Just another Day on the Farm

Introducing Dumpling

Posted on January 14, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

One of the things that happens over time is that you create working friendships with other farmers. I meet Farmer Y on kijji when she has fowl I wanted, I meet her on her first year on the new farm.. it was just there.. that was a number of years ago now..

Since then, we have worked together a number of times and in a number of ways, and so when she said, I am looking to sell a few of her mixed breed sheep, and I said.. if you have any that will be a outstanding milking sheep let me know..

Needless to say, she looked her sale girls over carefully and then said, yup, she had one, did I want to her open or breed.. I said.. breed and she kept her a extra two months to breed to the male of my choice.

She arrived on the farm yesterday.. What a girl! Meet Dumpling.. I adore her name.. its just perfect for her..

she is a lovely Canadian Mutt of a sheep lol, she is a mix of two dairy breeds crossed with a meat breed, breed to a purebred wool breed. She is huge! just shy of 200 pounds and most likely more now that she is breed and growing.. she is a proven mother, this will be her second lambing year. She is young and she is so sweet.

She arrived in the back seat of a truck, hanging out on her blanket over the tarp to keep it clean, she was in a halter and lead rope, only her second time and she was chill.. she introduced herself to me and she came out very calm and she is going to be very easy to break to lead, I will continue her training on this as I think she will be perfect to be my picture taking sheep.

She was added to the flock (we have traded enough stock back and forth, that at this point, if we didn’t have something the same at some point, we do now) and she was calm, steady and sweet.. she was just home! When I went to check on her she was napping and did not care that I walked up and chatted to get a photo..

On the evening check with hubby, she was right there, within two feet and saying hi to him, I am very excited.. she is came up to get a carrot treat from my hands already.. I think it will be very easy indeed to train her to be a milking sheep.. she had very milky lines and good teat placement. I am very hopeful that she will settle into it quite well, she has four older sisters and they are all excellent momma’s, lots of milk and very sweet as well..

Thank you Farmer Y for trusting me with her care and for letting her join my flock..

Posted in sheep | Tagged canadian Homestead, canadian sheep flock, dumpling the ewe sheep, milking sheep, sheep, Sheep Milk | 2 Comments

Ginger Raspberry Jam Recipe

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

Ginger Raspberry Jam

3/4th cup of fresh peeled, finely cut ginger

4 cups of mashed raspberry (these were frozen from our farm)

7 cups of sugar

2 TBSP of lemon juice

Pinch of salt

1 package of pectin

Add the ginger, fruit, lemon juice and sugar together, stir it though and start it on a slow low heat till it melts all together, then bring it up to a med heat..

Cook for 15 to 20 till the ginger is softened.. take off heat.. no boil and hit with a stick blender with care, till all the ginger is fully blended into the mix.

Put back on the stove and let sit for one to two min and then skim off 60 to 80 percent of the seeds that will float to the top..

Bring it back to a full boil.. add your pectin, stir in and bring to a full roiling boil for a the one min, check your jam with the chilled plate test and once good to go..

Put in prepared hot jars and lids finger tight and into hot water bath for ten min.. This jam does have a lovely hotter undertone with a great fruit over top notes, it color is outstanding..

Its good as a jam, or as a filler but its also great as the base of a salad dressing or as a meat glaze, I made a pulled pork with this jam baked into it.. delightful!

Ps, not sure why my words are so small on this one.. strange..

Posted in Canning, gardens | Tagged Canning, canning jam, Farm fruits, raspberry, Raspberry Ginger Jam, Soft Fruits | 2 Comments

Mr BoJangles -Care update..

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

When you get a new critter, big or small, routine care and finding base lines are important..

Since arriving on the farm, Bo has been wormed and he took it like a very good boy, excellent manners on this..

Both my boys got their feet trimmed up, Bo does have a small old injury but its healing very well and it will grow out on its own given time. you can see it on the left front foot, and yes, I know he is not standing square but there is nothing wrong with his front right LOL He very willingly gave his feet to my farrier but it was clear that he was a touch unsure about why he needed it for so long.. he was just the tiniest bit fussy on his first foot, settled right down and the other three were done perfectly.. We did a lighter trim on him for the first time and we will work towards getting his hooves to were we want them over the next two trims.. much better to do a smaller lighter trim and do them more often than to trim too much.

I got a good boy report on Bo from my farrier!

