Scratch, Peck, Crunch! A Leaf-Pile Party

October 30, 2026 Christine No Comments

Scratch, scratch. Peck, peck. CRUNCH!
Fall leaves are getting plenty of attention at The Tart Farm! Chicken enrichment with leaves is one of the easiest fall farm activities. For our chickens, a leaf pile is a treasure chest. They will not find gold coins inside, though. Their treasure is something tasty to eat! I toss a little chicken scratch over the leaves in their run. Scratch is a mix of grains that chickens enjoy as a treat. Some pieces slip down between the leaves.
Then the hunt begins!

The chickens scratch backward with their feet. They push leaves aside, look for grains, and peck up their prizes. Rustle, rustle! The leaves whisper, “Come find your treats!” Searching for food is called foraging. Scratching and pecking are natural chicken behaviors. Giving animals interesting ways to use their natural skills is called enrichment.
A leaf pile turns snack time into something to explore!

The Goats Join the Crunch Club

Our goats have a different plan. Why search between the leaves when you can eat the leaves themselves? To our goats, those leaves are potato chips!
Crunch. Munch. CRUNCH.
They could crunch loudly enough to wake the whole mountain! The chickens dig for hidden treats while the goats enjoy their leafy snacks. The same fall leaves bring two different kinds of fun.

Press play and watch our chickens get to work. What do you notice about the way they scratch and search?

Read, Think, and Giggle

In this post, I call the leaf pile a “treasure chest.” What does this metaphor help you understand about the chickens?
The leaves “whisper.” Leaves cannot really talk! What human action have I given them?
Could the goats really wake the whole mountain? What does this exaggeration tell you about their crunching?

You can see more enrichment activities for our goats in this post: Can Goats Eat Pumpkins?

Categories: Farm Learning Flock & Eggs

Tags: ELA, elementary education, livestock enrichment

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

Can Goats Eat Pumpkins? A Fall Surprise at The Tart Farm!

October 12, 2026 Christine 8 Comments

Can goats eat pumpkins? They certainly can, and our three dairy goats were happy to demonstrate! Fall is pumpkin season here at The Tart Farm, and we decided to give Ellie, Nessa, and Sage a special treat. What started as a simple pumpkin snack turned into a funny farm adventure! We cut the top off a fresh pumpkin and set it out for the girls to investigate. All three goats came over to check it out. They sniffed it, explored it, and tried to decide what to do with their unusual treat. Then Nessa had an idea:
Why just nibble the pumpkin when you can stick your whole head inside? She pushed her face right into the opening and started munching! If you listen carefully to the video, you can actually hear her chewing. At one point, it almost looks like she might get stuck!

Watch our goats discover their pumpkin treat!

Can Goats Eat Pumpkins? Here’s Why They’re a Great Fall Treat!

Pumpkins aren’t just for Halloween decorations and pies. Goats can enjoy fresh pumpkins as an occasional treat, including the soft inside, seeds, and firm outer flesh. Pumpkins contain water, fiber, and vitamins. However, they shouldn’t replace the hay and other foods goats need every day.

Many goat owners believe that pumpkin seeds can help prevent worms in goats. Worms are tiny parasites that can live inside an animal and make it sick. Some people believe that substances in pumpkin seeds help control these parasites. Scientists have studied this idea, but research hasn’t shown that feeding pumpkin seeds reliably prevents or treats worms in goats. A few seeds inside a pumpkin certainly wouldn’t be enough to count on! We feed pumpkins because the goats enjoy them, not because they’re medicine.

A Pumpkin Is More Than Just a Snack!

Did you know that animals can get bored? Just like people, goats enjoy exploring new things. Farmers call activities that encourage animals to investigate, think, and play enrichment. Giving our goats a pumpkin provides enrichment in several ways: They get to explore something new. They use their noses to investigate different smells. They figure out how to reach the tasty parts. They get to enjoy a different texture and flavor.

Fresh vegetables can also help us reduce food waste on the farm. Sometimes we have extra produce that isn’t needed in the kitchen but is still fresh and safe for our animals. Instead of throwing it away, we can share a little with the goats! Of course, we never feed them rotten or moldy food.

Wait! Goats Don’t Have Upper Front Teeth?

Here’s something that might surprise you.
Goats have eight lower front teeth, but no upper front teeth! Instead, they have a tough area called a dental pad where their upper front teeth would normally be. They press their lower teeth against this pad to grab and tear food. Their back teeth do the hard work of grinding everything up. You might think that would make eating a tough pumpkin difficult.
Our goats would disagree!

We left the pumpkin for the girls to enjoy, and when we checked it the next day, we discovered just how much they had eaten.

Look at the side of that pumpkin! The goats didn’t just scoop out the soft middle. They chewed away a good portion of the thick pumpkin wall, too!
That’s some impressive work for animals without upper front teeth!

What Should We Try Next at The Tart Farm?

Now that our goats have had their pumpkin adventure, it’s time for our chickens to have some fall fun! But we need your help deciding what to share next.
Which activity would you like to see?
Chickens Carving a Pumpkin!
What happens when chickens get their own pumpkin? Instead of using carving tools, they’ll use their beaks to peck away at it. Let’s see what kind of design they create!
A Chicken Corn Piñata!
What happens when we hang fresh corn where the chickens can peck at it? Will they figure out how to get the kernels while the corn swings and moves?

You get to choose! Leave a comment below and tell us which chicken adventure you would like to see next. And remember, there’s always something new to discover at The Tart Farm!

Categories: Dairy Goats Farm Learning

Tags: ELA, elementary education, livestock enrichment, pumpkin

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