4/30/15

Ok, my mushroom spores are due next week.

Between getting sick and goats kidding, I haven't prepared as I had hoped.

So, I am going to build two beds, 4'x6'. I am going to dump some compost (primarily straw and goat manure) in the bottom, then a layer of wood chips (if I can find hardwood chips, or straw if I can't), and then dampen everything down...

4/28/15

Banded Brownie, Peep, and Jack this evening. They didn't think too much of that...poor guys. :/

Purchased a load of top soil from the dump this evening. They take all of the plant debris and compost it. There is a little bit of trash in the dirt, about a dozen pieces of trash in a pickup bed full of dirt, so not bad really...especially for pretty good dirt, that only costs $5, or would be free if I had loaded it my self. Used that to plant the potato beds (4), and to top off two of our other garden beds.

So, need to get some more Gebhardt wood. We need to make our beds one more board width taller, and really need to make a few more beds...and need to have it all done by mid-May. whew...busy, busy.

4/27/15

Well, today was the first day that all goat kids were in the goat lot. They seemed to have handled the day fairly well... This is also the first night that they are all separated from moms.

Moved one more garden bed today.

4/25/15

Well, it started raining Friday evening and it rained most of the day.

Volunteered with the Roundup Restoration Committee this morning. The rain kept so many people home...

Ran over to Harlow to listen to another cousin, Larry Brasen, play with the Missouri Mudcats. Lots of good music and another good time!

4/24/15

Well, didn't get much work done today, headed off to Billings for the day.

Oil change and lube at the Dodge dealership.

Haircut for me.

AND

Very cool evening listening to my cousin Leonard's band, "Nothin Yet Trio" at Yellowstone Valley Brewing Co. The band includes my cousin's son, Ben, and their friend. That evening they were accompanied on the drums by the husband (Kerry) of another cousin, Laura,...and my cousin Leonard's daughter joined in on vocals.
Visited with family and enjoyed the music!

Recipe: Pasta Broccoli with Ham

Pasta Broccoli with Ham

1 pkg pasta
1 med head broccoli florets
1 cup cooked ham
8 oz mushroom slices
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp garlic
8 oz cream cheese

Boil pasta according to directions, add broccoli florets and ham during the last two minutes of cooking time.
Sautee mushrooms in 1 tbsp olive oil.
Drain. Return to stove top on low heat.
Add 2 tbsp olive oil, black pepper, garlic, mushrooms and cream cheese. Toss until cream cheese has melted.

Other suggested additives:
Olives (black or green)
Sun-dried tomatoes

4/23/15

Paneer
Recipe courtesy of: http://www.perisspiceladle.com/2013/05/24/three-interesting-twists-on-paneer-the-homemade-indian-cheese/

In the process of making a cinnamon-honey paneer. The consistency can be pretty soft to rather stiffer. I only let it drain for about 15 mins.
Forgot to get a picture, but ds and I tried it out on toast...it is pretty good! Kind of like a flavored cream cheese...wish I had some bagels made!

Goats
Dehorned Bob and Bill today. We use a hot iron to do this. I have read articles about using c-bands, and such...not sure what is best for the goat~just know that horns don't really work for us. The extension cord (which I thought might be bad, because the tank heater that was plugged into it this winter quit working) quit working...I know it was working, because I could feel and smell the heat. I tested it, and then went to get Bob. Got back with Bob, put him in the goat box, and applied the iron...nothing...well, almost nothing...not enough definitely. It was hot-barely hot enough to burn his hair, but not hot enough to do anything. Poor kid...I felt horrible. Changed cords, tried to placate Bob (in the box) while the iron was re-heating. tbh, I don't know if I got Bob's very well, but I think I got Bill's okay... we'll see... :/
This website has good photos of how to dehorn. My dh added a chin shelf to our goat box, that really helps in keeping the kid's head in the right place. http://www.weedemandreap.com/how-disbud-dehorn-baby-goat/

4/22/15

Ok, so I am going to be putting in my cheese culture order...got almost a gallon of milk this morning. That was off of 2 (of our 3) does. We are doing milk sharing, and it seems to be working well for them, and us.
Looking forward to cheese season again!

I have always ordered from New England Cheesemaking Company at: http://www.cheesemaking.com and have been happy with the quality, prices, and customer service.smile emoticon

4/21/15

Got a load of hay in today.

Put Brownie, Blackie, and Sniffy out in the sunning pen. Iris, Bob, and Bill are in the goat lot. We left Emily Elizabeth, Peep, and Jack in the barn, but left a door open for fresh air.

Remember the soil texture test that I started? Here are the results:

89% sand
.07% silt
.04% clay

So, we have sandy loam. We actually have more organic matter in our soil than we have clay or silt.

4/20/15

And...we are done kidding...

Peep (out of Emily Elizabeth)

  Jack (out of Emily Elizabeth)

4-h this evening, ds did a presentation on leatherwork and the necessity of dampening your leather before you stamp it.

Cleaned out the barn for Emily Elizabeth, so have just about finished the second compost windrow....wish things would quit going poooooooooooooooooooooo

4/19/15

Praise the Lord! Today was a wonderful day to worship at Harvest Church.

