January Update
It’s January here on the farm. In Northern Virginia it is wet, cold, sloppy and grey. We are keeping the animals fed and warm, but not much is really happening. Soon we will plan the garden, start the seeds, greet the new baby goats, split the beehives, gather eggs for hatching, and do all the things that need to be done on a small farm after months of gross weather gives way to warm sunny spring days. There are still several weeks of dark and dreary days before then so what are we doing at Heritage Springs in the meantime?
Neil is braving the crummy weather and spending his Saturdays building a new structure for our miniature Nubian goats. We have five goats now. With the addition of our sweet little buck in October that number will be increasing this spring. We are expecting Primrose, Silver Leaf (Silvie), and Sweet Pea to welcome babies starting at the end of March. Neil is building a shed for them so they can each have their own space to mother their babies. It has been a long process. If you follow our Instagram or Facebook pages, you probably saw the girls testing the structural integrity of the floor dancing to Cotton Eyed Joe in early summer. Walls were added after that, but there are so many competing priorities in the spring and summer that progress was slow and eventually halted until now. I’ll post photos of the finished project soon!
The girls testing the integrity of the goat shed floor by dancing to Cotton Eyed Joe
I am happiest when I’m playing in the dirt. It’s too cold to be outside so lately I have been giving my house plants some seriously overdue TLC. I’m cleaning leaves, feeding, untangling, and pruning. It is still a bit too early for the optimal time to propagate, but I am amassing a collection of clippings and pieces I’ve accidentally broken off plants that I need to do something with. My orchids need their roots clipped and fresh bark too. Since I get a lot of questions on these topics. I am going to post some videos showing you how I do it. Stay tuned for the debut of Plant TV! Just kidding- it’s not going to be called Plant TV. Although it does have a nice ring to it…
Latest project: taming the philodendron and scindapsus!
In other news, our family is kombucha crazy right now. I have two gallons of kombucha on the counter in the first fermentation, and I have two more gallon-sized jars coming from Amazon so I can start more. The bottles in the fridge will be gone before I can get the batch that’s furthest along into its second fermentation. We are drinking it faster than I can make it. This is so weird because the first time I tasted kombucha I immediately decided it would be my last.
Kombucha is brewing!
Quick story: Last year while I was deployed, I met Linn. Linn and I shared an office and a car. Our dorm rooms were connected too so we also shared a kitchen and a bathroom. We spent almost every waking moment together starting at 5:30am when we went to the gym until 9:30pm when we left work. Luckily, Linn and I became good friends. We passed the time when we weren’t working talking about the hobbies and interests we had at home. One of Linn’s hobbies is making kombucha. Linn said homemade kombucha is delicious, and not at all like the vinegary store-bought kind. She described her SCOBY Hotel, what flavors she liked to make (apple-mint is her favorite), the process for making kombucha, and how healthy it is. Six months of listening to Linn extol the virtues of kombucha finally convinced me to give it another chance. I got home from deployment and ordered a kombucha kit. Post-deployment is a busy time, and the kit sat on my counter untouched. Linn came to visit during the honey harvest last summer and after all the honey was spun, I asked the Kombucha Queen for a lesson. I’ve been making kombucha ever since.
Naturally there are other things going on besides building a goat shed, playing with plants, and making kombucha. I’m on a never-ending quest to make the perfect kefir milk, Neil and I are about to start building and painting beehives, and our family is preparing to welcome two more Maine Coons into our home. Subscribe if you want to make sure you don’t miss anything. There’s always something going on around here!
