Where did the summer go?

Pearson Falls-a local treasure

There just are not enough hours in the day and I'm afraid that the farm blog has suffered as a result. Yes, Our Tiny Farm is alive and well, but due to circumstances outside our control, we did not sell at the tailgate market as we had planned. We did, however, grow lots of great food that we are enjoying immensely and we will have some items for sale shortly, such as garlic and honey.  Here is a brief update on our season. Oh,  I included a picture of the waterfall because I took a trip down to Pearson Falls one summer morning. So beautiful and peaceful there. You should check it out!)

The county we are located in was part of Cherokee nation for thousands of years. We live in the community of Etowah, which is Cherokee name. We have found some artifacts over the years, but this spring my husband found this large, complete, well-tooled arrowhead in our vegetable garden.

This was the season of the cat. Why do people think it is okay to dump cats off at farms? This little sweetheart showed up early in the season. She was so scrawny, but so friendly. We started to feed her and she quickly adopted us. Since we already have four cats, we could not take her into our home. Cats don't seem to last long in the outdoors around us because of predators, so we didn't feel comfortable making her a "barn cat". Fortunately, a friend from work adopted her.

The garden was highly productive this season. The potato, garlic, and pepper crops in particular were quite bountiful!  We grew kohlrabi for the first time in many years and I really enjoyed cooking with it. Cut into match sticks and sauteed in butter with salt and pepper--yum!

We still have horses and a donkey, too. Maybe a few too many for the size of our pastures. Using portable electric fencing to rotate the animals around and let parts of the pasture recover has been a great management practice for us.

To have healthy pastures, you have to take care of them. One of our maintenance items this fall was to lime the field. Southern States showed up with a larger truck than usual and it just fit between the gate posts!

This was the first evening when that golden fall light was evident. The seasons were starting to change and signaled us that it was time to think about stocking up on firewood, hay, and cover crop seed.

This was the third cat to show up this season (the second one didn't stay around long). I was cooking a pot roast on Saturday and had the kitchen window open. I think the smell of the roast attracted her and she hasn't left since. She was SOOOO skinny and disheveled on Saturday; didn't know if she would make it. But we gave her food and water and put the old dog igloo shelter out there for her with a blanket and she is filling out and grooming herself. We would love to have someone adopt her! The no-kill shelters are full, we can't take in another cat, and I don't think she will survive the winter outside.

We are in the process of getting more young steers this fall. So if you are interested in buying a quarter or a half let us know so you will be the first we contact when the meat is ready.