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or at least not a turkey! The hens appreciate that all the attention this week is on the turkey cousins! They are happy sitting back and being wallflowers. There'll be a few new wreaths with both evergreens and everlasting dried flowers available in the online store and to see in person this week. They help you feel festive all winter long even after the holidays are over! The mircrogreens join a few egg cartons this week as usual as I add projects to the fiber crafts list that I can hopefully finish before the holidays but will probably keep going through the winter! And, you guessed it! I'll be in Libby and Troy this friday, holidays and weekends are a far off land for farmers!  The chickens are glad that their turkey cousins get all the attention this week!  They even got outside for a little while to celebrate their wallflower status!  Jimi Hendrix and Elvis keep a sharp eye on everything they can see!  And everyone hopes the turducken craze is officially over!  The first of the everlasting+evergreen wreaths are here and they hope to bring lots of cheer for all of winter, not just the holidays!  Hella also, temporarily, put aside her homebody ways to gingerly walk on the almost iced over bit of snow. She could hear those gophers but she couldn't reach them!  But once she's been outside long enough, she lets you know to let her in my popping up in the window with a sharp MEOW!  She also got a brand new holiday outfit! It even jingles! I think she loves it! Don't you!!! What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
I'll be at Libby this Friday from 12-1230pm! I'll be at Troy this Friday from 1-130pm!
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It's snow season and thus a time where I switch from shoveling soil to shoveling snow! And it was a great time for my snowblower to stop working, yay! After a few hours, some disassembly, some intense struggle, and then using my little monkey brain and available tools (a handy dandy cable puller) I was able to manually winch all 250lbs of it into the back of my truck and take it to the repair shop. Until it returns, I get to watch as the slightly warmer weather and subsequent rain help melt some of the inches away. The hens and ducks are settling into their pre-dawn wake up and post-dusk turn down services! Additions like a bathing station, daily treats, and fresh dry bedding will all help them along their path to recovery and increased egg laying! While we wait for nature to take it's course, there are always the Microgreens, Dragon's Balm, Dragon Clips, Wreaths, and Dried Flowers available! And no cute kitty pictures as I gave her the time off from photo shoot duty! She went to the vet this week for her booster shots and wellness check up (all good and healthy!) and after all that excitement she enjoyed some peace and quiet without me shoving my phone at her! 🤣  With no snowblower to clear the paths, I was left to slog through it all and strike out on my own which works as a good lesson in farm efficiency as I can see where the paths should be.  One of my favorite parts of winter are the icicles! They are like wild and free, all natural and organic house decor! And you need to enjoy them while they last, just like a beautiful sunset!  Bae takes a stroll to survey her surrounding and see if any yummy wriggly worms have surfaced in the water saturated soil!  I had almost forgot about the bathing stations! When they can roam in the summer, they always find the driest, fluffiest, softest soil to flap about and clean their feathers with. In the winter, with the wet and frozen ground, I bring it to them! This fluffy, soft soil was courtesy of the gophers who dug it all up for me (and the hens) under some old flooring that was removed.  The microgreens are a once and done crop, so who gets the leftovers of stems and soil and roots? The hens! If the microgreens weren't so yummy, I would just grow them for the hens anyway!  Each week I make a few new wreaths and this week the evergreens will be part of the endeavor! They probably won't go up online until this weekend, but until then there are still a few that focus on flowers available.  One of my favorite ways to eat Microgreens (that isn't on a salad) is to use an entire small bag to make a bed of greens on the plate before covering it with a stir fry, scoop of casserole, or even pasta! Here I have a stir fry of steamed Red Kuri Squash from Hoot Owl Farm, Green Cabbage, Shiitake Mushrooms, and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes in Olive Oil. It might look like a mess but it is a yummy mess! What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
