Status Quo Days

December, January, and February pretty much make up the winter season on our northern hemisphere agrarian calendar. In our part of the world, that means more indoor time with quite a few lovely afternoons to work outside. Having switched my creative pursuits from writing to weaving, I feel productive in a different sort of way, and it's nice not to spend so much time at the computer.

So while there's not much new news, I do have tidbits to share, such as, I got our Christmas tree up!

I get a live potted tree every year and then plant it afterward. Except that for the past several years I've gotten rosemary bushes that never seem to make it. So I decided to try something else. This is an arborvitae. 

With gift giving days coming up, I've been busy weaving Christmas presents.

 

twill table runner

crackle table runner

woven red plaid scarf

woven gray plaid scarf

The links go to technical details.

Dan spends his morning and evening indoor time woodburning.

The panel is from the bottom of one of the doors he bought off craigslist for the greenhouse. The top was glass panels, which he cut off to use for the upper center of the greenhouse roof. 

In the department of needful things, Dan built something we've been talking about for years; a headgate for the task of trimming the buck's hooves. 

Our bucks are all pretty friendly, but no goat likes having their hooves trimmed and tends to be uncooperative. This time of year they are still in rut, which means they are rambunctious and harder to handle. The bait, of course, is feed, but we have to have only one at a time in the pen. When we're working on one buck, the others want to take advantage of his restrained situation by butting him (and us, if we're not careful.) It's all goofy play, but they are rough and their play is not something the humans want to be caught in.

With feeder. They're always more cooperative if there's something to eat!

The headgate works very well. I just wish I'd remembered my camera the last time we tackled the job.

The chickens are moulting and so not laying at the moment. But the ducks are obliging us with eggs.

These are lovely for Christmas baking.

As you can see, not much exciting going on. We're just enjoying our season of rest. Hopefully, you'll enjoy these parting shots of Riley. 

He loves to play in the water dish, which gets water everywhere.

I hope you all are staying warm and dry.

Status Quo Days © December 2023

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Homestead Turkey on the Menu

The addition of heritage breed turkeys on the homestead has given us a new source of eggs and meat. So many people told me how they prefer turkey to chicken eggs, that I was quite curious about them.

We first tried them as scrambled eggs. The biggest difference was in how creamy scrambled turkey eggs are. Delicious. I thought they would be excellent for French toast.

I make cinnamon bread in my bread maker just for French toast. It's 
50/50 homegrown whole wheat to white flour, with 2 tsp. cinnamon.

We weren't disappointed!

Of our three female turkeys, we planned to keep two and so Dan dispatched one. I asked him if he wanted me to freeze it for later or roast it now. He wanted to try it now. 

Our heritage breed chickens don't produce much breast meat, so we were pleasantly surprised at how much we got from our 10-month-old turkey hen. Though it wasn't Thanksgiving, I couldn't resist making a traditional Thanksgiving style meal!

Lots to be thankful for here: homegrown turkey and sweet potatoes,
with cornbread stuffing made from homegrown corn and sage.

It was tender and flavorful. Dressed weight was ten pounds. That's a generous amount for a company meal, and lots of meals for just the two of us.

Our two remaining hens both appear to be broody. Jenny B disappeared in the bushes a couple of weeks ago and Dan discovered that she had three eggs in a nest. We didn't like that she was brooding outside the chicken yard, but birds have minds of their own and the humans' opinion doesn't count. Unfortunately, something got them, leaving only scattered egg shells. She recently disappeared again, and I found her in the pasture hedgerow. We'll count eggs when she's on her daily visit to the poultry yard. 

Jenny J also started setting, but she chose the chicken coop. We feel like she's safer there, but there are still problems. For one, the chickens won't leave her alone. They continually peck her on the head, trying to make her to get up so they can lay their eggs in her nest. Why they want to lay their eggs in somebody else's nest is beyond me, but that's chickens for you. 

The other problem is that one of our Muscovys has gone broody too. That in itself isn't a problem, but when Jenny J gets off the nest to get food and water, Mom Muscovy steals her eggs! Seriously! The two nesting spots are near one another, and Mom rolls some of Jenny J's eggs over to her nest. Dan puts them back, but she isn't too happy about that. 