Came home and took some pictures!

Tripp holding Blackie (out of Sniffy)

 Blackie and Brownie (out of Sniffy)

4/18/15

Well...

When we put Bill and Bob out in the goat lot this morning, I noticed that Sniffy was looking around for babies...and I thought, uh oh! smile emoticon

After breakfast, laundry, and a walk, we headed down to the barnyard to work on compost windrows. I asked Tripp on our way down to the barnyard if he wanted to see the new babies, he looked at me like I was crazy, "We don't have any new babies..."

Well, we had new babies! a brand new little baby girl (Brownie) and a baby boy (Blackie). Mom and babies are all doing well. I didn't have my camera, so no pix yet..
And in other news!
After we got them settled and did some work, we took the bicycle across the road to the field and, I've gotta' tell ya', Tripp is doing awesome on his bike!!!!

Sewing...
Have modified the Irish 8-piece cap pattern, added length to the panels. Will get that stitched together tomorrow or Monday.

4/17/15

Well, we haven't been doing much small farm, homestead activities...we've been teaching our ds how to ride his bicycle! And he has been successful! YAY!

I have continued to work on hauling manure out of the horse lot.

We have lost one more chicken...so we are down to seven. I need to build a small chick nursery and get an order of chicks from Murray McMurray Hatchery. We have always purchased day old chicks from Murray McMurray Hatchery...except for last year. We purchased about 8 week old chicks from someone local. I don't know what the difference has been, but we have NEVER had these types of problems with raising chickens. So, yeah, back to https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html!

We have been infested with fruit-fly like flies...ugh. We made fruit fly traps with jars, paper cones, red wine vinegar and banana butter. Put the red wine vinegar and the banana butter in the bottom of the jar, make a paper cone-wide enough to cover the mouth of the jar, short enough to keep it up out of the red wine vinegar. Lots of success.

4/14/15

Second day with the goat kids out. They seem to be doing fine with it.

The broccoli sprouts continue to grow-reaching above the pot rims now.

Busy day doing business paperwork, and taking care of Cub Scout tasks.

Blustery cool weather, however, we haven't heard any thunder (yay-no lightening!) and no rain so far.



Yellow Squash Fritters
1 yellow squash, shredded
3-4 mushrooms, chopped
2 T olive oil
1 egg
salt
pepper
1/2 - 1 cup flour


Sautee squash and mushrooms in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Remove vegetables from frying pan. Place vegetables in mixing bowl. Add additional tablespoon of olive oil to frying pan, adjust to medium heat.

Add egg, salt, and pepper to the vegetables. Add enough flour to form fritter batter that is no longer damp, but is not dry.

Drop by mixing spoon into frying pan. Fry on each side until lightly browned.

Serving suggestions: sour cream, salsa, pico de gallo, hot sauce,

4/13/15

Unloaded the hay from the trailer today.

Moved the Bob and Bill (13 day old goat kids) out into the goat pen with their mom for the day. Checked on them mid-day and they seemed to be doing fine. Certainly enjoying the additional room for romping and frolicking! Locked them in the barn this evening so that we can continue "milk sharing". I am taking almost a quart off of the doe in the mornings. We certainly won't be making cheese anytime soon at that rate, but it is nice to have milk for the table...

Did a soil texture test today. Did this test on the soil naturally found on our property. Followed this test format:

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/mg/gardennotes/214.html

Still waiting for the last of the sediment to settle out. The results so far indicate heavy sand percentage. Will post actual results upon completion.

Did a simplistic pH test as well. Did this test on the soil in our raised garden beds (purchased top soil and home-composted materials (straw, hay leavings, and manure). Followed this test format:

http://preparednessmama.com/testing-your-soil-ph-without-a-kit/

The results were not surprising...we have alkali soil! :)

4/12/15

Well, it was dh's birthday today. He usually enjoys spice cakes, and I thought I found a good recipe with this cardamom cake...

http://www.food.com/recipe/cardamom-cake-190805

I topped it with a white frosting, which I added coffee, cinnamon, and cloves to. A sprinkling of flaked coconut on the top and drizzled with caramel! Tbh-the jury is still out. I would like to make it again and take it out of the oven may 2 mins earlier. It was a little dry...but it used European temperatures and cake pan sizes, so might have miscalculated a bit.

Also celebrated our ds's birthday-we got him a slackline, some folfing discs, and a tetherball. Our outdoor adventure areas are definitely blossoming!

Have a line on some free raspberry plants, roses, and snowberry bushes. Hopefully that will pan out. :)

Checked the seeds and we have some broccoli sprouts started!! Yay!

Our last two does look like they are about to pop...but no additional goat kids yet.

4/9/15

Milked our goat this morning! Neither the kids (Bill and Bob) nor the mom (Iris) were really upset this morning, even after being separated all night.

I only took about a quart of milk from her, and then let the kids in with her. She was NOT very interested in letting them drink...but I had saved half of her grain ration and gave it to her in the pen with the kids. Checked on everybody a few hours later and the two little guys seem to be getting something to drink from her.

