Garden 2017: The Aftermath

It's the first day of fall and here it is cold and blustery with fresh snow on the mountains. And while a lot of the garden and greenhouse are finished for the season, there is still so much work to do!



And a lot of the work is so tedious! This year I decided to try to grow dry beans. I seeded 3 different kinds of beans in the greenhouse and only one of them produced anything, the flageolet vert dry bean. I couldn't believe how many pods I harvested! I thought I'd have a gallon of dry beans-at least! Yeah, no. I just finished shelling all these damn beans and I didn't even get a half gallon! They better be the best tasting beans in the history of the planet! And at least the goats like helping me clean up!





Another mostly successful new adventure in the greenhouse this year was corn. Yes, I've grown sweet corn before with limited success, this year I didn't want to just grow sweet corn, but corn for flour. I planted Painted Mountain corn-described as a nutritious rugged beauty-and it seems it has lived up to it's name! I've only harvested it and by the time this amazing piece of equipment comes in the mail (Yay! What a great birthday present-I can't wait to put this to work!), the corn should be dry and ready to go.

I am also getting a grain mill-another amazing birthday present- and even though it's not the biggest harvest this year, the first thing I want to make are tamales, then fresh tortillas...if all this works, I'm planting so much more of this next year!




The breakaway success story of the summer was taters. I never plant enough potatoes and we use about 20 lbs for Thanksgiving alone and that usually uses up all that had grown. This year I tried a number of different varieties and was hoping to grow 100 lbs of potatoes.

Harvesting 150 lbs of potatoes is exhausting, but it's also a really dirty treasure hunt, so it's still lots of fun! The only variety I won't be growing again is Huckelberry Gold-I only got about 10 lbs from these sad plants. Mountain Rose (pink inside and out!), All Blue (guess what color those are inside and out??), French fingerling, Rose Finn fingerling and tried and true Yukon Golds all did amazing this year. The taters this year have been massive and delicious! I've only had multicolored oven fries once so far, but I'm really looking forward to blue mashed potatoes!




Over half the greenhouse is still thriving and I'm battling nights like tonight when the low is supposed to be 25 degrees. All the peppers, eggplants, most of the tomatoes and the remaining winter squash are all covered in frost cloth on top of the greenhouse being shut tight. Hopefully they all make it through these next few days since it's supposed to be in the 70s this time next week!

Today was also a sad day since we had to say goodbye to our buck goat Randy. Randy has been with us since he was about 8 months old and for the longest time was the only other animal that Cupid would not only tolerate but actually seemed to enjoy being around. He is the sire of all our adorable goat kids and that is why he has to leave. We will start breeding his baby girls this year-Gilda will be spending some time with our new buck Rowdy very soon. But Randy will be missed so much. He was such a sweet and handsome fella and now he's going to a new home to no doubt live up to his name there. Love you, Randy!

The Joys of Twice a Day Milking

Life is weird. We just got back from spending a week and half in Chicago, seeing friends and family, pretending for a few days that we lived in the city again, having a great time, and I don't think I've ever been as happy to be home.

So much has changed in the past five to ten years, somehow it feels like you don't notice until your back with people who knew when you were living in a shitty apartment in Hyde Park, eons before you even thought about milking a goat.

But now I'm home and doing something I was thinking about and looking forward, even while having a great time in Chicago: Milking twice a day.

Mostly I was just looking forward to not separating mama's and babies every night. The mornings and nights filled with screaming and crying was really starting to wear on me. So Sunday night Keith and I moved Margo's and Cupid's babies to the pasture with all the hair sheep and the screaming has not stopped since.

Mama's screaming at the top of their lungs to get their babies back. Babies screaming and crying, calling their moms to come rescue them. It's Wednesday and it's finally starting to get a little better, but I have a feeling it's far from over.

Margo and Cupid have been taking out their hostility towards me as often as they can. Yesterday morning I thought Margo was terrible when she peed and pooped on the milk stand, then she proved she could be worse in the evening when she peed, pooped, then just laid down so I couldn't milk her.

Cupid took a different plan of attack this morning when she bolted away from me and out into the pasture. I didn't even run after her. I just got Margo on the stand, where she had the one on one time it seems she needed and Cupid eventually moseyed back, jumping up on the stand in her damn time.

I would have freaked out all of this a year or so ago, trying to get all the animals lined up like they're always supposed to, instead of just leaving the gate open and letting things just work out.




