Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[sumi]

It sounds like someone's missing those bottle babies

We had a day like that here. Overcast, but warm and just lovely.

I grew taters in storage tubs last year and they did well. Had no idea what I was doing, when I was supposed to plant them, nothing. They did good though. Harvest them as soon as they are ready, or they'll rot. I lost a few in the last tub, because I left them in too long and we had a lot of rain.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Maybe a little bit...they sure were sweet!

Thanks for the tater tips, lol! I'll be sure not to leave them too long. I finished 'repairing' most of the garden area - can't do much more for it right now.

DH tried to do a little trimming and weed eater didn't cooperate - so he tried to get some done with the small push mower and mower didn't cooperate... If I didn't have fruit trees I'd bring the goats up to the yard - but NOPE - that's not happening. At least as long as no one leaves the gate open.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Took today off (might take tomorrow too) just because the weather is so awesome. We are going to stay in the low 80's and the humidity is in the low 40% range - awesome for here! Great weather to be working outside! So, what am I doing? Working inside, lol. Not for long though. I've already been out and did all the morning chores and milked. The milk is adding up fast. In the mornings I'm milking Red and Cocoa. Red is giving about 3qts per milking and Cocoa about 2. In the evenings I'm milking Snippet also and she'll give a bit over 2 quarts too. Spooky WANTS me to milk her, but she's still got a kid on her, but I will put her on the stand just to make sure she gets her ration of feed and I'll take a couple cups out of her. So, long story (not) short - I've got a LOT of milk.

Cure for that - use it! So, I've got most of this mornings milk re-directed into cheese and yogurt. Two quarts will turn into a nice batch of chevre, hopefully. The other two quarts are destined to become yogurt. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because I'm using last year's cultures. Hopefully, they're still good. If not, I'll have to order fresh culture and the pigs and dogs will be happy to get the rejects.

I'm going to get out and repair a section of fence in the buck pen so they can get back there to eat. My buck pen is actually 4 smaller pens. I can open or close gates to each section to select where they go or if I need to separate them etc. One of the sections has a really crappy bit of fence and the last time I let them in that area they went visiting the neighbors back yard - YIKES! They've got some trees they're trying to get started, so I really need to keep the guys home!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Eek! Yeah not a good time for the bucks to visit the neighbors!

Mm milk, must be nice to be milking for real again! How many does will you end up milking?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I haven't decided how many yet, lol. I'm thinking about trying to find some kind of market for it. Can't sell it for human consumption, but maybe I can sell it for soap or to folks who need it for animals. Just thinking that I don't want to waste a resource. If I totally lose my mind I could probably milk up to six. Two of the does I sold were good milkers. But, they were both personality challenged, lol. One was just really pushy, with me AND the other goats. The other one wasn't always the friendliest - even though she settled down in the last year or so. Milking made her a better doe because it forced her to be handled every day. She wasn't going to miss a meal by acting up and not wanting to be milked lol. When she figured out the routine she got a whole lot better and was really good on the stand.

I've been terrible lately about picking up eggs because I've had so many broodies that kept jumping from nest to nest that I just left all the eggs out there. Couple hens hatched some little ones and I think all the eggs in the one remaining nest are YUCK. So, I cleaned out all but that last nest and started collecting fresh eggs again - yay! So, what did we have for dinner? A crustless quiche - soooo good!

I got the buck pen repaired so they had some fresh grass today. And, I put out several new plantings of winter squash and pumpkin. Saw that some of the okra is popping through woohoo Don't want to get tooo excited about the garden, but it's hard not to.

Checked on the yogurt and it looks like it's gonna work. Goa milk yogurt is thin, but I'm ok with it. I could always drain it into more of a Greek style, but we kind of like it this way. Need to go peek at the cheese and see if it's working. Hope so - I love a good roasted garlic/rosemary chevre!

 

[sumi]

Oh lovely milk! I envy you a little bit. You should sell some, if you can. I believe people sometimes buy goat milk for soap and animals, but really… Keep us posted on your cheese and yoghurt etc. Actually if you have time, feel like it, why not make a new thread on it with pics, please?

 

[NH Homesteader]

Garlic/rosemary sounds delicious! Six isn't so bad, I thought you might say more like 10, lol! How's your husband doing with the milking lessons?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I thought you might say more like 10

ARGH - I'm not a TOTAL masochist, lol!

DH had his first lesson this morning and he did pretty well. I'll let him do it this evening and see how it goes if I'm not standing there telling him every step.

Cheese is hanging/draining and garlic is roasting - yum!

 

[baymule]

That sounds so good! I have thought about milk goats, but just can't make myself make that commitment. Plus, we haven't got all the fencing finished and need to build more infrastructure. I am looking for the day that we don't have to build anything else, but can maintain what we have!

Do you freeze the milk for when you aren't milking? And I second the milk/cheese/yogurt thread!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

OH man, the garlic/rosemary chevre is divine! It really is so very tasty. The yogurt, while thin, tastes really good - just the right amount of tang that I like in 'real' yogurt.

I will try to start a thread the next time I'm using up milk so that I can try to get pictures of each step and the finished product too. DH loves cottage cheese, so I might make that my next science experiment. At some point in the future I might make (at least a small batch) of cajeta. I know that I shouldn't because it's soooo decadent. If you've never had it - you haven't lived! It's nothing more than goat milk, sugar, a small amount of baking soda and maybe a little vanilla, simmered until it carmelizes. It's better than...well just about anything! It's good to dip fruit in, drizzled over ice cream, pound cake, stirred into coffee and pretty darn tasty right offa the spoon, lol. It's a great no refrigeration way to store milk (and sugar).

@baymule - I do freeze it and had formerly just used it for feeding babies and cooking - but before I started milking again I was desperate so I thawed some slowly in the fridge and it was as good as it was when I put it in the freezer. Also thinking about canning some even though it won't be raw if I can it - duh! I've heard it tastes like 'canned milk' but I can handle it in my coffee or to cook with.

Cowboy let all the babies outta the front pen in to the pasture and two of them decided to take a nap somewhere. Their mama is desperately running around calling for them - but they haven't responded yet. THAT is why I don't let mama's and babies roam. Those silly babies love to hide and drive their mama's crazy. Guess I better get out there...