Life Cycles & Learning

The cycle of life continues, and so does the learning. The first baby goats of 2016 arrived right on time, 3:30 am, January 5th. It was a little chilly that night, and interrupted our sleep, but they arrived healthy and strong, well cared for by their mother, our ‘old lady’ goat, One Stripe.

One Stripe

One Stripe is seven years old this year. She arrived here in January, 2009, at the age of five months, with our first herd of goats at this homestead. Our first baby goats arrived in March, 2010. Since that time we have birthed, sold and butchered quite a number of goats. No two years are quite the same, they each bring their own learning experiences, some successes and some failures.

Copper with 2015 babies

In the past we followed the standard practice of selling our does as they got older. One Stripe has been the exception to that practice, and now we are rethinking the practice entirely. Keeping an older, highly productive doe has taught us that there is something to be said for proven performance compared to new, unknown performance. We now also have one of One Stripe’s daughters, Copper, that is a three year old, and expecting her third set of kids in a few days. She is also a proven performer and will be with us for the foreseeable future.

 

We had the barn built when we moved here. It has been a slow process of getting everything set up in a functional arrangement. We’ve had the birthing and weaning pens set up since we stated having babies, but just this year we now have electricity, lights instead of lanterns, and soon will have pressurized rural water and a rain catchment system, instead of running 400′ of hose from the house or using the hand pump on the well.

Many things on a homestead take long term planning, not to mention money. But even more than that, it takes knowledge, experience and time. Just this year, due to a very, very wet year, which still hasn’t let up, i.e. the recent 12″ rainfall we received, we have had a number of animal health issues we had never encountered before. The goats had a serious issue with barberpole worms and lice, so we learned about copper boluses and using diatomaceous earth. The young chickens have come down with coccidiosis, and aren’t growing well. We usually don’t have chicks growing out for meat this time of year, but we wanted more jars on the shelf, so we thought we’d try it.

Over the past seven years we’ve learned a lot about giving shots, banning young bucks and burning horns. There have been times we waited a little long too burn horns and ended up with scurs. We used to vaccinate all of our goats, but now only newcomers to the farm get vaccinated. We’ve learned about abscesses, and how to deal with them. At first they were pretty scary and worrisome, but since they haven’t proven to be contagious in nature, we just let them run their course until they break open on their own, just like this.

We have had a number of bucks over the years, some good, some too spotted, too hairy, too cantankerous, or too small. We find that if we keep or sale animals based on the attributes we desire, we are much happier with our animals. Since we tend to keep a young doe or two each year, our buck is the animal that turns over. If we had a group of does we planned on keeping for a number of years, we could also keep the buck. It is a common practice to breed father to daughter with goats, it’s called line breeding. Some people don’t mind it, while others wouldn’t hear of it. It’s a personal preference and decision.

There are many goals on a homestead that take long term planning. Some plans you can develop for a couple of days down the road. Some plans take weeks, months, years or decades to develop. It takes the same amount of time to develop competence, experience and knowledge. There are some things you just can’t wait for. Start now. After four years, I have finally figured out how to make a good wheel of cheddar cheese. Most things take time, effort, experience, failure and determination. Take gardening, for instance. I have read many blogs and comments recently indicating that folks are increasing the size of their gardens, most substantially, including us. This comes after a number of years of experience, with it’s trials, experiments, successes and failures. But like the challenges we have had with our animals this year, even the dog had an unusual infestation of worms, most gardeners will tell you that no two years are the same.

The time is fast approaching when failure may be devastating, and our opportunities may be greatly diminished. It is a time to learn as intensely and thoroughly as possible. For the cycle of life to continue to sustain us, whether with animals or plants, we must be able to use the knowledge and experience we have gained to our distinct advantage. I remember stories I’ve seen of crop failures and starvation, and can only pray those times will not come to pass again, but I fear they will, and all too soon. Be ready.

Until next time – Fern

The Fine Art of Making Cottage Cheese

I started writing this post in June of 2013 and have yet to make a good, tasty batch of cottage cheese. Here is what I wrote back then.

