Thanks to one of the bloggers I follow I got the interesting pleasure of reading an article from the Oregonian, it describes a radical homemaker . Now I don't really see what's so radical about it, it's history brought back. Someone once pointed that out to me when I explained how I lived and my "business" of selling garden shares and farm goodies, "it's not a new idea or concept it's just outdated" outdated like bell bottom pants and spandex for daily wear. But it's an outdated that has made it's come back in my house. Farming for a living. Not just a single crop or animal but the whole shebang. That's what I'm working towards. The whole shebang (wrapped up in 2.18 acres).
Thinking of shebangs, Icy (the dairy doe that just gave me 3 kids) kept me milking this morning till my alarm went off telling me it was time to get the kids up and the baby goats fed. 30 minutes milking and she'd given me over half a gallon of colostrum. During the last 15 minutes of milking I was telling Icy (yes I talk to my goats) that I should have brought down a deck of cards or a board game to help pass the time. Boy it sure gets boring when all you have to do for 30+ minutes is talk to a goat. I need a big screen down there so I can watch the morning news while I'm milking. Hey people knit while watching TV, I should be able to milk and watch at the same time. I think I'll take the radio down with me, at least that way I can milk to the beat of whatever song is playing.
Having four baby goats in the laundry room has made for some interesting. Today I opened up the dryer to put clothes in and Buttercup (my now two week old kid from Georgia [the first dairy doe]), jumped in. I had to laugh but she dragged hay in with her which meant I had to wipe it clean. Some of the things that never even cross your mind until you see it, goat in the dryer is one of those things. I had to go buy a bottle of soda today to make another bottle for the goats. I have a total of three soda bottles in my house now. But buying a bottle of soda was cheaper than buying a bottle for goats. Sad huh?
Did I mention I got an incubator in the mail Monday? I did. It's cool! Michelle and I put 3 eggs in it. The only eggs we could find that hadn't already been put in the fridge. I marked them just in case we add more and I have a running calender so I won't forget when to stop turning them. I figure we can practice hatching eggs so when the geese and turkeys get older we can keep a couple and won't have the added expense of buying more next year. Geese and turkeys are not cheap. I got heritage turkeys, though I just ordered the surplus so I won't know which kind I'm getting until they get here. The geese are African Geese. They look like they'd make a good Christmas dinner. They won't be in the mail till May 12th.
Oh yea. Yogurt. Did I tell you I made some awesome yogurt? I did. It's the most popular thing in my fridge. And it's been the most popular thing on our menu (well up till I made buttermilk pancakes with REAL buttermilk [YUM!]) so I'm making more. I know this is probably something I shouldn't admit to but I'm using the egg incubator to incubate my yogurt. The eggs are way over on one side and the yogurt is way over on the other side (in five pint jars). No cross contamination just lots of incubating. I'll figure something else out I'm sure but for now the egg incubator is about the most reliable thing I have and no guessing what the temperature is.
Well I better get dinner on the stove. I'm not going to be able to stop Icy mid squirt tonight so I have to give myself plenty of time to get her empty. Tonight will tell me what time I have to start going down to the barn in the mornings. I think my mornings are about to get even earlier. I've been practicing taking a nap with the 2yr old so it'll come in handy. Wish me luck!
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