Late summer update. . .

It's hot. Really hot. Daily chores seem to take on a whole new level of misery when you add in a whole lot of sweat and a whole lot of flies. Speaking of flies, though, we have seen a tremendous improvement overall since starting to use Fly Predators. They are little tiny bugs, like gnats, that apparently seek out and kill fly larva to stop them from reproducing. They're a little gross, since they come to us in a bag and we have to let them hatch in the bag indoors before taking them out to the barn. Also they smell horrific when you open the bag. Simple to use though, we just sprinkle them around trouble areas in the barn and wait. .  .

Photo credit:  ValleyVet.com

In goat news, many of our friends are off to the ADGA National Show this weekend, we wish them lots of luck! Our goats are loafing a bit, shockingly some are already coming into heat, which I thought was pretty unusual with the recent weather. Generally heat cycles aren't common until the weather breaks and it cools significantly at night. Our smelly bucks have kicked into high gear, the new young'uns are starting to figure things out as well. So far they've only been interested in trying to play with our chickens.

Can we help? Can we help? Is it time to eat yet?

We have our linear appraisal session coming up in the next few weeks, hoping the weather will break so the dreaded clipping process will be more tolerable.

I know soooo many of you are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby corn snakes. None yet- looks like about 6-7 of the eggs are still viable, should only be a few weeks to go.

Recently we completed the great fig harvest of 2011, pic is below. Yes, I realize there is only one, but it was perfect! Look at it! In another 10 years I can invite people over for figs. Our trees are only 2 years old, so I'm thinking one perfect fig at age 2 is something to be proud of. I did  cut it into 8 tiny pieces to share with my family. . .

Another recent failure of mine is in the cheese department. I'm convinced I should at least be capable of producing soft ripened or aged cheeses at the intermediate and advanced level. Maybe I should have read another book....

I had worked on converting my 6-bottle wine refrigerator into a cheese cave. I cut new racks, dutifully placed my pan of water and set and checked the thermostat at 45 degrees. The next day I snuck a peek and low and behold it was warm inside. I know nothing about refrigeration so I thought I'd just leave the door closed and wait it out for a few days. My lovely thyme and peppercorn chevre rounds were so furry and so smelly with undesirable molds I tossed them in the trash, along with the wine refrigerator. I didn't want to get close enough to take a pic because I was gagging from the smell. So back to the drawing board for now. I did make some kick-ass feta to redeem myself.

Pics of the garden coming soon, we are quite proud of it this year. . .