Soapmaking Is Addictive!

Our Simple Goats Milk Soap, in the flat tray molds.
Soaps are frozen in the mold to get the lovely ivory colour
and to keep the milk proteins from scorching.

Farmer Man is calling me the 'Soapmaking Kitchen Witch'! I'm often in the kitchen, melting fats and oils, stirring big pots of goop, geared up in gloves and goggles before mixing lye, pouring out fresh soap into molds.  Our freezer is often crowded with goats milk in ice cubes trays, getting frozen for soap making.  Or, there are molds full of soap taking up space - waiting to be frozen, before being removed from the molds and cut.

I am officially hooked on soap making!  Much of my time is spent in not only making soap, but reading about the properties of various fats and oils, researching natural additives and essential oils, cruising websites and blogs concerning soap, looking at soap recipes and planning how to change them into goats milk recipes, and scrutinizing packaging and displays.  It's almost like a full-time job, without the pay check (so far)!  Of course, I also spend some time each day caring for my little goaties...and the other critters around here.  But I always seem to get back to soap.  I've subscribed to newsletters from soaping websites, I've got books here that I can pick up at any time.  We want, like the food we grow, to offer our customers a wonderful, natural product - without harmful chemicals (aside from the lye, which is potentially harmful only to me during the process of making soap).  I've been deepening my knowledge of essential oils for fragrance - no fake chemical fragrances for us!  I've been learning about the benefits of ground oatmeal, herbs and natural clays and so much more!

The original Hemp Soap, with the dark spot in the middle.
The picture doesn't show it's pale green colour.

I love all the soap I've made and tried, but my favorite so far is our hemp soap.  It's very gentle and moisturizing, lovely sudsy, and doubles as a shampoo very nicely!  I had decided to make it in a loaf mold, to distinguish it from our Simple Soap.  In the loaf mold, however, I got a funny spot in the middle, as you can see in the photo.  Now, to preserve the benefits of milk and to produce a lovely, pale color I freeze all our soap as soon as it is poured in the mold.  In cold process soap making, the molds are usually insulated to encourage heat to build up so that the soap goes through what's called a gel phase.  I'm trying to avoid that gel phase and the resulting heat; so much heat can be produced in the chemical reaction of lye with oils and fats that the milk can be scorched!  This would destroy some of the benefits to the skin of the milk as well as discolour the bars.  To this end, I mostly use flat tray molds, so that the heat doesn't build up and dissipates quickly in the freezer.  But, I didn't have enough tray molds and was trying to produce soap quickly, so I started making the hemp in a loaf mold.  Heat builds up in the middle, even in the freezer, and I get a spot in the middle that has gone through the gel phase.  Doesn't really effect the soap - it's still lovely but I didn't like the look.

The latest Hemp Soap, not frozen.  No centre spot,
but the colour is more yellow/beige.

So, I've tried different things: letting the oils cool longer before adding the lye/goats milk mix.  I've stirred the final soap longer and longer, hoping to release some of the heat before pouring it in the mold.  All, to no avail.  So, I decided to make a batch without putting it in the freezer, insulate the molds on the counter and let the stuff go through the gel phase!  Result: a bar with a different colour and texture, and no spot in the middle!  Now, I really shouldn't judge this new loaf of hemp soap.  It's just come out of the mold and needs to cure for a month or so, during which time it will change.  However, so far I don't like the colour as well - it's a bit more of a yellow/beige/green whereas my first bars were a pale, pale minty green.  The texture is a bit more coarse, it's not as smooth and creamy as the first batches.  And, of course, I haven't used it yet and won't for a number of weeks and that will be the ultimate test.  I'll draw my final conclusions when the soap comes in the shower with me!  Wow, that sounded so....scientific.....

I'm Lovin' a Soap Saver!

On the right, my well-used soap saver!

We've been testing out our soaps the very first minute we can.  No long curing has been going on here!  Anytime I've made something new....we wait the minimum time, test it with a pH strip to make sure it's safe and then into the shower it goes!  We're loving all the carefully chosen recipes, and we're certainly luxuriating in fresh, handmade soap, creamy with loads of fresh goat milk, full of natural glycerin and skin-loving butters and oils.  No dry, detergent-stripped skin around here!

We have noticed that our soaps can get a little soft sitting in the shower.  And I've become aware that that can be a 'thing' with handmade soap.  Glycerin is a natural by-product of soap making; commercial makers often remove it to sell and use elsewhere, leaving a harder bar of soap.  Many commercial soaps are actually just detergent whereas our soap is fats, oils and fresh milk, saponified with lye.  Then, when we don't let them cure for very long before trying them.....well, we have soft soap.  I've been reading, for a while, about soap bags or soap savers or scrubby bags....whatever you want to call them!  On the Web, there are mentions of them on soaping sites, crafty sites and frugal-living sites.  And I'm loving mine!  Highly recommend it!

