I am writing in chronological reverse these past couple of days, so please bear with me! We had my family out to the farm on Saturday this past weekend, and those who hadn’t already got to meet all of our goats, and we took the herd for a walk around our property. My parents dog Spunky joined us, and our son was thrilled to be able to take her on the leash:
My youngest brother Danny was meeting all of the goats for the first time, and he was pretty jazzed by them, from what I could tell. He even told me that he wanted to get goats at my parents house now. But, given that they live in a suburban township with pretty strict ordinances, and he’s going away to school in the fall, I think he will just have to get his goat fix by visiting us. 🙂
The girls follow us everywhere – they’d come inside the house, if we allowed it. Our son’s playscape (donated to him by his Uncle Danny) is no exception to this rule. Here, Gidget ponders whether she should slide down or just jump off. She chose a little bit of both, for the record.
The boys posed from atop the structure – our son was elated to be feeling so daring, but after the photo was taken, George helped him down and we explained that this was not someplace he should attempt to climb himself.
Our little herd loves trying a little bit of everything growing around our property – while they were munching here, I couldn’t help but think of those Sno-Ball snack cakes from Hostess.
We had a delicious mid-day meal (linner? dunch? what does one call that meal?) of homemade tacos and burritos with black beans, rice, and Southwestern style corn. I can’t wait until we are having meals with produce fresh from the garden this summer. There is nothing quite like that pepper or tomato that you grew yourself. Tomatoes with actual flavor, for instance! The store-bought varieties just don’t stand up against homegrown. Well, Campari tomatoes are probably the best of the bunch in terms of mass-produced types, but we have about a half dozen heirloom varieties started here that I look forward to tasting.
Heirloom vegetables are varieties that have been around for generations, with the seed being saved and passed on. It is very rare to find heirloom seeds and plants in most garden centers these days, as most are offering hybrids, which, while excellent for disease resistance, often fall short in flavor. The heirloom varieties might take a little more effort, but it’s worthwhile, as we learned last year. I started more seeds this year than last, and as a result, I have quite a few extra plants that I will be passing on to my family to grow in their garden, too.
If you would like to purchase heirloom seeds, please see the links section in the right-hand column under Seeds & Planting – there are a couple of great sources that I use and recommend!
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