Sourdough Sadness

 This morning I went to feed my sourdough starter and was so sad when I saw a large pink blob sitting in the middle of it. My dear friend had somehow gotten contaminated. It was with a heavy heart I dumped her in the trash can. You may wonder, why so sad? She is a workhorse in my kitchen producing everything from crackers to bread to pop tarts! But not to worry I always keep an extra one (or two) in the fridge. Ever heard the saying two is one and one is none? It's so true! I pulled baby starter out got her fed and we are back in business. She is happily bubbling away on the counter once again.

Today was the first canning project from the gardens. 

I canned 7 quarts of green beans and added them to the pantry shelves. The squash and cucumbers are slowly coming in along with a handful of peppers. It's a strange garden year. we are actually still harvesting broccoli and that should have been long done. That's ok, we will enjoy and be thankful! Life is good on the homestead.

Cabbage Harvest

 Today Sis and I harvested the cabbage crop. We have been enjoying some here and there but it is all ready and we were afraid with the heat this coming week we would loose a lot of it. 43 heads later....

We had a combination of Early Jersey Wakefield and Napa cabbage all bagged up and stuffed into every available fridge on the homestead! We will enjoy as much as we can fresh and figure out ways to preserve the rest. I have a pickled slaw recipe that keeps for quite a while in the fridge. I plan to try my hand at Kimchi and of course we will make some sauerkraut. 

My experiment for today was dehydrating some Napa cabbage since I don't think it will keep as long. It is supposed to do very well when added to soups and every in a stir fry. 

I chopped 3 heads and loaded my dehydrator. 

After drying I had 3 quarts. I am going to try some in the next few days to see if we like it. 

I have to say it looks really pretty! If we like it, I will do a few more heads to use over the course of the summer and late winter since we usually have a pretty good Fall crop.

Always trying and learning something new.. on the homestead!

Another Mega Mushroom Haul

 Yesterday evening Sis called from the grocery store and had found a bunch more mushrooms marked way down. I told her to grab me 6 more pounds. I had planned to help plant potatoes today but hubby got that chore and I canned mushrooms. 

I got 9 half pints and 3 pints. 

While canning I made one last batch of scape/basil compound butter. I'm sorry to see them end! At least we have a few pounds in the freezer until next year. I mixed up a loaf of bread and joined hubby in the garden. There were a few potatoes left so we planted a couple of short rows in the smaller gardens. More green beans were picked and we worked on the never ending weed invasion. Then it was time to do afternoon chores.

Another productive day ... on the homestead!

Planting Late Potatoes

 I found some seed potatoes on sale and since we had some room in the garden we decided to give a late crop a chance. We have never planted this late but if they make we should have potatoes for the year plus some for our own seed potatoes next year.

Hubby and I got them cut up this evening, another 40 pounds will go in tomorrow.

I have picked a good amount of green beans this week. Everyone on the farm has enjoyed a fresh pot. 

We will be canning next week for sure.

The soap got sliced earlier this week and is curing out nicely. It will be ready for labels and headed off to the baby shower here soon.

Busy times on the homestead!

Welcome New Baby!

 Out doing morning chores and I spied this little munchkin! I left them alone for the time being and finished my morning rounds while in my head rearranging today's to-do list. Cleaning the milking area just got moved to the top of it. I needed to do a few things inside before I wanted to tackle that.

I unmolded the soap I poured yesterday to let dry for a day before slicing. I pulled out all of my milking equipment and got it all washed up and ready to go. The wheelbarrow I needed to clean out the stanchion area still had plants in it, so I finally got them in pots. 

Then I got to shoveling! A short while later it was all cleaned out  and full of fresh shavings. 

 While cleaning Violet brought the baby up to see what I was doing. It's a boy! He is so cute. I LOVE baby cows. We will start our milking routine in a day or so all the while I'll keep a close eye on her to make sure she's doing well 

Enough loving on new baby, afternoon chores called. I finished with the other animals, got some weeding and watering done before time to get some supper on the table. 

Happiness is a new baby cow.. on the homestead!

 This morning I got up to check the farm Facebook page, drink my coffee and do morning chores before starting the day. Welp, my Facebook has been hacked. To be quite honest it wouldn't really matter other than I am in several groups on messenger and that is the only way they communicate. I messed with trying to recover it for a while but I seriously do not have the time for such nonsense. Wouldn't the world be a better place if all these people would put their time into doing something constructive instead of destroying things. Very frustrating and of course there is not a human to be found to help with this mess. I gave up.

Then I went on to do what was on my list. Make soap! My daughter-in-law's sister is expecting and wanted soap for her shower favors, plus we have been out for a while and we hate store bought soap. I was on a roll and had planned to pour 32 pounds since it is a messy process but of course I would run short on olive oil. Sigh, only got 16 pounds poured. That will be about 52 bars.

 

I finished up the afternoon weeding in the garden and medicinal herb beds. They have started filling in and look lovely. 

