No Buy Feb -Wrap up 2017

Posted on February 28, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

Well, as you saw on the farm wrap up for the month, its been a high cost month, trust me when I say, that unlike other years when I truly feel that we saved money, this month.. not at all.

However, I will say this.. since the last weekly round up, we have said, No Buy Feb at least 30 times.. and so that is 30 times that we didn’t buy that coffee, or get that thing or x y or z

It was the kind of month where you just wanted to have a few little things extra for comfort, and we were good about that.. extra came out of the pantry, out of the freezer and was made by scratch.

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So I did pay my ten dollars to race.. but we did pack a cooler and bring a bag of goodies with us to the event, and let me tell you, that the group of teenagers raided it very well lol

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I did spend a  bit of money printing some photo for a dear friend of mine, I do not nor will I get permission to post any of them online or on the blog.. but her much beloved mare turned 25 this past week and that is getting up there in horse years and she has had her since she was a weaned baby..  She is very much her heart horse and I wanted to give her the gift of photos with her girl.  I love my photo with my Brandy but I wanted and put it off, and put it off and so we did it to close to her day of passing..  Time will help remove that blending of memories for me..

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I didn’t want her to have that.. I wanted those memories to be clean, filled with love and laughter and that is just what we got..   I even sweet talked her into allowing me to get a only her photo shoot in..

It was unplanned but it was 40 dollars spent in a way that I know will be a good thing for many years to come!  No regrets on this one at all.. it was a make memories day for all of us and those are blessings indeed.

So my overview for No buy Feb in 2017,  strangely challenging..  it just seemed like this month was a time where everywhere I turned around there was something.. some of them were no question asked.. Call the vet etc

Others were timing like the photo shoot talked about above..

But others, they were just there and it seemed to be never ending.. and I am not sure why it seemed so in our face this year compared to others.. hubby struggled with it in regards to work, I struggled with it on and off the farm.

I am giving this year’s rating a mear 2.5 out of 5.. I don’t feel like we nailed it, but I don’t feel like we truly failed either..  it was just a slow slog.. kind of like the rest of the month, just as we seemed to have never ending storms be it snow, freezing rain, or strangely for us thunder storms with wild winds and rains..

The month felt in some ways the same way.. we got it done ..

 

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Feb Canning Update 2017

Posted on February 28, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

Well, this is a sad little post.. because I have not canned this month.. I mean.. I think I can every month, but this month.. nadda.. nothing.. I have not canned anything.. I dried a few things for the pantry, I salt cured things, and I even made salve.. but food canning..  its wash..

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So what do I write about in this post.. hmm..

My Red Pepper Pasta Sauce

  • 10 pds of red peppers
  • 3 pds of Roma tomatoes
  • 3 pds of white onions
  • 1 whole garlic or about 8 big cloves
  • 1 or 2 hot peppers, seeded out depending on the heat you like, add more or less.
  • 2 cups of white or apple vinegar
  • 3 cups of white or brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp of  canning salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Put them though the blender, and then simmer for at least 4o to 60 min till thicken to your tastes, then can, while most books say that peppers need to be pressure canned, between the vinegar, sugar, I have always water bathed canned this sauce

This sauce can be used in cabbage rolls, or as a pasta sauce as is, or if you mix it with cream or cream cheese, it is a different and delightful sauce indeed.

well, how about a couple nice proven recipes from past years for you..

Got a new history/cookbook called Acadian Plantation Country Cookbook by Anne Butler. It’s an interesting book, a couple of pages on the history of each local Plantation with photos and then three to five of their most famous known recipes..

So far I have made one, sort of.. Can I ever leave a recipe alone.. most likely not, but my version turned out amazing! so we are going with the one that was made, it was inspired by a recipe from Hilary Slaughter Grand Coteau.