A soap saver or soap bag serves a couple of purposes.  It is a crocheted bag (preferably handcrafted locally with natural fibres), your bar of soap goes in the bag, then between baths or showers you can hang the bag up.  Thus, you avoid leaving your soap sitting in a puddle and the soap dries out fully.  You can put your smaller pieces of soap into a bag and use them to the last little bit - which is the frugal part.  They are also excellent for exfoliation - like a wash cloth but way more sudsy and easy to handle!  I got mine from local Etsy seller Ritzys All Naturals, who sold her crocheted wares at The Global Market this summer.  (I also got awesome cotton dish clothes from her, which I've used all summer for cleaning up the goats!)  I enquired with some crafty friends, and our CSA friend Sharon made some up for me to sell with our soaps - in some beautiful pastel, multi-coloured cottons!  If you do crochet, apparently a quite easy #DIY project - Sharon whipped up a bunch just watching TV over a couple of nights!  Here's a link to a bunch of free patterns here!

We're so excited to be bringing all our wares to the Art Gallery of South Western Manitoba's 'Gala of Gifts' on December 1st.  Stay tuned for more details!  And, if you're not in the area, watch for our announcement about online shopping...soonish.......

Time To Dry Off The Goat Mommas!

Dot will miss her fresh milk daily!

We're hoping that Randi the Buck has done his job, and that our Goat Girls are now pregnant.  He's been with the ladies 24/7 for over a month, and was very enthusiastic to get on with his work!  We are currently still milking the does, but the time has come to dry them off.  Once a doe has been pregnant and produces milk, theoretically you can keep milking for a long time: we've heard of does that milked for more than two years steadily!  That is, as long as they're not pregnant again.  Making milk takes a lot of energy, making babies takes a lot of energy so it's either one or the other.  Apparently, you can milk a doe through the first three months of their five month pregnancy, which means we could milk until the end of December.  However, two considerations for us: first, we had a Randi 'break-out' before we put the buck and the does together and Choco may have gotten pregnant early.  Second, we're about to get so cold weather-wise, that we'd rather give the girls a longer, healthier break from milking.  And us, too; we'll actually be rather happy to have a break from the routine of milking.

Drying off a doe - getting them to quit making milk - is going to take us about six weeks.  Like everything around here, we're going to do it fairly naturally.  We have started this week by going to milking just once a day, in the morning.  The first night was quite amusing - we went up to the barn at our usual time but instead of taking out a doe, we just gave them a little grain ration to share, right in their pen.  Mabel, always first to get milked, stood up on the gate, watching and waiting.  She didn't head for the grain, she kept waiting to be taken out of the pen.  From there, usually, she would go on the milking stand and get her own (private) grain ration to enjoy at her leisure.  As we gave a little grain to the kids, tossed a little scratched for the chickens in the barn and fed the cats, Mabel continued to watch our every move from the gate.  She seemed to be in disbelief.  Feeling sorry for her, we put a little more grain ration in the girls' bowl, taking the scoop right past her to entice her, then said good night and turned out the lights.

The next morning we went up a little early, not sure what to expect.  None of the does seemed in any discomfort, although all three were very enthusiastic about heading for the milking stand when their turn came.  There was no bulging milk bags, no cries of pain - all things we thought possible.  Mabel and Chocolate produced about the usual amount of milk, Goldie produced a little more than usual.  Again, in the evening, we just put everyone to bed as usual, giving the does a little grain ration in their pen.  During this week, this has easily become the new normal with no problems.  We'll do this for a couple of weeks, lessening the grain ration that they receive each morning, which will also help with the transition.  In a couple of weeks time, we'll go to milking every second morning, then milking every three days, then we'll just stop.  And with that, the does will be dried off, ready to grow beautiful, healthy kids!

We'll miss our fresh, raw milk.  We're an all-goat-milk-all-the-time household right now.  We do have milk frozen, which will get us by for a while.  Probably late winter, before the new kids are born, we'll have to buy commercial milk.  We're not looking forward to it: our fresh milk is beautiful and delicious!  Probably, the one who will miss it the most is our little barn kitty 'pet' Dot, who is in the habit of following us to every milking and getting a little bowl of fresh, warm milk to enjoy!

Revving Up The Soaping!

Goats Milk, Oatmeal, Cinnamon Soap.