“I have yet to be successful making cottage cheese. It is either more like ultra thick yogurt, tiny little curd crumbs or rubbery. Sound appetizing? Not, really. But…..I still want to be able to make it, so succeed or fail, I am going to try again and let you see how it goes. Who knows, maybe there is someone out there reading that knows how to do this and can help me out. That would be a real blessing.

This recipe calls for one gallon of whole milk, buttermilk and rennet. It is really a pretty simple process.” 

I still have yet to make a good cottage cheese. I didn’t even try for a year or so, since it never turned out edible. Well, last week I decided it was time to try again. I used the same book, same recipe and got the same results…..again. The curd was too done, rubbery and squeaked in my teeth. There was no flavor to speak of and the consistency was yucky.

After that attempt I got out my other cheese making books and compared the recipes. The main difference was not letting the curd sit at 110* for 30 minutes after it was heated up. I hoped that eliminating that 30 minute time frame would allow the curds to stay in a softer state, similar to store bought cottage cheese. It’s hard to describe, but if you picture the consistency of store bought cottage cheese curds, they are soft, pliable and kind of juicy inside. I know, poor description, but I can’t think of a better way to compare theirs and mine. 

I made another batch of cottage cheese today. It’s better, but still rather rubbery, lacking the soft, pliable texture I am looking for. Here is what I did.

1 gallon of skimmed goat milk heated to 86*
Add 1/2 cup cultured buttermilk
Add 1/4 cup water to which 1/4 tsp. of rennet was added
Stir for 30 seconds
Let sit and ripen for 1 hour at 86*
Cut the curd into 1/2″ cubes
Slowly heat curd to 110*

Okay. This is where the cheese books differed. Two of them indicated that the next step is too drain the curd instead of letting it sit and ‘cook’ at 110*, so that’s what I did today.
 

When I poured the curd and whey into a cheese cloth lined colander, the consistency of the curd was very nice and reminded me somewhat of store bought cottage cheese. I was happy. But as soon as I poured it into the colander to drain, it’s like the curds released all of their interior moisture, matted up and became chewy and squeaky again. Rats!

The next step is supposed to be to let the whey drain, then dip the cheese cloth with the curds into cold water to cool them, and let them drain again. Which I did, but the curds had already changed. It’s this change or step that I am trying to figure out. How do I prevent the curds from releasing their moisture/liquid/whey? Cool them quicker? I’m not sure. I’ll have to experiment some more.

The good news is that it tastes better this time. I crumbled up the curd, since it was trying to mat together. It’s just the nature of the curd to want to mat together. I added 1/2 tsp. of salt and about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of cream I had skimmed from the milk before I started.

Frank and I did a taste test before I put it into the fridge to chill. We’ll see how it tastes later on, then again tomorrow. My first attempt the other day ended up as pig food, so it wasn’t a complete loss. This one may end up the same way. I may even share some with the chickens, too.

If you have any recommendations, I sure would like to hear them. I know there are other ways to make cottage cheese, like leaving it out on the cabinet for a few days and letting it curdle. I’m not brave enough to try that one yet. I guess I still want to have a little more control over the process. Not that I don’t have sauerkraut and kefir sitting out on the cabinet all the time, it’s just different than two or three day old curdled milk.

I’ll keep you updated on my cottage cheese making progress, and hopefully it won’t be two years before I try again. I’d like to be able to master this technique. It’s kind of like learning to make bread. Frank and I have eaten a bunch of heavy, heavy flat whole wheat bread. We call it brick bread. Almost edible, but not very good. That was part of my learning to make a consistently, good loaf of bread. Then I started making sourdough bread. Yes, we have had a few rather heavy batches, and one that was too sour to eat. Now is the time to master making good, edible cottage cheese, so please help me out if you can.

