Homestead News, Volume 2

I don't know where the time goes, but lately it has gone flying by. So much so, that I really have to think about everything we've been doing. I'm sure I'll forget some things that I wanted to tell you, but here goes. News from the homestead.

Before

It's easier to remember what happened today first. We started off by taking Pearl to the vet for a haircut. For the past few years, I have been giving her a haircut with scissors, and we were looking into some clippers when we discovered that the vet's wife gives a 'country cut', or that's what she likes to call it. So this morning Pearl was transformed. And all that hair only weighed two pounds! She will be much cooler with our hot, humid summer weather coming.

After

 







The next exciting thing that happened today is that Penny, her two boys, and Buttons moved to Faith's house. Faith has long wanted to have goats, so today was a dream come true for her. She asked me when they were leaving if I was crying. She knows I have cried before when some of my adult does have left, but not this time. I was excited and happy for Faith. Besides that, we went over and visited them already this afternoon. Faith and her husband have a great place set up in their barn for the goats, as well as lots and lots of pasture/wooded area for them to graze once they get acclimated. That made this a very neat day.

 

Penny and boys

Buttons

At their new home

The garden is really starting to grow well, and to my eyes gets more beautiful every day. I ran our Mantis tiller around the squash hills and here and there to knock down the weeds before this latest round of rainy weather hit. I also managed to replant the okra and some of the cow peas, cucumbers, carrots, spinach and beets that didn't make it. The green beans that I replanted last week are doing great. It's a new variety that we haven't tried before. I'll let you know if we like them.

 

The new section of the garden didn't grow anything. I'm not sure if the seeds were old or got washed out by the heavy rain we had a few weeks ago. So far the only thing I have replanted there was more pinto beans along the trellis. The rest will have to wait for drier days again.

We have started eating turnip greens and salad fixings from the garden regularly. Tomorrow I am going to try my hand at freezing turnip greens like you do spinach. I have the directions in Stocking Up, and thought I would give it a try. We don't expect the actual turnips to make since hot weather is coming, but are very happy to be able to enjoy the greens for now.

 







We moved the water tanks away from the barn so Frank could brush hog there. Our plan is to put down some heavy plastic, build a base with treated lumber, fill it with sand, allow that to settle in, put guttering on the barn, place the three 1550 gallon tanks on the pads, and run the guttering into the tanks. This will give us water for the animals, as well as the 'animal feed' garden we are going to plant in this pasture if it ever dries up enough to really work on the ground.

We've continued to make wheels of cheddar about two days a week and are up to 12 wheels aging in the frig, with 4 more drying on the cabinet. We will make two more wheels tomorrow and wax at least two of those that are drying. 

We have been saving eggs for the incubator which Frank will fire up tomorrow. This will give us some meat, but the concentration on this first batch will be replacement hens for our current flock. We have a Buff rooster which we like, and he will add some good qualities like size and demeanor, to our next flock of hens. We will probably hatch two more batches through the summer to resupply our freezer and some jars with meat.

This coming week we have another big event taking place. One week from today, if all goes according to plan, we will be bringing home three piglets, two boars and one gilt. We are beginning a whole new adventure raising American Guinea Hogs. One of the boars will be raised for meat, the other for breeding. We will share our adventures, which we hope will be mostly successful, as we go along. This is something we have never done before. We have fed out a few feeder pigs along the way, but never raised any to breed, so keep your fingers crossed for us. We have chosen this particular breed for very specific reasons, which we will discuss in more detail in another article dedicated specifically to the pigs.

We continue to make and consume sauerkraut almost everyday. The batch we started on April 22nd was removed from the crock yesterday. We used one whole head of cabbage and it made about a quart and a half of kraut. Instead of removing about a third of it and leaving the rest in the crock, this time I removed all of it and started another batch. The new batch consists of about one and two thirds head of cabbage and about two cups of shredded carrots. Since I have started shredding the cabbage there isn't any issue with having enough natural juices to cover the vegetables in the crock. I continue to add a good amount of juice from the previous batch to boost the fermentation process. We have really begun to enjoy the kraut and are very glad we have been learning this process.

 










Each time we walk out the door, if the wind is not blowing too much, we are greeted with the wonderful aroma of honeysuckle. It is blooming in profusion.

There are also lots of wild privet blooming here and yon around the house and along the fence rows. It is more subtle than the honeysuckle, but smells wonderful all by itself.

The wild blackberries are growing by the bazillion. I really look forward to picking and picking and picking. Last year I did an article about free food for the picking. I wonder if anyone else around is eyeing all of this free food the way I am.

We are picking just enough strawberries to have some each morning with our breakfast. There is just no comparison to frozen and fresh. They are a welcome addition to our daily fare.

Now, it's time to go feed and milk the goats, gather the eggs, put the chickens to bed, feed the dog and cats, and see if any of the goats laughed at Pearl's haircut. She does look rather different. Then it's time to fix supper, finish up this post and wait for the next round of storms to come through. Life is busy and blessed. 

Until next time - Fern

Some Things About Raising Goats

Raising goats, just like anything, has taught us a lot over the years and I thought I would share a few things.

