I apologize in advance if the following format is tedious, I have to have help organizing my thoughts or the blog post would all be one long run on paragraph!
Kids:
Charlye is having a great time and settling in very well at college. In a recent phone conversation "I've got this Mom!" She is on the Ultimate Frisbee team, is a representative for her dorm, on a couple of committees and is getting the syllabus ~ scheduling ~ expectations down pat.
Josh is enjoying his senior year (though would love for the football team to win more often!). He has been voted in as a Junior Firefighter on a local VFD, he is really jazzed about that. ROTC and applying to colleges is going well, West Point is still his first choice.
I am so proud of both of them!
Garden:
We are getting a few bell peppers and herbs, and handfuls of grape tomatoes---we have high hopes now that the temperatures are dropping at night the big tomatoes may actually put on fruit!
Cow News:
A friend and I traveled to Mississippi in early September to pick up Louise, she is a dream boat cow! Sweet, beautiful and a joy to have on the farm. Party was glad to see her arrive too, it meant a pasture mate for her! Louise is due to calve Oct 24-27th. Party is expecting too-- the last AI attempt was successful and she is due to calve in May!
Lizzie has gone to a new family with a beef herd and some milking experience in their past. We thank her for all she gave for us and being such a good girl, I'm sure she will be great for them too!
Unknown cow--we have consigned to buy a bred heifer from the recent World Expo Guernsey sale, as soon as she has some testing done and shipping can be arranged she will be headed to Texas.
Piggly Wiggly:
We bought a young gilt from a friend that raises Red Wattle pigs, and within a week of being here Rudy has bred both Spotty and the new girl "Curly-Q". This means in about 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days we should have some piglets!
Poultry:
Hens and ducks are all well, we have added a few more young ducks to the flock. I actually prefer cooking with and eating the duck eggs over the chicken eggs.
Foodie Fun:
I have used the new pressure cooker a few times and really like it! I have made ghee a couple of times, though I don't think I am doing it completely right. It wants to solidify after it cools. Is this normal? Some of the instructions and information I have seen online state it should stay liquid. Otherwise I am always on the hunt for a great recipe so if you have one send it!
Have a great week!
Liz
All my ghee solidifies when room temp is cooler. In the heat of summer, it only partially solidifies.
ReplyDeleteI would love to hear lots more on your pigs and your experiences with pigs. I'd love to keep pigs, but we're going with a couple feeder pigs first to see if we're any good with pigs!
We have had 2+ feeder pigs every year for many years, it works well to raise more than one at a time (and then we have meat to share). They are fantastic omnivores who love it when I clean out the fridge or have a yucky batch of yogurt or something. This is our first foray into raising our own piglets to supply others, so far so good--they are easy keepers, and a pleasure to have.
ReplyDelete