My husband has spent the last few months working his head off. He redesigned the garden, redesigned the irrigation system, and has now nearly finished redesigning the chicken coop.
He has been so busy.
I've been playing the part of the support team as I cared for our kids, kept the house, and grew our garden in the greenhouse from seed.
We have both been caring for the lawn as mowing season starts. We got it down to an hour and a half the other day!
We have been very busy.
But we are starting to see the benefits already.
We have been eating lettuce for a few months now. The green onions as well. The peas have grown and I saw a few flowering this morning. The garden is planted with the exception of watermelon and canteloupe which are just waiting for a cool evening to transplant.
I have even snuck a few strawberries that were red before the kids saw them.
So I guess you could say that yes, this is a busy time of year. But this is also when it starts to really pay off.
I'm really excited for my Canterbury bells! You have to know a few things to understand my excitement. Canterbury bells are bienniels. This means that they don't bloom the first year. you have to wait for the second year for blooms. So last year I planted the seeds and then watered them forever and then transplanted them into my pea bed once the peas were done for the season. And then I cared for them and then left them alone all winter, just hoping things would go well and they would come alive again in the spring. And they did! They even looked alive in the winter. They just turned a little purplish which was sort of pretty.
About 6 weeks ago I planted them in a permanent spot in my front yard.
AND I saw a bloom just starting to open today! This after teasing me for over a week with all sorts of buds. It seemed like everyday there were more and more buds. But no blossoms! But soon!!!!! It will be all worth it!
I started more seeds this spring and the plants look good. They are currently living in a spare garden bed for now and will hopefully bloom for me again next year. And I found a new variety of Canterbury bells for next year. Its a cup and saucer mix. Should be beautiful!
We transferred the chickens to their new coop last night. It was disturbing that after I put the first few in they flew at the wire walls trying to get out. I've never quite had that reaction before when moving chickens. But after about 6 were in there it stopped and they eventually quieted down and now seem to be enjoying the space and dust baths in all of that new soil that we had to use to raise the ground and discourage flooding when we irrigate.
We will be working on a new 55 gallon water and a new feeder in the next few days. this means that we won't have to water and feed every day. We will only have to collect eggs. So that will be one more chore streamlined.
I just wish I could streamline my laundry! Speaking of....
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
Making Yogurt
With Spokane Family Farms milk!
What you need:
1 gallon of milk (I recommend Spokane family farms!)
1 - 6 oz container of plain yogurt with live active cultures (I like Zoi greek yogurt)
whisk (small enough to fit into your container of yogurt, but big enough to whisk a gallon of milk)
ladle (like for punch or soup)
funnel (like you use when you can and are putting liquid into a canning jar)
Canning jars (enough to fit 1 gallon of milk = 16 cups) and a few extra in case one breaks.
lids for the canning jars (don't have to be new, you don't need them to seal. I like to use old lids)
rings for those lids
large pan that will hold a gallon of milk easily
medium size pan to boil and sanitize tools
hand towel
cooler that can easily fit your filled canning jars
Thermometer
First you shake the jug really well. This milk is non-homogenized. What that means is that it is in the same form that it came out of the cow in. Fat and all. This farm uses a cow that produces a milk that has a milkfat of about 3.5%.
OK, so back to the milk. After shaking really well I put it in a pitcher and let it sit for a few hours if I'm in a hurry or overnight if I'm not. This allows the cream to rise to the top.
I skim the cream off the top and put it into a separate container and put it back into the fridge for another fun project for another day when I've got a little more cream (cultured butter and buttermilk!)
(If you use regular store milk, skip the above steps :) )
Get out a clean pan that can easily hold 1 gallon of milk. Add the rest of the milk (without the cream) to this pan.
Bring it to 180 degrees (did I mention you need a thermometer? Cause you do)
While the milk is coming to 180 degrees you need to do a couple other things.