The best part of my day was picking the first handful of green beans! They are on the menu for tomorrow night. Probably steamed with that compound butter I made. Yum!

The Weekend

 Sometimes homesteading is like quicksand, you never know when things will shift. This weekend was one of those times. This past week we lost mama guinea and all her babies and yesterday another male to coyotes. The male was taken in broad daylight. Our weekend plan was to clean out the barn and start refencing the small lamb field. Well that didn't happen. Instead we had to reinforce the whole back pasture line. Apparently with all the heavy spring rains an area that we thought was secure was not and had washed out. Hubby hauled in rip rap and we got that placed. We also ran a second fence on top of the existing fence for added security. That took all day yesterday and half of today. Still a lot to do but it's secure for now until we get some more supplies to totally redo some of it. 

My sweet Violet is really close to calving, so we had to move her back to our front pasture that has the milking area and stanchion. 

That required us to hook up the trailer load her up and bring her here from the back field. She is so close! 

I finally have gotten my goat milking routine figured out. I decided to dry one of the girls up and milk the easiest one. It is going to work out well since she is giving almost 1/2 gallon a day. That will be plenty to freeze for soap and cheese making. Especially when Violet calves and we are getting gallons of milk from her.

It was a busy weekend but on a bright fun note we got to enjoy a birthday celebration with my mom who turned 81! 

Adding To The Pantry

 While picking up a few things at the grocery store today I ran across a super sale on mushrooms. Pound packages were 2.00 off making them a little over a dollar. I grabbed 12 pounds 6 for me, 6 for sis. I also got a couple of 1/2 pound packs of cremini to go on the menu sometime in the next few days. I am down to 2 jars of home canned mushrooms so this was a great find!

A few hours later I added 12 more jars to the pantry! While processing the mushrooms I loaded up my dehydrator with some shredded zucchini that was starting to look a little rough. I also put a couple of trays of the last of the garlic scapes in there.

Once done, I powdered the scapes and put the zucchini in a jar. I'll use the scapes for seasoning and I may powder the squash. I've read that it can be substituted for a portion of flour in some recipes. That may fun to try. 

A good day of preserving here on the homestead!

Doing Herbal Things Today

I got a plantain salve started today from the leaves I harvested and dried a few weeks ago.  My dining room table is getting full of  foraged and grown herbs. I have some jars on order so hopefully I can get our little apothecary organized.

For the salve I put a heaping 1/2 cup chopped plantain and 1 small comfrey leaf in a jelly jar. I topped it of with olive oil and placed in my crockpot on the keep warm mode. I left it there for most of the day. This evening I took it out gave it a good shake. I will leave it for a few more days or until I get to it! Without the heat it would have taken the oil a lot longer to steep.

After morning chores, I grabbed my basket and foraged elder flowers. 

We have two quite large trees here close to the chicken pen. One I planted, one I did not (thank you birds!)  It was a nice little harvest. I'll pick a few more in a day or two. I got the stems trimmed and they are now drying in my pantry for use in teas.

I finished up the day planting some more flowers Sis had started in the greenhouse. We are trying to get it cleared out before this next heat wave hits. 

I hope your day was well. Blessings from the homestead.

 Up early to watch my two favorite munchkins. My granddaughters, age 2 and 4. They are the light of my life and I am so grateful they live right next door. I refereed 2 stroller arguments, colored pictures, played with bubble blowers and learned that Blank, the oldest's blanket was not feeling well. When I asked why I was told she had opened the car door and had fallen out and a car ran over her. I said I do imagine she's not feeling well! I think she was better by the time I left. :-)

Back on the homestead I finished up morning chores that had not gotten done before I left. I fixed Hubby some lunch and made a dish for my parents. I went to visit them opting to take the Gator and before I got there the Heavens opened up. That was my first shower of the day. We had a nice visit and when the rain let up I headed down the hill to Sis's house. We harvested 2 kinds of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce.

Next on my list was to do some weeding since we had gotten all that rain over the weekend. (2 1/2 inches!) Strawberries were the first thing I wanted to get done. About 10 minutes in, the Heavens once again opened up. The dogs and I ran to the tractor shed but not before I was soaked. Shower #2. After it quit I went back to the garden and did manage to finish the row of strawberries. 

On to afternoon chores. I had let the sheep out while I worked in the garden and could keep a close eye on them. I was trying to get everyone back where they belonged - no one was cooperating and it started to rain again. Once again I got soaked. Shower #3 made me grumpy. I don't think the sheep helped my mood much either. Finally afternoon chores finished up, I headed to the house to get a dry shirt and wash lettuce for our supper tonight. Grilled chicken salads are on the menu tonight. Hope your day was dryer than mine! 
 

Preserving Kale

 

Today I preserved all the kale I harvested Saturday. After washing really well, I stemmed and tore into bite size pieces. I keep two gallon bags for fresh eating over the next week or so. I flash froze a large pan by layering the kale on wax paper and popping in the freezer for a few hours. That was another gallon.

I put the rest in the dehydrator and let it run for a few hours until nice and crispy. 