Until next time – Fern

A Very Simple Lotion, Failures & Success

A day or so after we made our simple lip balm, I tried my hand at making a simple lotion. I got the recipe from Leigh over at 5 Acres & A Dream. It’s in her latest ebooklet, How To Make An Herbal Salve, which is part of The Little Series of Homestead How-Tos, she’s been writing. I wanted something very simple, with few ingredients, that I could make from things I normally keep on hand. Leigh’s recipe fit the bill.

Trying to make a simple lotion is a continuation of our attempt to minimize the chemicals we ingest or absorb into our bodies. And, once again, I was amazed just how easy it is to make this lotion, even though it failed the second time I made it. But that’s getting ahead of myself. I forgot to take any pictures while I made the first batch.

The recipe calls for one cup of herbal tea. I had recently read that lemon balm and peppermint are good for your skin, and I happened to have a few leaves here and there growing out in the herb bed, so I picked them to use in my tea. I brought the water to boiling, turned off the fire, added the herbs and let them steep for about five minutes.

Next, I took 3/4 cup of oil, I used olive oil, and melted 2 tbsp. of beeswax in it. After the tea was ready, I blended it into the oil, until it was well blended. Leigh uses a blender. I used a slotted spoon. I wasn’t sure how long to stir it, and I knew I wouldn’t get the same consistency as a blender, but I thought it worked out well.

Frank and I were pleased with the results. This lotion is definitely oilier than any over the counter lotion we have used. But, if you give it a few minutes it will soak in and works very well.

 
So, the other day I thought I would make another batch since we have already used up more than half of the first batch. I picked more lemon balm and peppermint, even though there wasn’t much left out there. 

 

Made my tea, melted the beeswax and got ready to mix it together. 

This time I used the KitchenAid with the whip attachment to ‘blend’ the tea into the oil. After I thought it was well blended, it started to solidify on the sides of the bowl, I poured it into my half pint jars. 

 

Very quickly it started to separate. Tea on the bottom, olive oil and beeswax on the top. I scooped it out and remelted everything, stirred it with my slotted spoon, and poured it back into the jars. It separated again. I looked at the recipe over and over and tried to figure out what I had done differently to no avail. So, on the counter, taking up space, my failed lotion sat for almost a week. The other day Frank asked me if it had anywhere else it could be. But I told him for now, it was just sitting there until I could figure out what to do differently with it.

 Well, this morning it was time. I didn’t have the time to go out searching for more lemon balm and peppermint, so I used some store bought chamomile and made up a cup of tea.

I scooped off the olive oil and beeswax from the failed batch, remelted it again, and poured out the old tea. This time I didn’t bother with the Kitchen Aid. I figured if it didn’t work, I would dump it all out and try again another time.

After I poured the tea into the oils, I stirred and stirred with my slotted spoon. The mixture looked exactly like the failed batch and I didn’t think it would work. I have been researching a lot about making soap lately, reading and watching YouTubes. I have learned what getting your soap to trace means. It’s when you have stirred it long enough for it to become a thick, pudding consistency that will hold it’s shape when you run a spoon across the top. What does this have to do with making lotion? Well, as I stood there stirring and stirring, I wondered if I cooled the lotion down enough for the oils to start solidifying, would they begin to blend with the tea the way they were supposed to? So I put the pan into a sink of cold water to cool it down as I stirred and stirred. My arm was getting tired.

It worked. As the oils began to solidify, the tea started to blend into the mixture. I tried stirring with my left hand, but kept splashing droplets here and there on the counter. So, I stirred and stirred until it was time to stop.

There are still tiny, little pockets that look like moisture, but this time, the lotion actually looks rather creamy, like you would expect from a commercial lotion. I really couldn’t care less if it looked like a commercial lotion, but since that is what I have used all my life, it is what I have come to expect a lotion to look like. The consistency of the first batch is more like a salve than a lotion, but this batch is creamier, even though the ingredients are the same. Interesting.

There are many things that I have long dreamed and thought of doing. Making lotion wasn’t one of them. But, you know what? I think it is so neat, and fun, and healthier, and just really cool. I made a very simple lotion from ingredients I keep on hand, thanks to all the folks out there that share what they know and do, so I can do it too. What a great life!

