchen garden) was an herb garden.  Different thymes, garlic chives, flat leaf parsley, cilantro, French chervil, French tarragon and an English lavender plant filled that little garden area.  Today, I have herbs in just about every raised bed and many in ground spots.

Hyssop, French Sorrel, German, English, Lemon and Mother of Thyme grace a little garden near the red grapefruit trees. Winter savory, regular chives, basil and oregano fill in a corner in of the raised beds in the Pine Tree Garden.  

French Sorrel (a lemony perennial herb) parralles the carrots that reseeded themselves in another raised bed in the Pine Tree Garden.  Lemon verbena . . .ah, sweet smelling and soul soothing lemon verbena stands tall while sweet marjoram tries to take over it's own spot next to the lemon verbena in a little bed in the Apple Tree Garden. 

I purposed that herbs be the first thing a farm guest would see walking through the little gate by the pallet fence.  The first raised bed in the Vintage Garden there is cilantro, dill, French Sorrel, French Thyme, chives, French tarragon and a bit of parsley and of course, sage.

In my in need of much attention, Healing Herb Garden, Echinacea and Calendula both giving me the gift of returning each year. 

Herbs have always been available at our markets but I never felt as my displays did them much justice.  During our market transition when Michael put my vintage white table in the center of the room and when he hung our old chandelier, I knew then that I'd use that table as Lylah's Herb Table. 

So, right now these herbs are available on Lylah's Herb Table:

Thyme

Cilantro

Parsley

Garlic Chives

Dill

Rosemary

Mint

Winter Savory

French Tarragon

Oregano

All our herbs are $2 an ounce. 

My French Market and . . .

. . . Thursday and Saturday morning at the farm will be simply amazing.

It's not only soup time but it's also time to rev up your juicers and use kale and apples and carrots and beets to start your morning off just right!

This week our kale . . . still Red Russian is looking lovely. Lettuces are beautiful and crisp and the chard is also happy that cooler weather is here.  French breakfast radish, a few beets and maybe some carrots along with peppers, sweet onions, sweet, yukon gold and red potatoes will fill our baskets.  We've done a bit more market re-arranging to compliment with more of Crooked Sky Farms winter squash  of butternut and spaghetti....both are wonderful for soups and side dishes.

Herbs are happy too.  Michelle, a Wednesday morning volunteer snipped some lovely cilantro this morning. My cilantro is beautiful and fresh. Why go to a store and buy "fresh" herbs in those little plastic boxes when you can come to our farm and have it really fresh and see where it's growing?!

Carol, our beautiful farm bread maker, will join again join us Thursday and Saturday.  I have to let you know - all of you who called/ text this week asking about bread . . . well - it all sold the morning of each market. I've ordered extra but know the demand for her specialty breads is huge. One man said he was waiting all summer to buy her bread and filled his TJ bag with 5 loaves!

We'll also have okra, cucumbers, arugula, chard, kale, French sorrel, mustard greens. See you Thursday and Saturday morning for our French Cafe' with breakfast breads and 50 cent coffee. 8:30 until noon!

How To Properly Clean A Goat's Teats

How To Clean A Goats Teats from Lylah Ledner Goat Farmer on Vimeo.

Proper cleaning of goat's teats prior to milking is so important. Not only do we use an iodine spray, but we always dry off the teats with fresh paper towels.  We milk the girls into sanitized (with food grade hydrogen peroxide) stainless steel milk pails that have a ss milk filter.  As quickly as possible (barely a minute) the milk is brought into the kitchen and filtered a second and sometimes a third time and poured into sterilized glass jars and immediately placed into the freezer.  We do that to "arrest" any bacteria we don't want in our milk.  Our milk stays in the freezer for up to 40 minutes.  After that cooling down period it's placed on the bottom shelf of our refrigerator (the coldest part).

Late January/February we will place kids for sale in our "Goat Sale Barn" and soon, I'll be listing what babies/kids will be available from which does.  All our kids are $400 and up. Reservations will be taken with a $100 deposit.

Just About Every Night . . .

. . . around 8:30 pm, I put my boots back on, pick up my nippers and head out to our family garden area to the three apple trees and a blue ladder.  

By the moonlight . . . I prune the tree. 

After I snip here and snip there, I head back to the goat yard. 

There, in the moon light, waits six girls...six goat girls.  It's like clock work. 

They know that I'm coming soon with their apple tree branches.  

You see, it's the way I (and my husband) coax the girls into what we call their "night time pens."  

This ritual happens every night.  

If you ever want to see a goat get excited - cut them some apple tree branches. 

After the girls get their branches in their "night time pens" we head 

on over to the boy goats who know . . . theirs is coming too. 

How I long and dream of green rolling hills, a babbling brook and black berry bushes, apple trees, wild spring flowers and anything else these amazing animals would love to enjoy. . . 

. . . but for now, we care for them the best way we can . . . sometimes I think they dream with me.