Introducing...Leah

Wow, what a beautiful weekend! With temps around 70 and a clear, blue sunshiny sky, how can you go wrong? This weekend, we added a new member to the family…no Jamie did not have another baby (shuddering at the thought!). We bought a little Nubian doeling, Leah, to add to our herd. She is just beautiful .
Daniel and I drove about 85 miles to pick her up. She rode all the way home on Daniel’s lap…without an accident! Daniel was thoroughly relieved! When we got her home, she cried a little (wouldn’t you if you were taken from your mother and put in a strange place?) but seemed to do fine after a couple hours. She still doesn’t seem to know how to react to the other wee fur balls yet…she is friendly, but I guess some trust will have to be built. She learned quickly to avoid Minnie, the self-proclaimed Queen of the Herd. Minnie tends to be a grouch with everyone. She doesn’t even like Katie, which I find almost impossible to believe…who could not love Katie? Yes, she can talk your ear off, but she is such a sweetie. She just could not bear for Leah to be so isolated from the other goats so she went into the pasture to play with her. Katie did take a stick to whop Minnie in the head if she came near her…Minnie is notorious for butting Katie anytime she is near. See, I told you she was a grump!

"Can you just take the picture and let me eat?"

Later Sunday evening, I painted all but two of the sheets of tin roofing that we refurbished for the shed project. Once the shed is complete, which should not take too long, and barring interruptions from the garden, we can get to work on the new patio. I can’t wait to sit by the fire pit late one evening, sipping iced tea and listening to the crickets and peep frogs. Until next time, blessings…

Back to the (My) Old-Timey Ways

Well, the post I had planned on doing about our soap-making adventure was delayed. There is an old saying: “Some things never change!” That seems to be the story of my life. I make a gazillion plans to do this and that, only to have said plans interrupted by other, more pressing tasks. I am at a crossroads—either I scale down the plans or eliminate some of the tasks. Neither option appeals to my “do-everything” personality, but it has to be done. Maybe I should do a little of both and see how that works out! Yeah, that’s the ticket! So, on with the soap-making post (that will eliminate one task)!

Sunday, being a rainy day and all, we decided to do a little experiment with old-timey soap making, even though we did it the not-so-old-timey way. First step was to gather all of our ingredients in one place (I made a comment about that in the cheese-making post here). Translated, that means after a quick trip to town to pick up a couple of things that we had forgotten to pick up earlier in the week. Now, so as not to confuse anyone about our (read, my) methods, we (I) almost never do just one thing at a time. Call me the ever-multi-tasker! Note to self: multi-tasking is NOT always a good SOP (standard operating procedure). Note to readers: Note to self MAY apply to you as well ;). So after many interruptions (see paragraph above), we got started. Another note: do not attempt to start making soap, or any other first-time experiment, late in the evening. It can make for a long evening...this is experience talking.

We did not really get started until after supper, which was awesome, by the way. Jamie made stir-fried beef strips with onions, peppers and fresh mushrooms and rice. Mmmm, mmmm! Mind off food...mind off food! You can guess that I am getting a little hungry. Even though we had our ingredients, we did not have enough plastic soap molds for the entire batch of soap (and it was a small batch). So off to the workshop to make a couple of wooden molds I went. I made the soap molds out of some scrap 1 X 4 boards that I had left over from another project. I did this while Jamie was making that delicious meal I mentioned earlier. After eating, I said, “Let the soap making begin!”

We first lined the soap molds with freezer paper. Who would have thought that freezer paper would be so uncooperative? Here is one mold lined with paper and one patiently awaiting its fitting. After that, we measured out the oils and started heating them in a pot on the stove. This is one of those deviations from the real old-timey method…we used a stove instead of a fire outside! Woo-hoo for modern conveniences! Then it was time to mix the lye with the goat’s milk, which we had frozen earlier to make the process go along smoother. Lye is 100% caustic soda, which can cause severe burns if not handled properly and with care; hence, the rubber gloves. Mixing the lye with the milk, or any liquid for that matter, causes a strong chemical reaction. And with all chemical reactions, a by-product is heat; in this case, a lot of heat! When the lye was dissolved in the frozen goat’s milk, the temperature of the solution quickly climbed to 165 º. And that’s from somewhere around freezing! Then, we had to wait for the solution to cool down to around 110º. Here is a picture of what the lye and goat’s milk look like after they were combined. Jamie is stirring the solution to help it cool down faster. At the same time, we turned off the oils to let them cool. Then we wait…and wait…and wait. Boy, that sounds familiar! Finally, after everything cooled to the proper temperature, it was time to combine the mixture and watch the soap form. Here again is where we deviated from the old-timey method…we used a stick blender. This is one of the most convenient inventions known to soap makers across the globe. Anothe woo-hoo for modern conveniences. Without it, we would have been stirring completely by hand. Stirring and stirring and stirring! The soap started to thicken after a few minutes if stirring, a little with the stick blender, a little with the spoon, and tada, we had the beginnings of real, homemade soap. We poured the soap into the molds, covered them and set them aside to cool.