Until next time – Fern

Our Winter Squash Failures

Two years ago I planted a number of winter squashes in May. They struggled through the hot part of the summer, but produced very well, eventually. That summer we tried a number of different varieties to see how we liked them. These included Buttercup, Cushaw, Hubbard and Acorn. The Hubbard didn’t produce well, but tasted okay. The Acorn didn’t produce well either. We had previously grown Butternut and Spaghetti squash. The Butternut was okay, but we didn’t really care for the Spaghetti squash.

Immature Buttercup, September 2013

The Buttercup was prolific, and although rather ugly and warty, tasted great. The flavor is very similar to sweet potatoes. We peeled off the worst of the warts, cut them in half, removed the seeds and placed them face down in a shallow baking dish with a small amount of water, covered with foil and baked. They were so good, we didn’t even add butter. Another plus for the Buttercup, is that they are great keepers.
 

Immature Cushaw, September 2013

The Cushaw squash produced very well, also. The flavor wasn’t as sweet, but they were huge. We were surprised. The volume of edible squash is very large. This squash freezes well either in chunks or boiled and mashed into a puree type consistency. One of  our goals is to can some of this squash, but we haven’t achieved that goal yet.

Both the Buttercup and the Cushaw make great squash pie which we enjoy every winter.

The last two years I have planted our winter squash in late July or early August. I figured it was still hot enough for squash to grow, but closer to fall, which is when I thought a winter squash should be grown, like pumpkins. It hasn’t worked out well at all. Both last year and this year the plants have suffered from powdery mildew, had the flowers affected somewhat by potato beetles, still had to contend with some squash bugs and just overall haven’t thrived. This year we will be lucky to get 3 decent Cushaws. We only planted one variety this year because we wanted to save the seeds. It was difficult not to plant the Buttercup because we really like them, too.

The last Cushaw on the vine for this year. We hope it gets bigger.

Next year I will plant the winter squashes when I plant the yellow squash. In May. There may be locations where the winter squashes do better later in the season, but it just doesn’t seem to be the case here. We really were hopeful about this crop. Our goal was to be able to store at least 20 large Cushaw. They are very nutritious and so are the seeds, which is an added bonus. Squash seeds also make good animal feed for chickens and goats.
 

Our Cushaw harvest. All 2 of them.

We are glad we have had time to learn the most effective growing patterns for the vegetables we like. The knowledge that some crops grow and produce better than others in our location is valuable information. There are always things that come up that compete with the time and effort needed to grow and preserve food. This year has definitely been one of the less productive years for us. But, in the midst of the gardening and preserving disruptions, we have still learned a lot of very valuable lessons. For that, we are thankful.

Until next time – Fern
 

I’m Going To ???

Hi Everybody, Frank here.

There are many articles out there that talk about what people are going to do when the collapse comes. Most of them are going to raise a garden, many are going to have livestock, many are going to forage for food, and some of them are going to take food from others. These articles all have the same general theme, what they are going to do. Unless you read very closely, some of these articles make it hard to tell that the wishful folks have not started these endeavors yet. Yes, I know, everybody dreams. Some people plan quite extensively before they make their move. Dreaming and planning are good things to do, but there comes a time when you have to put your boots on the ground. Literally.

Well, let’s talk about what it means to do some of those items up above, like gardening, livestock, foraging and taking from others. Let me deal

with taking from others first. If you plan on surviving in a rural setting by taking from others, and this is your plan, then you might want to consider that most rural folks are armed and know how to use their weaponry. It’s not uncommon to scare off a dog with a shotgun, send a mangy dog to dog heaven, and you get the drift here. Most rural folks use guns like any other tool. So, if you’re planning on taking from others in rural areas, this may be your biggest failure of all times. I know of little old ladies that are very comfortable with a 410 shotgun. We all know talk is cheap, but this type idea, taking from others, will promptly get you killed, even by a granny with a 410.