Turn on your oven to 350 degrees. Get out a cookie sheet and put your clean canning jars on it. Your canning jars need to bake for 20 minutes at this temp. This will sanitize them.
Start a pan of boiling water. This is to sanitize your tools. You will need to add your whisk, funnel, ladle, and lids (not rings)
Boil your tools for at least 5 minutes, maybe more. This will sanitize them.
Why is it so important to sanitize? Because you are going to inoculate your milk with live active cultures. Do you want to chance introducing other strains of wild cultures from other parts of your kitchen? Also, I always use my homemade yogurt as a starter for my next batch of yogurt. Its cheaper and works just as well. So I try to keep everything extra clean to ensure my family is safe.
Anyway its time to check your yogurt. Is it at 180 degrees yet? Just a side note. I have let it get over 180 degrees a couple of times now. It doesn't affect the yogurt. Its just unnecessary. And it lessens your yogurt product through evaporation.
Also, why 180 degrees? 2 reasons.
1. this sanitizes the milk
2. this change the milk protein in a way that helps it become yogurt.
Once your yogurt is up to temp, put the pan in a sink of cool water. I usually fill it up to about the same level of the milk. Make sure not to get anything into your pan of milk!
You need to cool your milk to 110 degrees before you can add your yogurt cultures. To hot and you can kill your cultures and you would have to do this all over again!
Once the jars are done in the oven you will want to get them out asap. They need to start cooling, and this takes a while. Don't try dipping them in cool water to cool them. I tried this one day and it sort of worked. Another time I tried it and the jars were to hot and I broke several jars this way. Don't do it if you value your jars.
Now would it be a big deal if you got called away or busy and the milk went way below 110? Maybe. I've had this happen and just popped it back onto the stove and got it back to 110.
OK, so the jars are cool, the milk is at 110 degrees, and your tools have boiled for at least 5 minutes right?
Now you need to get out your yogurt cultures and your whisk and your ladle.
Use your ladle to scoop some milt into your yogurt. Use your whisk to loosen up and liquify the yogurt. This makes it easier, trust me. No lumps to chase down in a large gallon of milk. Ask me how I know.
Add the yogurt to the milk and whisk well. About 30 seconds.
Now ladle the inoculated milk into your clean jars using your funnel.
Once you are done, put the lids and rings on the jars as tight as you are able.
Get your cooler and make sure your bottles all fit.
Add water to the cooler. You want the milk to stay around 110 degrees, so try and get that temp of water into the cooler. I usually fill the cooler to the neck of the bottle. That way I don't chance water leaking into the bottles.
Keep the bottles in the cooler for 4-8 hours. When the yogurt is thick (I usually tilt it to see if its one large blob or still liquid) it is done and can be put into the refrigerator.
The longer you let it sit in the cooler (even after its thick) the tangier it is. So its no big deal if you forget about it, or if you want to go to bed and take it out in the morning.
And now you are done!
How do you enjoy this delicious treat? Just add fruit and granola and you are in heaven. My husband likes fresh fruit cut up and pumpkin flax seed granola from Costco. I like the same granola but with dried cherries and blueberries on it (Who had time to chop fruit?). My kids like it when I add a little cherry flavoring and some sugar. They also like almond flavoring.
If my instructions are to wordy, there are many other how to's online. But the basic steps are get your milk up to 180, cool it to 110, whisk in your yogurt with cultures, and keep at a temp of 110 for 4-8 hours.
What you need:
1 gallon of milk (I recommend Spokane family farms!)