Then it was time to have the vet visit, I have to admit that I was both pleased and shocked to watch her be able to just go right into his mouth and check his teeth, jaw fit and such.. I wanted to know if he needed his teeth done and they look very good at the moment, his mouth is very good naturally so he has been given a no extra mouth work needed at the moment!

I paid to have a more in-depth physical done on him as I wanted to make sure that it’s just a Bo thing on how he rests his back leg or if there was in fact something that needs to be looked at.. so worth the money.. and he passed with flying colors..

No issues, and I was just told to keep up on his stretches and keep teaching him to do his bends and up his flexibility and of course he needs to lose 50 to 100 pounds approx. and get some muscle up as he is out of working shape 🙂

He got his vaccine updates for coverage for our local needs, I try to keep these as low as possible, he is not going to shows, he is not traveling longer distances so he is covered for basic farm needs and for local outbreak things.. the big two that I do believe that the horses need are rabies and tetanus

My vet liked him very much, and is so very pleased as how well Caleb and Bo get along as well, its like she said, it will be very different to have two healthy horses on the farm. and then she said.. enjoy him and hope not to see you for another year 🙂

I love that my vet wishes that for me and the horses and the farm..

Posted in Critters, draft horse | Tagged farm vet, Ferrier, hoof Care, horse care | 2 Comments

A Canadian Delight Lemon-Crown Royal Jelly

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

This was made with the pectin from the lemon peel but it was then removed from the final jelly.. as you know, we have been having a marmalade week and if you wanted, you could turn this recipe into marmalade very easily.

Lemon-Crown Royal Whiskey Jelly Recipe

6 lemons, washed, peeled and thinly sliced, roll the lemons, get as much juice as possible add a half cup of your choice Crown Royal add them together and then measure them out, then do a straight 1-1-1 . That is one cup of the mixture to one cup of sugar to one cup of water, bring to 220 at the boil and till you have a good set always check it on your chilled plates, then strain out the peel and jar up your hot jelly and into water bath ten min

If you want it as a marmalade.. put your peel in a pot and cover with water and simmer till clearer, softer about 20 to 30 min and then strain, and follow the same above but leave the peel in and instead of jelly, it will be a lovely marmalade with peel in

Posted in Canning | Tagged Lemon Crown Royal Jelly, Lemon Crown Royal Marmalade, Lemon Marmalade, marmalade | 5 Comments

Pink Grapefruit and Rose Petal Cake

Posted on January 11, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

How could I resist 🙂 What a great way to use the Pink Grapefruit and Rose Marmalade

Pink Grapefruit and Rose Petal Cake Recipe

half cup of butter or lard or oil
half cup of sugar (the rest will come from the Marmalade)
2 large eggs
8 oz of Pink Grapefruit and Rose Petal Marmalade
1 cup dried Rose Petal’s
1 tsp vanilla
3/4th cup of water or milk
2 cups flour
1/2 half tsp salt
1 tbsp of baking Powder

Cream butter and sugar together, then add eggs, mix well, then add the, water marmalade, vanilla and dried petals, mix together and then add all the dry and mix till batter.. its fairly thick, into a 9 by 11 cake pan, 350 approx. 40 min till knife comes out clean..

Take a extra two or three tablespoons of your marmalade mix with a touch more lemon juice to thin it and poke holes in the cake top while hot out of the oven and drizzle it over the top and allow it to melt into the cake top and down the holes..

Posted in Baking | Tagged Dried Rose petals, dried rose petals in baking, Homemade cake, Homemade Pink grape fruit and rose petal glaze, Pink Grapefruit and Rose Petal Cake Recipe, Pink Grapefruit and Rose Petal Marmalade | 1 Comment

Pink Grapefruit and Rose Petal Marmalade Recipe

Posted on January 11, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

This one is for sure a Farmgal Recipe.

Pink Grapefruit and Rose Petal Marmalade

4 large Pink Grapefruit, wash, trim, remove stickers, slice peel off, slice thin and then par-boil for 20 min, cut the grapefruit in half and get every drop of juice you can from them.

Measure out cooked peel, Grapefruit juice and 1 cup of dried rose petals into a bowl

At that point, do a 1-1-1 recipe. One cup of mix to one cup of sugar to one cup of water

Bring to boil and test to up to 220 and till thickened on the testing plate.. as I knew I wanted this as a cake glaze I cooked till I had a nice jelly on it but not as thick as a full marmalade but if you wanted it thicker, you could just cook longer 🙂

I did have some settling issues on this one.. but the flavour more then made up for it.. the bite from the grapefruit, the sweetness from the sugar and the floral undertones of the rose petals made this a huge Winner!

