Tuesday morning barn report

Still waiting on 4 does to kid.  Everyone went out today in the new goat pen (where last year’s pig pasture was) and are happily eating browse.  I put the new babies in together to bond and will return their mother’s to them late morning.  POG and Dreamer went out in a small pen to graze.  Farm work under control and the barn yard looks good.  Chicken house muck out is the next project to tackle.

Got my first zuchini out of the garden yesterday (which means there are probably six there today!).  Made a scrambled egg, onion, cheese and zucchini mixture for breakfast.  Mmmmm.  Lots to harvest today and lots of weeding.  Wineberries and blueberries are calling to me too.

Today’s lunch

I had lunch with a dear friend today and was able to serve a salad with mixed lettuce, spinach, arugla and radishes from my garden.  First harvest!  We also had sandwiches with roasted chicken slices from my cornish X and chevre from my goats milk.  A real local meal!  It was delicious and the company was special.

Saturday morning barn report

This morning while I was sipping my coffee and waking up, I brainstormed and made a running list of all the farm chores swirling in my mind to get started on this spring or finish from this winter (or maybe last year…ha!).  Later this afternoon, I hope to review it with a close friend who is visiting and transfer it to my to do list here as well as my datebook.

This brainstorming had me lingering in bed so Sam and I walked the property at around 7 am.  I have been picking deer ticks off all morning so I will need to put Frontline on the dogs and cats this weekend.  Grass is getting greener and the daffodils are budding up.  It’s been a partly cloudy partly sunny day so far with temperatures in the fifties.

Out to the barn at almost 8 am.  Two gallons and a little more from the goats.  Two ducks eggs.  And two blue chicken eggs stashed in the barn.  The goats were very happy to get outside after being kept in yesterday.  It was even mild enough to put the ducklings outside in their own shelter and pen.  The big Indian Runners immediately came over to say hi to their offspring.  Ducks are so social!

I immediatley cultured this morning’s milk  for chevre and set it in the overn until tomorrow morning.  I drained the drying feta and put one in brine to age for four weeks.  The other batch needs one more day to harden.  I have several batches of feta ready in the root cellar.

My friend Vinnie who is also my small animal vet and sometimes large animal vet reported that Pipsqueak renamed Sala is very happy with her chickens.  Ironically once I rehome one rooster, I get offered two more!  I have been offered a four month house raised silkie rooster who needs a home and he comes with a four month old pullet.  I am concerned that these two spoiled rotten chickens (washed and dryed with a hair dryer weekly?) will be shocked at becoming free range chickens on my farm and not do well.  The other rooster I have been offered is a nasty New Hampshire red who has been confined and is beating up his hens to bloody pulps.  He may adjust to free range living but if he causes any problems, right into the freezer!   His owner is going to try freecycle first and if that is unsuccessful, drop him off here.

Wednesday morning barn report

Spring is definitely here!  A loud chorus of peepers this morning, purple crocuses here and there, grass turning green.  

During the last week, I eliminated the evening milking which has slightly increased the amount in the morning and decreased the total overall.  It has certainly made evening chores easier.  Three gallons of milk this morning that I immediately started as feta at 730 am.  It is now 1030 am and I am about to drain it and let it hang in the root cellar.  Tomorrow I will cut it up and salt it and let it harden for two or three days and then into a brine for four weeks.  It will be sufficiently aged during the first week in May.  I have a batch to brine next and a batch to salt and cut up.  More on feta later, especially the taste testers reports.

Three duck eggs and two chicken eggs.  Ducklings doing well in barn stall.  Chicks in basement doing well (more on the arrival of my McMurry’s order later.)

Lots of farm work ahead.  Need to update my to do list.

Aged and brined feta

Aged and brined feta

Originally uploaded by edgwickfarm

My very first batch of feta has aged for four weeks and I have removed it from the brine and divided it up for friends to sample. It tasted pungent but oversalted to me. It will be interesting to see what the taste testers will think.

Sunday barn report

More signs of spring…This morning when I was walking Sam, I heard a very strange bird noise and stopped to listen more closely.  It wasn’t a bird but frogs croaking…spring peepers have come out of hibernation!

Three gallons of milk this morning that I made right into feta.  Four duck eggs, five chicken eggs.  Three broody hens still sitting on duck eggs, no new hatchings this last week or weekend.

Emma asked for french toast for her birthday breakfast.  The ducks eggs and goat milk made a nice crispy egg coating and the kids ate all that was on the table.  Bacon from our own pig and maple syrup from our own trees.  Hmmm.

Delilah does better in the barn each day.  She does not have the prey instinct towards the chickens and barn cat that Sam has.  She gently sniffed Sweetie this morning and Sweetie sniffed her back.  The goats are still balking around her but she just sits and watches  When Daniel walked her this afternoon with her walkng free with a drag line, she explored the electric fence and got her first shock.  Daniel said she yelped and bolted back to the house as fast as she could.  Poor thing!

At a friend’s house, I gathered two truckloads of white pine boughs, broken off in the last ice storm.  The goats were delighted!  The Christmas trees I gathered in January are dried up carcasses and my last gathering of pine boughs are stripped bare and look like white bones in the pasture.

Tomorrow on St. Patrick’s Day I will plant peas as I traditionally do.  The ground is a little damp but we will see what germinates.

When I return from my Florida vacation, things will really start to take off on the farm.  The chick order comes the week of March 31st.  I will need to prep the garden and start the early spring vegetables.  There is lots of spring clean-up needed to be done, including mucking out the barn.  I will have to update my to do list!

Finished minestrone

Finished minestrone

Originally uploaded by edgwickfarm

Blueberry pie ready for oven

Blueberry pie ready for oven

Originally uploaded by edgwickfarm

Bread before rising

Bread before risingOriginally uploaded by edgwickfarm

Daniel came home at 2:30 pm and I worked in the kitchen while he did homework. I made half whole wheat, half white bread dough which is rising well behind the woodstove. I assembled a blueberry pie using frozen blueberries Emma and I had picked in Black Rock Forest this summer. I cooked up some bowties and added them and some more chicken broth and spices to the minestrone soup. The pie is almost ready to come out of the oven and the dough is almost ready to be punched down for a second rising.

Minestrone soup

Minestrone soup

Originally uploaded by edgwickfarm

This morning I made minestrone soup. Later, I will add cooked pasta. I used my own garden beans, chard, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, venison and pork.  If I get ambitious or need distraction, I will bake bread or rolls and maybe a blueberry pie.  But first I have to put my lawyer hat on and do some lawyer tasks!