Like every Sunday there are always things that need to get done on the farm. Today was harvesting and preparations for the winter. Winter? Seriously? Fall hasn’t even officially started yet! True, however, when you start to prepare your beds for the next season, it is started around this time of year.
We harvested white and purple sweet potatoes today. We have been using grow bags for a few years and honestly, I am underwhelmed with our production. Bobbi does a great job of keeping up with watering, but I feel like we have a long run for a short slide in terms of what we are harvesting. It may be time to consider a different plan. I have been really happy with how our vegetables have done in TSC water troughs. You drill some holes in the base to allow for irrigation to escape, put a layer of stone on the bottom then put in your soil and compost. The downside is that they are metal troughs so they do get very warm in the summer. Something to take into consideration.
We started taking up our builder’s cloth in the 1/3 acre ground garden and used the cloth to cover over a raised garden that we manured and mulched and allowed to lay fallow for the year. Most of our beans have dried, so we started picking pods and shelling for dried beans. We have Christmas lima beans, French flageolet, and black turtle beans this year. At the same time we took our left over corn stalks down and fed all the detritus to the goats. And boy oh boy, were the goats happy today.
On the animal side, we moved a new buckling into the boy’s pasture with the Boer billy and two intact alpacas. They chased him around a bit, but after a few minutes of fun everyone settled down for a good graze. We are purchasing a new run-in shed for the goats. This will allow us to better rotate our fields and have them recover.
The orchard is mostly done. We’ve harvested gallons of Asian pears, apples and sour cherries. Bobbi has made awesome sour cherry pies, preserved cherries and cherry jams. Now it is Asian pear season. We’ve already had one pie and will be having pear galette for the new year. Thinking about turning the orchard into a small pasture for lambs.
I remember being told by a farmer who was one of my patients, that there is never a time on a farm when there isn’t something to do. We’ve been working on our homestead farm for over 11 years. And what he said is one of the real truths of living off your land. You only get out what you are willing to put in. But even farmers have to make time for Sunday night football. Go Ravens. Beat the Bills.
