365 Days of Photos: Day 10

Winter and Refrigeration

So I started doing the 365 days of photos thing and I have fallen way behind! The stomach virus we got kept us down for two weeks! Yuck! Now we're just trying to get back into the swing of things.

I'm working on a design for a cheese aging shelf to put in my cooler. After doing some reading, I found that though the optimal aging temperature is 50-55°F cheese can be aged at cooler and slightly warmer temps. Cheese can even age in the 20-35° range! However, it takes longer to ripen and the flavor turns out fine but the texture is grainy. I have a bit of difficulty keeping my temps super regulated but I tend to range from 38-47°. I've decided I can live with that. And it's always a little warmer in the top of the cooler.

Maybe I need to explain the "cooler" a little further... We use a deep freezer for our refrigerator. We buffer our temperatures with ice jugs we freeze at a friends house for the time being; at least until we get our complete off-grid system up and running. I look forward to that day... The cooler outside temperatures make this much easier to do but it's pretty difficult to do in the heat of summer. We use the generator to run the freezer to help keep it cool. So this is our current refrigeration situation and we're plugging along to improve it. I also look forward to the day we have a root cellar... I get to have a cheese aging area in it! I'm pretty stoked about that!

Winter seems to be approaching... the weather cycles are getting colder. It's getting colder faster this year. Our grazing is getting dire for the cattle. It's looking like we may have to disperse the beef herd to keep the dairy herd fed. We purposely haven't been selling milk and are looking at having to return to doing so in order to keep the dairy herd fed. The drought has put us in a pickle this year...

Food Preservation and Fall Gardening

I feel like all I do is can food. I am not one of those who are addicted to canning. I do it out of necessity. When you're off-grid there aren't a lot of easy food preservation techniques out there. Really, the only easy food preservation is freezing. Not an option around here. Dehydration is an option but only solar dehydration. I HAVE a Nesco Gardenmaster dehydrater, which works super awesome, but I can't use it here! It draws 1 kW of power! Too much for my little off-grid system at this point. When I get my big system set up it could probably run it but do I want to? Maybe for dehydrating meats ..

Anyway, I have been canning apples and tomatoes (Picked two 5 gal bucket fulls of green tomatoes the day before a freeze) primarily; some pumpkin but I have a great deal more to do! Still have a number of ducks to butcher and can. I'm hoping once I've waded through the gobs of fruit, pears are next, I'll be able to do poultry.

In the garden, I've got spinach growing as well as some brassica hold-overs and I've commenced garlic planting. I plant a huge amount of garlic because we use it for deworming livestock. I started by putting a layer of rabbit manure on the garlic bed first and this year I'm giving each individual plant quite a bit more room; I planted way too densely last year.

365 Days of Photos: Day 9

365 Days of Photos: Day 8

Yuckiness...

We have had stomach flu rampaging through. I kicked it off, which is unusual, then my oldest DS. We for the most part are over it though both if us are still weak just in time for the other four boys to come down with it. My oldest DS is awesome! How many 8 year olds would do bucket patrol? My DH is hanging on by his fingernails. He seems to be on the verge of being sick never quite getting there.

Right now I'm snuggling my 10-month old praying he's done with it. It was a rough night for sure ...

365 Days of Photos: Day 7

The Chicken and Egg Problem ..

As I scrimp and scrounge for eggs from my motley crew of chickens, I try to not bemoan the fact that when we moved here we brought nearly 200 hens with us! That first winter was rough. The predation was just plain awful and by the time spring rolled around we had around 20-25 hens. We butchered some free loaders as stewing hens and lost a few more and now sit with 6-7 hens (less the Dorkings) that are like 3 years old. Ahh the frustration! So I'm not exactly rolling in eggs.

The extreme heat this past summer didn't help and now they appear to be moulting. I had a small window of time where I actually got some eggs which was rather nice but now that window is cracked open, just barely, and seemingly ready to slam shut.

It's amazing how wordy I can get when I'm writing! Drives my DH batty... I do like descriptive composition though...

Now I have a small batch of chicks we're raising. And they are looking pretty good. I'm intending to buy some pullets soon. This weekend actually ...

365 Days of Photos: Day 6

365 Days of Photos: Day 5

365 Days of Photos: Day 4

Dorking Chickens

So many times something seems and appears to be a most excellent idea as an addition to the farm... and 75% of the time it ends up being a flop. A huge HUGE flop!!