1 - 6 oz container of plain yogurt with live active cultures (I like Zoi greek yogurt)
whisk (small enough to fit into your container of yogurt, but big enough to whisk a gallon of milk)
ladle (like for punch or soup)
funnel (like you use when you can and are putting liquid into a canning jar)
Canning jars (enough to fit 1 gallon of milk = 16 cups) and a few extra in case one breaks.
lids for the canning jars (don't have to be new, you don't need them to seal. I like to use old lids)
rings for those lids
large pan that will hold a gallon of milk easily
medium size pan to boil and sanitize tools
hand towel
cooler that can easily fit your filled canning jars
Thermometer
First you shake the jug really well. This milk is non-homogenized. What that means is that it is in the same form that it came out of the cow in. Fat and all. This farm uses a cow that produces a milk that has a milkfat of about 3.5%.
OK, so back to the milk. After shaking really well I put it in a pitcher and let it sit for a few hours if I'm in a hurry or overnight if I'm not. This allows the cream to rise to the top.
I skim the cream off the top and put it into a separate container and put it back into the fridge for another fun project for another day when I've got a little more cream (cultured butter and buttermilk!)
(If you use regular store milk, skip the above steps :) )
Get out a clean pan that can easily hold 1 gallon of milk. Add the rest of the milk (without the cream) to this pan.
Bring it to 180 degrees (did I mention you need a thermometer? Cause you do)
While the milk is coming to 180 degrees you need to do a couple other things.
Turn on your oven to 350 degrees. Get out a cookie sheet and put your clean canning jars on it. Your canning jars need to bake for 20 minutes at this temp. This will sanitize them.
Start a pan of boiling water. This is to sanitize your tools. You will need to add your whisk, funnel, ladle, and lids (not rings)
Boil your tools for at least 5 minutes, maybe more. This will sanitize them.
Why is it so important to sanitize? Because you are going to inoculate your milk with live active cultures. Do you want to chance introducing other strains of wild cultures from other parts of your kitchen? Also, I always use my homemade yogurt as a starter for my next batch of yogurt. Its cheaper and works just as well. So I try to keep everything extra clean to ensure my family is safe.
Anyway its time to check your yogurt. Is it at 180 degrees yet? Just a side note. I have let it get over 180 degrees a couple of times now. It doesn't affect the yogurt. Its just unnecessary. And it lessens your yogurt product through evaporation.
Also, why 180 degrees? 2 reasons.
1. this sanitizes the milk
2. this change the milk protein in a way that helps it become yogurt.
Once your yogurt is up to temp, put the pan in a sink of cool water. I usually fill it up to about the same level of the milk. Make sure not to get anything into your pan of milk!
You need to cool your milk to 110 degrees before you can add your yogurt cultures. To hot and you can kill your cultures and you would have to do this all over again!
Once the jars are done in the oven you will want to get them out asap. They need to start cooling, and this takes a while. Don't try dipping them in cool water to cool them. I tried this one day and it sort of worked. Another time I tried it and the jars were to hot and I broke several jars this way. Don't do it if you value your jars.
Now would it be a big deal if you got called away or busy and the milk went way below 110? Maybe. I've had this happen and just popped it back onto the stove and got it back to 110.
OK, so the jars are cool, the milk is at 110 degrees, and your tools have boiled for at least 5 minutes right?
Now you need to get out your yogurt cultures and your whisk and your ladle.
Use your ladle to scoop some milt into your yogurt. Use your whisk to loosen up and liquify the yogurt. This makes it easier, trust me. No lumps to chase down in a large gallon of milk. Ask me how I know.
Add the yogurt to the milk and whisk well. About 30 seconds.
Now ladle the inoculated milk into your clean jars using your funnel.
Once you are done, put the lids and rings on the jars as tight as you are able.
Get your cooler and make sure your bottles all fit.
Add water to the cooler. You want the milk to stay around 110 degrees, so try and get that temp of water into the cooler. I usually fill the cooler to the neck of the bottle. That way I don't chance water leaking into the bottles.
Keep the bottles in the cooler for 4-8 hours. When the yogurt is thick (I usually tilt it to see if its one large blob or still liquid) it is done and can be put into the refrigerator.
The longer you let it sit in the cooler (even after its thick) the tangier it is. So its no big deal if you forget about it, or if you want to go to bed and take it out in the morning.