UPDATE: This morning, Mom Muscovy was out getting feed and water, so Dan went to check the eggs in her nest. Turns out Jenny J's nest was empty of eggs, so she had moved over to Mom's nest! Mom came in and was in a dither over that! For us humans, it was a "what did you think was gonna happen?" moment, but birds don't think like humans. 😂 Dan reckons there are at least five duck eggs in that nest, plus Jenny's three.

Mixed nests could create another problem because of the variance of incubation days. Muscovy incubation is 32 days, turkeys is 28 days, and chickens is 21. The concern is that the mama will leave the nest with the early hatchlings and abandon the eggs that need more time. We did have a Buff Orpington chicken raise some ducklings once, but I think it's better if each species raises their own babies, if there's a mother willing to do it. Keeping it all sorted out, however, is an ongoing chore. 

Never a dull moment.

Homestead Turkey on the Menu © May 2023

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

First Turkey Egg

In Around the Homestead post, I mentioned that our turkeys hadn't started laying yet. Today, only a couple of days later, I'm excited to announce. . . 

Our very first turkey egg.

Our turkey hens are ten months old, so it's about time!

From the left: duck egg, chicken egg, and turkey egg.

The next day, we got our second. We have three turkey hens, so I'm assuming they'll all be laying soon. After we get a few more, we'll give them a try.

That's it for today. Such a small thing to be news I want to share. As I give this draft a last minute check as a preview, I stop at the word I chose to describe this event - exciting. I wonder how many people would see this word as an actual description? Or see it as simply filler for the sentence. I wonder, in a world now filled with non-stop controversial events, how many people see something as ordinary as a bird laying a first egg as exciting? Maybe it would be exciting if it was the world's first cloned egg. Certainly, there are few like myself, who aren't obsessed with a fascination for technology and its hoped for potential to change the evolution of our planet. I wonder, why that doesn't interest me? Why is my way of listening to the news more interesting to me than theirs? Then I shrug and decide I don't mind being left behind. 

Turkeys are seasonal layers and this is the season for nesting. So, of course we're wondering if any of our hens will go broody. Time will tell.

First Turkey Egg © April 2023 by Leigh

at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Around the Homestead

April, from my cross-stitch calendar Christmas present. :)

April is a significant month on the homestead. Our last projected frost date is mid-month, so we can start planting the summer garden. It's the month when the trees wake up from their winter sleep and put out new leaves. Warmer days and nights also mean that April is the month of our last fire in the woodstove. If we're lucky, mild days will continue and it won't get too hot, too soon!

With shifting priorities, my winter projects are mostly set aside. My clean and purge project went fairly well, and I made a lot of progress. I still want to organize my boxes of fabrics and sewing supplies; they've needed to all be in one place for several years now.

Goats

Of the goats, Caroline's udder is much better. The congestion is mostly resolved, although that side still doesn't produce as much milk as the unaffected side. I still offer bottles to her little girls, even though they eat grass, grain, and hay now too.

Caroline's girls have names now. The black is Jessamine, the brown is Charlotte.

Usually it's Charlotte, the brown doeling, who wants it. They each have their own side when they nurse, and she's the one who ended up with the side that was congested, so she's getting less milk than her sister. Goat mamas typically let their kids nurse anywhere from between four to six months. 

All three bucklings are sold and will be heading to new homes soon. They turned out really well. 

Mosul and his mom, River.

Orion

Originally Buster Brown, but 'Jupiter' for his registration papers.

The little bucks need to go first because they get, well, bucky by the time they are two months old. I like to give them at least 10 weeks of mom's milk, and then off they go. It's so much more peaceful to wean them by sending them to new homes, than having to separate them from their mothers. I still have to make some decisions about the little does, but I have more time for them.

Eggs

Chickens and ducks are laying well, but we have yet to get egg one from the turkeys. The other day, Dan found this tiny duck egg.

