We got 6 gallons today. No wonder Sugar won't gain any weight. I think we'll be cutting some of the grain from her diet.
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
Cream Line
We got 6 gallons today. No wonder Sugar won't gain any weight. I think we'll be cutting some of the grain from her diet.
Monday, 12 October 2009
October 12, 2009
Sorry for the light posting lately. When we leave the farm for a 10 day vacation, the workload is a bit overwhelming when we return. We still have about 8 yards of concrete to pour this month in the ongoing conversion of the dilapidated greenhouse into a garage and machine shed. And the contractor asked us to hold up on siding it until the concrete was done so they could work at it from all sides! I have a bad feeling I'm going to be out there in the snow nailing up vinyl siding. But we got our wood stove installed so I'll be able to come in and warm up. Our computer is in the same room as the stove and all this typing is making me sweat.
We separated the calves from Sugar last Friday. They took to drinking milk from a bucket like pros. Actually I bought buckets with rubber nipples thinking they would want to suck but it's much faster to just slurp it up. Taffy bawled so much she had completely lost her voice yesterday. Her moos sounded like croaks. It's coming back some today. Sugar is going with the flow like she always does. Porter doesn't seem to care as long as he gets his milk.
Since the separation, we're getting between 5 and 5 1/2 gallons of milk a day. This morning Jennifer got 3 1/2 gallons, gave the calves 1 1/2 (3 qts. each) and put 2 gallons in the fridge. Tonight I got 2 gallons and gave it all to the calves. The best part is we have CREAM! We'll make some butter by the end of the week and maybe celebrate the weekend with a little ice cream. You haven't lived until you've eaten homemade butter pecan.
All of the butchering is done for the year and we're now looking ahead to sheep breeding. The sheep will be shorn before the end of the month and we'll put the rams and ewes into two breeding groups in early November. Guess I better get to work on finishing the barn remodel so the rams have a place to live. Right now they're bunking in with Sugar because the calves are closed in their old stall.
Last but not least, our internet here on the farm is now smokin'. For those of you outside the normal cable or DSL area, I highly recommend this and this. We have the mifi connected to a cradlepoint router to make it a little more powerful and give us an ethernet connection for the desktop. The antenna really pulls in that cell signal. We're getting download speeds of over 1.5 Mbps.
We separated the calves from Sugar last Friday. They took to drinking milk from a bucket like pros. Actually I bought buckets with rubber nipples thinking they would want to suck but it's much faster to just slurp it up. Taffy bawled so much she had completely lost her voice yesterday. Her moos sounded like croaks. It's coming back some today. Sugar is going with the flow like she always does. Porter doesn't seem to care as long as he gets his milk.
Since the separation, we're getting between 5 and 5 1/2 gallons of milk a day. This morning Jennifer got 3 1/2 gallons, gave the calves 1 1/2 (3 qts. each) and put 2 gallons in the fridge. Tonight I got 2 gallons and gave it all to the calves. The best part is we have CREAM! We'll make some butter by the end of the week and maybe celebrate the weekend with a little ice cream. You haven't lived until you've eaten homemade butter pecan.
All of the butchering is done for the year and we're now looking ahead to sheep breeding. The sheep will be shorn before the end of the month and we'll put the rams and ewes into two breeding groups in early November. Guess I better get to work on finishing the barn remodel so the rams have a place to live. Right now they're bunking in with Sugar because the calves are closed in their old stall.
Last but not least, our internet here on the farm is now smokin'. For those of you outside the normal cable or DSL area, I highly recommend this and this. We have the mifi connected to a cradlepoint router to make it a little more powerful and give us an ethernet connection for the desktop. The antenna really pulls in that cell signal. We're getting download speeds of over 1.5 Mbps.
Monday, 5 October 2009
October 5, 2009
We just returned yesterday from our annual vacation to the Outer Banks. It was a very relaxing week! When we returned home, we quickly realized that autumn had come with a vengeance while we were gone. I don't have the fuel oil furnace ready to go yet so we're relying on a couple of portable electric heaters until our wood-burning stove is installed on Wednesday.
Sugar's chewed teats didn't get any worse in our absence but they didn't heal much, either. After we get back into the swing of things this week we'll separate the calves permanently and put them on a milk bucket. I would much prefer not to do that but we got Sugar into this predicament and now it's up to us to get her out.
I've got two building projects to complete this month. We also have sheep shearing to look forward to and will be putting the rams and ewes together about this time next month.
ETA: We had a killing frost in our absence so the winter squash will be brought in this week to cure. We really need a couple sunny days in a row!
Sugar's chewed teats didn't get any worse in our absence but they didn't heal much, either. After we get back into the swing of things this week we'll separate the calves permanently and put them on a milk bucket. I would much prefer not to do that but we got Sugar into this predicament and now it's up to us to get her out.