And now you are done!
How do you enjoy this delicious treat? Just add fruit and granola and you are in heaven. My husband likes fresh fruit cut up and pumpkin flax seed granola from Costco. I like the same granola but with dried cherries and blueberries on it (Who had time to chop fruit?). My kids like it when I add a little cherry flavoring and some sugar. They also like almond flavoring.
If my instructions are to wordy, there are many other how to's online. But the basic steps are get your milk up to 180, cool it to 110, whisk in your yogurt with cultures, and keep at a temp of 110 for 4-8 hours.
Friday, May 16, 2014
So lazy!
We have now finished our garden redesign and are currently experiencing some growing pains as we learn how to most efficiently use our new gated pipe system and how to adequately water the irrigated part of our garden.
We ended up buying a 2nd cow. We found it on Craigslist and it was a couple of towns over, about a 30 min drive. He is pretty darn ugly, but has a good body shape. The guy who delivered him said he sure was pretty at the same time I said Wow that cow is ugly. But then I followed up with a quip about how ugly was a good thing if you were going to eat him. He established dominance over the other cow with a few head butts and now all is quite calm in our pasture. No 10 minute Moooooings. Those weren't bad, the neighbors dogs yapping is worse. But it was noticable.
The chickens are getting bigger and are developing combs and wattles. Their new coop is about halfway done. Lots of work being done on it! We were going to build new, but after talking about it decided that the old coop just needed a remodel. Much cheaper and just as good.
We planted our garden last night. Everything looks good today. I'm currently trying to get rid of the 50-60 extra plants we have now. I'm disgusted by all the eager takers who then can't seem to simply show up. I think I'm going to change my offer to first come first serve and even post them on Craigslist.
I still have a bunch of flowers I need to find homes for. Not sure how I'm going to do that... I'm not sure where to plant that many Larkspur flowers. But I guess I will find a place! So pretty!!
We ended up buying a 2nd cow. We found it on Craigslist and it was a couple of towns over, about a 30 min drive. He is pretty darn ugly, but has a good body shape. The guy who delivered him said he sure was pretty at the same time I said Wow that cow is ugly. But then I followed up with a quip about how ugly was a good thing if you were going to eat him. He established dominance over the other cow with a few head butts and now all is quite calm in our pasture. No 10 minute Moooooings. Those weren't bad, the neighbors dogs yapping is worse. But it was noticable.
The chickens are getting bigger and are developing combs and wattles. Their new coop is about halfway done. Lots of work being done on it! We were going to build new, but after talking about it decided that the old coop just needed a remodel. Much cheaper and just as good.
We planted our garden last night. Everything looks good today. I'm currently trying to get rid of the 50-60 extra plants we have now. I'm disgusted by all the eager takers who then can't seem to simply show up. I think I'm going to change my offer to first come first serve and even post them on Craigslist.
I still have a bunch of flowers I need to find homes for. Not sure how I'm going to do that... I'm not sure where to plant that many Larkspur flowers. But I guess I will find a place! So pretty!!
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
New Cow!
And its the ugliest thing you ever did see. But after a brief head butting session has settled right in to our pasture. The other cow has stopped mooing and balance is restored.
We found him on Craigslist and after a trip to choose him where we got to choose him from a large herd, he was delivered last night.
Irrigation started on Saturday and it has been a bit of a pain to work with the gates on the gated pipe. But we will get it down. the garden didn't like it very much and now we need to do some repairs since the water was rough on our ditches. I'm not used to the amount of pressure in gated pipe versus regular head gates. We'll figure it all out I'm sure.
