What a great event, so proud of my dear hubby!! And here is the event in pictures, the books sold out, and by the time of the book readings, it was standing room only, and as we both got dressed up a bit for the event, we got pictures taken 🙂
Raising Meat birds on the cheap!
wow that is one long link but so be it..
Ok, so the basic idea of this is that she took two groups of birds, of the same age and breed and raised one on a tradional bought feed and raised the others on sprouted fodder, milk/whey and clabber and her results are outstanding!!!!
I am so going to try this myself, I want to see and compare the grow out rates and the cost rates to see if I can even touch the savings or growth rates she is talking about..
Watch for more info on this..coming soon..
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Confiting Meat in Fat.
Confiting Meat is very popular french way of preserving. The meat is salted, then cooked and then fully covered in Rendered fat, it was used very much for duck and goose ( I think in part because both of these birds have enough fat to render off to be able to do this). Confit is stored in sterilized jars that are completely covered with fat to seal them from air. The cured meat typically takes several days to weeks to mellow and needs to be stored in a cool, dry place..
To extract the peices of meat from the fat, put the jar in a saucepan of hot water, the fat melts and the meat can then be taken out.. After you take out the meat out, leave the fat to solidfy over the remaining peices and then continue to store it, MUST be totally covered with fat to work.
The books all seem to agree that confit meat will keep three to four months, this is a form for keeping meat over the winter, which works well with the cellar temps, if you are going to use Confit in our heated summers, you would need to store it in the fridge.
Confiting duck and goose was considered a peasant way of doing things, but now its become quite fashionable and is used in many ways over the classes. (again this makes sense, the rich would have been able to afford a fresh bird) where the peasant would have needed a way to butcher in the fall and hold the meat over the winter for use.
So you typically do legs (but you can do other parts, and they need to be salted for at least 24 hours but I have gone as long as 2 or 3 days with no issues, I have also done duck breasts and cured them like ham before doing this. You will need to take every single scrape of fat on the bird you can get, rendered out of the skin, and all the internal fat, and render it down, strain and allow to cool..
Make sure your jars are freshly boiled, placed your hot, long cooked tender meat into the jars, pour your warm but (not hot/boiling fat) and allow to cool, and then store..
When you take it out the meat out, it will crisp in either a cast iron pan or in the oven.
now I said I would also talk about pork, I used the extra pork trims from a very good quality belly, and after curing it for bacon, I took the extra peices and confited them with clean rendered pork fat.. I loved it, it was awesome, followed the same as above.. I do find they take longer to crisp
Note: I will cover the tops of the jars with cheese cloth to keep anything from getting in, while they cool down before adding the lids , as you don’t want or need them to seal, you can not wanting to open kettle can them, which is what will happen if you use to hot of fat, put the lids on to fast and it will also slow down the cooling time as the closed lids will help retain the heat longer.
Introducing Miss Sally
Yesterday saw me load up and head out for a visit, I had agreed to help a fellow homesteader on her next adventure in regards to raising rabbits.. She has these very pretty french dargent rabbits, born dark and a solid color and then they silver with age, amazing fur on these guys, not as flashy as I like my rabbits to be (I tend to go for broken colors) but non the less there is something about these rabbits that certainly appeal to me, they have great meat rabbit bodies, along with good temperments and a outstanding pelt.. what’s not to like!
So I guess its not real suprise that I came home with Miss Sally, I liked her the first time I say her a while ago and she has just improved with age, she has not settled in yet, and it shows in that wide eye, ready to bolt look in the photo, but yesterday after I got her settled in, she was as far away as possable and this morning at feeding/check time, she came over and smelled my fingers, so that is a excellent start to the day.
She is not ready to breed yet and has some growing to do before that is the case but she is more then half way there so it won’t be that long of a wait, I hope she will be as good of a breeder as her momma is.
I was also able to bring home the pelts from the rabbits that were done, you will be able to see the huge difference between her solid still baby coat and the adult coat that i am going to show as a pelt..
I have to say that I hope to make some amazing lined leather mitt trim from it, I think it would just be stunning that way.
Posted in Life moves on daily
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Sweet and Salty Pork Stew
This is a lovely and its as easy as can be.. I had a pork roast, you can use freshly done or chopped leftovers with the juice.. I roasted a pork roast, and in a different pan, I did turnips in one pan and cabbage, onion in another..
I sliced half of the roast in a peice fof sandwhichs and other uses and then cubed the rest, mashed the turnip and mixed it with the pan juices, then throw in the roasted cabbage and onion, add a couple full TBSP of brown sugar and lots of thick sea salt, and mix, and serve..
Its a sweet/salty awesome Pork Stew! Could be served with a nice colslaw salad or a green salad or fresh crusty rolls.. For something really different, lose the brown sugar, and instead keep the salt and add a heaping tablespoon on each bowl of sour cream or thick greek yogurt with diced fresh green onions on top!
A “baby” rant..
Ok, please forgive me for getting my snit on about this subject, so this is my fair warning, I try really! hard to be very postive on the blog, so don’t read on if you are expecting that on this one..
