Soon, Soon

Since it's still soaking wet outside, we haven't been able to plant the main garden.  The hoop house however, has nice dry soil and a warm environment, ripe for planting.  So we did.

Limey made the beds five feet wide despite my warnings.  It's way too wide but he said he will deal with it.  We planted various lettuces, mizuna and kale.  I picked up a couple of artichokes on a whim and stuck them at the back.  I feel like I'm really late in planting this year.  Back in Tbay I had stuff in the ground as soon as the snow was gone.  I also had permanent raised beds.  Because everything is new here we have to wait for the soil to drain before planting.  Next year when all the beds are already in place and with the hoophouse already up, we should be able to get started much earlier.

Already we have little seedlings. Once things get going, I'm hoping to set up a weekly fresh produce box for our customers. I guess it's like a CSA without the large cash payment up front and long term commitment. If you want it this week, we'll deliver it, if not, we'll talk to you again next week.

What do you have planted?

At Least Someone Likes It

It feels like it's been raining for weeks.  I'll be glad when summer is here and it's hot and sunny all the time.

The pond?  It's the sandbox (minus the sand).  While the rest of the animals hide in their houses and complain about cabin fever, the ducks are happily milling about in the rain.

Here's a closeup. 

The other day, this duck was filthy after rolling about in a pile of mud.  Now that she's had a bath she's nice and clean again.  Isn't she pretty?

Truffles; No Pigs Required

When I need something splashy for a party I make truffles.  I admit, these are not "proper" truffles but a cheater version.  They are fabulously decadent and unless you are a major chocoholic, one really is enough.

I've rolled mine in toasted coconut, cocoa powder, powdered sugar and candy sprinkles.  My favourite way to make them is dipped in candy melts.  Sea salt would be nice too.

Cheater Truffles

1 8oz package cream cheese
3 cups icing sugar
3 cups chocolate chips (I love the PC Decadent chips)
1 1/2 teaspoons of flavouring (orange, vanilla, raspberry, mint, go crazy)

Beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer.  If you leave it out for a while at room temp or nuke it for about 30 seconds in the microwave, it'll be easier to mix.  Once it's smooth start beating in the sugar.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a bowl over boiling water.  If you are using the microwave be careful not to overheat or your chocolate will go all grainy.  Mix in the chocolate and add your flavouring.

Chill your truffle mix in the fridge.  Once it's hardened a bit, pull it out and start rolling into balls.  You may have to stop and rechill as the chocolate warms up.

Once your balls are made roll them or dip them into whatever topping you want and voila, truffles!  Store them in the fridge or freezer.

With or Without the Hole

I made donuts the other day and they were amazing.  They were tastier and way less work than the eclairs (blah) I made. 

This is how I made them;

Donuts

2.5 teaspoon of yeast
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg

Warm the milk up to 110F.  Add the sugar and yeast and let proof for about 10 minutes.  Stir in a whisked egg and the melted butter.  Add the flour and stir until a dough forms.  Knead until smooth and elastic.  Cover with a clean towel and let sit in a warm place for an hour.

Roll the dough to 3/8" thick.  Cut into rounds with a cookie cutter or a glass.  Cut the holes out with a smaller round, like a spice bottle.

Heat oil up to about 380F.  Fry until golden, flipping the donuts halfway through.

Drain and blot to remove excess oil.  Dip in cinnamon sugar.

Enjoy!

Um What?

I have mushrooms growing in my pots.  Pots filled with expensive Pro Mix in an enclosed sunroom.  The soil isn't even wet (despite what Limey says). 

How?  Why?

Strike a Pose

Happy Easter

Broody finally hatched some eggs out this morning just in time for Easter.

Little red chicks!  Aren't they adorable?  We're selling these day old Rhode Island Reds if anyone wants them.

Farm Fresh Feta

We finally made feta.  I would have done it sooner but Limey has been drinking milk like crazy.  The goats can't keep up with his addiction.

It was a bit of a process, not difficult or particularly time consuming, just several steps over several days.  Here's how I did it.

First off you need 4.5 liters of milk.   Warm it up to 86F.  Stir it if you think it might burn, I didn't and it was fine.

Remove from the heat and stir in 1 tablespoon of fresh yogurt.  Cover the pot up and let it sit for an hour at room temperature.  While you are waiting dissolve 1/2 rennet tablet or 1/2 teaspoon of liquid rennet in 1/4 cup cold water.   When the hour is up, add the rennet infused water to the milk.  Stir, stir, stir.