The Rose petals were from our farm and picked and dried for winter use in teas and such..

Posted in Canning | Tagged Dried Rose petals, Farmgal recipes, Pink Grapefruit and Rose Petal Marmalade, Pink Grapefruit and Rose Petal Marmalade Recipe | 6 Comments

Lime Pina Colada Marmalade (jam)

Posted on January 10, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

Lime Pina Colada Marmalade.

Wash 8 limes and take off tags and the end.. then grate the peel off then all.. leaving as much white as possible on the lime.

Then roll your limes well to help get the juice flowing and cut in half and get every drop of lime juice out of them, I got just shy of a cup, top up to a cup with water if needed or if very dry limes, top up with store bought lime juice.

In a large heavy bottomed pot, combine rind, juice and 2 cups of pina colada drink mix to slow but steady simmer for five min so that your peel gets a chance to cook and blends into the marmalade.

Then add in five cups of sugar, bring to a boil.. add your one box of dry pectin and bring back up to a full roiling boil for a min.. skim the foam and then jar into your prepared jars and into the waterbath for ten min.

Its a creamy off white with lovely bright green flecks in it.. and its flavour is a mix of fresh bright lime with undertones of pineapple and coconut.. just delightful! It did not set up as firm as I would like.. but its well within norms. it holds on a spoon but spreads into those drips over the edge once on..

I wanted to drizzle this over baked apples but alas my horses have been gifted all the fresh apples in the house lol, so I am out..

Posted in Canning | Tagged Canning, lime peel marmalade, lime Pina Colada Marmalade Recipe, Using fresh limes in marmalade, Winter canning | 4 Comments

Around the kitchen table

Posted on January 9, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

I am adding in a new title.. just like we have this and that posts, were I write about lots of little things to catch you up or when I do photo blogs, were its more about sharing or a trip post, I am going to be adding in a new one.. Around the kitchen table.

Its meant to be both real and maybe funny in its own way at time.. its when we have had a talk at the table about something and afterwards I think.. that would be a interesting blog post.. most of the time, I try and wrap the idea into a neater package of information, often splitting it into different posts.

But I am going to try keep it all together.. in all its free flowing, often ends without a answer, like you are joining me at the table.

Here we go..

So I need to talk to you about Rams.. Hubby blinks at me and nods.. (that’s my cue to keep talking) I am trying to figure out what to do with the sheep flock

We currently have Whiskey, he is a sweet ram, produces healthy active live births and good weights on his offspring but he is a wool sheep, he is not a big ram compared to our last boy and for two years running, at least 10 percent of his off spring at around the big weaning time do not come off mom and onto our pasture and go from just fine to dead.

We have Hairy, he is a Whiskey Son, he is outstanding, he is out of my Butterscotch-Dram line, and he is the current boss ram, he outweights his father by a solid 50 pounds, he has a good temperament and is my very effective clean up ram, as his mother is fourth gen born on my farm, his offspring are a touch bigger at birth( a big harder on the mothers) but they grow strong and do not have the “what the ??” issue with all of them reaching butcher age.. but he is half wool-half-hair and he sheds his coat out very well in summer but he throws a lot of wool on his babies.. enough that they would have to be sheared and he throws horns and horn buds.

we could just keep breeading Whiskey for a few more years and deal with shearing him and deal with having more half or whole wool lambs born in the flock.. and work to figure out what is missing that we are having lamb loss at weaning stage.. do they need more loose minerals, do they need to be wormed more, will need to spend some more time and money figuring this out.

We could move over to Hairy as our full time breeder.. but he is related to all the butterscotch line.. so while he does have 50% of Whiskey.. do we want that or do we want more outcross.

We could buy a new ram, a hair sheep again.. and raise him up for the year and then move back to having a hair sheep as the lead ram to go with the hair sheep girls and greatly reduce overheating issues with the wool lambs and the shearing that goes with.

Or we could move Hairy in with Tess (the new line of hair sheep female I got last year) and breed our own new ram.. Tess brings in 50 percent new lines to the flock, Hairy would bring in 50 percent new lines from Whiskey and 50 percent of my own line-bred tough as nails suited to my own farm and land hair lines of Butterscotch and Dram.

