The Road Home

The Road Home
There is no place like home.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Homestead News, Volume 8

Sometimes it seems as if there is not much going on here to report, but once I really stop and think about it, I can usually come up with something. This time the news is full of a number of small things. Take the goats for instance.

Last night I started penning up our two youngest kids again. They are both four months old, but are still nursing. We had separated them into the old weaning a pasture for about a month, but then the pigs came and took over that pasture. Then for a while, the kids just nursed through the fence after we put them in with the buck and wethers. As the young doe approached four months we didn't want to leave her in the buck pasture, so we brought her back out with the does and hoped in vain that her mom wouldn't let her nurse. She did. Now the young buck comes through the gate to be with his mom and nurse. We haven't been able to block off the gate yet, and even
Lady Bug has a nice udder for a first freshener
if we did, he would still nurse through the fence. Both of these
moms are first fresheners and we still want to develop their udders as much as possible this first season, so last night I started penning up these two kids again. This morning I got over three quarts of milk instead of one. 



That's good since we are eating our cheddar cheese a little faster than we have in the past. It's a great part of our low carb diet. So with this increase in milk, we will make more cheddar to replace the six wheels we have already consumed. The wheel I opened yesterday was waxed the end of April and is quite good. Did you know that room temperature cheese is better than refrigerated? Quite by accident we discovered we like warm cheese better, and it doesn't taste the same as cold cheese. When we open a new wheel of cheddar, I leave it out on the counter in a bowl. The rind will dry out more and harden, then eventually the oils in the cheese will begin to coat the outside of the wheel. In times gone by, cheese was stored at room temperature, maybe covered by a towel or cloth. In a strange way it seems this is yet another small step we've discovered that will be one less thing to change when the power goes out and stays out.

The temperatures here continue to be at or over 100* with dangerously high heat indexes. Any outside work is accomplished early in the day, with very few exceptions. I have been having some serious sinus issues for about a month or more which have greatly impacted the work I do in the garden. The heat and humidity, not to mention bending over, many days make the headaches I've been having intolerable. Has anyone out there had a sinus balloon dilation procedure? I am scheduled to have this performed in a week or so. At this point, with the headaches I have been having, I am ready for some relief. The headaches have definitely impacted accomplishing things around the homestead as well as writing here on the blog.

In the last few days we have canned the last of the winter squashes. The bugs have killed all of our squash plants and it's too late to grow any more winter varieties, so we won't have any fresh to store for winter, but we've ended up with 41 quarts, which we are happy with. I have replanted yellow summer squash which should be able to produce before frost if I can keep them alive and win the war with the bugs.

We also made 11 quarts of salsa yesterday. It's our favorite way to eat canned tomatoes, and I hope we can make another batch. Even with all of this heat, the tomatoes are still producing very well. Frank just walked by the thermometer and told me it's 104* outside. We closed down some of the blinds to help the AC try to keep up. Now Frank just told me it's been 106*!

It's nice to have a few fresh things from the garden in the crisper. I started chopping and freezing fresh peppers today. We really enjoyed using them through the winter last year and I hope to freeze a number of quarts. I'm also doing an experiment with fermenting a few jalapeno peppers. I took the last batch of sauerkraut out of the crock today and put it in the frig. We started this batch on June 20th. It smells and looks great. When we first started eating kraut, Frank wasn't very fond of it, but like many people predicted, we now really enjoy our daily portion. He even asks for larger servings of it now. 




We got this plastic strainer spoon to use with the crock to prevent scraping the ceramic finish. It works very well.


After I emptied the crock, I strained off a bit of the juice to use with a few jalapeno peppers. I read somewhere, sorry I don't remember where, it could have been a comment here, that fermented peppers were crunchy and very good, so I'm going to try it. I added a few peppers to the kraut juice then covered them with salt water. I discovered this small jar fit just right into the pint jar, so I'm using it to keep the peppers submerged. For now, it will reside on the cabinet on a plate. I will be very interested in how this turns out since we prefer crunchy to soft peppers.




I used a half gallon of milk. This bowl wasn't big enough.
I've also decided to take the plunge and try the cottage cheese 'recipe' from The Organic Prepper several people suggested. Even my aunt wrote and told me what she remembered about how my grandmother made cottage cheese. Thank you for that email, Aunt A.N. The only ingredient is milk, and all you do is leave it in a covered bowl on the cabinet for two or three days. When the cream rises and sours, it is skimmed off and eaten. That's it. It's almost too easy, so we will see how it turns out. I will let you know.


 






Our chickens are doing well. The young hens are blending in with the main flock just fine. The young roosters will be ready to put in the freezer soon which is good since we are ready for some fresh fried chicken. The youngest batch of birds are growing well and will soon need to take over the young rooster pen for more space.

