Well, it was time to try a new cheese. I ran across a recipe for Garlic and Chive Cheese in Mary Jane Toth's book, Goats Produce Too! and decided to give it a try. You can look back at some of the other cheese making articles to see some specific techniques like using a double boiler, what the curd looks like when it is ready, using a cheese press and making buttermilk culture.
This is a very simple cheese. The milk is heated to 86 degrees before adding buttermilk and rennet. Let it sit for 45 minutes covered. Then slowly raise the temperature while stirring the curd until it is hot to the touch. I was unsure of how long to heat the curd using this method. I would rather be given a specific temperature, but this time I had to make my best guess. I think I might have cooked it too long, or got it a little too hot, I'm not sure.
After the curd was cooked, it was time to pour off the whey. Next, the recipe called for rinsing the curd in very warm water, another new step I hadn't done before. Then, after the curd drained in a colander for about 10 minutes, it was time to add the salt and herbs. The recipe called for garlic powder and chives. I don't have garlic powder, and my chives didn't smell much like onions. So I substituted a small head of garlic and two small green onions from the top of one of my multiplier or walking onions. The amount of garlic powder was 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. After I chopped up this small head of garlic I figured that was about right. The amount of chives was to taste. Well, we like onions, but I wasn't sure how strong the flavor would end up being. I didn't want it to be over powering, so I only used two small green onions.
The curd was starting to stick together after it drained in the colander, so I broke it up with my hands. Then after I added salt, garlic and onions, I mixed it in by hand again. It just wouldn't work with a spoon.
The next step was to put it into the cheese press for several hours.
Finished. Remove and chill for 6 to 8 hours before slicing. Well, by now it was bedtime so we weren't able to try it until the next day. We jokingly said we may just have it for breakfast. But we didn't.
We did have some for lunch. It is a pretty cheese, and has a nice, subtle aroma of onion and garlic. It is a very mild tasting cheese, with a very subtle taste of herbs. I could have easily added twice as much garlic and onions and it wouldn't have been a strong flavor. I also think I pressed it a little too much because it is drier than I expected or than I would prefer. So, next time I won't press it as hard or as long. Another factor that can affect the moisture content of the curd is how high the temperature is, and how long you cook it. That is another adjustment I will make.
Other than that, it is a very nice, fresh cheese that doesn't take a lot of time. Frank thinks it will make great grilled cheese sandwiches. I am already thinking about the different herb combinations I will try with this recipe. I think it would make a good hot pepper cheese, too, which I like. Basil, parsley and oregano would also be a good combination. I think I will be experimenting with this type of cheese all summer. It will probably freeze well, too. Right now we have four kinds of cheese in the frig to eat up. We made mozzarella last week. I thawed out some Chevre, a soft cheese, and mixed in some salt, dehydrated onion, dill and parsley. We have been eating it with celery, carrots and crackers with our lunches. There is also some 10 month old cheddar that we made last July. It's getting pretty sharp, but it's very tasty. We are cheese happy and the frig is running over with milk. So what will we make next? I might just try some Colby, who knows? Learn something everyday. Learn from your successes. Learn from your failures. But don't just sit around. Try something and enjoy what you learn from it, one way or the other.
Until next time - Fern
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| After 2013 heavy rain |
Having a self-sustaining herb bed has been a goal of mine for many years. I started working on this one about four years ago. It is definitely a process to take a piece of 'lawn' and turn it into something useful and sustainable. First we tilled it up, then I covered it in brown painters paper and a hay mulch
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| April 2014 |
to try to kill out the grass and weeds. But we had a heavy rain and it washed all of the mulch and tilled up topsoil away. Then we tilled it again, and had another flooding rain that washed the topsoil away. Some people would say I needed
a new location, and that may be true. But we are limited on space in our yard due
to the size of the land around the house, the little seasonal branch that runs
through here, and the topography. Right on the other side of the branch the
land goes uphill and is much drier. Most of the rest of the yard is the garden, or driving area. We have tried to pack as much as we can into this small space. So this is what I have to work with,
and I will keep trying.
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| April 2014 |
I actually have quite a few things started and add a few more each year. This year I am getting very serious about having certain things growing. Some of these plants are for culinary use, some for medicinal, some for animal feed and some for both or all three. I have tried a few plants that I would really like to be able to grow for the qualities they have, but they just aren't sustainable in our growing zone, which is zone seven. Some of the plants I have been able to establish are doing quite well, and some are doing so-so. Here is a run down.
I haven't tended to my garlic patch enough to get a good start of 'modern' garlic. There are a few growing from the patch I harvested last summer, but they are small and few. What is growing is what I call my 'old fashioned' garlic. I have two patches. One came from a neighboring homestead where it has been growing for at least 40 years, and the other came from a fence row by an old church. I don't know how long it has been growing there. Both of these older varieties are growing very well after only one year. I think I will stick with them instead of the more common smaller leafed varieties.