On Monday, we un-molded the soap and cut it into bars. We arranged them on a board and set them on the shelf in the laundry room to continue drying and curing. Homemade soap has to cure about six weeks before it is ready to use. So in 6 weeks or so, we will be using our own goat’s milk soap. It's kind of nice to know that something we made will be of such a benefit to us--who knows, we may even start a soap making factory (Jamie just said, "NO WAY!"). Until next time, blessings....

Gardening and Gifts

Well, once again, it has been a while since my last post. As the days get longer, so does my list of things to get done before bedtime. And even the rainy weather we had this weekend did not slow the flurry of happenings at the homestead.

Last Wednesday we finished planting most of the early crops in the garden (we did not get to sow the lettuce in the grow boxes yet). So far, early garden plantings include:

• 18 broccoli plants
• 9 cabbage plants
• 9 romaine lettuce plants
• 9 red sails lettuce plants
• 9 bok choy plants
• 9 butter crunch lettuce plants
• 4 rows of snow peas
• 4 rows of sugar snap peas
• 2 rows sweet red onions
• 2 rows sweet white onions

The garden is coming right along, as you can see!

After finishing the last of the planting in the garden and milking, we exchanged Purim gifts. Daniel got a new bike and a model airplane kit.

Katie got a Nintendo DS game and a softball ensemble. Jamie and I got each other things to improve the homestead—a fire pit for the future patio and soap making supplies for the surplus of goat’s milk. I will post about our first batch of goat’s milk soap tomorrow, if everything goes well.

On Thursday, Daniel and I went to look at a new goat for the farm. She is a registered Nubian doeling…she is one day older than our wee fur balls. Her parents and grandparents are all excellent looking animals and we have high expectations of her. We should be picking up “Leah” on March 22nd. This is a picture of her from the ad where we found her.

The weekend was filled with much needed rest and cheese making (more feta and some chevre), plus a stab a soap-making. Like I said, more on that tomorrow, Lord willing. Until then, be blessed…..

The Garden has No Clothes

I wanted to get the garden completely clothed in green before I made a blog post about it. I wanted to show before and after pictures and maybe even try to give some tips like the master gardeners. But I guess I am big enough that my wants won’t hurt me! My memory did not serve me well as I forgot to take the “before” pictures...and master gardener, I am not! I will offer a few tips as the growing season gets in gear (most of the useful tidbits of information I can share have to do with veggies that need to be planted later). I thought that I tell you more about the garden, since that is what has been eating my time like a moth on a wool sock!

On Monday, we planted peas. If you know me even slightly, you will know that I HATE regular old green peas. So I planted ones that I would eat…novel idea, huh? Not so sure about the wife and kids, but I think that I can coax them into at least trying them. We planted snow peas, which are great in salads and stir-fry, and sugar snap peas, which are edible pod peas…that means they are more like green beans than peas. I did not think that the pack of seeds I had would go so far! We ended up with 4 rows of snow peas and 2 rows of snap peas. After they are 3-5 inches high, we will go back and mulch and stake them so they can go nuts climbing up a trellis. Since we didn’t get started early enough in the evening (can you say dog-tired due to the time change?), we ran out of daylight.

Rows of peas after Daniel watered them on day 2

So Tuesday after work and before milking and Bible study, the kids and I planted 18 broccoli plants and half a gazillion onion plants. I got these onion “plants” instead of sets or seed because it is so hard to find sweet onion sets/seed locally. They come in a bundle and the label says 60 plants each…yeah, right! That’s why I bought 2 bundles—one bundle of reds and a bundle of whites. Turns out, the bundle has probably 100 plants! Now I have to make more room for these onions because you know I just can’t let a good onion go to waste! I guess the garden layout will now have a little re-design…maybe I should call Extreme Makeover: Garden Edition! Oh well, you can really never go wrong with onions, I always say. Here is Katie and me planting the red onions. Photo credits for today’s post go to Daniel.