CSA is finished, the Global Market is finished, the gardens are largely finished.  What's left?  Making soap!  I'm getting ready to participate in some craft fairs.  I was able to make small batches of soap thru the summer, which sold nicely at the Global Market, with great feedback from customers.  One needs volume to participate in a craft show, though, so I've been soaping up a storm!  I've been aiming for a batch a day...although that hasn't always happened!

Like everything we do, we're looking to make soap as simply and naturally as possible.  No swirling, twirling, no glittering or glamming!  We're making skin-nourishing goats milk soap with no artificial colours, no artificial fragrances, no preservatives, no chemical sudsers - just natural ingredients!  We're super-fatting with fresh, fluid goats milk - no dehydrated milk powder here!  It's harder than you might think to find info, so a certain amount of experimenting is going on in the kitchen!  Farmer Man and I, and a few friends, have been washing up with some odd-looking, but still very usable soaps!

Our 'mainstay' soap is a cold process soap which we're calling our 'Simple Soap': just coconut oil, olive oil and lots of goats milk.  All ingredients that are good for your skin, and coconut oil makes a nice lather.  We'd love to keep our soap ingredients 'local', but it's hard to make good soap with just what is available: canola oil, sunflower oil and hemp oil!  We could get into rendering lard, a classic soap ingredient but...we'd need a lot and I just don't really want to get into it!  We have also made a hemp soap - very popular at the Global Market and a good pairing with our hemp lotion bar!

To keep our soaps the lightest colour possible, we are freezing the mixes as soon as they go in the mold.  The common practice, in cold process soap making, is to insulate the soap in the mold and leave it 24 hours.  During this time the soap goes through a 'gel' phase, during which the chemical process involving the fats, oils and lye is completed.  A lot of heat is generated during this phase which can scorch milk fats and darken the colour of the bar.  We can keep more of the milk solids unscathed and the colour lighter by avoiding the gel phase.  Our soap will be a little softer, and may take longer to cure, but more benefits to the skin!  We're making most of our soaps in flat tray molds, so it freezes quicker and to avoid heat build-up.  The hemp soap I've been making in a loaf mold, and have had the centre darken, meaning it was warm enough for a short time for the gel phase to start.  Still great soap - maybe we'll call it 'Hemp Heart' soap or something!

So far, we've got a good stash of our Hemp Soap, Simple Soap Unscented (great for those working in hospitals and such where fragrance is frowned on, or for people who don't want their soap to interfere with their perfume choice), Simple Soap with ground Lavender and Lavender essential oil, Simple Soap with ground chamomile and chamomile infusion, a goat milk, oatmeal and honey soap (from a recipe on the Web), a shampoo bar and a shampoo bar with Rosemary essential oil (for scalp stimulation).  Today's experiment:  a goat milk, oatmeal and cinnamon soap which I am not going to put in the freezer.  I'm making it in a loaf mold and since the ground cinnamon is going to colour the bar anyway, I decided to see what would happen if I didn't freeze it, but insulated it instead!  I'll post some pictures on our Facebook page when I take it out of the mold in a day or two!

End of the Growing Season....

Everyone enjoys the fountain each summer!

Yesterday, we could park our truck in the garage, for the first time in probably four months!  It means the season is just about finished here in Manitoba.  During growing season, the garage is 'action central', where we gather the harvest, clean, package and sort into CSA boxes or crates for Farmers Markets.  One side of the double garage is always for processing: a couple of long tables with our scales, bags, accessories and space to put down crates of to-be-weighed-and-packaged veggies.  The other side gets tables set up all around, where we lay out all the crates; on Tuesdays and Thursdays for our CSA families, Fridays and Saturdays for The Global Market.  In September, in particular, the garage is crammed with crates and crates of potatoes, onions and garlic drying and curing before being sold or stored, then it's floor is covered with all the Winter Squash we've harvested.  It's hard to walk around let alone park a vehicle!  So, when the truck can finally go back into the garage - we know things are almost finished.

There hasn't been a blog post in a while: the last CSA delivery, the last Global Market all bring a sense of 'end' to us, and we take a little break from writing and, well, talking to people.  We've hardly left the farm for a couple of weeks, just the occasional grocery shop or feed store run!  We're still busy, though, very, very busy!  Farmer Man is still doing clean up/close up.  All the potatoes have been moved to the root cellar, all the Winter Squash is in the sun room.  Anything that can be dug, plucked or pulled has been.  It has largely all been dealt with too; there are just soup beans, Jacob's Cattle, that still need to be shelled, cleaned and stored.  Farmer Man has started some tilling, to clean up some growing beds and he's been cleaning the shop, the garage, the green house and the barn.  He's gathered tomato cages and stakes, picked up hoses, organized tools and a myriad of other small chores.  Work has already started, in a small way, on winterizing the barns, cleaning and updating goat pens and chicken coops.  Those, however, are chores that can wait until the first snow fall forces him off the land.  Me, I've been cooking, baking and making soap - hoping to be ready to do some craft shows this Holiday Season!