  • 8 ripe pears-peeled an cut into cubes
  • 1/2 cup of frozen orange juice concentrate (I used pulp-free)
  • 3 jalapeno, sliced thin, seeds discarded
  • 1/2 cup of finely diced red onion
  • 2 cups of sugar
  • Juice of one Lime and one lemon
  • 1/2 a cup of apple Cidar vinegar
  • 1 cup of water
  • 1 tsp of powdered ginger
  • 1 tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • 1 stick of cinnamon

Cook all ingredients in a big steel pot until tender and the juice is thickened(watch this carefully once it started to boil, and stir often) Made 4 8 0z Jars, water bathed for ten min.

It was recommended to go with all kinds of meats, but I can see all kinds of ways to use this amazing spicy flavor burst!

 

Posted in Farm Tracking 2015 | Tagged | 6 Comments

Feb Garden Overview

Posted on February 27, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

Hello Folks, I am going to do my best heading into 2017 to have a big old tracking year, I need to do this and I have the book, the paperwork and the plan..  I will make it happen..

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Feb Costs

Output Costs: 0

I was a good girl.. no costs this month went out..

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I did plant out pepper seeds and Brussel Sprout seeds for early starts so that by the end of 2017, we will have a lovely harvest of these 🙂

Jan imputes: Sprouts -2 trays per day.. organic mixed sprouts each tray is slightly bigger then the tray at the store at 3.99 each.. so that’s 8 dollars per day in sprouts

Total produced : $248

Jan $ 161. 40

Feb $248

Garden Imputes to date : In the good 409.40

 

 

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Feb Farm Overview

Posted on February 27, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

Ok, I am wanting to track this down for this coming year.. we are in the heart of winter right now, cold an snow.. but I can see the sunshine that is coming! I have faith that at the end of the year that my numbers will show a positive an then some

Costs for Feb 2017
Hay-$300.00
Feed- $288
Straw- 32

Farm Outputs:

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Eggs: 10 dozen  at 5 per dozen as eating eggs- $51 dollars
Goose Egg-1 breeding-Hatching egg-5 Dollars
Sheep Milk- 1 liter -Worth 6 dollar per 4 oz feeding if bought at local stores in powdered form and made up. -32 dollars (Milking twice daily)
Manure: Finished composting down.. at least 50 dollars worth of compost produced this month.
Two lambs (current market value per lamb 150 as bottle babies, I don’t know why they are so high this year but none the less) -300

Farm loss’s in Feb
2 Duck Hens – at 25 per hen – (per their adult replacement value)
Still born lamb

Farm extra’s Costs
Building supplies -38
Farm sled- heavy duty big sled can be used winter and summer -can move up to 600 pounds -160
Vet over the counter stock up and supplies for birthing kits an so forth- 217

Farm extra’s..
hardware – 0
Ferrier -$210
Vet- $890 between cats, horse and sheep

Garden Overview Feb

Total Garden Costs -$ 0
Total Garden Return – $248.00

Total Out cost for Jan on for the farm -$2,135

Total output of the farm in returns -$706

Jan – In the hole –1,029
Feb -In the Hole –1,429

total Minus-2,458

Feb was a brutal month on costs going out.. over a thousand out between the vets and ferrier this month and while the cats where planned the rest was not..

I know that this post is coming out one day early but I will adjust if needed but as I am home on the farm and have no shopping plans..

Goals- No selling of anything off the farm is planned, the saving costs are what we would have to pay if we bought in the local free market to replace what the farm produces that improves our lives.

Its a tracking year..

and also I have had and seen a number of comments many times of folks saying, my 5 acres and under homestead needs to pay for itself.. well, I like to think mine does, I like to think that a well-run homestead can do just that! So lets see if I am right or not?

Posted in Farm Tracking 2015 | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Freezing Sheep Colostrum

Posted on February 26, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

Below is a really great post on Freezing Colostrum but first a update.. I missed the post yesterday, what a day.. I was up before the sun, showered and ready to head off the farm for Eco-farm day about an hour away.

