Seasonal eating

This summer I bought a dairy cow — a Milking Shorthorn named Freckles. She’s noisy and pushy, but such a great milker. Stands quietly and loves being brushed. We grafted an orphan Hereford calf of our neighbor’s (I call him Bronco) onto her since I wasn’t quite ready for the daily milking. But come Christmas, when she’s due to freshen, I’ll be ready to make butter, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, cheese, you name it.

And our Delawares are laying! Just started over the last two weeks. We’re now getting 4-5 eggs a day. No more store-bought eggs! And the difference is amazing – better flavor, richer colors.

The previous owners of our home planted crab apples, pears and apple trees, so the sheep, Freckles and the chickens are getting buckets full of fruit each week, supplementing their pasture. The chickens are also enjoying the overflow of tomatoes from the garden. Soon we’ll be harvesting the squash growing on the compost pile — a great late fall and winter treat for the sheep.