One of our final chores, just before freezing weather sets in, is to dismantle the fountain by our patio.  It's a work of art every year - stacked stones, a deep basin of water and a pond pump.  Everyone enjoys it: not only do we enjoy it as we sit on the patio but dogs, cats, chickens, assorted wild birds and even bees and wasps stop in for a drink.  When the fountain is taken down it means that Winter is looming right around the corner.  Farmer Man has threatened a couple of times to take it apart, but I always look at the long range forecast and tell him to leave it a few more days....

It's Officially Mating Season for the Goats!

A little primping!

It's time to start thinking about having adorable baby goats bouncing around next Spring!  No, really, you've got to plan for these things!  Last year we bought our buck, Dandi Randi, in the middle of December.  We thought we were being so smart; we'd have babies in May, when the weather was nice.  We wouldn't have to worry about babies getting chills, there would already be nice, fresh leaves and grass for the Mommas for sweet milk!  Well, turned out to be a critical error: we should be planting out our seedlings in May, and keeping up on the weeding of newly seeded rows!  Between the late nights monitoring the Mommas, sitting with goats in labor and bottle-feeding babies - we were worn out and weedy before our CSA season even started!

So, this year things will be different! Although Farmer Man and I have had some spirited discussions on just when to put the buck and the does together, we agreed on October 1st, looking to have baby goats in February or March.  Maybe the beginning of February, if one of the girls is receptive right away.  February is a little early for my taste; we can still be very cold in February but we have heat lamps and insulated boxes so everything should be alright!

A bit too enthusiastic right away....

Fall is the normal mating season for goats.  It can be manipulated - apparently the females can come into heat just by being around the male or smelling a rag impregnated by his scent.  Brambles Nubian Goat Farm, where we got all our lovely goats, is having babies now.  Our late Spring baby girls: Marble, Cherry and Chica, are really too young to breed right now, so that's a disadvantage we hadn't thought about last year, either!  Boys mature early, Gaffer, Marty and Myrvan are ready to breed (boy, they really think they're ready) and are currently for sale.  Their dairy goat genetics are excellent and their temperaments are all delightful, and they should make awesome sires and be a great addition to some dairy goat farms somewhere.

Our Buck, known as Dandi Randi, has been ready to breed since the middle of summer!  A goat buck's idea of making himself attractive involves urinating on his face...so Randi has been smelly and sticky and loud and pushy for some time!  He has continually tried to get out of his pen, tried to get at the girls and generally been a little hard to handle!  His name became Readi Randy and we've been getting tired of his antics.  Finally, the last couple of weeks, we noticed the ladies were getting a little difficult.  More obstinate, petulant, cranky and milk production has been down!  Seems everybody is getting in the mood.

A little dinner...

So, October 1st started with a wee grooming for Randi - to get him ready for the ladies!  After milking the girls and putting them all out to pasture, we got Randi on the milking stand and fed him his morning grain ration while doing his hooves and giving him a (fairly) good brushing.  Having his scent on the brush may help the ladies get in the mood!  When we led Randi out to the pasture - did his attention perk up!  We let him loose but stayed to monitor things.  He was immediately on the hunt - pursuing poor Choco around the field for a good five minutes.  Strange noises, licking, sniffing - quite the sight!  It was interesting he picked Choco because she was the last to have her babies this past Spring, so the last to succumb to his advances!  Maybe he could smell that she was in heat, or maybe he likes a challenge.  After a little while, things settled down and we went and cut willow for everyone, and it seemed quite quiet in the pasture the rest of the day.

The buck and the does will stay together 24/7 for more than a month now.  Does are in heat (known as estrus) for only about one day, but will come back into heat in about three weeks.  We want to make sure the 'deed' gets done so we'll give them lots of opportunity - as long as Randi stays a gentleman and doesn't appear to be getting rough with them!  We will not take the chance of the ladies being injured so we're keeping a close eye on things - one of us will be around them regularly throughout the day!  Kind of like a chaperon, don't you think?  

CSA For Sept. 27th

Hand-picking the ripest pear tomatoes!

Hard to believe that it is the last CSA day for the year!  It will feel very odd next Tuesday and Thursday - like there's something we're forgetting, something we should be doing.  It will take us a few weeks to 'stand down'.

