Just another Day on the Farm

Pig, and more Pig means lots of Pork.. o my..

Posted on July 14, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

Well, we got another big 250 plus pound gilt done today for our own home use, it went well, we are getting in the grove on this now that we have done five large blacks and one pot belly pig this year so far, out of Miss Piggies litter of eight, we currently have three gilts left, they are coming between 250 and 300 pounds at this point live weight.

I did two on the small end, two that would be considered roasting piglets, and the rest have been at different stages, this turned out to be a excellent choice, not only because it allowed us to eat fresh pork and allowed me to work on my pig butchering skill and my processing skills on smaller amounts, so that by the time I got to the big girls, I had a routine, which makes everything so so much better.

Having said that, I still have a good four hundred plus pounds of meat (never mind bones or fat) that is labeled pork, thank heavens for having a number of freezers on the farm.

So while I had been pretty much been keeping up with the fresh pork on the smaller pigs, with limited amounts being frozen and in our “personal freezer”, now we are starting to reach the point where I need to do something else, I need that freezer space back, and that really only leaves me with one choice, I need to can!

I need to can some pork just as pork, I need to make sausage and scramble it and can it up for later use, I need to make some pork stew bases and can them up, I need to make pulled pork in sauce and can it up, I need to make ham and can it up..

Yup, I figure I need to can at least a min or a hundred to hundred and fifty pounds worth of pork in the next week or two..

I need to render lard, and can it up for later use in the kitchen, baking and soap making, as well as salve making.

I need to make sausages, lots and lots of sauages, I am going to make some just pork but I also want to make pork/rabbit and pork/lamb, pork/duck and see how they turn out.

I am curing bacon and Canadian bacon, and hams, o my the hams, cured with different spices and they are going to be slowly smoked with fruit wood.. yum, yum..

soon, I will frying up a big old batch of chitlens with a fresh horseradish dipping sauce..

I have all the organs being held fresh in the fridge, planning on slicing up the liver for some different things but going to put some into milk before having a big old feed of fresh liver and onions, a pretty little spleen to make a fancy dish with, and I need I held back something new today to use on a dish that I have never tried before, will share soon!

Posted in Charcuterie, Pigs | Tagged butchering pigs, Pasture raised pork, pigs, pork | 10 Comments

Glenny’s Elderflower and Lemon Icecream!

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

This recipe comes from The forgotten skills of cooking, and I did not farmgal this recipe, I made just this recipe and I can’t imagine tweeking it.. its just amazing.. it does need a icecream machine ideally.

This is a itty bitty batch, so feel free to double it..

3/4th cups of whole milk
3/4th cup heavy cream
8 large elderflower heads
4 farm egg yolks (no whites)
6 tbsp. of sugar
2 tbsp. of lemon juice (as fresh as you can get)

Combine your milk, cream and elderflowers and warm gently to just below boiling point, steep for 15 min, strain.. beat your egg yolks and sugar together, add the warm infused milk slowly, stirring the whole time, return to heat and cook on very low till the custard sheet coats the back of your spoon, slowly mix in your lemon juice.

Pour into bowl and chill it in fridge till very cold, then follow the icecream maker instructions.. heavenly!!! and if you want to just take this over the top, when ready, put into a tall narrow small pan, layer of icecream, itty bits of half teaspoons of black current jelly mixed to break it as smooth as possible, cover with icecream and repeat and freeze, depending on how hard your freezer freezes, you might need to allow to thaw a bit before serving, if wanted put a layer of parchment and lift it out and serve as colorful icecream slices..

Posted in Life moves on daily | Tagged elderberry icecream | 3 Comments

One Spoiled rabbit kit..

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

I just adore this little kit, and so it not only has to come out for cuddles and time with me but its learning how to be on a little homemade harness so we can take walk-abouts.. still don’t know the sex but there is something about this bunny!

Opps, they are so hard to tell apart, this is the litter sister in the harness, this is the kit..in the arms..

Posted in Life moves on daily | 3 Comments

The squash bed update! and round bale plantings..

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

I’m going to let the photos speak for themselves, another day or two and I am going to have my first of my summer squash!

Posted in gardens | Tagged Squash hills, squash plants, Straw bale gardening | 2 Comments

Tippy Toes Kits.. updated with lots of photos!

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

If you are counting the pictures, you will notice that there are eight of them, turns out that I was having trouble figuring out that I had four very close black and white broken.. they all look great but I am very much taken with one of them!

Posted in Critters | Tagged rabbit kits | 1 Comment

woof, Woof.. WOOF, WOOOOOOOOF…

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

So I had woke up with the alarm clock but was enjoying the relaxed way I got to stretch and wake up, Dh had slipped out and put goon out to graze after his bottle, he had been kind enough to take the first morning hay down for the barn critters and the hounds were good..

Then I heard a bark, it was low and with breaks, and I figured it was the lamb in the yard.. I know the lamb is in the yard, so I yelled up, Quiet! then came louder barking, ok, Ok, I get it, the lamb is out there.. Enough! and instead of silence, I am get.. louder and faster barking, now it has hit the sound of..

Alert, Alert, Alert, something is in the YARD!!!!!!!!! MOM!!! the YARD!!!!

At which point, I leap out of bed and head upstairs to see what I assume will be the fox or ? in the yard, the lamb is now crying and as I get 3/4th of the way up, Dh has reached the door, and opens it, and I am shocked to see that Farmer T and Brandy are standing in the yard..