Cover it up again and let it sit out overnight at room temperature.

After a couple of hours.

The next day, get a knife out and slice up the cheese by drawing the knife through the pot in a grid.  Clean your dirty arm off and stick your hand in the pot to mix up the curds.  You want 1/2" curds so cut up anything too big.  Let it sit for 15 minutes.

Wayyy to big.

Strain the whey out and set it aside for later.  Tie up the remaining curd in cheese cloth.

 

 

Let it drain until the whey stops dripping.  It takes a couple of hours.  When it's done, stir in 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Pack the cheese into a suitable mold lined with cheesecloth.  I just used a square plastic container.

Wrap it up, top with a weight and let it sit out overnight.

Do you think the ketchup can was overkill?

In the meantime, take 2.5 cups of whey and stir in 5 tablespoons of salt.  It is important to let this sit out at room temperature for 12-24 hours.  Room temp is the key.

The next day (man this is taking forever), cut up your cheese and add it to a 1 liter jar.  Pour in the whey.  Put on the lid and stick it in the fridge for a couple of days. If you like the taste of disappointment, taste the cheese before soaking it in the brine, you won't (or is it will?) be disappointed.

After a couple of days, taste your cheese and give yourself a big pat on the back.  Try not to eat the entire jar, it's salty.

The end.

Just a List

Seeing as grocery stores are open tomorrow, I thought I'd post a list (with applicable links) of what I'm making for Bunny Day supper just in case you need a last minute dish.

Baked Ham (home cured!)
Mashed Sweet Potato
Potato Rosemary Strudel
Creamed Spinach
Steamed Asparagus
Crescent Rolls
Chocolate Eclairs

I may also make donuts if I'm feeling especially gluttonous.  What's on your Easter menu?

It's a Start I Guess

There's not much growing around here yet.  The weather has been yucky and there isn't really much beyond grass on the property anyway.  Still I managed to get three photos of green things.

Garlic planted the right way up.

A single daffodil.

One lonely grape hyacinth.

I can't wait to get a flower garden started. I really miss my cottage garden from Thunder Bay which I'm sure has been ripped out and planted with grass by now. I'm going through flower withdrawal.

Space Art

Dd1 has finished up her kindergarten curriculum and now we've moved on to new stuff to fill up the time until fall. One of the subjects she's learning about is astronomy. I booked pretty much every astronomy book from the library, both fiction and non-fiction stuff. Our first pick up was for 20 books. We've been reading each one, searching the internet for more detailed info and waiting for a clear night to do a little stargazing.

One of the books we have is a mix of science and art. 

The left side pages are full of info on a space related subject, while the page on the right gives instructions for an art project.  On one of the pages we learned about constellations.  The corresponding activity involved paint and gold thread which I couldn't be bothered with so I substituted glitter glue and star stickers.  It turned out just as nicely and dd1 enjoyed it.

The Hunter

Orion is our favourite constellation because it contains an easy to find nebula.  The Orion Nebula or Messier 42 is located in the middle of the sword and can be seen with a decent pair of binoculars.  It's pretty much the only Messier object that I can find without a lot of searching.

If Orion is still visible by the time we get some clear skies, I'll drag the telescope out for a closer look. Until then, we'll continue with the arts and crafts.

This Little Piggy

When you clean out the baby pig pen and shampoo the pigs only to find them wallowing in muck again the next day, you know it's time to get them outside.

The house we had Checkers in was a last minute build out of pallets. Although we plugged the gaps up with hay, it wasn't going to be quite good enough for our new piglets.  Limey put some plywood up on the outside, mended the roof and added a new front that includes a door flap and a glass window.  Restocked with hay, it should be toasty warm with no drafts for the babies.

We kicked them outside and they went straight to digging things up.

It won't be long now before we can wean them off the milk and give two the boot.  I can only imagine the insane amount of food the remaining six are going to eat to get them to market weight.  Anyone want to put dibs in for their fall pork?  We still have a couple of slots available.

For those of you that have never tried heritage pork, don't do it.  If you do, you'll never be able to eat tasteless factory pork again.  Heritage pork is lipsmackintastic.

Turkey Lurkey

Limey is refurbishing the turkey house today so he kicked them out into the yard for a little adventure.

Trying to get in to the chicken paddock.

Checking out the future sandbox.

Showing off.

Doing the tango next to the swing set.

