A Month Gone By

Posted on by under Bees, Family, Farm, Honey, Maple Syrup, Pastured pride
Sweetie is not my milking goat, but I just couldn't resist sharing this picture

Sweetie is not my milking goat, but I just couldn’t resist sharing this picture

I can’t believe it’s been a month since I’ve updated you all on farm living. Some new developments have us excited.

  • Our newest increase is that we will be getting a female Great Pyrenees today and hope that she and our male will do well to guard our growing goat herd. We also hope to offer livestock guardian puppies in the future. We’ll let you know if Furry and Juniper (Juni) get along well together.
  • Another cause for elation is that we have chicks hatching today. Yesterday, Moe and Fiesty were born. Last month, we had seven born in our incubator. This has been such a fun process for us and we hope to get some good laying hens for future egg production for our own use. Last months chicks; Hawk, Big Goldie, Little Pepper, Cookie, Little Goldie and Speckled Head, are doing well and love following me around the yard.
  • I have also taken up the challenge of milking our Alpine goat, Ivy. She has been providing us with over a quart of nutritious raw goat milk each day. In early June, we will likely start milking twice a day (a whole new challenge). This weekend, we may even make goat milk ice cream. We have enjoyed the flavor and our many guests have enjoyed a little taste too.
  • Mat’s new chicken tractor design is complete. As a result, moving our pastured chickens twice a day is now enjoyable. A smaller number of chickens has resulted in cleaner, healthier birds so far. If a chicken can be beautiful, I have to say that these are. I have actually said it to them more than once as I’ve seen them this year. Maybe I’ve been on the farm too long.
  • Our pigs are growing strong enough and big enough for our youngest boys to ride them. These two boys have become more daring with age.
  • I don’t think we’ve mentioned that we have three bull calves born last month. They were a surprise since we were told our Scottish Highland cows were bred to give birth in June. We are happy with our healthy and fluffy and soon to be steers. They are growing fast.
  • Mat split one healthy bee hive yesterday and has another out there. Hopefully, this will be the year to brag about when we actually get honey to market.
  • Lastly, our maple syrup season went well. We weren’t so sure at first and it was hard work. At $.25 an hour, Mat doesn’t get paid much for his time with this product, but we enjoy the stuff so much that it’s worth it.

That’s it for now I suppose. Hope you enjoyed hearing about our busy lives. Sorry for the lack of pictures. I guess you’ll just have to visit and pick up some fresh food from the farm if you want to see this stuff for yourselves.

Nursery in the Pasture

Posted on by under Pastured pride
These sweet brothers and sisters are keeping plenty warm in the sun this March

These sweet brothers and sisters are keeping plenty warm in the sun this March

On March 23 we had our first triplets on the farm. Thirteen Boer-Fainting goat kids were born within the next two weeks. We sadly lost two; both from triplet sets, one of those having been born with bowed legs. Now we have eleven frolicking kids roaming the pasture.

Our Maremma Akbash dog has been an excellent midwife and nursery attendent. With our first arrivals, he jumped back and forth with excitement to tell us the news. Each time new babies have been born, he is right there to keep watch and nudge the kids toward their mom when they are lost. He has stayed close to the napping kids while the moms are on the other side of the large pasture and kept watch for golden eagles prowling the skies.

We have had sweet success with all of our Boer Goat Mamas this year

We have had sweet success with all of our Boer Goat Mamas this year

What excitement we have had this year with our new arrivals. We have a few restaurants that have asked us about our goats so far and have a few friends from African and South East Asian countries that will be happy to have chevon (sometimes called mutton) for their next holiday meal. Finally we have hopes of keeping our customers satisfied.

One last note to say that you are missing out if you can’t come see this youngsters this summer. They are a beautiful creation.

Gearing Up For Spring

Posted on by under Family, Farm, Homeschooling, Keeping the Home, Maple Syrup, Pastured pride, Picture posts, Urban connect

Our week in pictures: The boys and I took a week off to help Daddy with a number of projects. Enjoy some pictures from our week. Click a picture to read how it was part of a rewarding week of work.