I'll be at Libby this Friday from 12-1230pm! I'll be at Troy this Friday from 1-130pm! A week of snow means some projects will be put on hold and others will just require me to slog through it. Construction projects in winter take much longer as they require clearing the snow away and taking time to warm cold fingers and toes. But the very last of the planting, the eagerly awaited peonies, arrived and got into their wintery homes! Now the only planting that happens until spring is what I can do inside, like the microgreens and some rooted cuttings. I sometimes think I mainly keep them growing in winter as an excuse to get my hands dirty and feel the soil between my fingers! The lights are on in the huts and runs, so in a few weeks the hens will start laying a little more frequently and I'll have to trot out every few hours, or sooner depending upon the cold, to scoop them up and bring them in so they don't freeze solid! Don't forget to order your micros, eggs, or dried flowers for pickup or just stop by on Friday to see what I've got! It's all in the online store, which is open from now until 10am on Friday. Look for me and my snow covered black truck in Libby at the Chamber/Fireman's Park parking lot from 12-1230pm and in Troy at the Museum parking lot from 1-130pm! Be safe on those roads!  The lights are on! They help the hens and ducks stay active and warm in winter and in a few weeks they will respond to the extra light by laying more eggs!  They putter. They peck. Maybe scratch at the ice a little! All in the life of a hen in winter!  A little light in their hut and a little straw for softness and to ensure dry feet makes it all a little more bearable!  Peony planting under the snow! They finally arrived and I was ready! The soil was prepped and clear of weeds, covered in straw to block out the cold, and a tarp over it all to make it easy to flip the snow out of the way. The soil was lovely and soft with just the right dampness.  The microgreens are fresh and crisp! Sometimes the snow fills the sky as well as the ground and sometimes the clouds clear and the mountains appear!  The barn door has a cheerful new coat of paint, pretty in pink!  I got jealous of all the hens lights and decided to put up my own lights in the dark! And I loved my barn's new pink door so much I added it to the cabin too! What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
I'll be at Libby this Friday from 12-1230pm! I'll be at Troy this Friday from 1-130pm! Finally! The garlic is in the ground growing little roots in the dark under it's blanket of straw. The tulips and daffodils are in the ground growing their little roots in the dark, no blanket needed. The anemones are up and out of the ground ready to be dried and stored in the cool attic to wait out the cold of winter. And the hen huts are lined up in their cabin-to-barn corridor with their snow covers on and wind anchors in place! The farms ready! I'm ready! Bring on winter!  As soon as the snow left, the garlic went in!  All those little holes house 1 garlic clove. These are the little ones that I planted close together for springtime green garlic, like scallions or green onions but garlic instead because garlic is better are the little cloves won't make big bulbs AND who can wait until late summer for all that garlic!  After all those little (and big) cloves are tucked in their homes they get double-tucked into their blanket of straw so the roots have time to dig deep before the ground freezes!  This was the 'experimental' future grain/fruit tree plot that was tilled this last spring and then tarped. On the left was a clear tarp used for solarization (the idea that it heats up super duper hot and essentially sterilizes the soil). On the right was a black tarp used for occultation (warming the soil for seed germination but then they don't get any sunlight so they die). I wasn't sure solarization would work in my cold valley since it relies solely on heat. Annnnd I was right. Looks like I'll be pulling some weeds next spring! The anemones, looking sad and frozen. They don't mind some freeze but not a full winters! So I plunged my trowel into the soil (the top inch was frozen solid) and pried their corms up! I'll trim and dry them before storing them in their dormant state for winter and hope that the freeze wasn't too much for them to handle!  The Rainbow Hut crew is back and in order! It's a multi-day job to roll the huts and runs into place, cover, anchor, and electrify so they can provide a little comfort to the hens while they dream of grass and grubs. Just a few more runs to cover today and all the wires and lights and heaters to organize and plug in!  A big Drake in a tiny tub! Splishing and a'splashing away! Tying down the covered runs means getting to crisscross a lot of baling twine and making a lot of knots! As baling twine is one of her favorite things, I was lucky that Hella only discovered my activities until I was on the last hut, still she had to inspect the line to make sure it was all to her satisfaction! What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
I'll be at Libby this Friday from 12-1230pm! I'll be at Troy this Friday from 1-130pm! And somehow I spent all week BOTH watching snow melt and paint dry LOL Planning with and around the weather can be a dicey affair. It is rarely all sunshine and roses (even on a flower farm) and you need to work in whatever weather there is even if it is uncomfortable, but when your workplace is frozen and then covered in snow, even the hardiest of us must retreat and wait. Frozen soil can be harder than some rocks (I used to study permafrost) and plants don't appreciate being planted into it. So for now I get work done inside cleaning and tidying (after a growing season of no cleaning it was nice to get it done) and working on organizing and painting projects that I've been dreaming about since I first moved in three years ago! Last winter I painted the interior living room wall a gentle pale blue (with some whimsical mountains as decoration behind the wood stove complete with Kitty Cloud shelves). This year I'm going big time by painting my bedroom, a complete bathroom paint and wallpaper makeover to cover the dingy cat pee pee (not my cat) stained walls, and repairing and painting the walls and drywall ceiling of the attic office so that I won't always use my couch as my office. Plus hopefully painting a few inherited furniture pieces that have seen the ravages of time! So much painting! So little time! But this weather gave me a head start and kept me from fretting about not having the bulbs in yet too much! And, of course, the microgreens are safe under their attic lights so they will be in full supply this week. The eggs are in shorter supply as this cold didn't help their recovery after their molt but it has pushed me to move up the winterizing dates for their huts and the extra warmth and light that affords really gets them to get their butts in gear, so there should be more golden yolk goodness to go around in a few weeks!  