My large freezer gave up the ghost - lots of canning and preserving ahead

Well now. Over the course of the last three years or so my family and I have been learning ways to be more self sufficient. All by books and by helpful posts on the Internet by other bloggers and farms.Thank goodness for that and for the people who share their knowledge of how to do this stuff. We have learned how to slaughter and butcher your own goat, how to butcher and prepare certain rabbit dishes. How to milk goats and care for them on youtube, how to make cheese, how to can various different goods, be it animals or plant, the list goes on.

I'm so very thankful for all of these kind folks who take the time out of their busy lifestyles to share this with the world. Especially today.

Why today over any other day? Because my large freezer gave up the ghost. The large one. The one with 2 goats, several rabbits and gallons and gallons of milk are stored. As well as other fruits and vegetable that we have put away.

I'm going to be relying heavily on several more of these websites over the coming couple of days, mostly in canning up goats milk and preserving more in cheese. I've got the cheese part down pretty well, but only the farmers style soft cheese. No hard cheese's yet. I found this wonderful blog on canning milk at home from Razor family farms. There is a very fun read down toward the bottom of the post that I found especially intriguing, from 1918. Here is this neat article.

Well, when the ship hits the sand it's always good to know what the heck to do next. I have a full couple of days ahead of me. Canning and other wise preserving through drying and smoking and other "old style" preservation methods. I'm so glad I just got this book "Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning: Traditional Techniques Using Salt, Oil, Sugar, Alcohol, Vinegar, Drying, Cold Storage, and Lactic Fermentation" by "The Gardeners and Farmers of Centre Terre Vivante" -- absolutely excellent resource.

At any rate, I'll try to take the time to document what I've done and perhaps even share how it was done if I have the time. It may take me a few days to a month but I will try to do it. It's the least I can do after relying quite heavily on other's who have taken the time to share.

10 Homemade Organic Pesticides | Natural Health & Organic Living Blog

This is pretty cool...will be using several of these, especially the one for slugs!

10 Homemade Organic Pesticides Natural Health & Organic Living Blog

Sourdough!

Sourdough - a fun new project I've been doing for about the last 5 months or so. I forgot when I started LOL. At any rate, start I did. I began one starter using regular store bought milk, unbleached flour and white sugar and another using raw goat's milk, unbleached flour and honey. I feed them both regularly. I've since moved on to all kinds of other feeds for the starter but prefer the goat's milk and honey. I always add honey, sometimes just water (spring fed water only, tis all I have and all natural to boot) and not milk. Sometimes I do add potato flakes too. I got this suggestion from a colleague of my husband's. I always use unbleached flour though, when I'm using flour as a food source.

I have to say, everything I've done has been wonderful. All results have been great, even the store bought milk and sugar. I've since just opted toward the natural because that is how I'm endeavoring to do everything now but I have to be honest and see I didn't really see or taste any real discernible difference. More piquant perhaps with the goats milk and honey, but all have been beautifully flavorful.

Since I've had this starter running now for about 1/2 a year, I'm pretty sure I have the natural yeasts that are here as well and I have to say, I don't think that the San Fransisco sourdough has anything on this area. My sourdough is excellent :-) I'm going to try and get my own yeasts for sure later this summer when the blackberries and the potato's come in (I did start the current with conventional yeast from the store) The "bloom" seen on grapes and blackberries are the yeast we want. Potato water is another way. So I will be trying those too. I can't wait! I'll try and make sure I get the posts up on that.

In the meantime, here are a few things I've been doing with the sourdough. I've done a ton of fun things, these are but a few! All with great results, very tasty!

Sourdough butterscotch cookies

Sourdough cinnamon raisin cookies

Sourdough flat bread being prepared to turn to "crackers"

Sourdough bread crackers

A happy, bubbly sourdough starter

Yes, that is 6qts of sourdough "critter"

Sourdough Bread - Artisan Style

Feds Versus Small Farmers In The Mainstream Media

More big brother crap. It's getting bad out there.

Feds Versus Small Farmers In The Mainstream Media

Health Benefits of Sourdough Bread | Kitchen Stewardship | A Baby Steps Approach to Balanced Nutrition

I've been using and baking with sourdough for about 6 months now. I love it. I haven't perfected the breadmaking from straight up sourdough yet, but I'm very close and I'm not unhappy with the results I have had. A little more tweaking here and there and I'll be feeling fully confident. I've made several loaves with just sourdough, which is time consuming. I've also made loaves with both yeast and the starter (guaranteed rise yet still enhanced health benefits of sourdough) and I have made sweet breads, cookies and cakes with my sourdough starter. All in all it's a fun process and the taste results have been excellent.