They all like the tomato skins from the salsa.

Young roosters

Youngest flock

I made a new batch of lotion this morning since the last one was starting to turn brown in places. Tewshooz left a comment for us early on about using a preservative to prevent this problem. When I made the last batch I forgot to add the vitamin E, so it didn't last as long as it could have. This time I wrote vitamin E on the recipe I got from Leigh at 5 Acres & A Dream, so I won't
forget it next time. Since this lotion is made from olive oil, herbal tea and beeswax, I fed this old portion to the pigs. It's nice it didn't totally go to waste. The other thing Tewshooz taught me with a comment was to keep working the lotion until it emulsifies, that way the oil and water won't separate. To do that now, I place the pan of warm oil, wax and tea into a sink of cold water while I stir it briskly with a small whip. It works great. Thanks for the tips, Tewshooz, they have really paid off.

 
Peppermint and lemon balm for the herbal tea ingredients

 





Takes about 20 minutes





Cooling in cold water

















For lunch today we had a no taco, taco salad. It has most of the normal ingredients a taco salad would, just no corn chips or shell. A serving of kraut goes well with this meal. We used some of our canned jalapenos from last year, the salsa we made yesterday, a fresh sweet pepper from the garden, some lettuce, spinach, onion, olives, and room temperature, grated, cheddar. It was great! 

Tonight some of the members of Frank's radio class are taking tests for their ham licenses. We are excited for them and hope everyone does well. We'll let you know how it turns out and give you an update on how the class went in general. Now that it is over, we'll see if our hopes of a local communications network materializes. 

By the way. Has anyone been having trouble with their internet service? Our internet service with Verizon over the past few months has gone from good, to a few glitches, to terrible. We get disconnected or 'frozen' numerous times a day now. Then we had someone tell us that Verizon and AT&T are having issues nationwide. Then we found out some other folks in this are are having connectivity issues with Verizon. Then we found out a medical clinic in Fort Smith, Arkansas has been having issues for a month. It would be interesting to hear if anyone else knows anything about this or is experiencing any difficulties.



We have taken to carrying a small bat with us into the pig pen for training purposes. The pigs have responded well and no longer crowd around right behind me when I am walking to the feed pan. We will continue to be very consistent in shaping their behavior. So far, so good.



Life on the homestead is good, very good. We continue to keep tabs on the world with a growing certainty that things will not remain as they are for much longer. The stock markets continue to exhibit the roller coaster pattern that many leading economists have been predicting. The media continues to distract the populace with the same mindless drivel they
have served up for years now. Every so often they intersperse their drivel with small tidbits of real news, news of increased violence, intolerance and suppression of the freedoms we once took for granted. Maybe that's part of the problem. We have taken too much for granted for too long. Now the pursuit of pleasure and recreation is the end goal and the means justifies the end for a large portion of our world's population. When this pursuit is no longer an option, what knowledge or skills will exist that can be utilized for survival? I'm afraid it will be like looking into the bottom of an empty barrel. There will be nothing there.


You've heard this many times before and here it is again. Learn all you can. Experience what you can now when failure is still and option and you can go to the store and obtain whatever it is you will need. Every single thing you can learn now will increase your possibility of making it yet another day when everything around you has changed. If some of the things we read and hear are anywhere near accurate, the beginnings of major upheaval or change may not be far away, not far at all. Do everything you can. Prepare yourself mentally to see and experience the unthinkable.

Until next time - Fern

30 comments:

  1. Your canned goods look wonderful. Fern. Also the cheese. In fact, everything looks yummy. We lost our beautiful, gentle black Cochin rooster the other day to fly strike. It was unbelievable how quickly that happened. He was OK in the evening and gone the next morning. Now I will be more diligent, for sure. You can also use grapefruit seed extract as a preservative for your lotions and salves. Can't wait to see how your cottage cheese turns out.

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    1. Thanks, Tewshooz. Yours is the second case of fly strike I've heard about this year. The other was on a lamb. Nasty stuff.

      I already had a couple of bottles of vitamin E around so that worked out well for a lotion preservative.

      I've eyeballed the bowl of milk a couple of times to see if the sour cream is ready yet. It' doesn't look like the picture on that article, so I'll wait a little longer. This is going to be very interesting. I just hope it doesn't taste gross! I'll let you know. Thank you for sharing.

