Homestead Update
It's been a great week here on the farm. I'm milking again! Not one, but two does! Our babies are old enough that we can separate the babies from the mamas overnight, and then claim some milk for ourselves every morning. We have averaged about a 1/2 gallon of milk each morning over the last 5 days or so. The kids are getting used to the goat milk all over again, and now we have enough that they can have more than just one cup at breakfast. We also have the eggs to go along with the milk, so we are doing great! Last night I made the kids egg nog, which is delicious, even though it is not December. I'd love to try my hand at making some cheese, but that is just one of a number of things on my List.
Thanks to everyone who prayed for our new little goat mother, Rose. She seems to have recovered. We believe she broke one of her legs. Once I realized that is what had happened, I put a splint on it, and in a few days it was straightened out and she was able to put a little bit of weight on it. Now she's walking around just fine, and her baby Sunflower is growing fast!
I am trying some square-foot gardening this spring. I'm not sure how it will turn out, but we're trying! I started some seedlings about a month ago, but they did not do so well. So far, we have two 4x4 boxes planted with spring stuff - lettuce, spinach, onions, herbs, carrots, etc.
In the kitchen, I've been experimenting with coconut flour. It's just dried coconut ground up. I've been avoiding wheat in my diet over the last few months, and I have figured out how to make some pretty good muffins with the coconut flour. There isn't much information out there about this stuff, so this has been pretty much just "winging it". You can also use it for fried chicken, I have found out. But it didn't work so well for gravy. Maybe I just need to experiment more with that. I have read that you can use it to make pancakes too, but I haven't tried that yet. The big trick about using coconut flour is that you need plenty of eggs. I use two eggs for every 1/4 cup coconut flour.
Another thing we tried for the first time this week is kombucha. It is a fermented drink that tastes a lot like soda. It's sweet, but it has a slight vinegary flavor to it also. It is supposed to be very good for detoxifying. But I am skeptical about it. You use regular sweetened (with white sugar) tea, and then put a little pancake-y looking culture in it, and let it set out for around 10 days. The culture "eats" the sugar and ferments the tea. It actually ends up somewhat carbonated and tastes really good. Two out of three of my kids loved it. But it is hard to understand how something like that started with white sugar could actually be good for you. But who knows, maybe it's true!
Congratulations to my baby brother, who just officially got engaged! We are all so excited about this big news, and can't wait for the wedding. My kids are already talking about it. They are thrilled. Especially to be getting such a great new aunt!
Thanks to everyone who prayed for our new little goat mother, Rose. She seems to have recovered. We believe she broke one of her legs. Once I realized that is what had happened, I put a splint on it, and in a few days it was straightened out and she was able to put a little bit of weight on it. Now she's walking around just fine, and her baby Sunflower is growing fast!
I am trying some square-foot gardening this spring. I'm not sure how it will turn out, but we're trying! I started some seedlings about a month ago, but they did not do so well. So far, we have two 4x4 boxes planted with spring stuff - lettuce, spinach, onions, herbs, carrots, etc.
In the kitchen, I've been experimenting with coconut flour. It's just dried coconut ground up. I've been avoiding wheat in my diet over the last few months, and I have figured out how to make some pretty good muffins with the coconut flour. There isn't much information out there about this stuff, so this has been pretty much just "winging it". You can also use it for fried chicken, I have found out. But it didn't work so well for gravy. Maybe I just need to experiment more with that. I have read that you can use it to make pancakes too, but I haven't tried that yet. The big trick about using coconut flour is that you need plenty of eggs. I use two eggs for every 1/4 cup coconut flour.
Another thing we tried for the first time this week is kombucha. It is a fermented drink that tastes a lot like soda. It's sweet, but it has a slight vinegary flavor to it also. It is supposed to be very good for detoxifying. But I am skeptical about it. You use regular sweetened (with white sugar) tea, and then put a little pancake-y looking culture in it, and let it set out for around 10 days. The culture "eats" the sugar and ferments the tea. It actually ends up somewhat carbonated and tastes really good. Two out of three of my kids loved it. But it is hard to understand how something like that started with white sugar could actually be good for you. But who knows, maybe it's true!
Congratulations to my baby brother, who just officially got engaged! We are all so excited about this big news, and can't wait for the wedding. My kids are already talking about it. They are thrilled. Especially to be getting such a great new aunt!
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