Today's last pick up is about stocking you up a bit: there's a choice of potatoes, cured and ready for storage.  Depending on your share size, you'll get varying amounts.  Potatoes do best with dark, cool storage - but with some moisture, not too dry.  If you've got a dry space in your pantry or kitchen, try placing a pan of water in with the potatoes.  Dry storage isn't a big problem - the skins will just dry out faster and become harder.  Not a huge issue 'cause you'll probably eat these potatoes within the next month or so!  You know that the skin holds half the nutrition - so just scrub 'em and keep eating the skin when you can!

We've also got a spaghetti squash for everybody - they store really well so you can pick from some 'ready to rumble' or one that you can eat with Christmas Dinner!  Although we don't think the flavor or texture is quite as nice, it is easy to microwave winter squashes - and cut your cooking time down by more than half!  Here's simple instructions for microwaving spaghetti squash - but it applies to all the squashes.  If you like it spicy, how about a mac-n- cheese style Spaghetti squash with jalapeno cream?  For something a bit more exotic, and not even slightly local, how about spaghetti squash with shrimps or scallops?  If you cook up a big one, this breakfast loaf sounds awesome - we may try it this weekend!

The variety of tomatoes going to CSA! The bags
of slicers have some to ripen on your counter!

Everyone is getting to choose from among a number of different tomatoes today.  There are some yellow pears, a very limited amount of 'Indigo Rose' and a few cherries.  There's also bags of Aunt Ruby's German Green (which seems to have become a CSA favorite), Brandywine, Opalka, mixed bags of the low-acid Husky Gold and Lemon Boy, as well as some conventional red.  Most of these are ripening in our sun room because of cold nights - they'd all be dead and done if we hadn't picked them last Friday!  Enjoy the last of summers' fruits!

And for everyone: what's a late September CSA without a pumpkin?  Everyone's getting a pumpkin today - some gorgeous Sorcerer, or a bit of Sugar Pie is available, by choice!  Sorcerer is a beautiful, big pumpkin, totally appropriate for decorating but also good eating!  It's not quite as smooth as Sugar Pie or quite as sweet - but delicious none the less!  The hefty size makes it an awesome selection for freezing!  We just roast pumpkin, take out the meat, mash it a bit with a fork, then we pack it into freezer bags in one cup portions - perfect for a batch of muffins or a pumpkin loaf all winter!  Just remember, if you're following another recipe and it asks for canned pumpkin - it may assume that the spices are in the canned product - so you may need to add the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove yourself!  Here's the pumpkin pie spice mix I use, and I make up a bit to have in the spice rack!

It's been so nice seeing everyone every Thursday - a great group of enthusiastic 'local foodies'.  We've had so much fun swapping recipes and cooking techniques, and even dehydrating tips (Thank, John!).  We'll be at the Global Market Saturdays until October 13th - hope to see some of you there!

CSA For Sept. 25th

CSA 2012 is not going out with the bang we might have wished for.  It hasn't been a great harvest and we're just squeaking by the value set on everybodys' share.  In better years, we'd meet the value on the final pick up day and then have a bonus day - but this is not that kind of year.  Still, the last CSA pick up is always a sad day for us: we have so many delightful people within our CSA families and we won't be seeing them for a while now!  Oh, we'll see a few of them at the remaining Global Markets, some will come to the farm to buy eggs or potatoes through the winter, but mostly we're saying 'good bye' today - until next year!  The last CSA day is also a wee bit of a relief for us - the work, the toil is done for another year; maybe next week on Tuesday I'll finally give this house a really good cleaning!  Or maybe the dogs will finally get a haircut....

It's a spaghetti squash kind of a day - 'cause that is what the harvest is!  Everyone is getting spaghetti squash, in varying amounts, depending on the share size!  It's the most unique of Winter Squashes: once baked, it comes out of the skin like threads of spaghetti pasta!  It's nice as a side dish, either served savory with spaghetti sauce, or sweetened up a bit with maple syrup or brown sugar.  Treat is like a pasta, and toss it with veggies and feta cheese.   Keeping with a Mediterranean theme, how about a Chicken and Spaghetti Squash dinner?  Spice it up Moroccan style - yummy!  Cook up a big one, 'cause there is soooo much more to do with it:  we love these spaghetti squash pancakes from the divine Mollie Katzen!  How about a Spaghetti Squash and Meatball Muffin?  Or, mash it up good and use it in a snack muffin, like this recipe!