This evening, we will be planting the rest of the plants (including the last bundle of onions). Cabbage, Romaine, Buttercrunch and Red Sails lettuce, and Bok Choy are all on deck. And if we can get to it before we exchange Purim gifts and watch One Night with the King (a movie about the life of Esther), we are going to sow some other varieties of lettuce in the grow boxes. Here is a close-up picture of one of the grow boxes.

Wishing you and yours a Happy Purim!

Garden Work!

Well, I see it has been a week since I last posted. I guess so much for updating the blog at least every day or too. But in my defense, I have been really busy. The weekend was beautiful—as anticipated. And we got a lot accomplished around the homestead.

We worked on Sunday in the garden. The first order of business was to go to Lowe’s to get the plants that we needed. Since I did not make the time this year to start my own seeds indoors, we needed cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and onions (we picked out two varieties—sweet reds and sweet whites). Unfortunately, they were out of cauliflower, so those will have to be picked up later in the week. While we were there, we saw some other plants that we thought may be nice to get a head start on (we will start more from seed later). Those included Romaine lettuce, Red Sails lettuce, Butter Crunch lettuce, and Bok Choy, a Chinese cabbage. We have never eaten Bok Choy, but thought it would be nice to try something new. If we do not like it, maybe we can find someone that does.

After the trip to Lowe’s, Daniel and I removed all the big weeds and clumps of grass from the garden, then used the weed eater to cut all the other incidental weeds as close to the ground as possible. This time, we used the tiller to break the ground and smooth everything up. Initially, I did not think about the root systems left behind from the weed eating exercise. Now we had to use the garden rake to remove all the unwanted (which is all) root balls from the newly tilled soil. Thinking that this garden job would take only a couple hours at most was a mistake. BIG mistake! We spent most of the day clearing out the roots and weeds missed by the tiller. But it was a very enjoyable time—it’s hard to go wrong when you are out in the warm sunshine with your kids doing a job that you know will provide lasting benefits!

Not only did we get the “regular” garden prepped, but we also were able to get the grow boxes ready. Last year, we experimented with the Square Foot Gardening method espoused by Mel Bartholomew. It was successful enough that we decided to continue using the grow boxes. But, since the area we used to place the boxes was covered (infested?) with wire grass, we had a lot of work to do. Wire grass is a relative to crab grass. Old timers around these parts call it “Devil’s Grass”…and it is the devil to get rid of. One old man told me once that there are only two ways to get rid of wire grass: 1) move and forget about it, and 2) die and not worry about it! And I am beginning to believe it! Anyway, after much digging and some black plastic, be had our grow boxes in place and refilled with the growing soil. Now everything was ready to accept the plants…except Daniel and I were both pooped and it was almost time to milk the goats. So, we decided to call it an evening with the garden. The picture is of the terraces we built and the grow boxes are at the top.

We had also decided that today we had to catch the fear mongering pigeon. It had eluded capture for long enough! Early on, we set up a simple trap…birdseed, milk crate, stick and string. Sometime during our busy day, the pigeon ate all the seed before we realized he was there. Missed him! So we re-baited the trap and returned to the garden work. Daniel happened to be going to the shed to get a garden tool when he saw said pigeon in the trap. He pulled the string and our strong, manly hunter/trapper instincts paid dividends. But there was a flaw in our trap. The milk crate we used has larger holes for handles and I as I was reaching in to grab the pigeon, he squeezed through handle and off to freedom. Ah, man! So we would have to get him later. I spied him perched on a ledge in the shed later that night and tried to reach him, but he once again escaped. Funny thing is, I haven’t seen him since. Maybe he decided that he better move on while he still can.

I will update again soon with some pictures of the garden. Until then…be blessed and don’t be afraid to leave a comment if you have one. All you have to do is click on the comment link at the end of this post. :)

Has Spring Arrived?

Finally! SPRING! That wonderful time for breaking ground, planting a few early crops, and starting seeds indoors so they will be ready to go in late spring; the time when Crocus’ and wild lilies bloom, dotting the landscape with color missing since the onset of winter; the time when goat babies frolic in the pasture and mama goats wander aimlessly about soaking up the sun; the time when the grass in the pasture turns from dull brown to radiant green. Buuuzzzzzz…it’s 5 a.m. and the alarm clock drags me from the glorious land of dreams. As the fog lifts from my mind, the stark reality sets in that it is still winter, albeit nearing it’s end (not as cold), and I get dressed for the twice daily trek to the barn for milking. It is not really an unbearable duty, as I keep reminding myself of Proverbs 27:

Pro 27:23 Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.