I duck and head back down to get a summer dress (heh, I didn’t know he would open the dang door at just that moment, now did I) and turns out one of the small gates was open (and it looks like I was the last one though it) and Brandy had gone over to visit the other horse herd, the kinda funny thing is that she kept going around the front pasture looking for them, but they are in the summer back pasture at this time, so she was searching in vain.

I was a bit surprised to find out that it took about five min to get her to trust that she should be caught, although when I think about it, it normally takes me a bit of time to get her horse’s to let me catch them when I need to, so it would make sense that it would be the same with mine.. just because we can walk up and catch them, does not mean that just anyone can..

while I am not at all happy that she appears to have spent a good part of the night out visiting, at least if she went straight next door, she was not out walking around, so that is a good thing, much better then if she went down the road to see that herd etc. Double good thing that she had her new halter on, I wonder if it would be worth considering getting a small tag for her halter with our address on it like you would for a hound?

After we got brandy back and settled, and I did a little checking, found a small part of the flock that was out but with the help of the Black Goddess hound, they are quickly rounded up and put back into the main pasture with the rest of the flock.

Will need to walk the fence line and double check that they didn’t get out anywhere else, think I might see if I can add a new chain on that gate as well as a double check measure.

Posted in draft horse | Tagged checking fence lines, thank goodness for good friends | 3 Comments

Health.. and all that goes with it..

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

Well, I am the first person to admit that over the past couple months, that It has seemed like I have had one thing after another to heal from and this leads to a few interesting things (and if any of you are thinking what does this have with homesteading, farming etc, lots because if you don’t feel well, it effects everything!)

So first I took the fall off Brandy, then I had a very nasty flu and a cold, and then I had that insane reaction to black Walnut, the lump in my one breast, and last but not least the cow kick..

If you look at it over a length of time, I see a few things, one it has been a bit of a rougher couple months then I would like to see, two, my body has taken a beating and has done a good job in many ways at healing itself, I have also gotten some outside help on this with folks trained in making sure my parts are in correct placement etc.

So really my body has healed well but its not perfect, the best news is that the lump got smaller and smaller with my different treatments and then one day just could not be found any more, but its still being watched..

Given the above info, I guess I should not have been to surprised when I went for a regular teeth cleaning to find that for the first time in years, that I have a tiny little spot that is showing signs of being weaker, certainly not enough that anything is required to do anything about it, but none the less, it means I need to include a focus on tooth health and allowing my body to have everything it needs to repair this minor damage before it goes further.

Look at that, I turned 40 and bam! LOL

Kidding, Kidding!

Ok, so being me, I have a saying.. Suck it up Buttercup! of course, I also love.. Get it done! and So Be it!

The question is which one of these first thoughts do I follow?

All of them..

None of them..

Truth is, suck it up Buttercup is applicable, I consider myself very blessed, while I am not thrilled that those above things have happened, considering what things could be.. I am just fine at this time.. Considering how well my body is and continues to heal these different things, I am grateful! Therefor, no complaining aloud..!

Get it done.. well that is a daily truth on the farm, the animals must have their food and water, they must have their things done, the garden goes on daily, the house, meals and laundry will not do itself!

So be it.. I love those three little words, I have often thought they would make a good tattoo if done right.. I say them a lot.. for me, they mean, ” This has happened, this is the results, I can’t change the past, and I am living in the moment and dealing with it as it comes..

This of course is very true in this case, I am living this moment and dealing with them as they come.. (others would say things like don’t sweat the small stuff, but I like So be it more, as it covers small, med and the big stuff~)

Having said that, my overall immune system is like the weeds and flies this year.. a daily battle, that while being held is not being won..

I require thought and energy to be given to this.. I’m not sure how to sum up this post.. so I will leave it here with for now..

Posted in Health | Tagged health musings, musings, personal care, personal musings | 1 Comment

Fix’ins for supper..

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

Posted in Garden harvest | Tagged Garden harvest | 4 Comments

Homemade Saskatoon/Rhubarb Pie with Vanilla Icecream.

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

My Grandmothers Pie Crust Recipe, one of my childhood desserts, a amazing mix of ruby red rhubarb with ripe saskatoon’s I even did my momma’s trick of a light brush of cream with sugar on top of the pie crust for that extra golden crust..

I served it up with my fresh homemade vanilla icecream made of course from Girl’s amazing cream and milk!

Posted in Food Production and Recipes | Tagged Saskatoon rhubarb Pie | 11 Comments

Turmeric Milk Drink..

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Just another day on the farm

Well if you google this one, wow, does this herb had a lot of health benefits, I like this spice, I have a shaker that is a mix of black pepper, powdered garlic and Turmeric, that I like to use but you still don’t get a lot of it really in your food that way..

How to Make Turmeric Milk, Plus Health Benefits

http://frugallysustainable.com/2012/08/turmeric-milk-for-immune-system-support-and-the-treatment-of-inflammation/

So I decided to look for a recipe that would use more of it, and bam, I hit on this drink, which could it get any easier.. whole milk, a bit of sweetern (most recommend honey) Turmeric, and then you can add a bit of other spices if you choose.

I have done just that spice and I have mixed it up, I have figured out I like it a bit weaker at this time then they recommend, so instead of mixing the required amount in one cup of whole milk, I make it in two cups, I am still getting what they recommend in a daily drink but it tastes better to me..

So one pint jar, 2 cups of whole milk (raw in my case) with 1 tsp of Termeric, 1/2 a tsp of ginger and Cinnamon, a bit of honey or sugar, your call and it does effect the flavour, I like to change it up, can be mixed up and drank both hot or cold, your choice..

If I want to drink it like a shot, I like it cold, if I want to take my time and have a fuller bodied flavour, I like it warm!