Margo's lambs and Cupid's kids are their own little pack now that they're out in the pasture with the rest of the sheep. In between crying for their mama, the kids are still hamming it up as usual. I'm not sure if the lambs miss their mama or the delicious goat chow they had become accustomed to snarfing down at night, either way, they're always eating!



Two and half gallons of milk is now what I'm getting daily, even if I kinda have to fight the girls to get it. And it really adds up fast! Today I'm making a 5 gallon batch of blue cheese, the biggest batch of cheese I've ever made.





I've already make one batch of blue cheese, a 3 gallon batch that time. Today I had to pierce it for the second time-you pierce the cheese to get all the good moldy blue veins. The guys at the Rouge Creamery said to pierce the hell out of the blues (and they should know, their blues are amazing!), so I did, first 2 weeks ago, then again today. They still won't be ready for a few months, but I think they'll be worth the wait!



Tomorrow I do it all over again, not knowing what to expect. After almost 2 months of good behavior, this craziness is annoying. Hopefully the girls will calm down soon, but who can blame them for being pissed!

Back in the saddle again!

Finally! Finally, finally! I am milking again.

Today is the second day of milking both girls and they are producing just how I expected. A gallon and half the past two mornings, but today went a lot smoother than yesterday did!

Yesterday was a wild whirlwind of lambs and kids screaming, two mamas screaming to get to their babies, but also REALLY wanting to be milked and the two new sheep trying to get past everyone else on to their new favorite place-the milk stand. Then Cupid is kicking off the milk machine...

It was a mess, just like always. Today was just as loud, but so much more smooth!

Cupid's giant milk bag is not a surprise, she's a milking beast. But Margo, damn girl! Her bag seems almost twice as big as last years. I don't really know how much each producing since they are milked into the same container, but I'm guessing it's Margo at 2 quarts and Cupid at 1 gallon.

Since their babies are still on them, I'm not coming close to milking them dry. I think I'm milking them about 2/3 empty, so these girls are really producing! But you've got to leave the babies some breakfast!





So far, I've made yogurt, cottage cheese and butter. It was the first butter I've made since last time Cupid was in milk, since I just didn't have the volume to make it last year and still make cheese, but this year I expect to be using Sputnik the cream separator all the time!



The babies are going getting bigger everyday! It took about a week but the lambs and kids are finally starting to play together. I think it took so long because the lambs are justifiably terrified of getting near Cupid. I feel the same way some times!



In other news, the new girls, Maisie and Daisy are still not sheared-ugh! It is so hard to find someone to shear just a few sheep.

But they are learning all about the milk stand. Maisie figured it out on her second try! Give this girl some alfalfa pellets and she'll follow you anywhere! But, Daisy, she just doesn't get it. She's the more skittish of the two and just wants to run away from me. Unfortunately for her, in such a small space she's pretty easy to catch and I have lots of experience lifting sheep on to the milk stand. Either she'll figure it out eventually or I'll just get really strong.



I hope tomorrow goes as well as today did!

Cupid's Kids!

And so lambing and kidding season comes to an end, finally! Cupid was the final animal we were waiting on and lord, did we wait!

According to the kidding calculator I use, Cupid was expected to have her kids on April 19th. Instead she had them a full 10 days later. Last time we breed her she had her kids just about as early as possible. Apparently Randy and Cupid took their time this time, but at last we have a couple cute kids to show for it.

And this time we didn't sleep through it!

Last night Keith woke me up at about 12:30am with news that Cupid was kidding. He got out to the barn before I did, there he saw one kid already born and another on the way out. Clearly Cupid doesn't really need us there. I got out there with all our kidding supplies and started cleaning off the first kid while Cupid was tending to the second one that had just been born.



If you had asked me to put money on what Cupid was going to have this year, I would have said one giant boy. We really wanted her to have a girl to add to the De Young Dairy, but Cupid is a mean, spiteful bitch (that I love) I just knew she wouldn't have a girl because I wanted one so badly. Thankfully, I was wrong (as I always seem to be!).

Cupid did have a giant boy, but she also had a little girl!



And I mean giant! Picking them up, he clearly weighs almost double what she weighs and is so much taller than her. But she is still the star of the show.



I'm thinking I will name her Gilda. Last night I was leaning towards Bonnie, since she's such a pretty little thing, but seeing her again in the morning, with the little bit of gold around her eyes and hamming it up for the camera at less than 12 hours old, Gilda seems right.



Who knows how her coloring will change in a few months. I would have never thought Ruby would go from brown and black to reddish or that all white Snowy would end up half black after just a few months. I'm just so excited and relieved that she actually had a girl!