I ran into this blog explaining the health benefits while searching around for some muffin recipes. It's worth a look and understanding that perhaps you will want to start a "starter" of your own!

Cheers!

Health Benefits of Sourdough Bread Kitchen Stewardship A Baby Steps Approach to Balanced Nutrition

Know your goats before you leap!

Shane, when he was cute.

So I'm ready to pull my hair out. One of my girls flat out won't shut up. Miss Cassie pants is yammering and yelling away for seemingly no reason. Or at least I thought it was for no reason. Turns out I could not possibly be more wrong. Turns out she's an "Equatorial type" goat. Has both Boar and Nubian. Aren't I lucky?? Humph!

My buck and his supposed companion wether (hah! - he's actually a buck) figured this out before I did. Shane got frightened by my husband coming down the hill with a large cleaned rabbit cage that he set on the ground non too carefully. What did Shane do? He lept over his fence and lept right on over the girls fence too. Shane soon figured out, that "HEY!! THERE BE PRETTY LITTLE IN HEAT GIRL GOATS OVER HERE! WOO HOO!!" "The smell is positively divine and I can't stand it anymore, I gotsta, gotsta have that sweet little girl" Oh boy, are we in trouble.

We've been battling this problem now for about a week. Thinking it would blow over. Not knowing that Cassie is actually in heat. And then doing some research and finding out that woah! I have "Equatorial type" goats. This is ridiculous. I would have never known. I guess I should have known if I'd of researched a little harder, a littler further, a little DEEPER! Grrrr. Now that I'm looking, I see all the signs. She is indeed flapping around and fawning her little fanny. *sigh*

So now I have some decisions to make. I'm not so sure my neighbors will be anymore patient than they already are. We live in the country but yes, there are some houses a bit on the close by side of things. I'm sure they hate us. I know I'd be uptight if I had to hear all the silly noises coming from here. And loud. And aggressive. Did you know that buck goats ROAR? Sheesh.

Anyway, here is the research I found and I highly recommend this website. Might do you some good to read the entire website before actually making a decision if you want to buy some goats of your own. Knowledge is power and I'm sort of powerless at the moment. Dang nab it.

From one of the very best goat sites on the net: http://www.fiascofarm.com/goats/breeding.htm

When can I expect my doe to come into heat so she can be bred?

As far as breeding goes, there are two "types" of goats:

"Equatorial type" goats that come from climates that are hot all year long.
These goats will breed all year long. Examples of these breeds are most meat breeds like Boers, Spanish & Fainting, and also Pygmies and (sometimes) Nubians.

"Alpine type" goats. These are most of the Dairy breeds. These goats are seasonal breeders,like deer, and have a definite breeding season. This usually is from about Aug. to Dec/Jan.The does will come into heat about every 21 days and the bucks will stay in rut during the entire breeding season. Once the buck go out of rut, they loose most of their interest in sex until the next rut.

UPDATE:

I am purchasing a young buckling who has more "Alpine" blood lines. I hope to get this problem nipped as soon as possible. Just talked to the gal today and will have him on Monday.

Real Liberty and the Estrella Family Creamery

Watch this video. These are real people. Consider two things if you would.

1. We do not live in what we thought was the USA, we live in tyranny and under a dictatorship. Period. No matter who is in office. It just seems to grow and grow with each new administration.

2. Please, consider donating to help these people. We CANNOT just turn a blinds eye. We CANNOT just let the government keep taking away more and more and more of our liberties. It is happening to us ALL and on all levels. Stop watching the boob tube, stop racing off to work just to be stressed out (so you can be medicated by big pharma) so you can pay the bills for the things you don't need. You need real food. Not the junk in the grocery store that is dead!

WAKE UP! TIME TO WAKE UP!!

When are the feds going to just come in and take my milk away? It's for my own and my families consumption, right? Or gifts for friends and family, but what makes me think after seeing this that they won't come after me for mine? What about people who can't farm, but want to live a healthier lifestyle? They don't get to have the choice, now do they?

The implications here are huge. We have to make a stand somewhere. I've never been an activist in my life. At least not until now. I am now AWAKE!