It has been interesting on the farm recently.  These first two photos are the last ones I took on the farm before spraining my ankle.  The first is Maddie staring hard at me for some reason.

And this is what I thought was a colorful harvest.

Then there isa gap due to our trip and my inability to walk.  But then on October 7 I had graduated to an ankle brace and was able to fit this into a cutoff pair of Tom’s boots.  So I gingerly harvested some turnips.  I processed some into turnip rice (for future pizza crusts) and the rest went tot he critters.

The next day I started pulling up the corn stalks to feed to the animals.  I placed them on this trailer, and Tom used the quad to pull it out for the animals.  Unfortunately Ryeleigh took this chance to escape into the barnyard.  So Tom had to recapture here and bring her back, explaining to her that this was not acceptable behavior.

Yesterday I noted that the bald eagles are back, and watching our chickens.  I am guessing they were away for the salmon runs.

And today we had our first frost of the fall.  It is hard to see from this photos but a lot of the garden’s plants died.

I decided that the pigs needed more bedding to keep warm.  In this process I noticed this nest in their shelter.

I was able to put some straw down and George is starting to get it situated correctly.

After the animal chores, I turned my attention to the garden.  I knew that once the first frost hit I would be able to appreciate better how many winter squash we had.  But what I didn’t realize is that it would show how many are being eaten.  So I quickly harvested the pumpkins and zucchinis.  One ones on the left are savable, and the ones on the right are not and are animal food.

Then I noticed that the spaghetti squash were being consumed also.  This is a little unusual this early as they have harder shells.  So I had to quickly harvest them as well.  There were two that became animal food.  That squash on the left is the largest spaghetti squash I have ever seen.

Then I looked at the guards.  In am impulsive move, I decided to grow gourds this year.  But now even they are being eating.  So I grabbed them too.

So hopefully I am able to save the squashes.  I picked the last of the green beans, cucumbers and fresh basil as well.

We continue to make farm meals.  It happens so much anymore we barely acknowledge it.  When I was not walking Tom made Garlic Rosemary Baked Pork Chops with all of these ingredients from our farm.  I also have been making salads daily from our farm.  Most recently I made Canlis’ French Dressing using our mint and oregano.  Yesterday I made Ham with Apple Cider and Parsnip Puree using our ham and parsnips.

The recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks for using garden produce, Tender by Nigel Slater.

And tonight we had leftover ham and parsnips, but I made Three Sisters Succotash using our corn, green beans, pumpkin, peppers, garlic and basil.  It was a nice farm meal (with my blackberry wine).

As far as my ankle goes, I can walk with the ankle brace in Tom’s boots or shoes without much discomfort.  I did notice today though that I have new bruising on the top of my foot, 2 weeks later.  I thought that was odd.  I must have done a good job spraining it.