Per request of the lovely Barbara our office manager, I shall update you on all that's going on! She called me out on not writing and I appreciate it because there is a lot to be said so bare with me... yeah, yeah, there's pictures, you will be fine. Haha.
Shall we start with the goats? We shall! I have only 3 moms left to give birth! I'm ready for this to be over. I need a break! I just weaned to babies from milk and they were not happy about it. I am currently bottle feeding 10 kids.
I lost two more babies. Duchess delivered stillborn twins. They were fully developed, just born dead. Weirdest thing. We buried them outside the barn. Now the mom doesn't look so good. I suspect she is mourning the loss of her babies, yes goats do that, and she is just super sad and doesn't eat much. We had another labor, Daisy, where the baby goat stuck! So David, our farm manager, came up to the barn and stuck his hand inside her and pulled the kid out!!! They both are happy and healthy.
What's next.... BEES!!! I put on the suit for the first time. Pretty hilariously awkward. I brought down a bunch of the hives and we have been cleaning them up to put fresh wax starter sheets in for the bees to build upon. John, our bee guy, is going to recolonize the hive stacks. Karin (one of the produce interns) and I kept the wax and made candles! Wax from our hives at our farm, no additives or fake smells and they are awesome! They smell like honey. Sorry the picture is sideways... whoops. I'm to tired to fix it. Haha.
Ducks! They ducks are blowing my mind! I'm still chipping away at the duck tractor I'm building. I've hit a snag with the ramp, but otherwise it looks awesome. The ducks are so big now and they have all their feathers and the got their quacks! I love hearing them on the farm. Soon we are going to clip their wings so they don't fly off on us. They are quite beautiful but to be honest, I can't wait to taste them. Duck meat!
I was the chef for lunch last week and man oh man did I cook up some good eats! I made 4 chickens, some ground beef, rice, beans, and salad for a taco lunch! 2 of the chickens were rosemary, onion and garlic, the other 2 were mango, cilantro and lime and boy was it good! I made some beans with lots of onions and red pepper and the rice had some coconut milk in it and cilantro. Thanks to aunt Sara's seasoning idea for the chicken, the skin turned out so crisp and golden! Thanks Sara! Also, it was my first time having completely grass fed beef and I approve! Rosemary on the left and mango on the right!
I don't think I ever really talked about my visit with my family. It was awesome to go to Baton Rouge and see them. Here's a few pics from that trip. Stopped at a beach right next to the interstate.
I don't know why but driving over that bridge gave me a panic attack. It was super high and over water. First time I've ever freaked out about something like that!
I took Jenna to the Cheesecake Bistro. It was incredibly classy. She had a great time. This is her peanut butter cheesecake and I had the killed by chocolate. Best cheesecake I have ever eaten in my life!
Not a very good picture, but that's Jimmy Swaggart preaching. We went to Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge and it was very encouraging to be a part of some of their camp meeting services. I also got to hear Loren Larson and shook Donnie Swaggart's hand, not that it's special because he is famous, but it's just kinda cool! Come on! That's all the pics from that.
Finally, I save the best for last and it's what I'm most excited about right now! My aquaculture is AMAZING!!! The tank is at the top of the pic with the hydroponic table over it and then my raised bed is next to the tank, coming down the picture.
I found this little tree frog hiding in one of my filter tubs. It's fun to see the different things that gather around the fish tank.
Here we have chocolate mint, borage, boxwood basil, thai basil, lemon balm, lavendar, sage and you can't see in the cups to the right but there is basil and red basil in there.
Here we have some swiss chard, celery lettuce, salad burnett, and lettuce. There is also a black pearl pepper plant and a fish pepper plant somewhere nearby.
Here we have some leaks, okra, and that bigger plant is a chocolate pepper plant. Inside the other cups is basil, lettuce, dill, cilantro, oregano and on the far side I planted, carrots, artichokes, spinach, wild flowers, and other medicinal herbs for Elise. One herb is for memory, another for congestion, another for girls (lady time, if you know what I mean) and some other good stuff.
I love this picture. I pulled this leak cup out the other day and look at the progress on those roots! Isn't that awesome?!
A closer look at the tank. I wish you could see my fish in there. It's fun to watch them. If you get to the tank at the right time of the day the sun makes it easier to see in there. I forgot to tell you, in that raised bed beside the tank I'm growing cantelope, watermelon, zucchini, fish peppers, birdhouse gourds and in a corner I threw in some sorghum seed! I hope this all goes well. Haha...nervous laughter...
Ok, just a few random things I have pictures of and what the heck, why not?
Ahhh... what a beautiful site this is. David took me to meet Jim Mabry and tour one of his farms. He raises grass fed cattle and just takes them to auction but this man is amazing! This is one of his fields of WW bduhl bluesteam grass. It is a perennial grass native to India that we are trying to grow here on the farm. We got our seed from Jim. Plus this stuffs smells amazing!
This is the view looking out the front door of the education building. It was storming really bad and we had hail. Just thought it was a picture moment and it was so peaceful to stand and listen to the rain. Plus, it was really, really good to finally get some rain!
Some kid goats peeking out of their little boxes... I don't think I have to say much here. Go ahead, get all your 'awwwws' out.
Last chance to 'awww'. These are Bambi's twin girls. They are so sweet and have really mild personalities. They are the most fun to be around because they will just be standing there and all of a sudden the start doing little jumps all around that are so hilarious.
Well that's it for now. Sorry for the length but I think that has me caught up for a few days at least!
Those little goats sure are cute!
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