      Fern

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  2. I know I've been involved in some commenting here regarding fermented jalapenos, though of course those discussions might not be what you had in mind. We've loved our fermented jalapenos, and yours look good so far. Congratulations :)

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    1. I do think it was your comment that gave me the idea for fermenting the jalapenos, Joshua. So, tell me, is this how you did it? How long does it take for them to be ready? Do they have to be refrigerated or can I store them in the pantry at room temperature? I think I have asked you about the storage temperature before. I'm really looking forward to trying them, I just hope they're not too hot. Thank you very much for sharing your experiences.

      Fern

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  3. Fern - what an awesome post! so much information! but i am very sorry about the headaches - i get sick every year in june/july for 2 full months because of bug bites - are you reacting to bug bites? the garden produce is looking lovely and keep making and eating that beautiful sauerkraut! i can't wait to see pics of your latest try with cottage cheese and i hope it is to your liking...but you know what i think of your beautiful cheese curds already! everytime we make poutine (homemade chips, gravy and curds), i think of you - bahahahah!

    your friend,
    kymber

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    1. No bug bites here, Kymber, but the headaches are really something else. I've never been one to have many headaches at all. Some days, like today, I can hardly get anything done. The thing of it is, I found out this morning that one of our wethers is interfering with getting our does bred so in the morning before it gets too hot (it's 109* right now with horrible humidity) we are going to butcher that wether. I put him in the pig pen this morning and now breeding is in full swing. Headache or no, that wether has to go.

      I'm afraid what little is left in the garden may burn up at these temperatures. We have a couple more days of this unbearable heat, then we should have a break back down into the 90's.

      I think of you sometimes when I am serving up the kraut and especially when I took the salad picture. I'll let you know if the cottage cheese is edible or yucky. Thanks for sharing.

      Fern

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  4. I Have put Himalayan salt lamps by my rocking chair and on my side of the bed. My sinus issue and chronic bronchitis as well as my earaches (i wear hearing aids) have become greatly diminished. Our homestead is in the mountains of northern California and the smoke from the multitude of forest fires usually stuffs me up and I get congestion headaches-Not since my salt lamps. The only thing I can figure is that water follows salt and this salt air is keeping the inflammation down. Could all be in my head-maybe. Also I have found that holding one of the salt crystals on my arthritic thumbs for a few minutes greatly diminished the swelling and pain. This is in no way medical advice-just my own personal experience.
    Glad your pigs are learning bounder-es. Cheers!

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    1. I haven't heard of salt lamps, N.C., interesting. By the way, I wear hearing aids too and have for 40 years. One of my concerns with the headaches was the return of some cholesteatoma which is what caused my deafness at a very young age. Thank you for sharing your experiences.

      Fern

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  5. I always love a good farm report! One hundred-degree heat? Good Heavens, how do you stand it?

    Fresh kraut...handmade cheese...fresh milk...fresh eggs...veggies straight from the garden...and beauty products made with natural ingredients. That's what I call living!

    I've officially been shamed into getting off my hiney and seeing to some watering!

    Just Me

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    1. We stay inside during the worst of it, Just Me. Like this afternoon, it is 109* so we are inside with the shades drawn to help the AC. On these days Frank usually hears me say, "I love air conditioning!"

      You're right, this is great living. For the life of me I can't see how people can keep asking us why we do all this work when we could just buy everything at the store. We love our life and trying to provide for ourselves. Hope you got your watering done and I'm glad we could provide some motivation. Take care.

      Fern

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  6. hey frank nfern
    the picture on the top of ur blog with the sky reflecting on the pond is awsome!
    love your blog keep up the informative work
    Al in N.M.

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    1. i meant to mention how much i loved that pic, too!

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    2. Thank you, Al. We're glad you are finding something useful here. Please share your comments often. We like to learn from other folks.

      Fern

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    3. It probably reminds you of all of the beautiful water pictures you post, Kymber. Thanks!

      Fern

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  7. Fern I live in Northern Michigan and for the past month I have been having intermittent issues with Verizon. My smart phone locks up when looking up things or it says no service quite a bit. Then I have to shut the phone off and restart it.

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    1. What you are describing is very, very similar to what we are going through. We often have to restart the jetpack and/or our computers. I have been kicked off with no server twice just while I was responding to these comments. It would be very interesting to find out what is going on. Verizon replaced the sim card in our jetpack then sent us a new jetpack, but nothing has changed. Now they are saying we need to buy a network extender even though we used to have great service. Something has changed on their end, not ours. I can't help but wonder if this is the beginning of the hiccups that will occur as everything slowly shuts down. We will see. Thank you very much for sharing.

      Fern

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  8. No Verizon problems in west central Oregon with flip phone an V Jet Pack

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    1. That's good to know. I wish it were the case here. Thank you, Rosco.