And yes, the boy is very cute, with his little black and white waddles and his sweet little face, but no, I haven't named him and I'm not sure that I will. I'll be looking for a new home for him as soon as we can wean him, so in about 8 weeks. Better not to get to attached.



Finally milking will start in 2 weeks and I can't wait. Milking Margo and Cupid once a day, I expect to get about gallon to a gallon and half a day. When we switch to twice a day, I think it will be more like 2 gallons, but only time will tell!

Time to go back to the barn and snuggle some babies!

Fresh out of milk

Today is such a weird day. Today is the last day I have to milk until May.

Since Cupid was in milk in July of 2014, the longest I've gone without milking was when we were in Thailand for 3 weeks. I milked Cupid right up until I started milking Frannie this season, then for a while was milking both Frannie and Margo. Now Margo is long dry and looking super pregnant and Frannie has been producing less and less, so I have been drying her off for the past few weeks. How do you dry up a goat in milk? For a week or so I milked her every other day, then every third day, then every fourth day, today was 5 days since I last milked her and this is how much milk I got:



She's not exactly the super producing beast that Cupid is, but she's been a good milker this season. Next time I milk her, I will hopefully be milking both Frannie and her little doe Ruby, who will of course be full grown by next fall. She's still kinda small, but true to her name, Ruby's coat is turning a little red!

Just like every morning I milk her, Frannie snuck through the door to the milk stall and jumped up on the stand, without any help from me. This is so much easier than having to lift Margo or drag Cupid!



As long as she has enough food, she is a super easy milker. This morning she may have gotten a little extra, since it was her last time and all...but still there is never enough!



And then there's all the prego or hopefully pregnant ladies. For me, the most important ones are Cupid and Margo...and Snowy. It's always hard to tell if the ladies have been successfully breed and Margo's wool coat doesn't make it any easier, but she is looking larger than usual. I really hope she's got a couple of goofy, big eared lambs in there! Cupid on the other hand doesn't look pregnant at all, but she hasn't gone back into heat for a long time, so I'm guessing she is. She is also always trying to beg for more food or sneak into the milk stall for chow, so with all the extra snacks I'm giving her, she better be breed! With Margo and Cupid in milk this season, I will hopefully be getting about 2 gallons a day! Think of all the cheese! Snowy is our wild card, I'll keep my eye on her, but I'm not expecting kids from her.




Then there's the rest of the sheep. They are looking huge! The earliest they could lamb is the end of March/beginning of April, so we've still got a few months, but good lord, they are wide. It seems like no amount of food is enough and they've even been kicking the goats out of the barn to eat all their hay. Every morning I go out to the barn, the sheep try so hard to convince me that Keith has not feed them earlier that morning. The big eyes, the sad bleeting...these ladies are just a bunch of con artists!




Life is going to be pretty quiet here until March or so. It's nice to have a bit of a break, but I can't wait until we have loads of kids and lambs running around the pasture again and a fridge full of fresh milk!

More advances in Milking and Barn management

Sometimes there are just so many things going on here, it's hard to pick just one thing to focus a blog post on. We've got harvesting going on right now and everything that goes with is, breeding sheep and goats very soon, slaughtering lambs even before that, plus the same old everyday chores like milking and keeping all the animals fed and watered.

And, I'm always looking ahead to the next season. As a prisoner of the moment, it's easy to say that fall feels like the busiest season, but really it's spring. Lambing, kidding, preping and and planting the garden and greenhouse, milking potentially more animals than the year before and things I'm probably forgetting because I don't want to think of them right now. I'm always trying to think of a way to make that part of life run a little smoother.

Since we will be breeding 4 ewes-1 more than last year and 2 goats-the same a last year (more on that later), I wanted to reconfigure our barn into more separate pens to accommodate all the moms and lambs/kids. Our barn was set up for 2 horses to each have a big stall, not a bunch of small livestock having a bunch of offspring each year, but now it is!

Before Keith's dad got here, I demolished the wall between the 2 stalls to get the job going, I just didn't see it going as far as it did!

This is the new outside of the barn. We enclosed the space where the white boards are to give me more space, and of course the new fence was also being completed during all of this so there is a sturdy new gate to lock the chickens in (most of the time)!



So, let go in the barn, shall we!

There are now 4 separate stalls in the barn that will be used for any number of things depending on what time of year it is. Right now I'm using 3 of them, one for each goat to have to herself at night, but that will change in April/May when Margo, Cupid and (probably not) Snowy will have kids/lambs and be in milk.