Despite the best laid plans, animals don't always accommodate our wishes. I showed my breeding calendar in a previous post and thought I would give you an update.

As you can see, One Stripe did finally breed this summer. I don't think it was so much her as it was Teddy, our buck, that delayed the breeding. We bred One Stripe in the summer to have December kids, although it may be January this year. We are trying to have year-round milk instead of drying all of the does off at once. Ivory, Velvet and Copper will be due in late February and early March. That will get us into the heavy milking season just when we are ready to start making cheese again.

We dried up Velvet in August because we had made most of the cheese we wanted and we just had too much milk to deal with. 

One Stripe is currently drying off by herself. This is her typical pattern. About two to three months after she breeds, she begins to dry up so she can put her energy into her developing kids. 

So right now, we are only milking Ivory. We have gone back to milking her twice a day to try to increase her production a little. We are getting about a quart and a half a day, but would like to get at least half a gallon a day. We like milk and Pearl usually gets about 3 cups a day for breakfast.

Red was born here, but has since been sold.

As the kids are born we will share how we disbud them. It is a nasty project, but we have tried raising the goats with horns and have decided it is much safer for them and us if they are dehorned or disbudded.

Disbudding doesn't always work. There have been times that we let the kids get a little too old and didn't get all of the horn bud killed off when we burned them off.

We use a disbudding iron. Sometimes only a little nub of a horn bud grows out and sometimes some odd looking horns grow.

Velvet and Copper both have little nubs. This is about as big as they get. Copper has even knocked hers off before.

Nubby is the red goat in the center.

Nubby's grew much more (his name comes from his horns). He is one of our wethers that is destined for the freezer.

This little guy's disbudding was successful, but he has parrot mouth. This is a birth defect resulting in the length of the jaws not being the same. His bottom jaw is shorter than the top one. The lips should meet evenly and smoothly together in the front. We had this happen to a doe born here a few years ago. I'm not sure what causes it, my reading indicates it may be a genetic anomaly. The animals don't seem to have any difficulty eating or anything, but it is not a defect we want to pass on in our herd or anyone else's, so this is also a wether that is destined for the freezer.

And then there is Teddy. He is a nice looking, big buck that we could use to add some size to our herd. We hope all of our does are bred and have healthy kids from his bloodline because he will not be staying here much longer. 

We bought him last spring as a three year old. He is easy to handle when led by his collar or a leash and loads into a trailer with ease. So we were very impressed, initially. The first time we turned him in with the does he became aggressive toward Frank and

I by trying to bump and kind of herd us, so we started carrying a baseball bat when we were out among the animals. That worked for us. But then he started being aggressive with Pearl, our Great Pyrenees. It was bad enough when he started rearing up like he was going to butt heads with her, but then he started ramming her against the fence or gates. That was the last straw. He is not worth injuring us or losing Pearl. She is an excellent livestock guardian. While Frank was taking pictures of the wethers over the gate, Teddy was pushing against the gate with his head over and over trying to get it to open. So, as soon as we are sure the does are bred, he will be going to the sale barn. Then we can get the wethers in the freezer and be down to four does for a few weeks until the kids start arriving.

The seasons bring changes in everything - the garden, the goats and the chores we do around the farm. Everything in it's season. The season of our country is also changing. It appears that autumn is coming quickly and the winter that follows may be cold, dark and harsh. Be ready.

Until next time - Fern

All In a Day's Work

We had a lot to get done today. So here it is. The day in review.

Milked the goats, fed the chickens and Pearl.

Fed the new kittens

 

The frig is running over with milk again, so I made Chevre. It doesn't require any attention. It can sit on the counter all day while I get other things done. This evening I will hang the curd and it will be ready in the morning.

 
Canned 14 pints of green beans

While the green beans were in the canner, we made squash relish. I will post that recipe later.

While Frank was grinding up the ingredients for the squash relish, I put the water on and washed the corn that needed to be frozen. We got the first batch boiling and it was time to take the green beans out of the pressure canner. Once we had everything chopped up for the relish, it has to sit for a while, so we could finish the other projects.We blanched and froze 3 1/2 gallon bags of corn.





Now, it's break time. The last time we were at the warehouse market, Frank picked up two cases of Snickers -  our favorite. You know you need to stock up on comfort food too, right? Well, when he was putting

them on the shelf they wouldn't stack right with the old box. Then he realized that the new box wasn't quite as large as the old box. So he got out a candy bar from each box and compared the size. The old candy bars net wt. was 2.07 oz. and the new candy bars are 1.86 oz. with a difference of .21 oz. That comes out to about five candy bars less per case of 48 bars. Frank feels slighted. But they cost the same so that means prices are not going up and we have no inflation, right? It's too bad sarcasm doesn't come across the same in print as it does when you can hear a person's voice.

After break time we still had to finish up the squash relish, cook and eat dinner, then feed the animals. It's all in a day's work. And it's a lot of work. Those of you that grow and preserve your own food know just how much it is. And I would bet you wouldn't trade it for anything, would you? Not even at the end of a long, tiring productive day.

Until next time - Fern