The goats are still bastards

Jed expanded the pasture yesterday and the goats promptly ate the crown of the walnut and many of the lower branches of the mulberry. We're still trying to figure out a way to keep the goats from eating all our trees. I'm thinking barbed wire fence with machine guns.
In other goat news we still don't have goat babies. They are showing all signs that they will kid soon but we're not sure how soon that will be. Luckily my mom arrives tonight so I'll have help when they do show up.

Daily accomplishments

I usually feel as if I am unable to accomplish much on a day to day basis, but thinking about today let me realize that we do a lot on a daily basis.

Normal continuous tasks - feeding pigs, sheepies/goaties, poultry(x2), cleaning and filling water containers,watering plants, home cooking, and Ivan laundry.
In addition, today we were able to - pick tomatoes from frozen plants, rep two beds for new seed sowing, trimmed dead branches from almond tree, pulled corn stalks to feed piggies and sheepies/goaties, planted peas, extended pasture, fed watermelons to pigs, fenced and reinforced trees in pasture, drove out to Creston for more T stakes, picked up more piggy food, cleaned out duck pool, and cleaned out patio.

I'm sure I'm missing something, but now I don't feel like such a loser. Oh, and here is a picture of some of the tomatoes we harvested today. =) We ended up having to make fried chicken and fried green tomatoes. I must say that the fried green tomatoes were particularly tasty.

Cornish Pasties

Jed grew up in the Nevada City area and so we are required to go out to pasties whenever we visit. But sometimes we just need pasties. We just found out about a place in SLO but we're not sure where they got their recipe from because it tasted nothing like any pasties we've tried before. So we did some research and tried out a new recipe we thought would work. It goes as follows:

Pre-heat oven to 450 f.

Filling:
2 lbs Beef rump roast cubed tiny or ground
1 large potato cubed tiny
1 large onion cubed tiny
1 med turnip cubed tiny
1 small handful of shredded carrots
1 handful of chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

combine all ingredients - ta da.

Dough:
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 large spoonful lard
1/2 cup cold butter
water

Cut lard and butter into flour and baking powder until all bits are the size of peas or smaller. Add a little bit of water then fold flour mixture until it is a firm dough. Roll out a portion of your dough and cut out 5-7inch rounds. Fill half with filling and then wet edge and fold. Crimp with fork to assure closure. Cut out a little vent hole. Brush with milk then place into preheated oven for 10 min. Lower temp to 350 and bake for another 35 min. Bring out and let cool. Serve with malt vinegar.

Planting garlic

We were able to plant one bed of garlic today. After planting the first bed I realized that I don't have nearly as much space as I need to plant the 8lbs of garlic. We picked up some Spanish Roja, an early California softneck, a purple, and some misc garlic left over from last year. If we do manage to get the optimum return on our garlic we should end up with something like 80lbs of garlic next year. If we're very lucky we might have it ready to pick next summer and be able to save up 10lbs for a harvest of 100lbs the following year. And bringing it back to the present, I was able to plant one bed and then I had to go in because Ivan was hungry. I was able to go back outside a little while later and a good thing I did because the chickens had already unearthed a couple of my cloves of garlic. I covered the whole bed with a couple inches of straw, watered the bed, and then covered it so that the chickens won't have the opportunity to scratch. We'll see when I can finish planting the garlic so that I can move on to shallots, onions, and leeks.
We did some calculations on our alum consumption this year and I think we eat about 300lbs of onions, about 100lbs to 15o of garlic, about 7lbs of shallots and about 10lbs of leeks. The shallots and leeks have low numbers mostly because we do not have ample access to these delicious cousins of the garlic and onion. We were going to grow a bunch to see if we do end up consuming more.

Preparing for ...

Many things actually. We hope to raise the frame for the goat hall tomorrow. And we have a long list of things we would like to get to fairly soon. I would like to build my milking stand, as well as a movable coop so that I can completely destroy the two "coops" we currently have. Also on this list is the new weatherproofing of the base to the bread oven with a new means to keep the weather off the actual oven. Jed just started the base for the fogon and we're looking into building something to go over it so that we can smoke some of Oreo. And speaking of Oreo, as we've never slaughtered/butchered anything as big as him we're going to have to prepare a working area for him. And, and, and... I'm not sure what it will look like to actually have our infrastructure all set up (I hope it doesn't hurt too much) but I think it might be a nice thing to just be working on daily chores rather than constructing everything from scratch. Catch me again in 5 years to see how we're doing.

Insanely efficient

If your home gets cold when it freezes and you need something that is insanely efficient I would highly recommend a wood burning stove. We picked up our Morso shortly after we purchased our home and found out that our fireplace was a lookin' fireplace rather than a functional one. The Morso 2B is supposed to heat a max of 1200 sq ft but it heats our 1400+ sq ft home very well. As I said yesterday, it froze last night so I started a fire (while breastfeeding no less - thank you Jed and Aaron for those fire starting lessons!!) threw in a couple of pine logs, let it catch, then turned it down. I added a couple more this morning around 10am to keep the fire going. And to add to the awesomeness I just threw in a couple more logs and once again I started them with the coals from this morning's fire. When we returned this evening from visiting my little sister the house was at 70 degrees while the outside temp was in the 50s. Oh yeah, and you can cook on it as well and to make it uber awesome, the state of California is doing a tax rebate if you buy/install one as well as the fed, and if you're really lucky your county will be running a promotion as well. That is how Jed and I got a our stove for about a third of the original price. =) I loves me my Morso.

