It's been awhile...pumpkins, sunflowers, squash, baby goats!

So much has been going on! Lots of produce! I've got squash in a huge pile in the corner of my kitchen--I don't know WHAT to do with it--lol! I'm just trying to use it every chance I get--atleast once a week. It is the white one with green stripes above. It grows into a pumpkin shape. Silver edge squash. The seeds are incredible--the are 4x the size of pumpkin seeds, white, and look like someone took silver paint and painted the edges! They are delicious and make a great mole sauce. Easiest to peel when they are raw and not dried yet.
Sunflowers are tasty too--tarahumara whites. Only about 50% have seeds in them--I wonder why? I have a blogger friend that grows sunflowers for a living--I'll have to ask her :)
Ester had 2 kids--both male. First one died :( Sad--just wouldn't nurse. And I was going to be out there bottle feeding in 115 degree heat--especially when I have my own baby to nurse! We tried to make him nurse but he just wouldn't. Neighbor said sometimes that happens with a doe's first kid--the canal is so tight and the kid works so hard to come out that it is just weak and won't nurse. You can try to bottlefeed but even then it may not work.
So we tried to milk Ester. She is a pain and will have to be trained. Keeps kicking me off. We got the lumber to build a stanchion so that is next on the list (that has a million things on it!) to do...
Right now we have been busy in the garden. We learned our lesson with the squash and will never again plant it in our garden! It gets its own space to sprawl and crawl! So we planted Zucchini's, cushaw squash, 2 kinds of pumpkins, watermelon, melon, and gourds all in this new area. I'm praying the ground squirrels and rabbits will leave them alone. We have them covered with bird netting but that often isn't enough. 3 sprouts popping up right now. We sprinkled it with blood meal. I'll try anything if it's not too expensive!
Just planted in the normal garden: okra, soy beans, corn, cucumber, cowpeas, devil's claw, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, amaranth, tobacco (not for us! Derek wants to sell it to the smokers at work lol :)
And all heirloom of course!
We also ordered a bunch of chicks from McMurray's hatchery. They are all exotic ones you never see in the stores. I get so tired of the "Rhode Island Reds" and the "Barred rocks" when there are SO many more different kinds! And some varieties are endangered too. Just because there are hardly any breeders breeding them anymore.