My husband is working on our new chicken coop. After some discussion we decided that we could use a chicken coop we already had which still had a sturdy frame. A few modifications and it should work. It started life as one of those honeybee shelters that you see in farmers fields. The frame was solid still, the floor was rotted out from chicken poop and the walls are really weathered. The roof is solid. So we will most likely replace the walls, the floor will drop to the ground and have a sand/dirt floor and hubby is going to pop out some nesting boxes out the back. So, a big change, but much cheaper than building from scratch. We will also demolish another old coop we have and keep a smaller coop that is getting worn, but is still a good place for young chicks when they are ready to come outside.
Did I mention the strawberry plants? I had someone call me on Saturday who wanted to buy 500. I said sure thing. He asked about bartering and we discovered he had firewood and we needed firewood. We thought 1 cord wood to 600 plants. When he got here yesterday morning he said he realized he didn't have a full cord (don't know if he didn't have room or didn't have the wood) so he also brought cash. We settled on 50 plants for $80 worth of wood and $70 cash. So a great trade! And even better when we were sorting out the plants and I realized I only had 500. So I would have been short!
I think the strawberry farm people may have gypped me. I planted about 500 plants, Dad got 200, I sold about 140 or so. This guy took 500, I count a shortage of 200+ I will be leaving a negative review.
We found him on Craigslist and after a trip to choose him where we got to choose him from a large herd, he was delivered last night.
Irrigation started on Saturday and it has been a bit of a pain to work with the gates on the gated pipe. But we will get it down. the garden didn't like it very much and now we need to do some repairs since the water was rough on our ditches. I'm not used to the amount of pressure in gated pipe versus regular head gates. We'll figure it all out I'm sure.
My husband is working on our new chicken coop. After some discussion we decided that we could use a chicken coop we already had which still had a sturdy frame. A few modifications and it should work. It started life as one of those honeybee shelters that you see in farmers fields. The frame was solid still, the floor was rotted out from chicken poop and the walls are really weathered. The roof is solid. So we will most likely replace the walls, the floor will drop to the ground and have a sand/dirt floor and hubby is going to pop out some nesting boxes out the back. So, a big change, but much cheaper than building from scratch. We will also demolish another old coop we have and keep a smaller coop that is getting worn, but is still a good place for young chicks when they are ready to come outside.
Did I mention the strawberry plants? I had someone call me on Saturday who wanted to buy 500. I said sure thing. He asked about bartering and we discovered he had firewood and we needed firewood. We thought 1 cord wood to 600 plants. When he got here yesterday morning he said he realized he didn't have a full cord (don't know if he didn't have room or didn't have the wood) so he also brought cash. We settled on 50 plants for $80 worth of wood and $70 cash. So a great trade! And even better when we were sorting out the plants and I realized I only had 500. So I would have been short!
I think the strawberry farm people may have gypped me. I planted about 500 plants, Dad got 200, I sold about 140 or so. This guy took 500, I count a shortage of 200+ I will be leaving a negative review.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Cows named Bubba and Stinky
So Stinky is lonely. He hangs out with the chickens but is desperate for a cow friend. So desperate that he will moo over and over for 10 minutes at a time. I think he is trying to get some of the other cows in our area to moo back. I don't think he can see them because they are so far away, but he can occasionally hear them.
We've been keeping him in a smaller pasture behind our house so we can keep a closer eye on him. He is doing ok, other than pooping a lot around the chicken coop. That is fun when it comes time to feed and water the chickens.
We are looking for a cow friend for him. My husband is a little wary of losing another cow since they are such an expensive investment that can just die one day from whatever. But this time around we are committed. We are trying to find another cow, but they are rather expensive right now. And scarce. My husband has a guy on Craigslist he is talking to and the neighbor gave us a name of another guy we might call. But he is a guy who finds the cows and hels you buy them. Which sounds like more money to me. The Craigslist guy will let you choose the cow and then will deliver to you for a decent price. So I think perhaps we will go that way. We'll see. If that doesn't work, well, we may just buy a calm sheep or find someone who wants to rent the pasture for a small animal.