Homesteading with a baby

I have a baby asleep in my arms as I type this. To tell the truth, homesteading is hard to begin with and it gets a whole lot harder when you add a baby. There are things that need to get done even if it's just me alone with Ivan. The animals still need to be fed and watered, the trees and plants still need to be irrigated, eggs need to be picked up, pregnant animals still need to be checked on, as well as normal chores like cooking and cleaning. There are also many projects that are in the works. Luckily, I've just started carrying the little guy in a hiking backpack baby carrier that frees up both my hands. Before I would have to do everything with one arm and have Ivan in the other. It was difficult, but things still need to get done.
And to add to all this...it's supposed to freeze tonight. What does this mean? It means I can now plant all the garlic and onions, it means I have to worry about water freezing the pipes or the animals no being warm enough, it means I have to have a fire going in the wood burning stove, I need to go out tonight while Ivan is asleep to cover the citrus, and to figure out a way to do all this and more while taking care of Ivan and making sure he is warm and protected.
I love my little guy, more than life itself, especially when he periodically cracks up in his sleep while I type, but he does seem to add a whole new level of complexity to trying to be self sufficient. I don't know how women of the past managed, but they have my admiration.

Still waiting on the baby goats

I was able to see the baby goats move on both Lucy and Bugger. To tell the truth it looked a bit creepy. You see little hooves move around on their sides and it just looks... creepy. We're all anxiously awaiting the arrival of the new little goats. I feel a little bad because I see them walk around slowly and I know exactly how they feel.

In other news, we're still working on the goat hall. My mom is back in MX, which makes working on the farm that much more difficult with the little Ivan man. Luckily, we just discovered today that he travels well in the hiking back baby carrier so I'll be using that a lot more. I was able to climb over the fence to feed the goats with the little guy on my back.

Oh, and Mr. Pee-pee face next door keeps going and hanging out with my girls (on his side of the fence) and it's really annoying me. I know I should be glad I have access to a buck for free but he just freakin stinks and I'm afraid that my milk will taste like that too. Bastard goat!!! You better not taint the taste of my milk.

Goats need a Saxon hall

Our girls (Bugger and Lucy) are both very pregnant. Bugger seems to be carrying twins while Lucy seems to be carrying just one. The sheepies are also looking pretty big but the goats seem to be the only ones who will let me milk them. The goats have figured out that when I come out with my bucket that it is time for them to get grain. This leads to an easy walk to our makeshift milking shed to get them used to going in there twice a day to get milked. Since they are pregnant we are just inspecting them and petting them while they eat their oats.

The makeshift shed is all right, but we're thinking about something a bit more permanent. Jed has started work on the goat hall and is done with all the cutting into the boards. We should be putting up the frame soon. That makes it a bit more exciting as we'll have a place for them to get out of the sun, to go get milked, and to protect them from the wind and the rain. We'll have to section off an area to put their food in so that they don't get in and eat it as well as a designated milking area. It's exciting to start the medieval village in the back and to set up the much needed milking shed/shelter that the animals need. We'll see how far along we get before the babies arrive.

Tomato harvest for today

I think the picture speaks for itself. Tomatoes galore and homemade apple juice. =) I like Autumn and harvest time.

Just out of curiosity..

How much would you pay for:

Pork that was primarily raised on organic veggies on a pasture setting?
Goat, beef, and lamb that were raised on their mother's milk with constant access to grass, hay, and alfalfa as well as veggies?
Free range chickens, ducks, turkeys, or geese?


Would you object to the farmer adding the cost of slaughtering on to the fee?
Would it seem reasonable to wave that fee if you were to help with the processing?

If you knew your meat was not coming from an FDA inspected facility but you knew the farmer, would you still participate?

Apple pie

Here is the recipe for our apple pie:

For crust:
3 cups of flour
1 cup of cold butter (you can also use lard but do not use margarine)
cold water to appropriate consistency

Place butter and flour in a bowl. Using two butter knives (or a pastry cutter) cut the cold butter into your flour until it looks all crumbly. Try not to have any of your butter/lard pieces bigger than the size of a pea. Add a little cold water and start pressing down to form layers. As the flour blends bring up flour from the sides and the bottom to press down. Continue until the consistency is hard but blended. You do not want it to be wet or soft. If the butter/lard is getting warm place it back into the fridge and prepare your apples.

For filling:
4-5 good sized apples (enough to fill your pie pan) - firm and not mushy but not unripe
honey
cinnamon
ginger
nutmeg
mace

Peal, core, and thinly slice apples. Place apples in a small dish to marinate with other ingredients. Add honey (I add enough to coat all the apple pieces) and as much or as little of all spices. My normal quantity is more of cinnamon (about 1 tbsp), a little less of ginger (about 1 tsp), a little less of nutmeg (about 1/4 tsp), and just a sprinkle of mace. Cover and set aside to finish preparing pie crust.