      Fern

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  9. One of the things our family has focused on for self sustainability is doing as much as we can in the way of health. We do use herbs and essential oils, but what we have found most effective is homeopathy. Only half of my sinuses developed, so I have sinus pain on a regular basis, especially with barometric changes. I have found homeopathic Kali Bich to be a great remedy for sinus pain.

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    1. Interesting information, SCGT. I had to look up Kali Bich. There are so many different ways to approach health. We are trying to move towards things we can produce ourselves, so I have not looked into essential oils or any of the manufactured homeopathic remedies. Thank you for sharing this and teaching me something new.

      Fern

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  10. Fern, perhaps a silly question, but here goes. On your salsa recipe, do you drain your chopped tomatoes, or save the liquid that comes from them? Last time I made salsa years ago, I saved the liquid and my husband said it was all too watery. I just made salsa today, drained most of the liquid and now I'm wondering if the recipe flavor is going to be too concentrated. On the recipe directions, it never mentioned anything about whether or not to drain the juice from fresh tomatoes. Thanks for any help you can give me.

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    1. Definitely not a silly question, Joy. After we made this salsa, I thought, "We should have just left the last of the watery juice out of the last few jars." But I didn't think of it ahead of time. I will for the next batch though, because your husband it right, some of it is too watery for my taste. That tomato water will go to the chickens or pigs since they both love tomatoes. The other thing I thought about the juice, is to can up a couple of jars. In this case it would have the onion, pepper and cilantro flavor as well as the tomato, but that would be pretty good in a stew or another dish where you wanted to add some liquid, flavor and nutrition. Thanks for the question, Joy, it makes for a good discussion.

      Fern

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  11. Hi, Fern,

    We have Comcast and have experienced similar problems with greater frequency over the past few months.

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    1. It would be very interesting to find out what is happening to internet connectivity across the country from different carriers. Some of them may be getting their service from the same server or company, but we really don't know why. Interesting. Thank you for sharing MC.

      Fern

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  12. I hope your procedure will help with your sinuses. I know they can be very painful. I don't know if you have every used a nettie pot. My cousin, how was a missionary in the bush of Puapua New Guinea, swears by using a nettie with a little bit of salt. She said she use to have sinus problems there all the time until she started using hers. Good luck!!!
    Yes, our internet has been really bad!!!! Horrible!!!!!

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    1. I haven't used a nettie pot, SFG, but we have been using a sinus wash bottle for about ten years. Unfortunately, it is not taking care of this issue at all.

      At first we thought the glitches in our internet were local and didn't even know it affected anyone else in the area. Now we are finding out that something is affecting folks all over the country. Very interesting. Thank you for sharing.

      Fern

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  13. Seems to me the media has been working hard to keep racism alive, can't help but think they're aiming to get race wars starting. We have Charter and have had very few problems. When we had AT&T we had ongoing problems. The best thing we did was to get rid of them. Tewshooz suggestions for the vitamin E and grapefruit seed essential oil are really good ones. I should have thought of that! ;)

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    1. Leigh, you did mention vitamin E just a little further down the page, it just doesn't show the way I had the paper folded. It is in a list along with shea butter and some other things. I haven't been consistent in remembering to add it, so I wrote it right next to the other ingredients.

      I am really thankful for your ebooklet on lotions, salves and such. It is what got me started making my own lotion. I looked and looked for a very simple recipe with basic ingredients I usually have on hand, and yours was the first I found. Better yet, it is so quick and easy to make. Thanks again for taking the time to publish your knowledge and experience.

      Fern

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  14. Hmmm... that's interesting. We have a Verizon MiFi. When we first got it it was great - 3 and sometimes 4 bars out of 5. Now we are lucky to get 2 bars. I assumed the problem had something to do with our lightening and unlucky cell towers, but perhaps I am mistaken! Wow - those goat udders are huge! How in the world does she walk!! I love seeing your jars of winter squash. Squash pie, anyone?

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    1. Squash pie sounds great, Vickie. We're going to try to plant a few more winter varieties and hope we have an extended fall, but probably not.

      And thank you, that is a nice looking udder. We try to choose our breeding stock carefully. We went and looked at a young billy a couple of days ago, he did not come home with us. We went and looked at an adult billy a couple of months back, a fairly long drive, he also didn't make the trip back. We do the same with the does also. We keep what meets our needs, whether it's physical features or temperamental characteristics. When we sell any animal, the buyer knows exactly why we are selling them. If it's a bad animal physically, example would be parrot mouth, then we put the animal down, and sometimes we butcher them.

      Our Verizon has been a little better lately, but it's still not as good as it was six months ago. I don't know what to think about Verizon, or any other wifi provider for that fact. Thanks for the comment.

      Frank

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