It turns out that a turkey adventure is pretty boring. They didn't even forage around for food.  Mulder and Scully just walked around looking superior with the occasional break for a quickie.

The only mildly amusing part of their visit was when Scully flew in to the chicken paddock and got chased around by the murderous Comets.  

As soon as Limey is done, they'll have their own private yard to lounge around in.  Maybe then, they'll start making us some turkey babies.

Gobble, gobble.

Final Logo

Well here it is. Thanks to everyone for the great suggestions.  It was hard to pick just one.  In the end, "Homegrown and Handmade" was the right fit.  Thanks Lilyko!

Messing With My Photos

The kids know how to operate my computer.  This can be convenient when I need to keep them distracted for awhile.  It can also be a pain in the butt when they do something weird like make my photo preview program disappear. 

One thing I find Dd1 often does is tampers with my pictures in iPhoto.  This time she did it to a photo I was going to toss and she actually improved it.

I uh, didn't clean the floor before I took this shot so there was something icky in the corner that I couldn't crop out.  Plus it was late at night and the lighting was all yellow.  My clever child solved those issues by clicking on "sepia" and "vignette".

Now why didn't I think of that?

Bumble

Limey picked up some chickens the other day including a couple of bantams.

She's super tiny, smaller then the baby Easter Eggers.

I noticed one was walking funny. After a long romp around the yard, Limey finally caught her and my suspicions were confirmed when I got a closer look at her feet.

Like my shoes?

Bumble has bumblefoot.  Whenever a chicken gets a general injury to the foot, from a cut or bruise it can then progress to bumblefoot.  The foot swells and looks lumpy and deformed.  As in Bumble's case, there can be noticeable limping.  In extreme cases, the "bumble" or scab will have to be removed to let the puss out.  For Bumble, we've made up a sugardyne solution of 1 part benodyne mixed with two parts white sugar and slopped it all over her foot.  In a couple of days we'll remove the gauze and see how it is.

Once she's feeling better we hope she'll sit on some quail eggs for us.   She can't do any worse of a job than we did!

Capturing the Heat

We bit the bullet and spent the money to build a hoop house.  It cost about $600 and I'm hoping it'll pay for itself this year.

It didn't take long to put up despite some heavy winds.

The ends and sides have since been tidied up.  Tomorrow Limey will be putting in two glass windows and a door.

The hoop house measures 12'x32'. We'll be getting some soil delivered next week and then we can get planting!

In other news, the main garden has been tilled.  Soon we'll be facing the long, hard job of hoeing up our raised, wide row style beds.  I predict that I'll be needing a masseuse in the near future. 

We're Separating

Cream from milk that is.

This is our manual cream separator.   Here's some tips on getting it to work well;

• It has to be level or it won't work.  
• Clamp it to something as it's a bit slippy.  
• Running hot water through it beforehand warms up the machine and eases the separation.
• Crank it to full speed for pouring in the milk.

Our first attempt didn't go well at all as Limey didn't follow the above recommendations.  Plus he didn't put it together correctly.  We ended with 2T of cream on the first go.  This time 3 liters were run through and we got about 3/4 of a liter of cream.

Now should I have a go at making butter?

A Hidden Stash

One of our Muscovy ducks, Kayley, has been taking morning visits into the bush.  I suspect that she is laying her eggs there and hopefully she'll be hatching out some new ducklings soon. 

Limey had a little look to see if he could find them.  If she's laying, she's hid them well because his search turned up nothing.  That's okay because one of our new ducks has started to lay in her house. 

The great thing about Muscoveys is that they are pretty self-sufficient.   They forage well for themselves and they are quite capable of hatching out eggs and rearing the young.  In the warm months, we make sure they have clean water and leave them to it.  In the winter we give them feed and let them sleep in the barn. 

They are quiet, great slug catchers and produce a dark, non-greasy meat.  I real enjoy raising them and can't wait to have a bunch of ducklings waddling around the farm.

I have a question for those of you that raise waterfowl.  Can I run my ducks in the same area as the Buff American geese I'm buying?  Will they get along?  Will they interbreed?

A Little Sunshine

Although a bit windy, it's been sunny and warm today.  When the weather is nice everyone is outside playing.

Playing catch.

Chillaxin.

Hiding between rabbit hutches.

A new rabbit.  Her name is Captain Jack...

The doelings playing in their food dish.

Hanging out in the bush.

One of our Easter Egger babies.

The Australorps growing up fast.