Deep powder is so lovely, but since it's a little early and I still have some fall bulbs to get in the ground I am happy it will melt away but I hope it returns for the rest of winter. ☃️⛷□⛸ I didn't even bother clearing all the paths as I really enjoyed trudging through it! □  While it was -10F outside Hella found the best place to curl up for nap in front of the wood stove! With that kinda cold, even the ducks were reluctant to venture forth, but a little sun helps warm it all up so all get a chance for a snack! (a little corn scratch helps too!)  With the outdoor work put on hold until the soil is free and unfrozen, I had time to get some inside painting and tidying jobs done! A fresh coat of a soothing pale lavender in my room helps me relax and since it covers the yellow knotty pine that was added probably in the early 90's, the 100 year old cabin logs get to take center stage! My reading nook got rearranged so I can start tackling the piles of books that I hope to get through at some point but only after I fold the pile of laundry on my chair! And I was able to install some new shelves just for Leo's final resting place so that every morning when I get ready I can remember all the joy he brought to my life and how grateful I am that I got as many years as I did with him! (I adopted him as a senior doggie when he was 8 and he passed away in summer 2019 from the dreaded kidney failure at 15)  Once it warmed up a little and the snow began to give way, the barn hens revolted and all jumped out the coop (their run was filled with snow so it was closed off) and through the barn door! So I let them pace the edges of grass that poked through as the sun worked its melting magic!  Sunny days and frigid nights make for the best icicles! I would be lying if I said I didn't carry it around for a good while imagining it was a lightsaber, or a sword, or a magical wand and maybe try to challenge a few hens to a duel, but I had no takers. In an effort to speed along the snow melting process, I sprinkled some old wood ash onto the beds and much like dust on a glacier it absorbs more of the sun's heat and thus melts the snow faster! Which is bad news for a glacier but good news for the garlic and tulip bulbs that still need to be planted. Plus, I emptied an ash bin so I have space to empty the ash from my overflowing wood stove! Plus plus, ash is a good soil amendment, just don't put a lot on. There is sometimes a method to the madness!  Hella hopes to find the mice and rats that lurk around the old structures and she sometimes finds a perfect kitty cat sized space to sit!  Preparation and planning are keys to success and even if I didn't prepare and plan enough to get the garlic in before this snow arrived, I sure am ready to go once it leaves! What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
I'll be at Libby this Friday from 12-1230pm! I'll be at Troy this Friday from 1-130pm! A spat of snow arrived to light a fire under me to get all things in and under the soil before winter arrives in force and the pouring rain gave me a good chance to clean and tidy inside both cabin and barn. All the fall cleanup like draining hoses, tidying planting beds, and prepping for fall bulbs gets to happen on the sunny, dry days when my clay soil isn't so heavy and the hens get a chance to stretch and flap and get a move on with finishing replacing their feathers (most hens are looking good but some are late molters so they can be a raggedy band this time of year!) This week is the first Friday Pop Up/Drop off at 12pm in Libby and 1pm in Troy. You can prepay and order using my online store or email/message so I can set items aside. Look for my black pickup full of dried flowers, micros, and (a little) eggs in the parking lots for each market!  The snow came...and then went, but it was a wet, mushy joy to behold of, hopefully, future tidings!  The tomatoes in the Dragon Dome have been stripped of all fruits larger than a marble, whether ripe or not! There is single digits temps on the way and it's pretty hard to heat it enough to keep em going through that. I'll have some boxes of green tomatoes ready for a weekend fry up! The micros have all been migrated inside to their winter home in the seed starting area where they get to enjoy the good life under the lights and in the warmth of the cabin!  The few flats of perennial flowers that I still need to get in their permanent beds before the real snows come also get to come inside to pass the deep freeze. This Delphinium flat has a cute little Liverwort friend (upper left) that has grown up among the mosses. I'll put her in a nice little pot that can stay damp in the windowsill until spring so I can return her to the woods!  I finally got some fall cleanup done! The before pic would show a 5-6' sunflower stalk the size of a broomstick in each hole. They either got pulled out or cut off at the base so the soil macro and micro organisms can have some winter food! I couldn't bring myself to pull the pansies yet, but winter will come for them too. After days spent hiding in their huts from the pouring rain and the snow, the hens are happy to get out and play! Hella too even if the hens don't wanna play her games! The currently available wreaths and other dried flowers have all been added to the online store so you can reserve one for you or yours!  And Hella surveys her domain! What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
