Usually when Spork and I get up we have the house to ourselves. However this morning the Princesses graced us with their presence, although in a reduced capacity.
However with the Queen still abed, the girls weren’t long for the world.
Joel Salatin on liberty and farming
http://sustainablefoodtrust.org/articles/joel-salatin/
I don’t post many political items nor do I try to glean links to other peoples stuff just for filler on our website. However, liberty, farming, and Joel Salatin are all topics I’m interested in so I thought I’d pass along this post by Joel.
Yesterday’s haul
16 watermelons yesterday with more coming today. I LOVE watermelon. Remind me of that on the processing of about the 13th one.
This batch will be some watermelon wine, I hope. There’s no more room in the freezer and I can only feed the kids so much.
Ready for winter
Last winter I had some frozen fruit in the freezer. I wasn’t really sure what to do with it. I stumbled across fruit smoothies in my Vitamix blender as a way to use up the fruit. I mixed it with the kefir we make from our cow and tried it out. The kids were wildly enthusiastic so this year I decided to prepare for winter. I think I am done.
Home schooling
Every morning I get up, get Spork up, move the cows, move the waterer, move the mineral feeder, get the chicken feed, take the feeder from the chicken tractor, move the chicken tractor, refill the feeder, put the chicken food back in the barn, collect the eggs, and then go back home to get ready for my day. I leave my beautiful wife and wonderful kids behind where they spend a good part of the day homeschooling.
A few days ago the kids had taken a bunch of chairs and bar stools and blankets and had made a fort. It was a nice fort, quality construction. They were so excited and asked me to come inside for a tour. I looked at the cramped space and 3 foot tall ceiling and politely declined and let them show me around from outside. A few days later after my morning ritual with the farm critters, I witnessed what you see pictured on my way out of the house. School teacher SWMBO was on her belly, reading them their history lesson in their fort. Everyone was still in their PJs and the kids were having a large time. That’s the coolest day of school I’ve ever seen. Made me want to stay home and repeat 3rd grade.
Raw milk
I don’t really get into the raw milk debate. Until recently I had never had raw milk and frankly thought it was kind of odd to drink it. I certainly thought anyone picketing to get milk was part of the tinfoil hat brigade. Of course, it had never occurred to me that plain old cows milk was illegal and that people with guns would come and take it and you away. I was completely detached from the whole thing.
Then we bought a Jersey milk cow and I figured I would give it a try. Not because raw milk caused hair regrowth (which I could use) but because having lots if milk meant I could have lots of cheese and yogurt and whatnot. I have to say, I had some trepidation drinking that first milk. Would it kill me? Would I get sick? I certainly didn’t give any to the kids. How scary. I was still a product of the USDA.
After a year of drinking unadulterated milk, I can truly say that raw milk is hands down better than store bought milk. It’s been better for us and it tastes SO much better. Think tomatoes warm from the garden sun vs grocery store tomatoes. It’s that big if a difference. After real milk, store bought milk tastes like liquid chalk powder. It’s nasty.
For those on either side of the debate, I thought this was a good talk on raw milk. It’s long and far ranging but enjoyable.
Who is taller?
Kristen, one of our great friends and customers stopped by. She had her dog in the truck and Cotton took quite an interest.
Kristen is, shall we say, vertically challenged. Cotton, not so much. Darling Wifey was able to catch this moment of farm life for everyone to enjoy.
Not sure who is actually taller here.
Farming from a completely different point of view
I came across this TED talk when it was played on a podcast I listen to. I enjoyed this and thought I’d pass it along.
Last batch of canning
13 quarts of spaghetti sauce is our last hurrah of canning for the summer unless we decide to can some beans.
We may have some tomatoes that sneak in before the season ends but they will probably end up as salsa.
With the previous 20 quarts that gives us 33 quarts put away this summer. Since mom and dad are on Atkins, that’s an awful lot of sauce and should last us well into next summer.
The shirts arrive
Big news. Our first order on Ninja Cow Farm shirts have arrived. Luckily I had lots of experienced help to help me sort everything out. 🙂