DS is VERY excited to be back in the goat milk season. He loves goats milk... :)

Speaking of goats milk-I need to put together an order for cheese cultures... :) I will probably do some comparison shopping this evening and get an order figured out.

After a light breakfast, we cleaned out the sunning pen; 4 wagon loads up onto a new compost windrow. I am going to take some annual ryegrass down with us when we do chores this evening and lightly sprinkle it in the area, and let it be for 3 or 4 days and then on nice days Iris and the boys can go out and get some sun and have a bit more space.

We started some seeds indoors: 18 Cour De Boeuf cabbage; 16 Calabrese Broccoli; 16 Rutgers Tomato and 3 each of Jalapeno, Bullnose, Hugarian, Cayenne, Anaheim, and Purple Beauty. The potatoes are chitting and I will see if I can find some dirt to put them in next week. The seeds were all from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds at: http://www.rareseeds.com/

4/8/15

Continuing to work on cleaning manure out of the horse lot.

Fixed the wagon so that manure and soil won't sift through the bottom. Speaking of a wagon-I have to tell you this wagon (pic and supplier below) has a wheel barrow beat, hands down! One of the best farm/yard hand tool investments we've made.

Separated Iris from Bill and Bob this evening. Will be milking her in the morning. :)

Oh, and because we have to...taxes are done!

4/7/15

Moved one more garden bed today. Last year we overcompensated for having lived in an area that the sun beat down mercilessly... So, we are moving the 6 garden beds, and probably adding another 6 this year. Would also like to invest in frost guard or else in walls-of-water...decisions decisions!
The compost is looking really nice.
I need to buy some more wood from Gebhardts to increase the depth of the raised beds. Last year we had 8" of depth, and we are increasing it to 12" this year.
Received the order confirmation about the mushrooms! They will ship around May 4th.

4/5/15

A joyous Easter it was! What a relief that there is hope! I love our current church (Harvest Church in the Heights, Billings, MT)!!!

I finally did it! We've been talking about growing mushrooms for years. I finally ordered some mushroom spores...Wine cap mushrooms! 

Short post today-didn't do much "extras" as it was a Holy Day.

4/4/15

Yesterday was a trip to the big city of Billings...

Attended the Good Friday stations of the cross at Harvest Church...it was very good.

We have chickens, so have colored eggs! Mostly browns, peaches, and blues and greens. However, in honor of the season, we dyed Easter eggs this evening! We used: http://www.mccormick.com/Recipes/Other/Easter-Eggs, didn't have to buy a kit! yay!!!

No new goat babies! Bill and Bob have been gaining weight and getting more active.

Built a bookcase for ds's room. It is so nice to have that done! Six shelves, and there is tons of room leftover...so nice instead of piles of books! :) I thought I had enough backing for the whole bookcase...but I didn't... :( I will have to buy some more and pull it out and re-back it. Also, hoping to paint it-but it was going to sprinkle tonight, so instead of painting it and having it outside in the rain...we'll have to pull the bookcase out and paint it one of these nice days.

Also made homemade baked egg rolls. Tasted very good!

Egg Rolls
1# ground pork
2 tbsp olive oil + oil for pan
1/2 head of cabbage, shredded
1/2 c carrots, chopped
1/2 large onion, chopped
1/2 tbsp ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp everything bagel mix (garlic, onion, sesame seeds, poppy seeds)
14 egg roll wrapper
1/4 c flour
water

Brown ground pork in 2 tbsp olive oil. Add cabbage, carrots, and onion. Add ginger, garlic, black pepper, everything bagel mix.
Preheat oven to 325
Lightly oil jelly roll pan.
Mix flour with enough water to make a slightly runny paste.
Place egg roll wrapper with one point facing towards you.
Put 1/3 cup of pork mixture into egg roll wrapper.
Fold the point closest to you up over the pork mixture. Fold the left and right corners in towards the center. Lightly rub flour paste on remaining corner and along the exposed edges. Continue to roll the egg roll wrapper.
Place the egg roll, seam down, on the pan.
Lightly oil the tops of the egg rolls.
Bake for 18 minutes.

The picture isn't the greatest...learning the whole food photography thing! :)

4/2/15

Picked up hay today.
Bill and Bob are doing really well. I think Bob is going to end up with a little bit of brindle to him, but either way they are both really cute.
No new goat kids today!
When we pulled in the drive after dropping off the hay trailer, we saw turkeys!!!

Downside to turkeys in the yard? Had to wash the dog...he rolled in...well, yeah... :(
As we were filling the water trough by the hydrant, I saw deer tracks as well...

4/1/15

New baby goats! Two bucklings born today. Bill is doing really well. Bob is feeling better now that he has some of his mama's colostrum in his tummy. 

Mom Is Iris, a purebred Nubian. 66% chance dad is purebred Nubian...or else he is mostly Nubian with a splash of Toggenburg.

So, finished cleaning out the barn!!! Laid fresh straw in the goat shed as well.

Off to get hay tomorrow.