Our latest, Dorking chickens. On paper, looks fantastic and perfect. Spent a lot of time reading about them on breeder boards and such but sometimes you miss that one crucial question that can make or break you. In their case, it has to do with eggs laying.

When we first got breeding stock we kept them in breeding group pens. That was more our fault because they really didn't get enough sunlight to be productive. So, we let them free roam. The hens were refusing to roost in the coop. It took an owl nearly killing one (we were able to stop the killing process I'm time and chase the owl off) to get all the hens to roost in the coop. The roosters work pretty diligently to gather all of them up as well.

Now they are roosting in the coop but they lay their eggs every where! Once you find their nest, they move it. It's rather difficult to get eggs to hatch or eat if you can't find them. We're just a tad frustrated ...

365 Days of Photos: Day 3

365 Days of Photos: Day 2

365 Days of Photos: Day 1

Brewing Kombucha..

We try to follow the diet set forth by the Weston A. Price Foundation in the cookbook Nourishing Traditions. Unfortunately, as good diets go, it can be expensive and difficult to follow. Right now in our life I can't be completely organic, it's just not locally available and monetarily feasible so we do the best we can. For what we grow, be it meat, milk or veggies, we stay organic.

Anyway, I've, after seven years of using NT as a guideline, discovered the wonders of Kombucha! You can buy it in places like Whole Foods under the brand: GT's. But it's super cheap to brew it at home! I have anywhere from 4-6 gallons batch brewing at a time. I just buy black and green teas and C&H Cane sugar. Most sugar is beet sugar which is GMO unless organic. We work pretty hard to keep GMOs out of our diet. Kombucha is about the only reason we have sugar around. To learn more about it's benefits and how to brew it visit Kombucha Kamp.

Why did I start brewing kombucha? Mainly for my 5yro DS. He has awful eczema that covers his entire body. He was born with it. I was pregnant with him during my Lupus healing crisis. By the end of the pregnancy I was glowing with health. But that's another story.
He drinks about 2-4oz. a day and it has made a remarkable difference in his eczema! I drink it because I crave it so I end up drinking 12-24oz a day. And everyone else just loves it! Soda pop is a poor substitute. The kombucha can be flavored with fruit juices or drank plain. It's yummy and fizzy with a nice sweet burn. And it gives a great energy boost! So give it a try!

The Tractor is HERE!

Cat in the Brooder!! ACK!!

Bummer!! One of our cats got into the chick brooder. He ate all but two chicks! I was able to get the last two to a lady to brood them as she was already brooding some baby guineas.

Breeds of Cattle: Ayrshire

Ah, Ayrshire cattle... this is my least favorite breed thus far. Though we were able to obtain good qualiomty cattle their personality was best described as "naughty." I'd have to agree after handling them for the last year. Now, it could be other herds have better mannered animals but I don't know on that part. These cows are the ones that kick the tar out of you! Now, of the 3 pure Ayrshires we have one that is a high producer and throws huge tantrums; the next loves leading the herd where I don't want them to go and the third I actually like. Though she had a few issues she's the most trainable and the best milker. Awesome body type and a beautiful udder.

Herd integration into a mixed breed herd has been poor. They are the bottom and their attitudes and overreactions keep them there. In fact, it makes them the butt of jokes. The other cows purposely bully them for the sheer entertainment value. How do I know this? It's entertaining to watch.

Their milk is meant for cheese. I don't mind drinking their milk but I prefer the drinking quality of milk from my other breeds my favorite being Milking Devon.

Rural Heritage rates the temperament of Ayrshire oxen as "active and challenging." I would say the same goes for the cows. So this is a breed not meant for the faint of heart.

November already ...

We're down to milking 4 cows now. Seems to take less time. I have found our calf, Daisy, to be extraordinarily stubborn. She won't lead, even to the pen with the nurse cow. If milk can't get a calf to lead I don't know what will! I have a love hate relationship with her and she regularly makes me lose my temper. Which is actually rather hard to do. So then the situation degrades and we're both mad at each other.

The drought has majorly hurt us for winter grazing. We like to "stock pile" grass for our hay instead of buying hay. Nothing grew well. Too dry. So now we're facing liquidation of our beef herd. Yuck.