My hubby listened and his question was this..

Are you wanting to hold back replacement females in the next three years?

My answer was.. I am wanting to look at Mocha’s offspring as I do not have any hold backs on her line and she is getting up there in age.. she is 8 this year and is only 2nd gen on the farm.. she tends to give me boys.. lots of boys over the years. I am still waiting for a ewe from her.. I don’t normally like to keep back from a female under the age of four or five, I really want them to prove themselves and then she has just thrown me males since..

And I willing to consider offspring from Tess as she is a new female an I might want to grow out her offspring till 2 just to see how it develops and such..

but I am hoping and planning to buy a new milking sheep ewe lamb to add to the flock this year..

Otherwise, no, I am not looking to add at this time..

And then we mulled.. So got questions to ask? Got thoughts? What would you do? Why would you do it?

I am still making up my mind to tell the truth.. so I will share what is decided at a later point but I am looking forward to hearing what you think?

Posted in At the kitchen table | Tagged Around the kitchen table, Breeding sheep, picking your ram, planning the future flock, sheep | 8 Comments

Kumquat Marmalade

Posted on January 8, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

This is the official marmalade post for the Food in Jars Challenge for Jan

These little fruits were Persnickety lol.. having never worked with them before but having heard good thing I decided that they would go on the list for hubby to look for in the big city at the fancy Farm-boy

I asked for a pound, got about a pound an half and quickly figured out that they would need the middles take out, dry, pith an seeds..

This left me with the skins an some fruit bits..

This took forever but I finally had them all done, and as I was not able to find any recipes for them in any of my canning books, and I want them in their purest forms as a first sampling.

I did them in a simple 2-1 recipe.. and brought it to 220 on the candy thermometer and it cook, an cook, and it changed color and the flavours deepened and grew.. finally, I got gel stage and jarred up 2 8 0z jars an 1 40z jar

As a fresh Marmalade off the spoon, this was my least favorite, not that it was wrong in anyway, its just didn’t pop to me the same way the other did..

Boy was I wrong! let it set up for 24 hours, let it chill and serve it up and wow.. the next day, this is awesome Marmalade.. both hubby and I gave it thumbs up..

The final test.. how does it go with old chedder.. PERFECT!

But please consider checking out a few more of the ones I did on the same week, I had a lot of fun 🙂

Blood Orange Marmalade

Pink Grapefruit and Rose Petal Marmalade

Lime Pina Colada

Lemon-Crown Royal Marmalade or Jelly (your Choice)

Posted in Canning | Tagged Canning, Canning Marmalade, Food in jars challange 2017, kumquat marmalade, Tradional Marmalade Recipe | 6 Comments

Blood Orange Marmalade – Recipe

Posted on January 7, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

Over the next while, I will be sharing a few different marmalade recipes, most of them will come from 250 Home Preserving Favorites by Yvonne Tremblays book, or at least the basic’s of the recipe will.. knowing me, I will be tweaking this and that.. I will do my best to make sure my changes are very easy to see..

Today however we are going back to the basics.. marmalade are in its purest form a 1-1-1 recipe.. 1 part Citric, 1 part sugar, 1 part water..

I washed the oranges well, removed their stickers, and I sliced off the top with the hard bit.. I sliced one in half to show you the pretty blood orange color and to show you the nice thick rind on these oranges..

Now into a heavy bottomed pot, I add the rest of the oranges and water to simmer them in, I added enough water to get them to float and brought them to a boil and then down to a steady simmer.. I am looking for them to fully cook though.. that will take about 45 to 60 min give or take..

They will have a sunken in appearance and the rind will be softened and cooked.. you ca see how easily the knife went into the orange.. then once cooled enough, give them a smash and pick out the seeds..

Then mashed them up.. stir and then mash them some more.. and then if need be.. take a forks and break up the last bigger bits..

Measure it out and add the proper amount of sugar and water per the 1-1-1 ratio and bring to boil and then down to a slow simmer.. but you want it boiling.. then put in your candy and make sure it gets up to 220 and let it simmer, till it starts to thicken up from the natural pectin.. check it on your chill plate in the fridge and when it wrinkles.. and is at the thickness you want.. some like it a bit more runny, some like it thick-thick.. your call on that one..

Put in your cleaned and boiled hot jars and wipe your rims and seal finger tight and into hot water bath for ten min and then allow to sit and cool down..