Our new farm sign adorns the barn

We have a farm sign!! Check it out. ‘Nuff said.

The barn

Announcements barn, farm, sign

We have 3 spots left in our home cheesemaking workshop this Saturday!

Learn how to make easy homestead cheeses in your own kitchen. In this workshop, we’ll make a simple fresh chévre and Ten Apple Farm’s signature MonChaCha, a firm raw milk aged goat cheese. Workshop lasts all day, with a potluck lunch, afternoon tasting of our favorite American artisanal goat cheeses, and evening milking lesson. $35 fee includes cheese tasting and packets of culture to make your own cheese at home. Limit 10 people. (Date: Saturday, July 24, 9am-3pm)

email info[at]tenapplefarm.com if you’re interested!

Announcements, Workshops

New kids on the farm: Emma Rose and Alice

Announcing the birth of Flyrod’s girls (named by Charlotte, who assisted the births): Emma Rose, born at 10:45 yesterday morning, weighing 8 pounds, and Alice, born at 11:15, weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces. Mama and babies are happy and healthy. If you’re counting, that’s a total of 5 doelings born this season–the herd has almost doubled–must be something in the water this year. We’ll post more pictures to our facebook page later today.

Announcements, Goats

Ok, Ten Apple Farm fans, here’s the moment you’ve waiting for all month long.
And the goat swag goes to…

Signed paperback copy of The Year of the Goat:
Carl D. Walsh, Sharon Anne Stevens, Adam Taylor, Sarah Poulos, and Shannon Rankin

Year of the Goat T-Shirts:
Christina Bouras, Tom Tinervan, Mel Shapiro, and Gianaclis Caldwell

Signed copy of Living With Goats:
Lisa Twombly, Harold Johnson, Jenn Campus

Ten Apple Farm Mug:
Beth Schiller and Larissa Reynolds

and the grand prize, one wheel of Ten Apple Farm raw milk Mon-Cha-Cha (manchego) goes to:
Megan Devine!

Congratulations to all the winners, and to the rest, stay tuned! August is National Goat Cheese month, so there’ll be more cheese to share for sure.

If you’re one of the lucky winners, send an email to info [at] tenapplefarm [dot] com with your mailing address (and shirt size for shirts, or inscription name for books) and watch the mail.

If you’re not a fan of our page on Facebook, become one now!

Announcements, Cheese, books, contest books, Cheese, contest winners, mugs, t-shirts

Cleaning out a closet this weekend we found a forgotten stash of goat swag. It’s Cinco de Mayo and we’re feeling festive, so we’re ready to share the goat love. Here’s the deal. We just launched Ten Apple Farm’s new Facebook Fan page, and want to spread the word. Become a fan (click the “like” button) anytime during the entire month of May and you’re automatically entered in a drawing to win one of these 15 fabulous prizes (and if you already like us, you’re already entered!) :

5 signed paperback copies of The Year of the Goat: 40,000 Miles and the Quest for the Perfect Cheese

4 Year of the Goat t-shirts

3 signed hard cover copies of Living With Goats: Everything You Need to Know to Start Your Own Backyard Herd

2 Ten Apple Farm extra tall coffee mugs

and the grand prize….

1 wheel of aged raw milk Ten Apple Farm MonChaCha cheese, lovingly made by Margaret and aged in our cellar

Become a fan! Tell your friends! Get cool stuff!

CLICK HERE TO VISIT TEN APPLE FARM’S FACEBOOK PAGE

The 15 lucky winners will be announced on the Ten Apple Farm Facebook page during the first week of June.

Announcements, contest books, Cheese, gifts, goat, mugs, presents, prizes, t-shirt

Lily Vanilli Prunella Hathaway Schatz, born April 12, 12:30 am, weighing 7 lbs.

Early this morning… 12:30 am to be exact, I awoke to the noise of Chansonetta’s labor pains coming from the baby monitor we hooked up for just this occasion. I woke Margaret and rushed out to the barn to find Chansonetta minutes from kidding. The hooves and snout were just emerging with each push.

A few minutes later we would be introduced to the little black goat who would be the third baby doe born on the farm this year. Margaret suggested we name her Prunella, but Charlotte couldn’t say it, and instead said what sounded like “Vanilla,” which I liked. When Charlotte decided on Lily, we decided on a combination of all of the names, and are pleased to introduce our new doeling, Lily Vanilli Prunella Hathaway Schatz.

Lily meet Charlotte

Announcements, Goats

Charlotte plays with Nadine (left) and Sarah in the backhouse.

Introducing the newest additions (plural!) to the Ten Apple Farm family, Sarah and Nadine. (As with Toka and Tonni, Charlotte did the naming.) Toka did an amazing job, and Margaret will write more about the birth later, but for now we have two healthy happy baby doelings sleeping peacefully in their box in the backhouse. Sarah came out first, weighing 7.5 lbs, followed soon after by the smaller Nadine, who weighed just over 5.5 lbs. It’s hard to believe after a long streak of nothing but boys, we finally have our girls, and not one but two of them! As Charlotte said to me afterward, “Today is the best day ever!”

Announcements, Goats, cute kids babies, Goats, kidding, kids, twins

Bea and Charlotte climb one of the apple trees (last fall) that we’ll be pruning this coming Sunday (Jan. 24) for our first homesteading workshop of 2010.

We want to apologize for our absence … it’s been quite a while since we last posted something to the site. 2009 was a rough year for many, us included, and ended roughly as well–with Margaret laid up with pneumonia for almost 2 weeks over Christmas and New Years. It’s amazing how quickly the delicate balance of children, chores, work, and other obligations can be upset when one half of the team goes down. Needless to say, it’s taken us a bit to recover. Margaret’s been working on a post about her time spent resting and recovering, which we’ll be posting soon.

Before that, we want to announce our first Homesteading Workshop of 2010, which will be a Winter Tree Pruning Workshop this Sunday, January 24, from 1-4pm, which we’re doing in conjunction with the Lakes Region Permaculture group. Dave Homa, who has pruned trees professionally, will be showing us how to prune our apple trees while they are in their winter dormancy in order to improve their ongoing health and productivity. The event will include discussion of techniques, common mistakes and suggested tools. Handouts will be provided. The session is expected to run about 3 hours, including an hour outside pruning (so dress warm and in layers), and will be followed by the sharing of a potluck meal (please bring a dish to share). There is a $5 fee that covers the Permaculture group’s Meetup costs. Bring pruners or loppers if you have them. There is a limit of 15 people. (Date: Sunday, January 24, 1-4pm). Hope to see you there!

Announcements, Events, Workshops apple, pruning, trees, workshop

Up for grabs: YOTG t-shirts, and a signed original galley of The Year of the Goat

‘Tis the holiday season, and we’re getting into the spirit of things with a little give-away. Write a review of either of our books between today and December 21, sends us a link, and we’ll send you a Year of the Goat t-shirt. Also, you’ll be entered to win a signed galley copy of The Year of the Goat. The galleys, which were sent out to reviewers before the book was actually printed, were made before the final edits–if you already own a copy of the final book, you can spot those last few changes!

The reviews should be your honest opinion, though of course we love praise (and a 5 star review on Amazon never hurt anyone…). Just email a link  and your address to info[at]tenapplefarm.com and watch your mail. Happy Holidays from the Ten Apple Gang!

Announcements, books, contest books, contest, give-away, t-shirt

From the archives: Now, five years, 2 daughters, and seven goats later — still smooching.

Announcements