Okay, let’s go on to gardening, for those who plan to garden when things fall apart. I dearly hope you have a years supply of food stored up, and you have an existing garden place to go to. The reason being, if you’re going to take a lawn somewhere and just start planting seeds, you’re going to get awfully hungry by the time that seed produces fruit, if it does. Things to consider before planting. First, you have to be able to get to your soil. You need to be able to break the soil some how or another. Do you have a

source of water? If you’re going to use manure, then you have to have a source for the manure. Now you need to mix it in and let is sit for, hmm, a month maybe. During that month you can continue to weed it, water it, if you have water that is, and just overall tend to your soil. If I remember correctly, this is what you’re going to eat and feed your family. So, that piece of soil I’m talking about is probably going to be around 100′ by 100′. Better get started early if you’re going to do this with a shovel and a hoe. Say you like corn? Now you’ve got that 100′ by 100′ turned over and all conditioned, and the big day comes when you put that corn seed in the ground. What are you going to do for the next 90 days? Yep, this will give you time to weed everyday, because, remember this is what you are going to survive off of for the rest of your life.

Okay, while you are waiting for 90 days to get your first bite of corn, you can get a batch of day old chickens. That’s right, I forgot, there’s been a collapse of society. The guy you brought with you to help you survive decided one night he would expedite the matter and go steal granny’s

chickens, but he never came home did he? So, by some miracle, you get a batch of day old chickens and it’s in the heat of the summer, so the little guys might live, and you brought 90 days of chicken feed with you, because you’re not going to be able to grow it until your corn is ready to harvest. Remember, you’re waiting on your corn to get ready, some how or another you got some baby chickens, you’ve got less help now because your buddy never came back, and in about 12 to 14 weeks, you can butcher friers. What are you going to do with them? Well, if you butcher them at 12 weeks, you can have fried chicken and corn on the cob. Okee-dokee? You’re not getting any eggs yet because your birds aren’t 6 months old. You didn’t by mistake butcher your hens, did you?

Oh well, you’re going to eat red meat. Where are you going to get it? When you moved here, you were lucky enough to find a local farmer to sell you some baby goats. They’re probably about 8 weeks old. You want milk and meat, right? Right. Those 8 week old

baby goats you bought, you can butcher the males when they are about 6 months old. Now, aren’t you glad you brought that years supply of food with you? You’ve already waited 90 days to get your first ear of corn, 12 weeks to get your first bite of fried chicken, 6 months to butcher your first goat, you do know how to butcher a goat, don’t you? But you haven’t had that drink of fresh milk yet, because it’s going to be 6 more months before you do, right around one year from the start. You do know how to get milk out of that thing, don’t you?

Okay, now it’s been one year. You’ve got corn, eggs, chicken and goat meat, and milk. Congratulations on the milk. I’m really surprised you lived this long. Too bad your buddy didn’t. That was halted when he was stealing granny’s chickens. Lost some weight, haven’t you?

Okay, let’s talk about foraging. You know those books you brought with you about things to forage? What to eat, what not to eat. Those pretty glossy pictures, they just don’t look the same as they do when you are down on the river bank. That thing that you picked up that you’re considering eating, it looks just like that other plant there that

will make you deathly ill. Do you take your chances? Well, maybe we’ll forage a little deeper. What’s that pain in my ankle? Is that snake edible? Am I going to die from that thing that just bit me? Still got that book you were carrying with all those pretty pictures in it? Okay, so foraging didn’t work out too well.

Maybe you’ll just hunt your food. Did you know that wildlife, let me take the white tailed deer to be specific, during the early

1930’s, the Great Depression, there were no white tailed deer left in the state of Arkansas? But, you’re right, you watched all of those survival videos. If you think you’re going to live off of wildlife, sorry buddy, it ain’t gonna happen. Even if you do know how to butcher the animal. I hear opossum is tasty, never have eaten it myself. But, I have long past relatives that did eat opossum, racoon, skunk, snake, crow, deer, squirrel, ducks and they knew which were wild onions and which were not.

Back to that years supply of food you brought with you. Let’s say it’s a year later, your years supply of food is gone and you weren’t quite able to restock it. Things are looking a little gloomy, aren’t they?