Pro 27:24 For riches are not forever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?

Pro 27:25 The hay appeareth, and the tender grass showeth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered.

Pro 27:26 The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.

Pro 27:27 And thou shalt have goats' milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens.

You see, God has given me a duty to know my flock, to set my heart after my herd. For He has told me in advance that hard times will come (riches are not forever). But He has also told me that my goats will bring the price of a field (hence the name of my blog) and that I would have enough goat’s milk for my family’s food. What an awesome God we serve! Knowing my flock and looking well to my herd has taken on new meaning over the last couple of days. Wednesday it meant disbudding the babies. Now this is something that I have been dreading since the wee ones were born. Disbudding is the process by which you remove the horn buds from the goats so they will be hornless. It may sound harsh, but it the best thing for the little guys as I see it. They tend to be less aggressive as they age (something about horns gives them confidence—sometimes an overconfidence) and it prevents them from getting their heads stuck in the fence when they inevitably try to get some of the “greener grass” on the other side! Some people recommend that it be done at no later than a week after birth, but I have found that if you wait a little longer, you have a better chance of getting all the horn bud cauterized. Yes, I said cauterized! Disbudding involves taking a special iron, searing hot and burning the horn buds into oblivion. Now before you think it is cruel and painful, the horns on a goat, I am told, have no nerve endings…they are kind of like a fingernail. And the little goats do not seem to be in any pain during the process, even though they scream bloody murder, mostly from being held in place. They do seem to get a little antsy when they see/smell the smoke from the burning hair, but I guess I would too if someone were holding my head and smoke starts to billow from my cranium! After the disbudding, we let all the little guys out for a romp in the future garden for a little fun and green grass and weeds. No sense hand pulling weeds when you can get wee fur balls to do it for you. They enjoyed it immensely. They especially enjoyed munching on the sage growing in the corner of one of the terraces.
Daniel was a big help yesterday in getting the garden beds ready for planting. Since a large part of our garden is on the side of a hill, we have terraced it to make it easier to deal with. Some of the terraces are narrower than others and are not conducive to plowing with a tiller. So, this year one of the narrower terraces was “hand-plowed.” We used the shovel to turn the soil, a hand-cultivator to break up the clods, and the garden rake to smooth it all out. It is all now ready to accept the broccoli and cauliflower plants that we hope to set out this weekend. Just a little more plowing (motorized kind this time) and we will have the other area ready for cabbage, snap peas, snow peas, and onions—all early crops. And then there are the raised bed boxes to fill with lettuces, spinach, and other early greens. Hopefully all that will be accomplished this weekend, which by the way, is supposed to be absolutely gorgeous (highs in the mid-70’s!).

Yesterday was also the day that the feta cheese was set to age. I opened the containers that held the drying/aging feta to be blown back by its pungent aroma. It was not so bad of a smell, just overwhelming…almost too overwhelming for my gagging wife and kids. I filled a gallon-sized pickle jar with the salt brine that I had prepared and dropped the chunks of feta into the solution for a few weeks of aging. I am very excited about crumbling some of that rich feta onto a salad!
Jamie and I were last night discussing the need to slow down. The pace of our life has been far too fast for far too long that we often fail to enjoy the life we have. There is always something to do it seems—garden to tend, laundry to wash, meals to prepare, and the list goes on ad infinitum. We are going to try and exit the rat race as much as possible from now on. Funny thing about the rat race: the life expectancy is not that long for rats! So we are going to try and create a place outside where we can slow down and enjoy life. It may be an area with the picnic table, the grill, and a fire pit. We are not sure about the shape it will take, but we are determined to make it a place of escape…a place where the buuuuzzzzz of the alarm clock will not awaken us, a place where the stark reality is that we are enjoying the life that God has given us! Shabbat Shalom!

And the Verdict is...

Yesterday evening, I went home and decided to take an impromptu poll. This quasi-scientific poll asked only one question: How does the feta cheese make the kitchen smell? Well, initial results indicate that 75% of household residents affirmed that the smell is closer to cat vomit than richly aged Feta! It should be noted that there is a significant margin of error in this poll, due to the fact that participant’s opinions are not weighted based on their love of cheese-making!

