Category: Farm Life

Chicken-Apple Sausage & Chèvre Quiche: From Milk Pail to Supper

October 29, 2026 Christine No Comments

One of the most satisfying things about keeping dairy goats is watching the milk move through an entire chain of usefulness. It becomes drinking milk, yogurt, whey, cheese—and sometimes supper. This batch of homemade chèvre landed exactly where I wanted it: soft and spreadable, but firm enough to hold its shape on a cracker. Once I had that texture, I started thinking beyond crackers, jam, and cheese spreads.
Could I turn it into dinner?
I had cooked chicken-apple sausage, yellow and Vidalia onions, eggs, herbs, and plenty of chèvre. That sounded considerably less like a collection of ingredients and much more like a quiche.

The Ideal Chèvre Texture

A very dry, crumbly goat cheese can remain separate from the custard, while an extremely wet cheese can add too much moisture. This chèvre sat comfortably between the two. It was creamy enough to whisk into the eggs but firm enough to add in spoonfuls that would remain distinct while baking. For the quiche, I whisked a small portion of the chèvre into the egg and half-and-half mixture. That gave the entire custard a subtle tang and extra creaminess. I dotted the remaining cheese throughout the filling so each slice would also have little pockets of chèvre.
If you do not make your own goat cheese, a plain, soft store-bought chèvre should work well too.

Sweet, Savory, and Tangy

Chicken-apple sausage brings a little sweetness, so I used mostly yellow onion with some Vidalia rather than leaning entirely into the sweeter onion. Slowly caramelizing the onions gave them a deep, savory flavor that balanced both the apple in the sausage and the tang of the goat cheese. A little thyme and black pepper were enough for seasoning. Dijon mustard is optional, but it adds a quiet sharpness that works particularly well with the sausage and chèvre. I also held back on the salt. Between the sausage and the salted chèvre, the quiche already had everything it needed so season to taste.

Farm Food Does Not Have to Be Complicated

Farm life rarely hands over ingredients in neat, recipe-sized packages. It gives you milk that needs using, onions in the pantry, eggs on the counter, and dinner that still has to happen. That is one reason I like this recipe. It turns the work already happening on the farm into a meal that feels special without being fussy. The filling can be prepared while the crust partially bakes, and the finished quiche is equally good warm, at room temperature, or reheated the next day. Serve it for breakfast, lunch, or supper with a simple salad or fruit on the side.

Get the Printable Recipe

The printable recipe includes the complete ingredient amounts, preparation steps, baking time, and notes for using soft homemade chèvre.
Download the printable Chicken-Apple Sausage & Chèvre Quiche recipe
This may have started as a way to use a batch of goat cheese, but it is absolutely worth making again on purpose.

Categories: Farm Life

Tags: Farm Kitchen

Does Farm Life Take All Day? How We Make Our Small Farm Work

September 19, 2026 Christine

There is always something that could be done on a farm. A stall could be swept. A fence could be checked. Weeds could be pulled. Something could probably use fixing. Looking at all those possibilities, it would be easy to think we spend every waking hour doing daily farm chores.
We don’t.
One of the biggest things we have learned at The Tart Farm is that having responsibilities does not mean every minute of the day has to be filled with work.

Daily Farm Chores Have a Routine

Most of our regular animal care happens during predictable parts of the day. Morning means milking when the does are in milk, feeding everyone, checking water, opening the chickens, and looking over the animals. Evening brings another round of feeding and water checks. The chickens are closed safely for the night, and the goats are milked again when needed.

Because we do these jobs every day, we have worked hard to make them efficient. Feed is stored where we need it. Supplies stay close to where they are used. The four-wheeler carries feed, hay, water, and equipment up and down our hills. Good systems don’t remove responsibility. They make responsibility easier to manage.

Bigger Farm Jobs Are Planned

Of course, not every day looks the same. Processing chickens, repairing fencing, working on the barn, preparing for winter, or tackling a large garden harvest can take much longer than normal chores. Whenever possible, we plan those jobs for weekends. That is when everyone is home and we have more hands available. A Saturday spent building something or processing chickens may be a busy farm day. That doesn’t mean every Tuesday looks like Saturday. Planning the bigger jobs for the right time helps keep our normal days predictable.

Categories: Farm Life

Tags: Farm Efficiency

Apples Then and Now: Why We Buy Ours Locally

September 7, 2026 Christine

At the NC Apple Festival in Hendersonville, we walked past baskets and bags filled with apples from orchards all around our area. Some were shiny red, others bright green, and still others were striped with both colors. Seeing all these apples made me think about modern apple farming and how different it is from growing apples long ago. Modern apple farming also takes land, time, and specialized care.

Those two things helped us make a decision at The Tart Farm. Instead of planting apple trees, we have chosen berries such as mulberries and elderberries that fit our farm better.

Growing Apples Long Ago

Apple growing looked very different during colonial times and into the years when John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, was planting trees. First, many early farm orchards were grown from seeds rather than carefully selected grafted trees. Johnny Appleseed himself planted apple seeds and raised seedling trees in nurseries. Second, colonial farm orchards often had tall, loosely spaced trees that were not pruned into the smaller, carefully managed shapes we often see today.

Third, Colonial apples did not always look like the smooth, matching apples we see in stores today. Many were grown from seeds, so they came in different sizes, shapes, colors, and flavors. Many apples were grown for cider instead of fresh eating.

Growing Apples Today

Modern apple growers make many more decisions before an apple reaches a basket at the market. First, most apple trees are now grafted. Growers join a chosen apple variety to a specially selected rootstock instead of depending on a seed to produce the same kind of apple. Second, farmers can choose rootstocks that keep trees smaller, help them produce fruit sooner, and make pruning and harvesting easier. Some commercial orchards plant these smaller trees much closer together than old seedling orchards. Third, growers carefully watch for insects and diseases and use modern orchard-management methods to protect the crop throughout the growing season.