Very excited about it, lots of good talked and seminars that I was wanting to attend and even better a dear girlfriend was going to be there so a nice planned visit at lunch.. but the sheep had other idea’s, Hubby came in and said, hon. you need to check this ewe..

he was right, she needed some supportive care and I assumed that she would also be birthing pretty quickly, yes on the support, no to the quickly, and a second female yearling girl started as well

We are still waiting on the bigger female with twins and the yearling had a single stillborn lamb, so we have cleaned her up, started her milking stand training an milked her out and them strained and froze her Colostrum into 4 oz feeding for “just in case” for the rest of the lambing season

Normally I milk share with the lamb or lambs, but in the cases of sprite, I will be milking her full time twice daily, I am thinking at the moment for a 7 and 7 for my milking timing and we will see how that goes.

As she is a first time freshing, I have no idea at all on what her milking curve will look like, but will find out.. she has a nice teat size and placement and she let down well for me and didn’t kick which was really nice, for a first time milking, it went very well..

 

Its a great idea to freeze up one lambs worth of colostrum just to be on the safe side, ewes only produce Colostrum of the best quality for around the first 24 hours, but it does take three full days to bring in proper milk..

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The kind shown above is in fact my cow Colostrum after its been chilled in the fridge, it was thicker I found then my sheep but its a great photo to show what I wanted.. See example of sheep itself further down the write up.

itself is a very thick rich dark yellow milk, you would never look at it and think regular milk. It has not only a amazing amount of goodies that the lambs need but can only accept in the first 24 hours but it also gives the lambs a dose of antibodics..

And not just any old from my mom antibodics.. o no!

Tailor made for your farm, your barn and your flock Antibodics, they say that the mom needs to be in the area of birthing a min of 14 days before giving birth to give the best protection, so do not move them from field a and shelter Z one day before lambing or you will get just a bit less protection.

The highest Quality Colosturm is from a older full grown female, while a young female will produce she as good at hitting the best high end note..

A ewe in very good shape will produce enough to feed at a min twins or triplets, but if you have a female in good shape that is older that has a single, its a great idea to act as the other twin and milk her out for saving for possible use in the future.

This amazing liquid gold can be used in a number of ways..

For a newborn lamb that lost its mom

For a third born lamb that its mom does not have enough of her own and you can give a little extra to help

But it can also be used for other critters or ourselves as a powerhouse of health.. I gave a portion of this mornings milking to both Mimi and Priss, the youngest and the oldest purrpots in the house.. and they both went crazy for it..

Remember it is considered ideal that lambs get their first nursing or feeding within the first 30 min of birth but they must have it no later then 18 hours after to have any effect at all..

Frozen colostrum should be thawed  very slowly in a warm water bath. Do not use direct heat or this will destroy the antibodies within it

Do not use a microwave, its just to easy to overheat by a second or two and ruin it.

It is best to freeze colostrum in small amounts because once frozen colostrum is thawed, you only get to use it once, you can not freeze again. and as you are only feeding it in small portions, keep the frozen portion ideally the right portion for a single feeding of a lamb. 

Frozen colostrum can be stored for up to 12 months but I never do that, I try and freezer for the birthing season and then I use it up afterwards if not needed, either for our own use, the critter use or in soap making.

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a example of first milkings from a sheep ewe and a ewe on her ninth day of milking.

 

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Apple an Raisin Cake

Posted on February 24, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

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This recipe is listed as coming from Grandma Brownell..

Apple Sauce Cake

  • Half cup of Lard
  • 1  cup of sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
  • 1  cup of raisins
  • 1 tsp clove
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1/4 cup of water
  • 1 tbsp. baking powder
  • 2 cups of flour

Bake 350 for 40 min ,till a knife come out clean.. With as much clove as it has and no cinnamon, its a different taste them most modern Apple Sauce Cakes.

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Beautiful Poached Fish

Posted on February 23, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

I had a lovely piece of Haddock that I wanted to cook but I didn’t want to fry it with those lovely crisp edges, I didn’t want to put a glaze on it..