We all hear stories about people that are going to do something. Everybody looks good at the beginning of the race, but there are few that finish the race. This thing coming our way is no joke. If we are not prepared, and we have not practiced, and if we don’t have our head screwed on right, then we’re probably not going to make it. You can practice in your apartment. You can buy a case of carrots or peaches

and start learning how to can. You can find chicken on sale and practice your canning skills. You can practice foraging while the times are still good. You can put together a ‘get out of Dodge bag’. Doing this will give your mind a lot of good work. Even those of us that do it everyday need more practice, because right now we are all living with the abundance that God has given us in this country. Everyday it gets closer. Nobody knows the exact day, but there are things you can do. 

By the way, our national population has almost tripled since the times of the Great Depression. A significant number of the population at that time were rural, and many did not have

electricity. When this thing does come, we as a population are going to be much worse off than the folks during the early 1930’s. Thank you for letting me play with your head, about gardening, livestock, foraging, gardening again and taking someone else’s stuff. Take advantage of the opportunities provided us while the stores are still full, travel is still free and the internet still works. There are many, many people that believe someday, in the not too distant future, the stores will be closed, travel will be highly restricted and the internet will be gone. Give thought to it.

We’ll talk more later. Frank

Learning From Life’s Successes and Failures

We have had several folks thank us for sharing our experiences here. Sharing what we have learned with others was part of our motivation for beginning this blog. Learning is what life is all about. Whether it be in a school setting, a garden setting, under the hood of a vehicle or at the side of a grandparent as they reminisce about how they did things many years ago. I can’t picture a day of life going by that I am not reading about something or doing something that I can learn from, whether I am successful or not.

Beautiful zinnias and marigolds intermingled with grass and weeds

Many people do not get to see the slices of society that walk through school house doors every weekday morning during the school year. Frank and I had an administrator many years ago that made a statement that has stuck with us – “Society walks through the door every morning.” It truly does. Not all of society values the lessons learned from successes and failure.

Cheddar cheese with holes. It didn’t work out.

I am a special education teacher. Most of my career has been spent with students from kindergarten through fifth grade. One of the most important things I try to instill in my students is how wonderful and special they are – even if they never learn to read, spell or do math. You see, who they are is what is truly important. They have to learn to deal with failures each and every day throughout their entire career at school. How many of you would want to go into a situation each and every day and fail over and over and over, year after year after year. Would you do it? Would you quit trying? Some do.

‘The Grape Fiasco’. That was definitely a learning experience.

So, back to learning from successes and failures. That is life. Life is a series of learning opportunities. Some of them exciting and wonderfully rewarding. Some of them just don’t quite pan out. And some are just dismal failures and quite disappointing. Can you learn from them all? Absolutely! They just don’t all carry the same amount of ‘neato mosquito!’ power. 

The herb bed flooded in the spring and it felt like all that work was wasted, but it wasn’t.

The motto in my classroom this year is “Knowledge is our power!” Let’s take that a step further, out of the classroom, and into our lives. What we know, what we are learning everyday increases our ability to be self-sufficient, confident and gives our lives more meaning and depth. There is a reason I continually encourage you to learn something new that will benefit your family, friends and neighbors. The power gained from learning can never be taken from you. If there comes a time when all else is gone, you have what you know and can do within you – always. 

Sometimes a beautiful head of broccoli is so full of worms it is better to feed it to the chickens.

Cherish the ability you have to learn. Not all learning comes easily to many of us. We all have areas where we excel and areas in which we struggle. Some, like the students I teach, struggle more than others. I am blessed every day to be in their presence. My students’ successes and failures teach me something new everyday. So when I come home tired from another day’s work and still have my work at home to do, there are times I would like to just sit. But I love the work I do at home and the resiliency and strength it gives me.

Sometimes the road to success is not apparent, even when it is right in front of us.

Remember, knowledge is our power and we can increase that power each and every day, whether we succeed or fail. We still learn.

Until next time – Fern