i hope once a month works out for y’all as a good interval for reading this blog, because that appears to be all i can manage by way of updating it.
October went by in a blur of activity and travel. We were fortunate to have an excellent intern, Chris, with us through the fall, to help us keep caught up with the daily farm tasks. suddenly, the garden is down for the winter, we are finally almost out of the fresh tomatoes in which we’ve been more or less drowning since July, and for the third year in a row, bugs ate all my fall-crop seedlings before we could. we did get some peas, but the greens didn’t make it up. i have got to figure out some new strategy for winter greens gardens.
this artichoke, which we grew from seed this year, flowered:
and we harvested the last of the corn and beans.
we also harvested the turkeys. here they are on their last day, browsing the garden and enjoying themselves:
one handsome Spanish Black tom, showing off:
turkey processing went exceptionally smoothly this year. we had great help from the community of people who come together to participate in our animal harvests, and to help with the processing of their own thanksgiving turkey.
we also had fewer turkeys than the last couple years, because of some barnyard calamities related to rats in the spring. we will be cautious not to create an opportunity for a repeat experience next spring. last weekend, we ended up so far ahead of the schedule, that the last batch of volunteers helped out, instead of processing, by cleaning and mending the coop, activities that don’t usually get done until a week or two after thanksgiving.
we’re looking forward to celebrating the holiday with our usual full house potluck tomorrow. more photos will follow!