Everyone is also getting a 'Sorcerer' pumpkin, a medium size pumpkin.  Yes, it would make a good carving pumpkin for Halloween, but it's also good eating.  Not quite as smooth a texture as Sugar Pie' pumpkin, not quite as sweet, but still good eating!  Hmmm, pumpkin spice pancakes!  Yes, just roast a the pumpkin, mash up the meat for fresh pumpkin puree!  We've made a version of these before: just delightful, and the house smells so good!

We brought along a variety of potatoes, and everybody got a selection, based on the size of their shares.  There was a basic good red, 'Roko, the classic baked potato 'Russet', the delightful 'Island Sunshine', the very tasty 'German Butterball' and another red 'Purple Viking'.  Everyone also got to pick from a selection of tomatoes: cherry, classic red slicers, low-acid yellows, Brandywine or Aunt Ruby's German Green.

We also brought half of the watermelon and cantaloupe harvest; the other half will go to Thursdays' families.  It wasn't a big deal: they are generally small and unripe.  We've been covering them every night for almost two weeks - there's another chore we won't be sad to see finished.  On the kitchen counter, they should ripen within a week, you'll know when the fragrance of the fruit is apparent.  We're not sure how a family of four will split these little guys: maybe a spoonful for everybody in yogurt or on ice cream!

We've so enjoyed our Tuesday CSA families!  We hope you've all enjoyed the fresh-picked food - harvested just for you!  We hope we've introduced some new food to some of you and shared some good recipes!  We've love to hear from you and get ideas for next year:  Caryl mentioned at today's pick up that she'd love sunflower heads, ready to harvest sunflower seeds to roast!  That's doable!  What would you like to see next year?

More Than Just Frost....

Another bucket load to unload at the garage!

With just a touch of Mother Nature's hand, the growing season is largely done for us!  Friday night was not just frost, or even hard frost: Friday's night's temperatures went well below the freezing mark.  Our thermometer read -7 C (about 18 F) at 6 AM Saturday morning.  Vegetables are done growing for this year!  There had been hope for the summer squash and cucumbers after the touch of frost last week: the tops had been touched but the inner plant was okay and they had started to flower again and had some new growth.  Now, all hope is gone and the plants are all blackened, collapsed heaps, almost unrecognizable.

We had some warning in the weather forecast - although it did get even colder than predicted!  Thursday was CSA day for us so we were busy harvesting for our families, but taking a little extra of everything when we could.  Friday was all-out last-chance harvesting.  Where do you start when it might be your last chance to harvest?  Well, first you prioritize:  anything in the ground like potatoes and beets will be fine.  Then you look at the economic value of our products and those products in demand.  For us, priorities were winter squash and tomatoes.  Everyone is tired of summer squash: they've sauteed, muffined, loaved and frozen to the max!  Winter squash, from pumpkins to Kabocha to Delicata, that's what customers and CSA families are looking for now.  And tomatoes - well, you can never have enough!  Lots of customers are still looking for good paste or plum tomatoes for canning sauces and salsas!

The tomato plants are just crispy now!

So, Friday morning right after milking, the harvesting frenzy began.  I set to work on tomatoes, Farmer Man to winter squash.  Farmer Man definitely had the harder task (as is also so!), because he was cutting squash, filling the tractor bucket, unloading at the garage and doing it all again.  That included twenty pound carving pumpkins, fifteen pound Marina di Chioggia, heavy Australian Blue pumpkins, ten pound Red Kuri and numerous five to ten pounders of everything else.  We briefly considered not attending the Global Market, to get in as much as we could.  We decided we could get enough done, and still be there to sell as expected - just a wee bit more disorganized then usually.  I set to work in the tomatoes, starting with the Romas, Margeritas and Opalkas, using a three bucket system: ripe, almost ripe and green.  We both left lots of small, under ripe product in the field - just not worth our time and space!

Fortunately, Henry and Derrick came to help and got right to work in the tomatoes with me.  We worked feverishly all morning.  About 1:30 we stopped to prepare for the market.  Fortunately, much was at hand and we knew how much we needed to prepare.  Potatoes were already curing in the garage, getting ready for winter storage in the root cellar.  Farmer Man bagged potatoes, I portioned tomatoes, we both weighed and labelled winter squash.  Off to Global Market for me, Farmer Man returned to the farm to keep harvesting!

Basil in the hoop house is largely okay,
except for a little patch right by the wall.

I must admit, even with the knowledge I had, I was not fully prepared for the temperature drop at the market Friday night.  I was freezing, just freezing by the time Farmer Man came to pick me up!  I had big plans to keep harvesting, but after milking the goats, I was assured that there was not much more to do except cover excess squash that was on tables outside the garage.  Up early Saturday morning to prepare for market and we could see the damage had been done!  Prepping for the Global Market Saturday morning was quite easy because everything was right at hand!  A peak in the hoop house, and everything there seemed largely okay!