Now I read a far number of farming blogs and many of them are new homesteaders, and there is a learning curve (this is normal and to be totally expected!) and there is one blog I read, not because I think she does things right but more because she is like my daily soap opera, the amount of things she does wrong is straggering at times.. its like watching fire.
So let me be clear this was just the final straw as they say..
Here is my issues..
Please Peaple Stop writing on your homesteading blogs over and over again, about PULLING your babies, this is centered right around lambs and kids, thankfully I don’t see it much at all in regards to calfs or colts.
But the amount of times I have read this spring already about, Pulled the baby.. What the @%&@& is going on.. Please Repeat after me…STOP Pulling babies that don’t need it done!!!
These were not in need babies, they were not written up as a detressed babies, they were not stuck babies, they were totally normally being born babies, and when they presented, instead of pulling yourself up by your boots and letting things happen naturally, folks are jumping right in and pulling when there is no need!
There are so many reason’s this is BAD!!! O let me count the way..
1) you put stress on those wee joints that are fragile!
2) you are not letting the baby naturally drop if the mother is standing, this is not a bad thing, in natural birthing, as the mother stands back up, she naturally will till the wee one downwards, which allows birthing fluids to be removed! if its a rear birth, I can and will move the baby into that postions, after its been born.
3) you are not doing your mothers any favors, so many folks these days know now that its a bad thing to mess with momma and baby if you are a human, why do you think this is any different with your breeding girl.. if she is not destressed, chill damit, you are risking pulling at the wrong time, you are risking infection and then having to give antibodics to the mom’s, just to be safe, and if you don’t, then you are risking alot more issues.. if you let a mother birth naturally, clean out naturally and you as the farmer have them in a clean jug on clean bedding, there should be no issue.
4) You are doing your breeding herd and your farm no favors.. We CAN NOT always be there, so which would you raither have, three or four or sixth generation of girls on your farm that are strong, active healthy birthers, that maybe, just maybe you might need to step in and help once in the odd while, or do you want to be the breeder, that has to be there or else, we lose babies..
I have bought from both of those breeders myself, I got one girl from a line that just gets it done, the breeder will be there if needed but 99 percent of the time, she expects to walk out and find it done and live healthy babes at side, and I got one who didn’t have a clue and this was a proven mother, that (never had a issue) I had to help deliver both kids because she would just stop and look at me for help.. When I phone and asked about mother, grandmother and even sisters, I found out she was generations of a line of I pull the kids.. I sold her as fast as can be.. I don’t need or want that on my farm.
I have currently birthed out 11 ewes this year.. how many times I have I been there at deliver, about 60 percent of the time, 20 percent while the lambs were still damp and 20 percent dry and at least six hours old..
How many times have I needed to help pull a lamb this year.. NONE!!!!
How many times last year did I need to help pull a lamb-Once, it was a young girl, and she has a big single lamb, needed a bit of help.
How about the year before that.. NONE!
Please folks, be calm and let those momma’s have a chance, give help only! if its needed, and for those that are looking to buy, While I know that you will do what you want in the end, take it from this farmgal, Walk away! from the breeders and farmers that “breeding” this into their lines..
Real life example
Miss Piggy, I could have bought a large black female sow from five different folks, three all used crates, (I would not touch them with a ten foot pole) one uses pens, and does alot of good things (angelo’s breeder) but i went with the breeder that had girls that were natural birthers, who didn’t need rails or anything else, and I knew that she was 3rd gen of free birthing, and she did just what I hoped, birthed out a good size litter of eight, all done, no fuss, no muss, by the time I went out, she was settled down with everyone nursing and just went.. Hi ma!
That’s what I breed for! That’s the kind of lines I want to buy from.. and while it might take a bit more looking to find that farmer, its so worth it when you do!
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I got Roses!
Pretties!, A lovely little pot of pink roses are now transplanted into a bigger pot and sitting in the middle of my table, they are such a cheer of color in my house..
Now if you think they were from Dh, you would be wrong :), they were a gift from Farmer T and such a nice one at that! Thanks again..
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Apricot Almond Buns (perfect to take for a sunday brunch)
Clearly this will not work if you are no gluten but for those that are eating wheat and you want to take a speical treat, this is a good one..
- 1 loaf worth of dough
- 1 pint jar worth of mashed up Apicots
- 1/4th of a pd of butter
- Sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice.
- Make like you would a cinnamon bun, bake at 350
Icing
- cream cheese- about 1/4th of a cup
- A tbsp of orange juice
- The fresh grated rind of a orange (wash first of course)
- A 1/4th cup of sliced almonds.
- 1 and half cups of icing sugar.
Make your icing, put over the buns, sprinkle your almonds on top and Voila..
This got rated as (lick the plate good!, Awesome and More) from the teen testers and it got awesome adult reviews as well..
PS, if you had a Wait moment, and think I forgot to add the sugar, I didn’t, there is even sweetness from the icing that I didn’t feel that I needed to add any more in the roll itself.
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Guess what got delivered while I was away..
The menfolks put it here as a “I don’t know where she wants it” temp measure.. now that I see it.. yikes.. that is alot of material to add to the gardens, compost out and use..
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Just another Day on the Farm 