Bring out your pie pan and preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Split dough in half and roll out first half on a floured surface. Make the crust big enough to cover all of the bottom of the pan and still have about a half an inch draping over the sides. You can do this by rolling out a large section, placing it in pie pan, and then cutting off any excess. Place your filling ingredients into your pie pan. Roll out the second half of the dough so that it covers the top of pie with another inch hanging over the sides. Again, you can do this by making it a little bigger then cutting it off to fit. Take the extra inch and tuck it into the pie pan so that your folding it in over the bottom crust. Once all of the crust is tucked in (it should be a little mounded along the whole outer edge) take your thumb and first finger of your left hand and the first knuckle of your right hand to seal the crusts together and the make a shaped edge. (place your first finger and your thumb of your left hand on your right first finger knuckle to make a <) Once edge is sealed make four cuts on your crust to let the excess bubble out. Add any decorations you would like to your crust using the left over crust.

Place in oven and bake until the crust starts to brown on top. Once it starts to brown lower the temp to 350 and bake for another 35 mins. Take out your pie and let cool. And then... enjoy!

Intro for our ram - Casanunda

We've been thinking about breeding our sheep for a while since we like the thought of mutton and the wool is awesome (even though Ivan hasn't given me enough time to actually start processing it). Well, I found a 4 month old Shetland ram on craigslist for a very reasonable price so I went to go pick him up. The thing is... he's Shetland which is one of the smallest breeds. Mind you they are endangered and they are a heritage breed so we thought it was a win for us to help the species on a bit. Well, when I brought him home my first thought was... I'm going to need a step ladder for him. Really, he is that short. About 1/2 the height of the other sheep, granted that he is not full grown yet but if he does not put on few inches the other sheep will have to start laying down to breed. On the plus side he has a calm demeanor nice wool and cool black curly horns. Due to his short stature and his adoring affection he showers on the sheep we decided to call him Casanunda, after the dwarf character from Pratchett. If you are a disc world fan you will understand. So with any luck (and perhaps a step ladder) we will have some baby lambs running around the farm in the near future.

Welcome surprise - watermelons

It turns out that watermelons love Paso summers. We had moon and star watermelons in the front and volunteers in the back that covered a whole great big area, gave us tons of watermelons and helped improve the soil. We'll be doing that again next year to have tons of nummy watermelons for the whole summer.

Front yard harvest

As with last year, our front yard was able to produce a lot more than was allowed in our back yard. This year we were able to get a ton of cucumbers (Armenian and green), watermelons, potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, tomatoes, bell peppers, different types of chiles, a dozen apples(there wasn't supposed to be any... I tried to cut them all off so that the tree could just grow this year), lots of black raspberries that I didn't get to can because I kept eating them, a bunch of grapes, tons of artichokes and asparagus and some other things... now that I look back on it, we actually did pretty good. I was starting to feel like a failure for not being able to plant out as much as I wanted... but I guess we actually did pretty well.

We also have corn that is ripening and some eggplant coming in. Zucchini is also coming in and some of the beans survived the great bunny devastation. We've harvested basil for pesto and herbs for cooking.

On the possibility of baby goats

We bred Bugger to Mr. Pee-pee face in late spring/early summer. At first she seemed to be carrying, but then it looked as if she wasn't so we just assumed that she wasn't pregnant. But as Jed and I noticed yesterday, her utters seemed to have elongated and her milk ducts seem to be filling in. Sooo, our little girl might be pregnant and she might be getting to deliver some time soon. If so, that means milk (Yaaay! even though I would be unable to drink any due to Ivan.) and more baby goats. We haven't noticed any difference in Uni-goat so we'll see if we might just have to get her bred again. And as an update for those who don't get to visit often. Here is the update on our goats: Big goat - eaten, Ramses - eaten, Rosie - donated to neighbors for letting us breed our goats to their Mr. Pee-pee face, Bugger - still on the homestead and possibly pregnant, and Uni-goat (previously Lucy) who is probably not pregnant but who we hope to breed soon. We've also decided that we wish to keep our number of goats on the property pretty low as they have a tendency to be the most destructive to our plant life. So we'll be keeping our number down to 2 does, depending on how much milk they give us.

Homemade pectin

I was able to pick a lot of unripe apples from my brother's trees during their early drop. These apples are great for making home pectin for when all the fruits are ready to be canned. Here is a recipe for making homemade pectin.

For pectin:
Ingredients:
Unripe apples

Take your unripe apples and quarter them. Make sure there aren't any worms or borers in your fruit. You don't need to wash them if they were in a good environment. If you're not sure what kind of an environment they were in I would suggest your at least rinse them. Place in pot and add water until it is about 1 inch from the top of the apples. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, bring it down to a simmer and let cook until the meat of the apples is separating from the skins. Let cool completely, then mash. Put through a strainer or use a towel. Squeeze most of the meat out as you need the liquid and the meat.

Just make sure that your liquid is cloudy and you now have pectin. Store in a container in the fridge or use.