The pungent odor (a good pungent, mind you) only increased when I cut the cheese (hehehehe) into smaller cubes for aging. They were salted and placed in a container to sit at room temperature for a couple of days before I put them in a large jar of salt brine to develop that distinctive Feta flavor. We shall see how this experiment all works out. If all goes well, there is another batch in our future…just imagine the disappointed look on my wife and kids’ faces!

The kids had a great time yesterday morning playing in the snow. Sadly, I had to go to work despite the wintery mess covering the ground. By the time I got my evening pass from the salt mine, most of the snow and ice had melted away. The problem that remained was the wind—an icy, bone-chilling wind that pierced even the thickest winter coat. The goats decided that they would take their time eating while I stood shivering in the barn. By the time I was able to get inside, my fingers felt like rigor mortis had set in. But that was soon remedied by a big bowl of my wife’s famous chili. Now, no one willl know it isn’t the Feta!

Oh, and Happy Birthday Auntie C!

Butcher, Baker, and Feta Cheese Maker

What are you to do on a rainy/sleety/snowy Sunday? Make cheese, of course! Since there was not much that I could do outside due to the constraints of the weather, I decided to take the milk I had saved last week and begin the experiment of making Feta cheese. Last year, I made lots of chevre, a soft, spreadable goat cheese and it almost always seemed to go over big. I experimented with flavoring it in many different ways: garlic & chive, jalapeno, pecan encrusted, black peppercorn encrusted…and the big FLOP—Tuscan (sun-dried tomato, garlic, and Kalamata olives). I was always partial to the plain myself. It is really good to spread on crackers, but can also be used in making all kinds of dishes, from casseroles to cheesecake. I wanted to try Feta last year, but just never got around to it. And since Feta has to age 4-6 weeks, I decided to take the first saved milk (most goes to the wee fur balls) and make Feta.

The most important thing to remember when making cheese (or anything for that matter) is to make sure you have all your ingredients together. No sense in rushing around to find some culture to inoculate (now that sounds kinda creepy, huh?) 3 gallons of milk, only to discover you have just enough culture for 1 quart! Experience talking here! Notice the notebook with the recipe…that’s important too. Once, I started a batch of yogurt without finding the recipe. You know me: “It’s all in my head”, “I can remember that.” Well, after the cat would not even sniff the slimy goo that resulted, I make sure to always have the recipe on hand (even if I don’t look at it…hehehehe).

You have to heat the milk up to 86 degrees and hold it there for a long, long time. The most frustrating part for me, the ever patient one, is waiting for the milk to heat. The milk has to be warmed up very slowly or it scorches. Burnt milk really smells…just ask my wife. I am sure she remembers well when Mr. Impatient thought he could speed the process of heating 2 gallons of milk. But Mr. Impatient was on vacation this time (probably on some warm and sunny beach somewhere!). After, oh…. FOREVER, the milk reached temperature and I was able to add the cultures. And then…wait. Stir. Wait. Stir. Wait. You get the picture.



Finally, the time came to cut the cheese curd into small cubes. Here you see me cutting the cheese, ha ha! Who knew Feta smelled like that? After cutting the curds, guess what I had to do next? You guessed it….wait! Then I got to stir the curds every 10 minutes for 40 minutes. Wait a minute! I think Mr. Impatient is at the door!







Here is what they look like during the stirring process. My, didn’t that sound technical…stirring process. Kind of like a bus driver is a mass transportation specialist, not that there is anything wrong with being a bus driver. Anyway, the stirring is to “toughen up” the curds and help them release more whey. Notice how yellow the whey is as opposed to whiteness of the cheese curds. And, no Jill, that did not start out as yellow snow!

When the curds are all tough guys, it’s time to separate the curds and whey. Betcha Little Miss Muffet is all excited! Using a large piece of cheese cloth (the fine meshed stuff that you can not get at the grocery store, to the dismay of my wallet!) and a colander, I drained the whey and tied up the cheese cloth. It now has to “hang” to finish draining the whey from the cheese. I tied it up and hung it on a couple of wooden spoons (OK…they're plastic, but they are like a wooden spoons!) over the large stockpot to drain. Now all we have to do is….WAIT! I am not really sure what the kitchen will smell like this evening, but my guess is that it will be something between richly aged Feta and cat vomit!
To be continued………