Even though the 'growing' season may be finished, the work is not done by any means.  There are still potatoes and beets to take up.  Garlic still has to be planted.  Stakes and cages have to be removed from tomatoes, assorted other tags, fencing and such has to be picked up.  We'll leave a lot of plants in the ground, as is, for winter, to help capture snow and decrease soil erosion.  And maybe, just maybe, our late planting of lettuce will still grow and we'll have a fresh salad in a couple of weeks!

CSA for September 20th, 2012

Left, Hubbard blue and orange, right, Kabocha orange
and blue!

I noticed this morning, during milking, that the goats' coats are getting thicker and rougher.  I noticed it particularly on Choco, who has the shiniest, silkiest coat of all the goats!  Winter is just around the corner.....

This is the second to last CSA basket of the year!  It still has some of summer's great flavors - the tomatoes have been doing all right in their protected little spot, although not ripening very quickly.  The weather forecast predicts a cold night for Saturday, so we may pick everything in the tomato patch Saturday afternoon.  This could be the last taste of truly vine-ripened tomatoes.

Some of the Full Shares and the Single Shares are getting Hubbard Squash today.  This is a very old American variety, said to be part of the Native Americans 'Three Sisters' plantings of corn, beans and squash.  The Fulls mostly have a blue Hubbard, although some have Kabocha, the Singles have orange Hubbards.  Now remember: for the Part Shares who have blue Kabocha 'Confection' - Winter Squash recipes are largely interchangeable!  I like the look of this custard pie made with Hubbard squash - sounds like a family heirloom recipe.  This Maple-Nut Hubbard side dish sounds really yummy, too - and simple!  I think it would be great with pork!  This weekend we're going to try this recipe for Sweet and Spicy Kabocha Squash - maybe with chicken.

We're sharing two of our favorite potatoes today!  I think we've mentioned that 'Sangre' is the one we use the most, but today's choicest get used a lot, too!  We've bagged up 'Linzer Deleketess', a beautiful old fingerling: waxy and dense, but beautiful nutty flavor.  Great in tinfoil on the BBQ, great roasted - and make too much: they make awesome hash browns!  'German Butterball' is the other selection today.  It's similar to Yukon Gold, which used to be a fav, but the flavor is just outstanding!  Good for fries, boiling, mashing!

So, for the FULL SHARES:  4 lbs. Linzer fingerling potatoes, 4 lbs. German Butterball potatoes, garlic, lg. Hubbard or Kabocha squash, beets, Aunty Ruby's German Green tomato, slicer tomatoes, pint of mixed cherry/grape tomatoes, cucumber.

For the PART SHARES:  3 lbs. Linzer fingerling potatoes, 3 lbs. German Butterball potatoes, garlic, Kabocha 'Confection' winter squash, beets, Aunt Ruby's German Green tomato, slicer tomatoes, Husky Gold tomato, pint of cherry /grape tomatoes.

For the SINGLE SHARES:  2 lbs. Linzer fingerling potatoes, 2 lbs. German Butterball potatoes, garlic, Hubbard squash, beets, Husky Gold tomato, red slicer, pint of cherry/grape tomatoes.

CSA for September 18th!

From left, regular tomato, top Lemon Boy, Husky Gold,
below Pink Brandywine, ripe Aunt Ruby's Green,
far right unripe Aunty Ruby's.

It seems very much like Fall around the farm!  The garden renters are pulling their gardens; what was productive growing space just a few weeks ago is now barren earth, with little piles of brown, crispy vines and bushes.  Throughout our own gardens, touches of frost are evident in the open spaces everywhere and all the plants are looking tired and drooping.  Along our driveway and throughout the shelterbelt, the frost has started the process of leaves turning.  The early fall colour - particularly ash, is already bright yellow, and the Manitoba maples are well on their way to gold!  Even the goats seem to feel it: their favorite treat, willow branches, seems to be attacked with extra urgency, as if they know they won't be getting it much longer.

With the coming of Fall and the end of the growing season, so too comes the end of another season of CSA.  Next week will be our last delivery of boxes!  CSA has gone longer this year than last - every growing season is different, it seems.  We'll reminisce about the successes and failures later - meanwhile we're still hurrying to get things harvested and finished for the last week!  We'd like to finish our potato harvest, to give the varieties adequate time to cure for good winter storage!  We're hoping to pick a lot of tomatoes before it's too late (which could be any night now!) so everyone can have some green ones to ripen over the next few weeks.  So many tasks still to complete.....

