Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

Not like a pig for sure, lol, but actually a little more than I expected considering previously I did a pygmy. I loved, loved, loved leg of goat. It was just perfect for the crockpot and was enough for DH and I with a little leftover. The ribs were really good too. Tenderloin - rather small, but again enough for the two of us. Most of the rest I made into stew meat - no grinder. But, nothing wrong with goat stew either!

I had a doe picked out to butcher, but the more I look at her the more I suspect she may be bred. I'd have a hard time cutting one open that had kids inside...

I did a lamb once too. It was meatier for sure - even though it wasn't a big lamb.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Ooh yeah I couldn't do that either! Hmm I need to try some goat! It's very expensive here and everyone sells by the half or whole goat, so it'll likely have to wait until we have our own bucklings, next year, assuming my girls give me bucklings!

Is goat tough like venison tends to be?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Ours didn't seem to be tough, but I cooked most of it in the crock pot. I did learn not to cook the ribs completely on the grill because the first batch was tough...probably cooked 'em too fast. The next batch I started in the oven, real low and slow and then just stuck on the grill for a few mintues to give them that 'grill taste'. They were delish!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Busy day! Even when I whine about it - I love it, lol. I did the normal household stuff...ugh. Laundry, dishwasher, yuck. But, then the fun stuff. I got copper into Red, Snippet, Cameo, Sparkle, K'ili and Spooky. Cocoa spit hers out - that stinker. If she doesn't watch it she'll go on the 'for sale' list too!

I resurrected my annual summer clothesline. I know it's weird - but I LOVE to hang clothes on the line. Especially sheets - absolutely love line-dried sheets. So, I got out and strung some lines and hung clothes out today. Yay! Not to mention that it saves a bunch on the electric bill. I'm not crazy about electric dryers - but that's what I've got.

Worked on cleaning out the feed trailer and bundled up all the feed sacks. You can only make use of so many feed sacks, right? We use 'em for trash bags and stuff - but we never use 'em all. Is that a sign that I buy too much feed for the too many critters that I have?

Got the plants in the ground that I bought the other day. I got 6 jalapeno plants, 6 bell peppers, and six eggplants. Hope they survive and even thrive. And the tomato seeds I planted last weekend broke through the ground a couple days ago.

Doesn't seem like that much when I write it down - but it doesn't include moving the does to another pen, moving them back in, milking them, feeding the bottle babies several times, cooking dinner, and finally sipping on a glass of red.

Gonna chill now, check on April the Giraffe, and then probably hit the hay.

 

[sumi]

You had a much more productive day than me, that's for sure!

I'm with you on line dried clothes and sheets. Love them too and I'm so happy I can line dry things again, now we have more than about 8 hours of daylight daily and warm sunshine when we're lucky! In winter I drape things over the central heating radiators to dry them, or hang them in a room with the electric fan heater blowing on them. Warms the room up and dries things quickly. Win-win…

 

[NH Homesteader]

No comment on the too much feed, too many critters I buy my pig feed in bulk so that helps with the excessive feed bag problem!

So how much milk are you getting these days? You make cheese, right? Have you given the whey to the pigs? Mine will about take each others' heads off fighting over it. It is a favorite!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

comment on the too much feed, too many critters

Yep- and today we added two more mouths to feed - yikes! Almost didn't work out that way though.... timing is everything they say...

I checked does this morning and knew one was getting closer. Her udder had grown overnight, but wasn't THAT tight...and her ligaments were softer than last night but they were sill there... That was about 8am this morning. Went out at noon to check on her and move her into a pen. I was cleaning the pen a little and heard a godawful screaming/commotion. Five feet away from me - but around a corner - the doe had kidded and the pigs were trying to get the babies. I swear! (and I did - a lot). Thankfully, it was the two younger pigs so I was able to kick them off of the babies (no animal abuse "Kick" = push with foot) , snatch 'em up and get 'em into the pen I had been working on.

All is well, but I'm so glad I was out there cuz this doe had THE cutest baby ever. I'm really glad it wasn't pig food. Actually, she had two. Boy/girl....of course the boy is the cute one.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

So how much milk are you getting these days? You make cheese, right? Have you given the whey to the pigs?

I'm not getting a whole bunch of milk for personal use because I'm feeding most of it to the bottle babies. I have to laugh when I see posts from people who can't get their babies to take a bottle because ALL of my babies come up to see why there's free milk being handed out to a select few. They ALL want a bottle, lol.

I'm milking four or five does - depends on how much energy I have - but not milking them 'out'. I'm just sneaking a bit for the bottle babies mostly. The most I want to take out of any of the does is about a quart - so I get about a gallon or a bit more if I milk the fifth doe. I'm ready to start keeping more milk for myself - just call me selfish I guess.

I do make cheese. But I don't get fancy - I just make chevre. And, I make yogurt - yummy. A couple years ago I kept a batch of Kefir going for months - maybe a year or more - but we gradually jus stopped drinking it... I should do that again too.

Yes - I have fed whey to the pigs and they LOVE it! I'm not there yet this year. And, my neighbor that I traded milk for tamales last year is hoping for milk sooon too. Argh...! I need about a month to get some of these babies weaned/sold to be able to start doing what I want with the milk.

I did get some more stuff planted today. Some radishes, some lettuce blend, and some carrots. It's a little late for some of that, but I planted it in a semi-shaded area so we'll see. I did see that some of the green beans are coming up and the cucumbers too. Still haven't seen any zucchini or yellow squash peeking through. Oh,, speaking of squash I forgot that I also planted some winter squash types out in a pen behind the barn. Hope I don't need that pen for something else...

 

[NH Homesteader]

I haven't made yogurt yet. Do you have a machine? I was seriously craving some chevre today... Mmm...

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I don't have a machine. I have an insulated jug thingy, lol. Yogotherm, I think. It is made for yogurt, but it's not a machine. I put it in that and set it on top of my extra refrigerator OR I'll put it in individual jars and set it in a small insulated cooler with hot water in it. Either way works well. I love, love, love the yogurt!