The plants in the greenhouse are growing like crazy. I can't believe how large the zucchini plants are and the tomatoes are getting big! but not as big as the tomato plants I saw at Costco yesterday. Now those! are HUGE. Full size if you ask me.
The corn and potatoes will be planted today and we will also get to water the pasture for the first time today. I'm excited about the first use of the gated pipe.
I'll be transplanting strawberries today also. They are looking great and are even starting to blossom!
The grape plants have both woken up after a week or so in the greenhouse. they are budding and looks like we will have leaves within the week!
My Canterbury bells are getting taller which makes me happy since they are supposed to get around 2 feet tall. Right now they are 8 inches.
My painted daisy that I have planted around our tree in our front yard is about to bloom. The buds are there and swelling. In the next 2 weeks we should be enjoying the beautiful dark and light pink blossoms. I'm excited for that. And for next year when (hopefully) it will be happening around all the trees in our yard!
I weeded all the tree rings this past week even while the neighbors yappy chihuahuas were barking and growling 5 feet away through a fence. After about 10 minutes the neighbors finally called them off. That was nice.
The boys love to dig in the dirt of the garden. My husband isn't to pleased with the mess in his neatly hoed rows, but just wait until we irrigate. He'll see its not a big deal.
We are trying a new product this year called Azamite. It means A to Z minerals. Its mined out of Utah and has raving reviews on Amazon. We'll see how it does this year. It seems great, but hard to gauge when you are using it on everything. I've put it on just one of Mom and Dad's strawberry beds to see if we can really see a difference.
Lots of stuff going on right now!
We've been keeping him in a smaller pasture behind our house so we can keep a closer eye on him. He is doing ok, other than pooping a lot around the chicken coop. That is fun when it comes time to feed and water the chickens.
We are looking for a cow friend for him. My husband is a little wary of losing another cow since they are such an expensive investment that can just die one day from whatever. But this time around we are committed. We are trying to find another cow, but they are rather expensive right now. And scarce. My husband has a guy on Craigslist he is talking to and the neighbor gave us a name of another guy we might call. But he is a guy who finds the cows and hels you buy them. Which sounds like more money to me. The Craigslist guy will let you choose the cow and then will deliver to you for a decent price. So I think perhaps we will go that way. We'll see. If that doesn't work, well, we may just buy a calm sheep or find someone who wants to rent the pasture for a small animal.
The plants in the greenhouse are growing like crazy. I can't believe how large the zucchini plants are and the tomatoes are getting big! but not as big as the tomato plants I saw at Costco yesterday. Now those! are HUGE. Full size if you ask me.
The corn and potatoes will be planted today and we will also get to water the pasture for the first time today. I'm excited about the first use of the gated pipe.
I'll be transplanting strawberries today also. They are looking great and are even starting to blossom!
The grape plants have both woken up after a week or so in the greenhouse. they are budding and looks like we will have leaves within the week!
My Canterbury bells are getting taller which makes me happy since they are supposed to get around 2 feet tall. Right now they are 8 inches.
My painted daisy that I have planted around our tree in our front yard is about to bloom. The buds are there and swelling. In the next 2 weeks we should be enjoying the beautiful dark and light pink blossoms. I'm excited for that. And for next year when (hopefully) it will be happening around all the trees in our yard!
I weeded all the tree rings this past week even while the neighbors yappy chihuahuas were barking and growling 5 feet away through a fence. After about 10 minutes the neighbors finally called them off. That was nice.
The boys love to dig in the dirt of the garden. My husband isn't to pleased with the mess in his neatly hoed rows, but just wait until we irrigate. He'll see its not a big deal.
We are trying a new product this year called Azamite. It means A to Z minerals. Its mined out of Utah and has raving reviews on Amazon. We'll see how it does this year. It seems great, but hard to gauge when you are using it on everything. I've put it on just one of Mom and Dad's strawberry beds to see if we can really see a difference.
Lots of stuff going on right now!
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