It is a tomato tasting day for Tuesdays CSA!  A lot of our interesting heirlooms are always late.  Everyone has the golden 'Husky Gold' to try today, a low-acid, sweet, juicy tomato.  We've included the weird and wonderful looking 'Aunt Ruby's German Green'; just a delightful tomato that stays green.  It is ripe when it's a little soft and has some yellow tints to the green.  Hardly anyone is getting one that is actually ripe today but just give it a few days on the counter.  The Full Shares also have Brandywine, probably the most famous heirloom.  It is pink when ripe and just awesome flavor.  As Farmer Man likes to say: "If you go somewhere for a $40 hamburger, the tomato on it will probably be Brandywine!"  Enjoy the taste sensations!

Everyone is getting a 'Sugar Pie' pumpkin today.  This little pumpkin is the one for pumpkin pie; although all pumpkins are edible, this one has smoother flesh and sweeter taste.  It is also excellent as a side dish, simply roasted and mashed a bit.  We also use it in muffins and loaves.  It would be great in this recipe for Curried Squash Soup with Lentils.  Don't forget to save the seeds for roasting!

So, for the FULL SHARES: 3 lbs. Mark Warshaw potato, 4 lbs. Cherry Red potato, lg. bundle of beets, Sugar Pie pumpkin, Bush Delicata winter squash, cucumber, assorted tomatoes, onions, garlic.

For the PART SHARES:  2 lbs. Mark Warshaw potatoes, 3 lbs. Cherry Red potatoes, sm. bundle of beets, Sugar Pie Pumpkin, Bush Delicata winter squash, Lemon Ball cucumber, slicer cucumber, assorted tomatoes, garlic.

For the SINGLE SHARES:  2 lbs. Cherry Red potatoes, sm. bundle beets, Sugar Pie Pumpkin, Lemon Ball cucumber, slicer cucumber, assorted tomatoes, garlic.

Open Farm Day Manitoba, 2012!

Set up and ready to go first thing today!

Today was Open Farm Day in Manitoba, and we opened our farm to the public.  The last couple of years, we've had an Open House late in September for our CSA members and Farmers Market regulars, so we knew how we were going to do it.  We had a couple of tables out, with some of our produce that was fresh and ready to go.  We had some of our neat heirloom tomatoes and rare potatoes out on display.  And we had our hand-made soap, and natural skin care products.  We had our CSA promo board and the few brochures we have left, plus lots of business cards.  We even brought outside the thirty year old aerial photos of the farm, for contrast.  We had no idea how many people we may see during this province-wide event.  We were wondering if we'd just see some of our usual suspects.....especially with Veteran's Way being marked as 'Closed - Local Traffic Only'.

The Squash display, with some heirloom tomatoes!

Well, the goats and us made some new friends this year!  We had a great turn-out; we were very steady all day and met some awesome new people and families!  Yes, we did have a good showing of CSA members, and we did see some of our Farmers Market customers - a number who had never been here before.  But, we loved making new friends, and had sooooo much fun with all the children who came out!  Yes, the goats were a hit!  The chickens got over-fed with scratch treats.  The barn kittens, unfortunately, scratched a few people this afternoon, but they are just not used to so much attention.  Our doggies, Blaze in particular, were in heaven with all the love and pats!

It is so fun to see a child 'meet' a real chicken for the first time!  Some poor families are going to be listening to 'cock-a-doodle-doo' for some time - kids loved the roosters crowing!  So many gorgeous giggles!  Some youngsters were climbing into their cars still crowing - and I'm sure Mom and Dad would have to put up with it at least until the next farm!  For kids the animals were definitely the attraction, but we had some great conversations with Moms and Dads about food, about CSA, about Farmers Markets!  We had some gardeners who loved looking at, trying and talking about growing all our unusual varieties of tomatoes, potatoes and squash, both summer and winter!  We had some grain farmers visit and had interesting conversations about growing a whole bunch of different stuff, rather than one crop.  A fabulous day, all around!

Bad blogger that I am, I got a few photos early and then the camera got rather forgotten in my pocket as I went from hostess to tour guide to shopgirl to the 'Vanna White' of winter squash!  Oh, well!  Fortunately, a few CSA members were around taking some photos (Looking forward to them, Naomi!) And, The Brandon Sun and the Western Producer were here, so there may be a few more photos out there!  Loved hearing, too, about the number of farms people were planning to visit: I hope all the participating farms had as much fun as we did!  Thank you to everyone who came for a visit - hopefully see you next year!