Nine trays yielded 8 cups dry. I put that in the blender and made kale powder. I use this to pack in some extra nutrients in soups, stews, meatloaf, ect.

The sun finally appeared late this afternoon and I let the lambs out in the pasture to enjoy some forage and frolic time. That did not last long. Sis called and said a coyote was in her pasture circling her chicken coop. They headed out with the shotgun but he took off and was headed this way. I hurried to the barn and locked the babies back up. I took our livestock guardian dog out for a fence patrol in that pasture. It is not the one she usually stays in. She was on high alert running and sniffing. The wildlife has become quite the problem over the last couple of years. It tends to cause a lot of sleepless nights especially in the Spring and early Summer months. That's just life on the homestead!

I hope everyone had a blessed Memorial Day and I thank those that gave all.

Rain, Thank Goodnes

 A good soaking rain moved in overnight. As of this morning we had an inch. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast this morning, something that does not happen often. Hubby worked in his shop on a hay wagon and I piddled in the kitchen most of the early part of the day. I made his favorite whole wheat chocolate chip cookies, baked buns for this evening's cookout and of course the daily crackers. 

It poured all day. We got soaked many times but are not complaining. The gardens are enjoying this good long drink of water.

It was still pouring this evening so we opted for a jar of home canned chicken pot pie over biscuits. Burgers tomorrow!

Ready For Rain

Hubby was out in the gardens way before I was. He is not a coffee drinker and tends to move a little quicker in the mornings than I do! He was doing tractor work while I cooked breakfast. After breakfast we got busy. He had gotten the row ready for the sweet potatoes so we popped them in the ground. We have an old hand held tobacco planter we use. It's the coolest tool ever and makes quick work of planting the slips. We planted 117. He cultivated the corn and beans with the old Farmall tractor. I planted some sunflowers. The big garden is looking pretty good considering we've had no rain.

On to the small garden! He cultivated between the rows I weeded what I could being that it is so dry. We managed to unearth a few more onions! I still have a small section of those along with a few strawberries to get tidied up. The early green beans are blooming in this garden. We were finishing up around noon when it did indeed start to rain. 

While he was putting equipment away I headed to the house to fix some lunch. I was greeted by mama guinea and her brood of babies. She has been setting on her eggs in one of my clumps of daylilies. They moved way too fast to count! Daddy guinea was helping out best he could. :-)

Next on the list was to get the tunnels cleaned up and harvest what is left. I want them ready to go when Fall planting time rolls around. I harvested the last of the kale, a few tiny carrots, beets and a few small squash. I moved the avocado tree outside. I still have a large pot of celery that is not quite ready to harvest to put somewhere outside. I took one load to the compost pile before I got distracted by some beautiful petunias that needed to be planted! I am quite sure there is not a weeding fairy and it will still be there when I get back to it!

A damp drizzly day on the homestead. Heavier rains are supposed to move in overnight and tomorrow is going to be a wash out. Not a bad thing I need to do something with all that kale!

 It's supposed to rain for the next 3 days and we were getting low on feed so I decided to go ahead and stock up. It takes about and hour and fifteen minutes round trip so I try and make it last at least 2 weeks. When I got back Hubby met me at the barn to help unload. Where's the cow feed? he asked. Um, didn't realize we needed cow feed. Only 1 bag left. Sigh. Thankfully that feed comes from a different feed store and it's only 45 minutes round trip! I grabbed a bite of lunch and hopped back in the truck. 

Feed store duties done, I headed to the garden to tie up tomatoes. I planted a few more flowers before time for afternoon chores.

Thankfully no new surprises at the barn. Everyone is doing well and lambs are growing like weeds. Tomorrow we plan to jump on the gardens and get them both in shape before it rains. We are supposed to have until noon. We shall see!

Sad Morning, Moving On

 Well, our baby lamb did not survive. I am sad but know that I did my best and that's what will bring me peace. Sometimes the momma knows there is something not right and will reject the baby. I think she knew and now I am not so put out with her. 

I had an extra cup of coffee. Sucked it up and got busy. On the list for today was to can up some broth that was left from boiling a chicken. It was not much but waste not, want not and every little bit counts. I have an electric Carey canner and it is perfect for small batch canning.

Next I sliced the compound butter and put on a pan to freeze. After it was hard, I dropped it in bags and popped it in the freezer for use throughout the coming year. I do think I need one more batch! We enjoyed it on a baked potato and slathered on crusty bread, oh my gosh... deliciousness! One family member has been frying her eggs in it. Next on my list to try! 

Thursday is house cleaning day. Checked that off the list. 

I got a call saying our sweet potato slips had arrived. I hurried off to get them. We are supposed to get some much needed rain this weekend so the next couple of days we hope to get them in and catch up some garden chores. 

Lastly we got the tomatoes staked and the row tilled for the sweet potatoes. We use cattle panels and T-posts. They are all set and tomorrow I will tie them up. 

Just another day... on the homestead.