I was just hoping that while Keith's dad was here we could get the new smaller stalls built, but somehow that didn't take as long as I thought it would, so more projects were added!

A new milking room! A new milk stand! At the moment, this is the biggest change for me and I love it everyday!



This used to be the outside of the barn, now it's my double milk stall. The morning after it was built, I popped Frannie and Margo up there and milked them both at the same time! It took a few more mornings to work all the kinks out, but now all three of us are used to it! I can't wait until next year! Cupid will be putting out her usual gallon or 1 1/2 gallon of milk a day, then Margo should give more that this seasons 2 quarts because it will be her second time in milk. But didn't you say you're going to breed Snowy too-what about her? you ask...

oh Snowy. I had a talk to the vet about her. He said that since we exposed her last year and she didn't have kids, there's a good chance she can't have kids. Either they can do some expensive tests to find out or we can just put her back out with Randy again this year. So, we'll try to breed her again, expecting her not to actually reproduce. After that it's figuring out what to do with a milk goat that will never be in milk-I'm thinking of training her to be a pack goat, but we'll see.

And did you notice the kittens in the background? Those are sisters Blue and Brie. Hopefully they will be good mousers, but for now that are good milkers, helping lap up any milk that ends on the milk stall in the morning. Blue is patiently waiting on Margo's side of the stall for a taste!



And while Blue is waiting for milk, Brie is getting all the snuggles from Bear and BJ!




And I mentioned the fence! Our fence it finished! Since it's goat proof, I've got to imagine it's zombie proof too! I love how open it feels now, I can so easily see into the garden or the animal pens.



I love that Keith's buck antlers got remounted to our classy new gate! I'm trying to think of a name for what feels like my new garden...so far all I can think of are prison references-any other suggestions?

Summer Update

I've been meaning to write for a while, but somehow the days always get away from me.

Milking in the morning turns into making cheese, then taking care of garden stuff, then damn it, there's a baby goat/lamb/turkey caught in the fence again, then I milk again, then crap I forgot about dinner and I still have to do evening chores, then it's morning again and we start all over.

But today instead of the unseasonably hot, sunny weather we've been having, it's been thunderstorming for most of the day-I could use a quiet, cool day like this at least once a week!

This crazy hot weather hadn't been kind to the a lot of the garden. Snap peas, most of my greens, even the broccoli seem to just want to be done with growing already, while the green beans are going crazy and I have dozens of sunflowers that haven't bloomed yet but are taller than me!




It's the greenhouse that is exploding, and while we don't have any ripe tomatoes yet, they're not far. We're already getting both hot and sweet peppers, and I wouldn't be surprised it we had ripe tomatillos by next week! <

I can't believe I written since we brought Margo home. It took a while but milking her twice a day is just another part of the routine here. Granted part of that routine is lining Margo up next to the milk stand, then lifting her onto it-twice a day, every single day. One of these days she'll jump up there-or maybe she won't-either way her milk is amazing! I've made a crazy amount of cheese with it, but won't know for 6-12 months, when we finally cut into it, if it's any good! Well that's not competely true, we use her milk in the everyday stuff like yogurt and cottage cheese and those are great, but cutting into an aged wheel of homemade pecorino romanno is a lot more exciting!



Every morning is the same: I hear Margo yelling at me to milk her before my alarm clock goes off. And every day she follows me into the milk stall, knowing full well that she gets milked second. I always milk Frannie first so that I can put her back with her kids as soon as possible in the morning and Margo is usually content to have a little pre-milking snack while I take care of Frannie-but not always!





Oh, and Margo is looking a little different than last time you saw her-she got sheared! I got to help shear her, but thank goodness hired someone who actually knew what she was doing! It is a lot easier to milk her now that she is sheared!



Morning milking is my favorite time of day. There are so many animals in that little stall and they all so loud, and goofy and itching to get outside and start their day.





The duck, oh man the ducks. We had three straight weeks of rain in May and the back of the pasture flooded and it was so deep by the pond that we stopped putting the ducks up at night, I just couldn't get back there. Of course a predator took notice (don't know what) and killed a couple ducks and the surviving ducks seem to disappear into nooks and crannies in the pasture. Then 4 emerged, then another, then another. Then another, but trailing behind her were 6 ducklings! yay! She was cautious of me and I haven't been able to close her up at night to try to keep her and her brood safe, so it's not surprising that only one has survived.

Then today I saw our grey duck that I have seen maybe 3 times in the last month. She was swimming at the edge of the pond when I walked over and I was a bit surprised to see what she had with her!



Hopefully more from this bunch survive!

Time for evening chores!