Week 17: Fading Flowers and the settling of Autumn (also a note about Goats and weather)

These rudbeckia will provide valuable habitat over the winter for our native insects

Autumn is definitely here, bringing with it the glorious changing of leaves, the deeper blue skies and the highly changeable weather. Last week we had our first frost which has done in the cherry tomatoes, beans, eggplant and sweet peppers. The chili peppers appear to have been mostly protected by the tomatoes so we still have a lot out there. It is time for the HOT SAUCE recipe. It is super easy to make a lovely hot sauce to dress up any dish. I will talk more about it in the recipe section.
In any case, with Autumn upon us, we are in full swing putting fields to bed for the winter- pulling out irrigation, plastic, and turning under old crops so that we can plant cover crops to protect the fields from erosion for the winter. We plant a combination of grains and legumes- usually rye and field peas and clovers. We only have a couple of weeks left to get these covers onto the bare parts of our fields before it won't do a whole lot of good (the ground will be too cold/wet for the plants to grow well). And we still have a lot of crop in the field- broccoli, cabbages, greens, and more that are still growing and waiting for harvest- these crops we will leave in the ground over the winter. We will do the same with many of the perennial and annual flowers such as the black-eyed susans, sunflowers, and others. It may not look as neat and pretty, but these standing crops provide valuable habitat for a myriad universe of beneficial insects such as native bees,

Fading sunflowers provide food for birds and hollow stems for insects.

beetles, wasps, spiders, mantis and more. In order for them to continue to grow and flourish in our fields and help with controlling pest insects that eat our veggies, we need to provide them with areas where they are safe from our mowers and tillers for the winter. Consider doing the same in your own yards: before you get the clippers out to do away with those dead annuals or clear out the stems of no longer blooming perennials in your household gardens, remember that there are tiny insect friends looking for warm winter homes in those same stems.

A note about Goats out in the weather. So this is the time of year when we get a lot more questions, concerned calls and more about the goats and their being outside in the weather. I love talking about this, so if you have questions, please call me before you call Animal Control- she really doesn't need the bother. The thing about goats is- they aren't dogs, cats, horses or human and so they don't have the same reaction to the weather that dogs, humans or cats would have. In fact, they have a huge internal combustion engine: their rumen (or the first of their four stomachs), which in a full grown goat, who weigh about 160lbs each, is a 5 gallon bucket of churning fuel burning in their gut. This keeps them warm, along with a higher internal temperature- about

Beautiful Nixie in the morning light.

102- and a nice thick layer of cashmere beginning to grow under their long shiny outer coat. So those goats are surprisingly well prepared for being outside. They love the cooler weather and are adapted to it. It may seem like a quick changeover to us and to our indoor pets, who are used to a warm house, but the goats have been adapting to the change in season over the last couple of weeks. For them, it is just a slight change in overnight temps- just around 8-10 degrees, from 62 to 52. It is barely noticeable to them because they are well acclimated to their environment. Given a choice (and at our last farm, they had open and free access to indoors and outdoors all the time during the winter) they will CHOOSE to be outside even in very cold temperatures (down to 15 degrees or so) and snow.
Given all of that- it was raining last week. Now the goats hate  all water that isn't in a bucket and they are dramatic about how much they hate it. They hunch up, look miserable but they need the rain. They don't groom themselves clean the way that cats, dogs and many other animals do. They NEED the rain to clean their fur of dirt, dander and PARASITES, especially now, before winter and before they start to spend a whole lot more time inside because there isn't enough pasture for them to eat all night. They are a lot like recalcitrant toddlers who hate bath time. However, we have very specific guidelines that we follow for our goats and  their health relating to cold/wind and wet weather (we have them for hot weather too).   We have set our temperature and weather condition limits in consultation and with recommendations from our vet, checked in with Animal Control and by knowing our goats.Obviously, in any extreme weather conditions, we bring them into the barn or provide shelter by moving their paddocks to an appropriate location to meet their needs. Goats that are kept inside too much are not healthy. They need sunlight and fresh air as much as possible year round.
If you have any other questions about goats, I'm happy to answer them (or the kids can answer them, they know as much as I do about their health and well-being).

What's in your share (maybe):

Tomatoes (probably the last week)
Potatoes
Winter Squash- butternut/acorn
Garlic
Arugula
Baby bok choi
Pac Choi
Kale/Chard
Napa Cabbage
Green Cabbage
Mini-head lettuce

PYO: The flowers are looking a little tired these days. It's just that time. There are still some lovelies out there, just will take a little longer to find. Sage, thyme, oregano and parsley are looking great. Beans and cherry tomatoes are done.
Chilies.....now those are a treat. And, as promised, we call it Homegrown Sriracha in our house and it is a little different from the rooster adorned varieties that you find in the grocers, but it is so so so good. Be sure to coat your hands in either gloves or cooking oil before seeding and chopping your chilies and DON'T TOUCH YOUR FACE, EYES or NOSE.
For every cup of mixed chilies, chopped & seeded, add 3-4 cloves of chopped garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsps

Finished Homegrown Sriracha

sugar, and 2 Tbsp of cider or white wine vinegar. Puree in a food processor or blender and then transfer to a saucepan. Heat on medium until simmering. Simmer for 5 minutes or so until it loses that raw veggie smell and you are done. Will keep in a closed jar for up to 3 weeks in the fridge. You can also can it in a boiling water bath canner. I use a combo of Hungarian Hot Wax and Jalapeno (green and red) to make my sauce, but there are hotter peppers in the field that you can use. Try the Shishito, serrano or hinkelhatz.
I also put up a ristra of gorgeous red cayenne peppers in the kitchen to dry every fall. You can use any of the thinner walled chilies for this- shishito, cayenne, thai and hinkelhatz all work well. Simply glove or oil your hands and using a sewing needle and cotton thread, tie a knot in one end- pass the needle through the top of the chili just below the green stem and then loop and tie around the stem of the first chili. Then pass the needle through just below the stem of the next chili.and so on and so forth until they hang in a beautiful string. Make a loop at the top and hang somewhere in the kitchen out of direct sunlight. Chilies will dry and you can pull them off from the top down.

Meat CSA!!!!!!

Trustees is starting its very own Meat CSA and Chestnut Hill Farm will be a pick-up location this winter! Connor and his team will be selling 10 weeks of Beef & Pork, plus 2 full chickens per share. There are large, medium and small shares- so one is perfect for your family size. Check out flyers in the farmstand and CSA distro for more details!

HARVEST FEST IS THIS SUNDAY, OCT 9TH FROM 10A-4P!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whoo hoo!!!! So much fun to be had (even if it rains because we will have fun TENTS!!!) Some of the fun includes: face painting, pumpkin carving, cider making/tasting, crafts, games, demonstrations of all kinds, Skyrise Theatre, live music, and so so so so much more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't miss this super fun event (and we have a brand new commemorative t-shirt for the fest again this year).