How I've Spent Some Days Recently

People might wander if Michael and I have a 'life' outside the farm. Well, sometimes we do. Here's some randomness of our recent happenings since May.

Yippee...Peach season! Our goal? To pick as many as we can before the birds get them . . . to fill as many baskets at the market as we can and for me to make peach jam. 

The figs are getting ready to get ready. We will invite our farm market guests to pick their own. 

This harvest looked to pretty to not take a picture of. It's food/art.

Aprons are good for lots of things.

Michael's our farm cheese maker but lately broken hoses, patio building etc have had his attention.
Since he's great at our chevre making, I thought I'd try something else.
This is Gouda and I think each of the 11 batches I've made taste pretty good.
 It's all an experiment for me before our milk production decreases.
No, I'm not a cheese maker - I'm a caramel maker. 

We had a chef from one of those fancy schmancy restaurants want to get an experience of "where it all comes from".  Brandon came to the farm at our am milking time he got to...meet the goats, get the goats, brush the goats, lead the goats to the stand, set up the grain, set up the milk pails, set up the milk filters, clean the goats' udder/teats, strip cup them, milk them, clean them off again and teat spray them, give them a cookie, lead them to the goat yard, weigh the milk, record the weight, take the pail QUICKLY to the kitchen and QUICKLY with 35 seconds get the milk processed and put into sterile glass jars (small amounts) and into the freezer (to bring the temp down), then start to clean the pails, rinse the pails, acid wash the pails, rinse the pails, spray with our sterilizer (food grade hydrogen peroxide), drain the pails and then take them to the milk room.

Now he knows what it takes to get just a gallon of milk. And all of us goat dairy people do this twice a day. 

I actually do get to put my feet up....sit awhile....sometimes.

My husband sent me to the PNW for a few days and he ALONE handled the milking (see above to know what he did...he's awesome). I have been pining for my seven grandchildren and just needed that face to face connection with and our daughters. Ivana had her first ballet recital...I couldn't NOT not be there.

Miriam and Ivana....6 weeks apart and like BFF 

Jillian, the most amazing 12 year old girl EVER! She plays piano, writes music, decorates, organizes, is so caring for people and I am so proud of this girl!

Ya, All Know Roman!  He ran his first little race. We went on a family hike. . . 

You know I think French Press is pretty amazing....had my first pour over....holy moly...amazing! I'm impressed.

Just a family moment....felt so bad...my husband didn't get to be there....

Got to see this boy in action. We went out and had coffee together. Love him. 

We'd scheduled the ADGA judge to come and 'judge' our little dairy herd. To be honest I felt like a nervous wreck. Not quite sure why - but this guy Eric was awesome and gave some wonderful advice to Michael and I as we improve our herd for milk production (not like we don't have wonderful production now) and conformation.
Was a wonderful investment.

Apples!!!! Our Anna Dorset beautiful and delicious and available at the market.

Caramels! Yes! The Caramel Experience From The Simple Farm is spreading. We like that.   If you'd like to order our caramels and live in Phoenix - you can save shipping by stopping by our farm for your pick up. If you need us to ship them to you - we're glad to do that to. Order here at www.simplycaramel.com

So, that's how I've spent some days lately.

Just a Head's Up - CORN is COMING! Summer Hours

One of the things I like about partnering with Frank Martin, the farmer at Crooked Sky Farms is providing our neighborhood with things that Michael and I do not grow - like potatoes, sweet onions, and corn.

It's corn time and THIS coming Thursday we will HAVE Frank's amazing corn. It's organic and non gmo - and we can hardly wait. We'll have a limited about this first week....like 100 ears.

Summer Produce
What grows here (in the Phoenix valley) during the summer are those fruits and vegetables that hydrate you - those things with water - like eggplant, okra, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes (but not really much past 90 degrees), melons and peppers. This is what we'll be setting out our market baskets for the next weeks.

Summer Market Hours
We will be braving it through the end of July and at that time our regular Thursday market will close until mid September. If you're a Farm Member you will have the benefit of shopping our market on other days (except Saturday). We love talking about how you can become a member of The Simple Farm - so see me (Lylah) on Thursday morning at the market. We understand many work and aren't able to connect at the market. Occasionally we're able to connect at other times. Interested? Email me at lylahledner@gmail.com so we can figure out a time that can work.