Fall is definitely my favorite time of the year.

The frost last week killed off the tomatoes and okra, but we still have herbs (lemon balm, pineapple sage, rosemary and stevia), bell peppers, jalapenos that were protected with floating row covers. The sugar snap peas are doing well and haven't minded the cold weather so far. We did plant garlic, lettuce, spinach and more peas in our little hoop house. The garlic is now 3inches tall.

Nothing cuter than babies. This was a late summer baby. I look forward to kidding season....lots of work but so rewarding!

Goats behaving badly - couldn't resist jumping on the trailer.

Julie (me) picking okra earlier today, believe it or not, it's still producing! Although now I have to go up on the pool deck to harvest the taller plants. This was the first time we grew okra - Star of David variety. We will definitely be planting more next year.

Fall crop of Super Sugar Snap Peas - can't wait - they are our new favorite raw veggie. We grew some in the Spring but most of them never made it out of the garden - they were eaten on the spot.

Gotta love Free Range Chickens - they are cleaning up the apples that dropped and were no longer edible (to us).

Things have been a little crazy around here with the building of our house so the postings have been sparse.

Last Fall, we planted 13 fruit trees, 16 blueberry plants and two fig trees.
We weren't expecting fruit this year, but all but 3 of the trees fruited. The nectarines were incredible!


The blueberry bushes were loaded and we ended up with around 5 cups of blueberries!

We are very excited! Today William and I (Julie) opened our large hive to find honey! Not just honey but a FULL super of honey - about 30-40lbs!

But the most exciting thing....the hive we thought we lost during the winter - is alive and thriving!

When we opened the hive we broke open some stores of honey - the bees are busily cleaning it up and you can see how clear it is....most likely due to the incredible amount of wildflowers and our fields of blooming clover.

Today we took advantage of the brief window of good weather, warm and little wind, to check on the hives. We added top feeders and sugar syrup with essential oils to help boost the bees as they are increasing their numbers.

William smoking the bees.


The bees are bringing in lots of pollen. Notice the three bees at the lower left - they are fanning - sending out pheremones to guide the others back home.

Worker bee with huge sacs of pollen.

Norby (Purebred Saanen)

Our first Norby daughter born 2/27/10

Bernierre and Tesla, two of our Sables, munching hay with a couple of our December 09 babies.

The snow finally stopped late last evening. Today, although it still isn't above freezing, the animals are tired of being in the barns.


Dixie, one of our two Anatolian Shepherds, patrolling the snow covered grounds.


Snotty, one of the seven resident cats, looking for something to pounce on, but no such luck.

Newest Arrivals at HMF

Our kidding season started the day after Christmas. We have 12 babies so far with a few mommas left to kid.

Merlot, our new little Sable buck.

This last picture is of Contessa, we have high hopes for her! At 5 weeks old she is topping the scales at 20lbs. Her mother, Tesla, is an extremely easy milker and has incredibly sweet rich milk.

Winter Wonderland

Well, the ice storm has hit and everything is covered in about a half inch of ice. Good news is we haven't lost power and it's now snowing - much rather have snow than ice.