Ranch Newsletter | September 2024

Originally sent to subscribers on September 30th, 2024

Farm Update September/October

Crisp mornings, warm afternoons, leaves changing colors... it must be autumn!

I don't know about you, but I am enjoying the cooler temps. I'm definitely not ready for snow yet, that can take it's sweet time getting here, but I love the beauty that autumn brings. I drink tea all year long, but I find right now that I'm enjoying my warm cuppa just a little more with a sweater on or blanket over my lap in the mornings.

After the CSA ended I took a bit of a break from outdoor garden chores, but I didn't stay away too long. The raised beds have been weeded and cover crops have been sown in them to help improve the soil conditions for next year. I have also been slowly seeding our backyard with grass seed to try and reclaim it from the weeds.

Craig cut down the last of the dead cottonwood trees in our backyard and we both worked on cleaning that up, which involved hauling the larger pieces to a friends house who wanted them for firewood, and burning the smaller stuff.

Our two Turken chickens that one of our hens hatched out in the spring let us know they are both boys at the beginning of September. I've been trying to rehome one of them with no luck, so if you're looking for a rooster, let me know! He's friendly and has been handled a lot.

 In CSA news: I mentioned last month that I'm thinking of changing a few things with our CSA. I can share what those changes are now. Here are the changes that will be made for next season:

• I'm going to switch to bi-monthly memberships only. This seems to be what the majority of families sign up for and it's easier on me.

• I'm going to increase the number of memberships! I haven't decided exactly how many yet, but it will be at least 20, possibly more.

• I'm going to switch from a model where I select what items you get in your bag each week, to one where I will stock our fridges with what is available, and your membership will determine how many items you can select each week. Right now the options are going to be 4 items, 6 items, 8 items, or 10 items. This way you'll always get exactly what you want.

• There will be a pricing structure based on the number of items you sign up for.

I'm going to be updating the website to reflect these changes in coming weeks and I'm hoping to open up registration for the 2025 season by December 1st!

In goat news: Our 3 babies still haven't found homes yet. I've reduced their price to $75 each and would love to find new homes for them before winter sets in. If you, or someone you know has been thinking about getting goats or adding to a herd, keep us in mind. These babies are sweethearts.

I would like to get another breeding doe, but have to wait until the three boys have new homes. I won't be breeding Honey this year, but I am going to make one last attempt to breed Reba. She has been having regular heat cycles again and I'm hopeful that Caspian, our new buck, will be able to get the job done.

In natural skincare news: I have been restocking items like crazy the past few weeks. I'm out of stock on a couple different soaps now. I've made new batches of them, but they are still curing so it will be a few weeks before they are available again.

I have a few more markets through the fall and I've applied for a couple more in November and December as well, but I won't find out if I've been accepted to those markets until mid October.

There are also a couple changes I'm going to be making. The first is that instead of selling two unscented soaps with 2 different names, I'm going to stop selling the Unscented soap, and keep the Snow Candy soap, but add 'unscented to the label'. I'm also going to discontinue my Please Sir soap as it has not sold very well.

I'm also going to change my lotion recipe just a little bit. The ingredients aren't going to change, but I want to make a softer lotion so I can pour the mixture directly into the tins instead of having to pour them into molds. This is going to put more lotion into each tin and make it easier to use. This change will be made in the next month or so.

I have also learned how to make powdered goats milk from Honey's milk. I will be using this powder in our facemasks first, and possibly in our bathbombs as well. These changes will also be happening in the next month or so.

In book news: I've written a children's picture book about goats! It is now available for purchase! I have plenty of copies on hand if you'd like one. It's called If You Give A Goat A Flower and the goat in the book is based on our very own Finnick!

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