I'll be at Libby this Friday from 12-1230pm! I'll be at Troy this Friday from 1-130pm! This Friday is the last full setup market of the season for me and my far goodies! It's the Fall Bounty Market of the Troy Farmers Market and will be at the normal place at the normal time (330-630pm outside the Museum)! I'll be there no matter the weather, besides winter is coming so you better get ready! The Dome is still producing tomatoes so you can pick up some along with the micros for an extra healthy fall salad. And there are wreaths and dried flower bunches aplenty so you can get gifts for all those friends and loved ones to show how much you appreciate them and they help show how much you appreciate your local farmers markets and farmers!  Ducks love water! And when rain and dirt mix, they make mud and spend the whole day happily splashing and flinging it around! They somehow stay clean but everything else is not!  The hens don't like it so much, but on the wet, wet days I put their food bowls inside so they can nibble and munch without so much as a drop or a dribble! Also Bae, having spent much time recovering is a perfect hut mate for Iris!  The guineas get let out rain or shine (but not snow, these are African savannah creatures after all) and always choose to hang by the red hut as they grew up in here with these chickens and only moved out when they proved too wild to be contained! The old Ranunculus beds are cleared out and ready for the tulips to arrive any day now! One bed (back left) still has the Anemones in but the remaining three should be enough. The hardware mesh will protect the bulbs from the hungry gophers while allowing their roots to push down through! Just like an underground fence!  The shed is done and dusted, er painted. Now I get to nest and organize all the goodies inside, what you see is just the beginning! mwahahaha  The Dragon Dome is keeping the tomatoes nice and toasty, even if they try to escape! There was a good amount to pick this afternoon so expect to see some baskets at the Fall Bounty Market!  The wreaths will be out in force this Friday as well! After this they go up online and I may bring a few each Friday Pop Up / Drop Off through the holiday season.  Molting season brings new fashions for the hens! Here, Josie is modeling the latest trend in wattlewear, a fluffy feather!  And Hella shows that she is the majestic queen of all that she sees! What's available this week?
It's the last week of The Farmers Market at Libby, but don't fret as I'll be in Troy on the 16th for the Fall Bounty Market and my Pop Up / Drop Off will start the Friday after that so you can enjoy fresh microgreens and eggs all year long! This time of year the Dragon Dome greenhouse starts to work extra hard and it got a few upgrades just in time for the chilly weather to arrive! The hens are still busy jumping from here to there while chasing those tricky grasshoppers! And a few boxes of dried flowers were discovered so there is yet more to enjoy! Once the markets are over the remaining wreaths and dried bouquets will all be added to the online store and they will be available for as long as they remain! With the end of the regular market season, I now have time to prep some beds for the fall plantings of garlic, tulips, and peonies! Time to start getting my hands dirty, again!!!  The microgreens get to keep going and going, all winter long, a new form of 'ever' green! They are still enjoying the Dragon Dome greenhouse but their indoor space will be ready for them soon!  And the microgreens get to live in style as the Dome got a newly (and quite artistically) reinforced upper dome, so I don't need to rush to clear deep snow, and the inner layer of plastic covers it all so it can stay extra cozy for as long as possible, because the microgreens share their warm space with ...  ... the tomatoes! Which are still going and still ripening! A new, taller ladder helped to finish the work on the Dome and will help immensely with the long hours spent trellising the tomatoes all season long!  Plus!, the little lettuces that got tucked in amongst the tomato vines are perking up and growing fresh tasty leaves! Hopefully there will be a few salad mix harvest in a few weeks □□□□□□  Bae is finally free! A few weeks ago I noticed she was limping some and was being picked on by her hut mates, so I brought her inside to a nice warm towel and a pile of dried grubs to convalesce. As she got better she got a few outing to test herself but she is all healed and fancy free! I discovered an extra box of dried flowers that was tucked away safely earlier this summer, so there is still some to grab before they're gone!  We may not have the most fall colors here in Montana, but I'm quite happy with some glowing Golden Aspens under Very Big & Very Blue Skies! What's available this week?
