Fall Chores & Chicken Treat Stealers

Chores are a daily and never-ending endeavor on a farm. They just shift either the task or the time of day it is completed as the seasons shift. I may not know what day it is at any point, but I always know the imminent weather, daylight hours, and usually where the moon is and what it's up to.

This season is all about stocking up for winter, whether that means straw, feed, or supplies but also stocking up on ideas and tasks that can be completed when the soil is not accessible and are either done inside or aren't inhibited by freezing weather. The only problem is it's a little too easy to say 'oh, I'll do that in winter'.

But for now, the more immediate tasks get done, more wreaths get made, the flower crowns are prototyped, and the leaves begin to yellow!

The firewood piles are full and overflowing, so it is time to stack them into the shed and the hens feel the need to supervise while they get a little dust bathing in!

The big project of the week for my farm laborers was the raking, lifting, and piling the straw I mowed and scythed this summer up into the hayloft to stay dry until it gets the joyful use as chicken and duck bedding during the winter!

The resident doe and her young have regular standoffs with the marauding hens about their attempts at (and sometimes successful) stealing of the veggie scraps! Adding a doe-proof veggie scrap holder for hens to my to do list!

More dried flower and weaving work got done inside while trying to limit breathing in the smoke. Luckily, it has begun thinning so the outside work doesn't get too far behind!

Farm supplies arrive regularly and the important task of checking the arrivals and overseeing quality control falls to the last of the Golden Girls and original hens, Iris. Using the box as an impromptu perch must mean she approves!

Hella is on the prowl for all those mice and gophers hiding around the barn!

What's available this week?

• Eggs!
  • dozen pasture-raised, rainbow chicken eggs 
  • half dozen pasture-raised duck eggs 
• Flowers!
  • Dried Flower Wreaths
  • Flower Crowns
• Veggies!
  • Microgreens
    • Spicy Mix
    • Mild Mix
  • Golden Beet roots
  • Garlic
    • Chesnok Red
    • Moroccan Creole
    • Polish Red
  • Basil Sampler
  • Cherry Tomatoes
  • Heirloom Tomatoes
• Crafts!
  • Handwoven Scarves
  • Dragon Clips
  • Treasure Bowls
• Dragon's Balm - a salve to soothe the scaliest, scratched, or fired up skin

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 330-630pm!