Let me back up for a minute. When we moved here six years ago, I increased my book collection for growing, harvesting and using medicinal herbs. From this collection of books, I planned out the herbs I wanted to grow along with their preferred locations, soil types, sun/shade requirements and companion planting needs. From this I made a 'map' of my herb bed, or what I dreamed my herb bed would become. It is now very wrinkled and stained from being stuck in my pocket so many times when I am out digging or planting. I knew that I would need a way to identify each plant until I
learned what they were since I have never grown many of these plants before. We came up with using wooden builders stakes with the name of the plant painted on with black enamel paint. Now some of the stakes have been in the ground long enough that the bottoms are rotting off, so eventually I will need to find something more permanent, but for now this works. This year as I add more plants to the bed, I get out my beautiful (to me) wrinkled, scribbled on map to see where each plant should go. This little piece of paper represents dreams come true to me. It's the culmination of long-term dreaming, planning and working toward a goal. So, on with the tour.
Next we have the peppermint which is spreading everywhere, as it is prone to do.
I have two leeks. I know that is funny, but they have come back after last year. I would like to have a patch of them so I will leave them and see if they go to seed and spread. I have done this with several plants hoping to create a self-seeding bed of the annuals I have planted.
The multiplier, or walking onions are right next door. They are doing okay for a small patch. I hope they 'multiply' much more this summer so I can start harvesting some next year.
The marjoram is doing great. It has been here for three years now. It almost dies off in the winter, but not all the way. Once the weather warms up a bit, it comes right back and spreads a little more each year. It is a beautiful plant. The parsley that I let go to seed right next door has yet to show any signs of coming up so I probably need to replant it. I know the seeds are very slow to germinate and the weather has been unseasonably cold, so I haven't given up hope of seeing them start to grow.
The lemon balm is just beautiful. What else can I say?
The rosemary turned a little brown during our very cold winter. I have been thinking of trimming it back and letting it regrow itself.
The elderberries I planted last year are doing very well. I added two more plants that I ordered this year. The more I read about elderberry syrup for coughs and colds, the more I want to make sure I have a good stand of it.
The green tea is growing well since I planted it last summer. I think the elderberries may want to invade this space, but I will keep it at bay enough to let the tea have it's spot. You will notice that many of my plants are fairly close together. That is by design. I hope to fill this entire bed with wall to wall plants. If my entire dream does come true I will have to pull a few up to keep some walkways available. That would be great.
I have two kinds of sage growing. One of them has been here for two years, the other was planted last summer, and both were started from seed.
In between the comfrey and garlic I am adding some chamomile and savory this year. The chamomile is both German and Roman. I wanted to see which one does better in this location and growing zone.
The chives that were planted here by the garlic last summer came back up which surprised me. I hope they will become a regular site each year now.
This is a witch hazel bush. It has been here for three years now and still isn't very big or tall. It is a slow growing plant.
The horseradish is doing great, it spreads a little each year. I think it has been here for three years now.
I have added some dill between the lemon balm and the horseradish. I also plan to plant more dill to see if I can get a bigger patch established.
A few years ago I planted cilantro here. It promptly went to seed and died. I thought that was the end of it. Last summer I was out pulling weeds an came upon this plant that looked a little familiar and out of place. I almost pulled it up, but stopped to smell a leaf first, when I realized the cilantro had reseeded itself. That was great! The only problem is it doesn't like our hot weather and goes to seed way before my tomatoes and peppers are ready to make salsa. It has come up again this year, and I have added two more plants to enlarge the patch. I am going to try drying it to use in my salsa this year so I don't have to buy any. Last year I bought some for one batch of salsa, but for the second batch, I used the seeds, which are called coriander. They tasted okay, but Frank and I prefer the leaf flavor, so this will be one of my new experiments.
The oregano has come back this year for the third time, so I think I can count on it being here.
Last year I let my basil go to seed hoping it would come back, but so far, there are no signs of it. I have added rue, savory, swiss chard and arugula as new plants this year. We will see how they do.
Right after I planted this catnip, along came Brother. I have never had catnip and cats together before so his behavior was very interesting. He started rubbing and chewing on it right away. Then he went over and laid out on his back all stretched out. It was funny.
This old stump is kind of a decoration, but it is actually sitting here waiting for some wild yams to grow on it. I have yet to get any of the seeds I've bought to germinate, but I will keep trying.
I have probably missed a few plants, but I will keep you updated on the progress of this project. I hope to start harvesting and storing herbs from this bed this summer, so I have much more to learn. I'll let you know what works and what doesn't as I go along. The next thing I need to create for myself is a calendar or schedule of harvesting times. I know some plants need to be picked before they bloom, or others have blooms that need to be picked at a particular stage to receive the most benefit from the plant. There is always much to learn and do and I am ready to get at it. I believe this will be an invaluable skill in our future, and I do know, that I don't know enough at this stage.
Until next time - Fern