The molting continues as evidenced by the feathers everywhere! Sometimes the hens will eat the little ones to help them build all the ones they need to replace but most fill the corners of every hut and run and they get stuck in tufts of grass. It's just feathers floatin on the breeze around here! As soon as they are done and have a full body of fancy new feathers, the laying starts up again, but it takes a few months to get all those feathers fluffed out! There are more dried bouquets for this week, but the supplies are running low so you'll wanna get one while you can! And there will be more fall themed wreaths to deck your halls for the season! There's just two more weeks at Libby, followed by the Fall Bounty Market in Troy on the 16th before the Pop Up / Drop Off begins so you can get the eggs and micros that you need all winter long!  The seed saving continues with the last Poppy pods brought in and more Bachelor Buttons, Pansies, Bee's Friend, and more brought in, ready and waiting for me to separate the seeds from the chaff! At least poppies are super easy, no winnowing required!  Diggin Ranunculus tubers can be a tedious business, luckily Hella was on hand to help! Besides, it's gotta get done since they won't survive in the soil through winter and need to be dried and brought inside!  The dried bouquets return this week! But they are dwindling, so get yours quick!  I finally got out to hike a path that isn't lined with crops or chickens! It was nice to see moss, lichens, and a lot of my favorite woodland plants!  The fur and the feathers fly when they get to have some good-natured game of Tag!  Be careful giving your hens 'table scraps' as they will hunt you down forever for more!  Sometimes it's fun to lay in the sun and wait for tummy rubs! What's available this week?
Fall officially arrives and it brings more seed saving, bed prep for fall plantings of garlic, tulips, daffodils, and peonies, and cold mornings filled with valley mist. This Friday is the last regular season market in Troy and there won't be any apple pressing but there will be great local products and produce from all your fav vendors and new ones to discover! There is so much to see it starts an hour early at 2pm and goes until the normal 630pm. So even if you can't make apple juice you can probably still find some apples! There are also only three more Libby markets left, so be sure to get your winter squash, extra veg, and other stuff now! But don't fear about missing out on eggs and micros since I keep those coming all year long! Friday, October 16th will be the first pop up/drop off of eggs, micros, and any dried flowers or crafts you may want. You can still order online for pickup or stop by during my drop off time to play your luck at getting just what you want!  The Flower Crowns (featuring braided willow and dried Helipterum) are shown delightfully, if a little confusedly, by an extremely cute model. And a bounty of dried Statice, Strawflower, Poppy Pods, Bunny Tail Grass, Chinese Lanterns, and more, means the arrival of the first dried bouquets. If kept out of direct sun, they won't fade, wilt, or need any water. Just place in any dry vase, glass, or container that you like and enjoy! There will be mixed color options and more tonal ones available! No promises that they won't become filled with dust or spider webs over time, but you can think of it as another manner of bringing the outside in and providing a tiny indoor habitat to our household friends! :D  The Woolly Bears are back at it, looking for a little snack before getting literally frozen solid all winter only to thaw in spring! Whew, talk about quarantining and self-isolation!  Big Sky also means Big Clouds over Big Mountains and Big Meadows!  Last week you may have seen the first Dragon's Balm! Now for it's official introduction... Growing up I would help my Dad (an Acupuncturist and Herbalist) collect herbs around our house and in the woods and soak them in oils. Then he would blend those infused oils with beeswax, and voila!, we had the 'ointment'. We never called it anything else but it was always around. Got a bee sting. Ointment. Burn. Ointment. Bruise. Ointment. Scrape or cut. You get the drift. Since I've been growing and wildcrafting the herbs that we use to infuse the oil with, I thought I should share it with you all, and the ointment got a little re-branding and a new life as Dragon's Balm!  Still the same great stuff I've used since I was a little whipper snapper climbing trees and scraping knees and I still use it even it it's more scrapes from hauling firewood and bruises from wrangling tractors. It is now available for pickup on the website along with the eggs, veg, and flowers but in a few weeks it will be available to ship straight to your door! Hella found an odd and very skinny and very squirmy creature to 'play' with. Luckily for the worm, she got bored quick. Unluckily, the hens came by soon after. Kinda an 'out of the frying pan...' situation!  The Pansies have kept going despite the previous heat and the more recent cold snap and have recovered enough for a little harvest of edible flowers this week! What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
I'll be at the Farmers Market at Libby, this Thursday from 3-7pm! I'll be at the Troy Farmers Market, this Friday from 200-630pm! |
AuthorI'm Farmer Megan with a life full of cackles, clucks, quacks, weeds, crazy kitten, and one tiny, senior, blind dog. Archives
November 2020
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