November on the Farm

Looks stormy, but November started off very mild

Endive, onion, zucchini and tomato pizza picked from the garden in early November!

Turkeys joined by the wild friends

Cracking the nuts

One pound bag of walnuts

Hundreds of pounds of walnuts drying by the woodstove

Sugar Pie Pumpkins ready for roasting

Ruby the Rooster

Butternut Squash, Apple and Sage Soup waiting to be made

Still picking beans the second week of November

Cannellini Beans

Turnips waiting for the freeze to sweeten the meat.

Parsley and cabbage still thriving in the garden mid November

Nigerian Pygmy Goats eating their share of the bean vines

Bags and Bags of Walnuts

Farmhouse Kitchen

Butchering Day

Roasting pan is ready for the oven with a turkey back and root vegetables.

Old family recipe written by sister Lisa for walnut cookies. xo

Dried beans are getting shelled and into storage

Another butchering day

Second Harvest of turkeys

Poultry Plucker

Celebrating with Family

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Beautiful French Pumpkin called Galeaux D'Eysines

Farmer's Breakfast:  Rustic Apple Pie and Scrambled Eggs!

Pumpkin Pie

Apple Pie

All of the leaves have blown off of the trees by the end of the month. November was so beautiful on the farm with every type of weather possible. Sunny, mild, soft, warm to blustery, blowing, freezing, raining and wet. We enjoy each new day as it comes to us. Happy Autumn to all.

Happy Halloween

It has been a very busy month on the farm! The turkeys are growing before our eyes. The garden is still producing vegetables for dinner and lunches. The chickens are laying eggs galore. Walnuts have been dropping in abundance and there are pumpkins everywhere!

Sugar Pie and Fairytale Pumpkins have been harvested!

Pumpkins in the barn and lots of eggs such pretty colors.

Pumpkins at the garden gate

Pumpkin in the birdbath

Pumpkin Chocolate fudge. It is a new favorite on the farm.

Using sugar pie pumpkins from the garden, the puree is mixed into the batter

Happy Bats!

Hand knitted pumpkin by Tyler, age 8.

Turkeys roosting the yard and pumpkins at the well.

Kitchen full of fall and pumpkin goodies.

Sunshine streaming through the rainshowers.

Shadowy afternoons.

Walnut drying station! 

Produce weighing station.

I love you, Mom! xo

Masks and pumpkins

Pumpkin treats made for students  along with popcorn balls.

Early fall morning after the stormy night. So many walnuts ready to be gathered.

Walnuts for Sale!

~ Happy Fall and Happy Halloween! ~

Turkeys, Turkeys, Turkeys

Isn't he beautiful?! This is a Chocolate Turkey or a Chocolate Tom Turkey! He is very proud of his size and his feathers and he lets all of us know. Old Blue is also very curious and a little friendly. I call him Old Blue because he spends most of his time with his feathers on display and his head is blue.

The turkeys are roaming around the front pasture under the walnut trees. The sheep and the chickens are always wanting to visit, but the turkeys like to keep moving.

The photos are taken in late afternoon, and we still have not had a hard frost on this 24th day of October. That means we are still picking fresh produce in the garden like lemon cucumbers, zucchini, and peppers to name a few. The turkeys would love to get into the garden, but as long as the plants are living and we are harvesting, we will restrict the turkeys to only compost scraps.

The turkeys are eating plenty from the garden like giant sunflower heads, extra large zucchini, an eggplant now and then, wind fallen apples and pears, and of course lots of greens and a scoop of grain.

Turkeys love sunshine and when there is a harsh contrast between light and shadow, the turkeys will stay away from the shadows. They prefer to live out in the open air. We keep their pen fenced all around and over head so they can sleep outside of the barn.

Their natural curiosity led them to me as I was picking up walnuts. They were so interested in the walnuts they were trying to bob for walnuts in the bucket. The turkeys with the white band on the tail feathers and wings are called Bourbon Red Turkeys. I guess if we cross breed these turkeys we will end up with Chocolate Bourbon!

Turkeys will be harvested in about ten days. We will keep at least on e breeding pair to carry on for next year. They sure are fun to watch.