This was supposed to be a group photo for the cheese workshop on Sunday and I think the goats wanted in on the action too! Actually I think they were just looking for more Sunflower oil castings treats. Thank you to everyone who attended. We have two more workshops scheduled this season, goat milk soap making November 25th and goat milk fudge making December 2nd. More info on our workshops page.
Barn AND Sunflowers! It was impossible to leave out our red barn as it has become the icon of Kricklewood Farm. At the same time, we wanted to emphasize the sunflowers more so the photo was cropped differently to show more of the field. We also added a single sunflower between the English and French. We thought it could use a few words to describe the oil and came up with ‘Pure and Natural’ and ‘pure et naturelle’. We’ve used ‘Tastes like Sunshine’ to describe it at market but thought we might get busted for truth in labeling…. It’s been a long and sometimes painful process but we’re happy to finally have it completed. Now off to the printer it goes!
This handsome devil named Silver is visiting Kricklewood Farm so that we may enjoy a new batch of kids next Spring! The only problem is that none of the does seem to be interested in what he has to offer. He’s been here a few days, him and them mostly on opposite ends of the barnyard. Today I found him behind the barn alone so tried to play cupid by offering a communal feeding of hay. The does enjoyed the hay but not much else. Reece was more interested in the camera at one point and Devora spurned his advances and made her way back to the barn… Bottom line, the does are in control and unless they are ready, he doesn’t have a chance. Crossing our fingers that they get ready pretty soon as Silver has a job to do at another farm as soon as he finishes here! See more photos of his visit.
We can breathe a little easier now that the Sunflower crop is harvested. Brian, who is doing a lot of the work for us shared some insight into farming earlier in the season. He said ‘When I first started farming I don’t think I got a decent night’s sleep until the crop was off the field and in the bin…’ I understand the sentiment perfectly. Now we can focus on getting the press up and running and producing oil! More Photos…
We will be hosting our goat milk soap making workshop this Sunday October 21st at Kricklewood Farm. It’s a great opportunity to learn the basics of cold process soap making and have a chance to milk the goats too! The cold process method is a traditional method where a variety of fats, goat milk and lye are combined with herbs and essential oils to create an amazing bar of soap that is good for sensitive skin. Visit our workshops page to sign up or learn about some of the other workshops we have available this Fall.
Deciding on a design for the soon to be launched Kricklewood Farm Sunflower oil has been more difficult than we imagined! Some people like the idea of the red barn as it has become the signature image for the farm, some people say keep it simple (stupid) and go with the ‘in your face’ sunflower. We have to decide within the next few days so we’re just going to put it it out there: Barn or Sunflower?
Today is the day that the new baby ducks are ready to face the world! They have been inside with Mama for the past week or so and now they are anxious to explore the world beyond the chicken coop door! It took a litttle while and a bit of coaxing from Mama but one by one they eventually all made it out. There are 9 in all, each one a little miracle in yellow and brown. Many sleepless nights ahead for Mama!
We are excited to start up the workshops for the Fall season at Kricklewood Farm. All sessions begin with a lesson in hand milking so bring along your rubber boots! Sessions begin at 1:00 pm on a Sunday afternoon and run approximately 3 hours. Participants will leave with a bag of course related goodies. Dates are Goat Milk Cheese Making October 7th, Goat Milk Soap Making October 21st and Goat Milk Fudge Making November 4th. For more details or to register, visit our Workshops page.
The Sunflower blooms have past their peak and now the plants are maturing, the seeds ripening and getting ready for harvest in a month or so. The way the heads seem to be bowed is quite something but it is sad to see the blooms fading. The birds have taken a few seeds here and there but there should be plenty for oil. Another interesting thing is variation in height of the plants and size of the blooms. The plants are anywhere from 3 ft to 6 ft tall and the flowers are anywhere from 4 inches to about a foot in diameter.
We’ve had requests for more information about the breeds of goats, chickens, ducks and pigs recently so we’ve decided to put together a page on each. At this point it’s more of a ‘work in process’ and we’ll add more detail as we can. More on this….
We also get questions on what other farms are worth a visit while we’re in the area. There are many of our farming neighbours doing amazing things and we’ll be working on this too. Some are featured on Local Flavours, which covers the Frontenac Arch Biospere area, others are on Lanark Local Flavours which focuses on Lanark County and some are on both. We have a list of several nearby with some information on what they do and links to their own websites. More on this…