Those differences were easy to see at the festival. One booth might have pale green apples piled into wooden baskets, while the next had deep-red fruit glowing in the sun. The crowd was already busy even though we arrived early. We could hear people talking with growers and smell warm apple fritters and hand pies nearby. Of course, we did a little tasting too. A crisp apple “log” filled with warm apples came with smooth caramel for dipping. An apple pie slushy was icy cold, refreshing, and full of fall spices.

Choosing What Fits Our Farm

Comparing apple growing in the past with modern apple farming also helped me think about our own choices. We have enough land to grow many things, but that does not mean every crop is a good fit. An orchard would need space, long-term care, pruning, and regular attention to pests and disease.
Meanwhile, Western North Carolina already has farmers who know how to grow excellent apples.

So at The Tart Farm, we have chosen to plant several kinds of berries instead. Then, when apple season arrives, we can gratefully purchase apples from local growers and bring them home to eat and preserve.
Sometimes good farming is about deciding what to grow.
And sometimes the best choice is deciding not to grow something at all.

Think About What You Read

For young readers, families, and classrooms:
Name three ways modern apple farming is different from apple farming during Johnny Appleseed’s time.

Sources:

NC State Extension. North Carolina Production Guide for Smaller Orchard Plantings. NC State University. (NC State Extension)
North Carolina Production Guide for Smaller Orchard Plantings

Source: National Park Service. Historic Context: Orchards, 1600 to 1800. U.S. Department of the Interior.
Historic Context: Orchards, 1600 to 1800

Categories: Farm Learning Farm Life

Tags: ELA, elementary education, homeschooling

September on a Small Farm: What’s Ending, What We’re Saving, and What’s Next

September 2, 2026 Christine

September feels a little different on the farm.
There is still plenty to do, but the frantic push of summer is beginning to ease. The garden is winding down, beans are maturing, food is still being preserved, and we are starting to think about breeding the does for spring kidding. We also need to finish the new chicken coop and move the flock before cold weather settles in. Those are the obvious September farm chores. But this time of year also gives me something summer rarely does: enough room to look back and ask what actually worked.
And, maybe more importantly, what didn’t.
Sometimes success still needs improving

Sourdough is a good example.
I started my own starter in March 2025, and I have kept it going ever since. Over time, I have gotten to where I make most of our baked goods when time allows. I love the flavor, I enjoy the process, and now I am even using our own goat milk and chèvre in the kitchen.

Slices of sourdough cinnamon swirl topped with chèvre on a plate

The cinnamon swirl sourdough in the photo, topped with our chèvre, feels like a pretty good representation of how far that has come.

But successful does not necessarily mean efficient.

Making one loaf here and another batch there takes time, and sometimes we still run out before I can bake again. So I have been experimenting with making several loaves at once and freezing the extras. It has worked so well that I am changing my routine. One baking day might be several cinnamon swirl loaves. The next time, I can concentrate on something completely different.

Same homemade food. Less scrambling.
That is the kind of lesson I want to carry into the rest of the farm.

The garden gives its own report card

Tomatoes are another good example. We had tomatoes for salads, sandwiches, and dinners, and we absolutely enjoyed them. Those varieties earned their place in next year’s garden.

Roma tomatoes were another story.
I wanted enough for sauce, but the plants struggled and never produced anywhere near what I would need for canning. So one question for next year is whether it makes sense to devote precious garden space and effort to sauce tomatoes, or simply buy North Carolina-grown Romas when they are in season and concentrate on growing the tomatoes we enjoy fresh.

That is not really a loss. It is useful information.
The same assessment will happen with beans, other vegetables, preservation methods, animal routines, and probably quite a few things I have not thought of yet.

Following the farm’s calendar

That may be my favorite part of early fall.
The physical work begins to slow just enough that we can enjoy some of what all that labor produced. At the same time, we can look at the season with clearer eyes and start building a better plan for the next one.
There is something almost stubbornly old-fashioned about that.

We live in a world that makes instant results feel normal. Farming does not cooperate. You make decisions now for food months from now. You breed a doe this fall hoping for healthy kids and milk next spring. You save seeds from this garden for one that does not exist yet.

Even our September farm chores sit somewhere between the season that is ending and the one we are preparing for. So right now, I am finishing, preserving, adjusting, and taking notes.

Because sometimes slowing down enough to notice what the season taught you is part of the work too.

Categories: Farm Life

Small Farm Livestock Care: When the Vet Bill Costs More Than the Goat

August 28, 2026 Christine

Two Sundays ago, I noticed that our wether Rudy had a cloudy, filmed-over eye. Because I look everyone over daily, I knew it was new. I checked his eye for an injury, debris, or anything else obvious, but I couldn’t find a cause. Since our veterinarian wasn’t available, I quarantined Rudy from the other goats. Then I rinsed his eye with saline and used pink eye spray while we waited for a vet to open.

I felt fairly certain we were dealing with pink eye. However, eye problems aren’t something I like to gamble with.

When Livestock Veterinary Care Is Hard to Find

Our regular farm vet is more than an hour away and couldn’t see Rudy until late in the week. Unfortunately, veterinarians who treat goats are scarce in our area. The closer options often charge prices more typical of companion-animal practices.
In fact, USDA currently lists Buncombe and Haywood Counties as a veterinary shortage area for rural food-animal medicine, specifically including small ruminants.

Waiting several more days worried me. Pink eye and other eye problems can worsen, and an untreated eye injury or infection can lead to ulcers or permanent damage.

Categories: Dairy Goats Farm Life