Crepe myrtle

Does anyone remember the crepe myrtle Dan dug up and dragged down to the woods? It was blocking sun on the greenhouse and needed to be removed.

Picture from Greenhouse Progress: A Side Project, Actually
There are more pictures at the link, for anyone who is curious.

We didn't know if it would survive, but guess what.

I don't think the log sections will tolerate kids jumping on them, so
I may encircle this with more clump grass to hopefully secure them.

The leaves around the base of the trunk are crepe myrtle sprouts. The leaves growing out the top are honeysuckle vines that were embedded in the the soil. 

Crepe myrtle and honeysuckle growing

Considering most of the feeder roots were chopped off when it was dug up, this is a surprise. If it can establish it's root system downwards, it will probably do well. Time will tell.

Firewood

Firewood for next winter curing

Ongoing Fence Maintenance

Willow inspects Dan's new fence bracing. The
old wood corner post had pretty much rotted away.

Plus

I want to mention that Permies' Master Gardener Program is finally finished and available. It may seem a little pricey, but it's 35 hours worth of Helen Atthowe's extensive better-than-organic video instruction, including veganic pest and disease management, and soil microscopy. If you've ever wanted to do a program like this and have anything left in your gardening budget, this is an excellent investment!

Around the Homestead © April 2023

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Harvest Goodies

Garden work has transitioned from mulching and weeding to harvesting and preserving. That means the much anticipated seasonal firsts. These always taste the best! The links will take you to the recipes. 

July is blueberry month!

Fresh blueberries with peanut butter granola and kefir.

Blueberry pie! (A much anticipated season first).

The wheat is all threshed and now we're winnowing it.

Freshly ground homegrown whole wheat flour.

Our first sampling of this year's wheat was in fresh blueberry pancakes!

When we got a sunny day, I sun-baked two
loaves of fresh wheat bread in my solar oven.

This year's wheat seems to taste better than last year's. We definitely had more consistent growth with better formed heads and grains.

Of the tomatoes, the Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes ripened first.
They make a very fun snacking food while in the garden.

Scrambled eggs with cherry toms and goat cheese = delicious lunch!

Of "regular" tomatoes I planted two types: Eva Ball (round red ones) and Black Krim (purplish  beefsteak looking ones.)

Tomatoes: Black Krim in the front, Eva Ball in the back.

Both have excellent flavor. The Black Krim are perfect to slice for sandwiches and burgers. The Eva Ball, I believe, were developed for canning. I don't can whole tomatoes, but they will help make good pizza sauce. What tomatoes we don't eat (all kinds) go into the freezer for a future sauce making and canning session.

Of course, I had to make some of these too...

Fried green tomatoes

I don't deep fry anything, but just a thin layer of oil in the pan gets the desired crispiness.

Cucumbers followed shortly after the tomatoes.

Tomato and cucumber salad with feta cheese.

Cucumber sticks are excellent with my Ricotta Ranch dip.

Speaking of cheese, it's cheesemaking season too.

Stretching fresh homemade goat milk mozzarella.

I start by making our year's supply of mozzarella, which I grate and freeze. Then it's on to feta (stored in herbed olive oil) and halloumi (which I freeze), with an occasional farmers cheese to eat fresh or chèvre for cheesecake. The whey is made into ricotta for my ricotta ranch salad dressing (and dip) or gnocchi (which also freezes well.)

I've dug the first potatoes and picked the first green beans.

Oven roasted potatoes and green beans.

First okra picking.

Roasted okra, potatoes, and multiplier onions.

I've been doing a little dehydrating too. You may recall that last month I canned lambs quarter. It's still growing but in smaller amounts. So I've been drying the leaves to add to winter soups.

Lambs quarter finishing up the the dehydrator.

I still save my leftovers in glass peanut butter jars and freeze them for soup making when the weather turns cold. For each jar I add a pint of bone broth, and then the dried veggies make nice additions.

So July has been busy! I expect it will remain that way until September when the harvest finally slows down.

How about you? How has your July been so far?

Harvest Goodies © July 2021 by Leigh 

at http://www.5acresandadream.com