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No, I wanted lovely fresh light o so melt in your mouth perfectly Poached Fish.. on a bed of bursting with flavour sticky rice.

So how do you get that perfect poached fish.. very gentle heat and time 🙂

You will need a big enough pot that you can have each piece of fish has at least some space around it, you need to add enough water to your pot or pan that the fish will lift and float in it..  and you can add some lemon juice to your water, a pinch of salt and if it was right season, I would tell you to add a bit of fresh green to add a touch more flavour like Bloody Dock would be perfect for it or of course nettles..

Then its all about temp.. you ideally want your temp to be 140, if you can check this with your temp gage, go for it.. if not, you are looking for steaming water but not simmering.. not boiling..  you need to cook your fish to that same temp..

It will take at least ten min or more to bring your fish to a fully poached stage, this is not fast cooking, this is slow, soft cooking, but it means that your fish should never overcook, it will not be dry.

I like to give a sprinkle of lemon herb on top and if you wanted you could put a few drops of Soy Sauce over that fish, it will just sop it up and sink it in.

As for the rice, I used a rice cooker, it makes it all work so well, I did add a lot of dried pepper in it and then I added a few flakes of hot pepper with some Salt and Pepper into the mix.. it was just what I was after, rich from the butter, thick and sticky from the rice and very full flavour.

Now I would have loved to have added a nice dark on the bitter side of cooked greens to this dish, like a lovely beet green with chopped stems.. o yes, that would work just perfectly! but for a lighter green, spinach would be a good choice as well.. or if being more frugal, even fried cabbage would give you a nice bite of green..

 

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This an That Post..

Posted on February 23, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

Its raining..  and the farm is a mess of slushy snow, dripping water and poo.. I mean it, so much poo to clean up lol The wind has created waves it the snow on the big fields..

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The new bigger taller sided sled is working on well..  I like it very much..

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Caleb is already walking a touch better on his meds, I was told to cut a small hole in a apple and put the med in and then give it to him.. it just falls out.. so I looked at it and went hmm. I put my little hole in the apple and then the med and then seal it with a drop of honey smeared over to hold it in place.. works like a charm.. and Caleb loves his honey apple treat.

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We did get the door made and installed as well as the steps and the main top tin roof is now in place, we ran out of tin for the last piece on the slant, but we will get that this week and it will have that final finishing touch done very soon.. the main step is clean and dry, only the steps get a touch of weather now..

The door can be cracked open on a nice day so that the farm purr pots come and go at will when I open the house door and they love that space, they ask to go out, they go to the bathroom outside and then they come back and hang out in the warm sun room on the step, I have given them box’s and old blanket, they love it

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Faiths stitches came out and she is healing very well indeed.. This was the morning before they were cut and pulled, this was one week after surgery..  Two weeks tomorrow and she is almost all healed up.

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The twins are doing very well this morning.. I was hoping that maybe one of the other big girls would be wanting to go and I would have babies this morning but nope..  Soon though..

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The little white boy has a lot of wool type coat on him and the little Black and White boy has a more typical hair coat at birth.

Well, I had better get back to my day.. Hope you have a great one..

 

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Finally, the first set of twin lambs are on the farm..

Posted on February 23, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

Tess on her second year as a proven Ewe (A single on her first year) has given me two lovely ram lambs.  They are looking very good.. actively nursing, attached to momma nad momma to them.

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She has them in the big momma to be pen and I am guessing that she had them very soon after her morning feeding, that sneaky girl.. But we moved them to their own jug at afternoon chore time.. they will get extra time with her for a few days.

They already had their first cuddles and check over’s.. looking good.

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Traill’s Irish Mash

Posted on February 22, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

Imagine having pork and potatoes every night for supper. To break the monotony, you decide to innovate. Instead of pork and potatoes, you serve pork (without potatoes). And the next night, to reall…

Source: Traill’s Irish Mash

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