Easy Homemade Hummus

Posted on by under Recipes

IMG_3899[1]IMG_3882[1]I haven’t been in a creative mood these last months, so I must apologize for the dull posts. Here is another tried and true recipe. I posted awhile back about what to do with those leftover chicken bones. I’m finally sharing my recipe for hummus so you can enjoy this with veggie sticks or pita chips. Another great way to eat this iron rich food is folded in bread or a large lettuce leaf with tomatoes, chicken or other meat, a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and a dash of oregano. So good…

Easy Homemade Hummus

  • Servings: lots
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Print

1 1/2 cup dry chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
Chicken stock to cover
1/3 cup tahini or about 2/3 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic
1-2 Tablespoons liquid from beans
1/4 teaspoon cumin
2 Tablespoons parsley
1-2 Tablespoons olive oil

Crockpot and Food Processor, Vitamix or nice blender needed.
Wash beans and place in crockpot. Cover with chicken stock by a few inches. Add water if you do not have enough stock or broth. Cook on low for 6 or more hours.
Once the chickpeas are cooked, pour into your food processor or nice blender, liquid and all. If you food processor is powerful enough to grind tiny seeds, add sesame seeds, otherwise buy tahini in the ethnic foods section. My Vitamix does a great job on sesame seeds. Add the lemon juice, salt, garlic, cumin, and parsley. Grind on high until well processed. Pour olive oil in and blend until smooth. I use a stick designed for my Vitamix to push ingredients into the blender. I place anything that is not eaten into my refrigerator, it keeps for about a week.
Enjoy.

Crockpot “Baked” Beans

Posted on by under Uncategorized

When I make beans, I like to make a huge pot of beans. So beware. These do freeze well and it’s a good thing because it takes about a day to make them. This is another in the series of what to do with those leftover chicken bones. If you do not have one of our hogs for that lovely ham hock used in this recipe, chicken broth can be substituted when cooking the beans. So enjoy not wasting that great source of nutrition straight from our farm…

Crockpot Baked Beans

  • Servings: 20
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

What you’ll need:
– Crockpot, 5 or 7 quart
– 4 cups dry beans, washed*
– Ham hock, 1-3 lb depending on how meaty you like your beans***
– 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar**
– Water or stock to cover by 1/2 to 1 inch

Place the above ingredients into the crockpot and cook on low overnight or up to twelve hours on low. Once the beans are soft, remove the ham hock bone and then add the sauce ingredients below.

Add the following ingredients after the beans have been cooked and the ham hock bone has been removed. Mix and then let cook another four or more hours on low.

Sauce ingredients:
– Choose a sweetener: 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar or brown sugar plus 1 tablespoon of molasses or 3/4 cup maple syrup or 3/4 cup honey
-1 1/2 cups ketchup
– 3 teaspoons dijon mustard
– 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
– 1 tablespoon red wine or rhubarb wine (yes we make that too)
– 1 large yellow onion, chopped
– 3 large cloves of garlic
– Salt and pepper (we like Penzey’s Forward)

* Make sure there are no rocks mixed with your beans. I like to use pinto.
** Apple cider vinegar may help reduce the phytic acid in beans which helps digestion
*** Bacon can be used

Enjoy!

Repost: 10 Reasons I Drink Bone Broth

Posted on by under Family, Recipes

A blogger with a lot to say posted the following article awhile back:
“10 Reasons I Drink Bone Broth” by Kitchen Stewardship
http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2013/02/21/10-reasons-i-drink-bone-broth/
After my rumblings from Wednesday, I thought this would be some great follow up reading.
Don’t forget us when you want some great pastured chicken!

What to do with leftover chicken bones

Posted on by under Farm, Pastured pride, Recipes
Eat good food for a strong body!

Eat good food for a strong body!

First an advertisement:

Want your child to develop strong bones and muscles? Don’t forget us when you’re looking for nutritionally dense chicken. We have a lot in the freezer right now and on September 6th we will have our last harvest day of the season.

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