I've got two building projects to complete this month. We also have sheep shearing to look forward to and will be putting the rams and ewes together about this time next month.
ETA: We had a killing frost in our absence so the winter squash will be brought in this week to cure. We really need a couple sunny days in a row!
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
September 16, 2009
It's been crazy busy here! The garage renovation is well underway. I will try to get a pic before we do much finishing - before, in-process, after.
Sugar's teats are chewed up a bit and we've suspended milking until they heal. In hindsight, it was a mistake to completely milk her out in the morning and then let the calves have at her. They are only 10 weeks old and I would hate to wean them this early so we decided it would be best to let them have our share of the milk until her teats heal. They look much better already since the last time we milked on Saturday. Our annual vacation is coming up and when we we get home, we'll probably put them on bottles so we can have some milk for ourselves.
The butcher's coming Monday for three lambs. There is still one available. Any takers?
Sugar's teats are chewed up a bit and we've suspended milking until they heal. In hindsight, it was a mistake to completely milk her out in the morning and then let the calves have at her. They are only 10 weeks old and I would hate to wean them this early so we decided it would be best to let them have our share of the milk until her teats heal. They look much better already since the last time we milked on Saturday. Our annual vacation is coming up and when we we get home, we'll probably put them on bottles so we can have some milk for ourselves.
The butcher's coming Monday for three lambs. There is still one available. Any takers?
Monday, 7 September 2009
September 7, 2009
Construction work is taking all of our time here lately. I completely gutted the greenhouse over this weekend. The driveway is supposed to be cut tomorrow and I'm going to order the framing wood and siding, as well. Yoder's Lumber is the place to go in northern Morrow County for lumber, siding, roofing, etc. We're going with red siding and white trim to match our barn on the other side of the property. We're going to call for concrete quotes tomorrow and hope to get that done before the end of the month. In addition to a garage for parking our car, this is also going to give us a place to store tractor implements, hay and firewood.
Speaking of firewood, we've also made the decision to get a wood stove before winter hits. We chose a Jotul stove and will have a new chimney installed for it. This stove is 72% efficient and is therefore eligible for a 30% tax credit up to $1500.
All of these expenditures we're making are designed to help us weather the economic storm we believe is coming. When it comes to the economy I'm firmly in the "we ain't seen nothing yet" category. If (when) commodities skyrocket, we'll be burning wood instead of fuel oil and we'll be well-positioned to continue producing our own food efficiently.
We skipped two days in a row this weekend milking. This is in anticipation of our upcoming vacation. Sugar will not be milked for ten days while we're gone. The calves ought to be fat and sassy by the time we get back.
Speaking of firewood, we've also made the decision to get a wood stove before winter hits. We chose a Jotul stove and will have a new chimney installed for it. This stove is 72% efficient and is therefore eligible for a 30% tax credit up to $1500.
All of these expenditures we're making are designed to help us weather the economic storm we believe is coming. When it comes to the economy I'm firmly in the "we ain't seen nothing yet" category. If (when) commodities skyrocket, we'll be burning wood instead of fuel oil and we'll be well-positioned to continue producing our own food efficiently.
We skipped two days in a row this weekend milking. This is in anticipation of our upcoming vacation. Sugar will not be milked for ten days while we're gone. The calves ought to be fat and sassy by the time we get back.
Friday, 28 August 2009
August 28, 2009
Making cottage cheese from clabber.
In this photo, the curds are being cooked with hot water added to the pot. We didn't skim the cream so it's floating on top of the water.
Here are the partially cooked curds draining. After this we added more hot water, stirred briefly, and then added lots of cold water while stirring and breaking up the curd to stop it cooking.
In this photo, the cooked and cooled curds are draining. They've been salted and will go in the fridge in 30 minutes.
This is by far the simplest cheese we've made. The room temperature cottage cheese that we've made is OK but it's a real pain to wash that fine cheesecloth after draining.
In this photo, the curds are being cooked with hot water added to the pot. We didn't skim the cream so it's floating on top of the water.
Here are the partially cooked curds draining. After this we added more hot water, stirred briefly, and then added lots of cold water while stirring and breaking up the curd to stop it cooking.
In this photo, the cooked and cooled curds are draining. They've been salted and will go in the fridge in 30 minutes.
This is by far the simplest cheese we've made. The room temperature cottage cheese that we've made is OK but it's a real pain to wash that fine cheesecloth after draining.
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
We have clabber!
It's firmer than yogurt and slightly more sour. The whey has separated as you can see in the photo. The process is easy. Put fresh milk in a jar and set it out at room temperature covered with a towel. This jar of Sugar's milk took 13 days to clabber.For all the raw milk naysayers out there: I challenge you to take your favorite pasteurized milk, set it out at room temperature and drink/eat it 13 days later.
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