We participated in the local CSA's Fall farm tours day on October 15, and approximately 40 people visited us at The Haven that day. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed showing our visitors around and selling Freaky Farms products, including lotion. I have been experimenting with lotion-making lately and made some available for sale for the first time on the tour day. Sales went really well. :-)
My pepper plants are still producing well, especially after August when we started getting a little more rain. I don't think it rained a single day during the month of August. My eggplants are also doing very well, and I hope to have another crop of tomatoes come in before the first frost. I still have a few Moon Glow tomato plants still producing. My fall garden is also coming along. I planted beets, brussel sprouts, mustard greens, and kale - the latter two from saved seeds. Additionally, my arugula and dill plants reseeded well. Later this month I will plant garlic, and soon I will start harvesting luffa.
We haven't made much more progress on the porch, but we did get the floor weatherized. Paul and Jeff have also worked on weatherizing the barn by painting it with used motor oil. We've made more progress on the retaining wall. All of the tires have been pounded, and a big pile of dirt is ready to be spread around. More clover seed has been spread below the wall, and not all of it was washed away by rains this time. Yay!
We have sold all of the 2011 kids, and at least one doe has been bred again so far. Katie is due to kid in late December. Lily and Zella usually breed in late Sept/early Oct, but no mating has been witnessed, and Romulus, our buck, hasn't been obviously as horny as he was back in July, when he and Katie were observed to be getting it on. Perhaps Romulus has just been keeping his cool around the ladies more since then, or maybe all four does were bred back in July. Hopefully, the breeding will turn out to be spread out, but not knowing when to expect the does to kid makes things more challenging. Anyway, we are still getting milk, but it is less than a half gallon a day now. We made a lot more cheese with the milk this year, including mozzarella and chevre. Yum! We look forward to lots more cheese-making next year. :-)
-Annie
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