Oat Bucket Farm Website
Living on the far side of normal on less than an acre in a tiny town.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Oh Yum, Cajeta!
We made Cajeta for the first time today. Cajeta is a Mexican caramel sauce, made from goat milk and oh my, it is so wonderfully yummy! It was easier to make than we expected. Next we are going to tackle cheese. Now, the caramel sauce is fattening enough, but we couldn't leave it at that. Oh no. We had to put it over cheesecake swirl brownies.
Oat Bucket Farm Website
Oat Bucket Farm Website
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Baby asparagus and Baby Chickens!
After wanting for many years, we finally got an asparagus bed put in. I am really not sure what took us so long, but I am glad its finally done. And we already have baby asparagus popping up!
And, we brought in twelve new baby chickens this year! Its been a couple of years since we had any chicks here. They sure are cute buggers. We have a mix of Barred Rocks, Brown Leghorns, and Black Australorp. I really wanted some Production Reds and White Rocks as well, but the farm store was out of them.
My youngest loved getting to hold the babies when they first came home.
We fixed up an old metal rabbit hutch for them. Its ugly I know, but we are going to paint it. We actually got it almost six years ago. It was on freecycle and we used a full sized van to pick it up. It is incredibly heavy and six feet long. We barely got it wedged in the side door. We tied the side door shut and drove an hour home the back way with it hanging partially out the side door,lol. Hey it worked, its here. It has house rabbits and injured adult chickens in the past. For the last couple of years it has house nothing and we almost got rid of it earlier in the year. But we have learned from past experiences that you never get rid of animal related stuff because the minute you do, you will need it. So instead, we moved it across the yard so that its next to the garage, took out the wire floor in the enclosed half, put in a wood floor, put in a heat lamp (the cord runs through the window into the garage) and installed baby chickens.
This big metal piece slides out so that when they are bigger (or if it ever gets around to actually warming up) they can go out into the wire side too.
The babies installed in their new home. Well their new home until they are bigger and can join the older ladies in the pen.
Oat Bucket Farm Website
And, we brought in twelve new baby chickens this year! Its been a couple of years since we had any chicks here. They sure are cute buggers. We have a mix of Barred Rocks, Brown Leghorns, and Black Australorp. I really wanted some Production Reds and White Rocks as well, but the farm store was out of them.
My youngest loved getting to hold the babies when they first came home.
We fixed up an old metal rabbit hutch for them. Its ugly I know, but we are going to paint it. We actually got it almost six years ago. It was on freecycle and we used a full sized van to pick it up. It is incredibly heavy and six feet long. We barely got it wedged in the side door. We tied the side door shut and drove an hour home the back way with it hanging partially out the side door,lol. Hey it worked, its here. It has house rabbits and injured adult chickens in the past. For the last couple of years it has house nothing and we almost got rid of it earlier in the year. But we have learned from past experiences that you never get rid of animal related stuff because the minute you do, you will need it. So instead, we moved it across the yard so that its next to the garage, took out the wire floor in the enclosed half, put in a wood floor, put in a heat lamp (the cord runs through the window into the garage) and installed baby chickens.
This big metal piece slides out so that when they are bigger (or if it ever gets around to actually warming up) they can go out into the wire side too.
The babies installed in their new home. Well their new home until they are bigger and can join the older ladies in the pen.
Oat Bucket Farm Website
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Dandelion Jelly
We made the first jars of Dandelion Jelly this year. People look at us like we are crazy when we tell them we make jelly out of Dandelions but then most people spend all of their time trying to kill them rather than seeing them as the food they are. The blooms can be made into jelly, the leaves eaten like salad greens, and their roots can be roasted to make a substitute for coffee. You can even make Dandelion wine. Such a humble little plant and it can be so many things. But then, many of the plants we often label as weeds and do our darndest to kill can be used either as food or medicine. But people have strayed so far from our natural selves that we work to kill off natural growing food and medicine in favor of smooth,completely green lawns that make lawnmower tracks so perfectly that it looks like they have been stenciled on.
The Dandelions in my yard are blooming beautifully, their yellow blooms like little suns beaming up amongst the clover and the little purple flowers that grow wild. And we make jelly from them.
(I wanted to have a few Dandelion blooms in this pic but the Dandelions are lay abouts and apparently they prefer to sleep in since I couldn't find a single one awake and open when I went to take this pic this morning)
Dandelion Jelly
1 quart packed yellow Dandelion blossoms (take off all of the stems)
1 quart water
1 3/4 oz package pectin
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 1/2 cups sugar
4 to 5 drops yellow food coloring
Boil the flowers in water for three minutes. Then strain through a jelly strainer, keeping the juice and throwing the spent blossoms to the chickens(or compost pile if you don't have chickens). Makes 3 cups of juice or there abouts. Add pectin and lemon juice and bring to a rolling boil. Add sugar and food coloring. Bring to a fast boil and boil for 2 minutes. Pour into clean pint sized jars. Place heated lids and rings on jars and let sit to seal and set up. Makes 4 to 6 half pint jars.
Oat Bucket Farm Website
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Long Time No Blog!
With the busy schedule that March Madness (aka kidding season) brought, I realized that I have failed to blog.
So much has happened! Each of our three does had a single kid. Tally had a ten pound chocolate buckling who is already in his new home where he is the Jr herdsire. Hershey gave us a beautiful, chocolate and white doeling. And Lacey, our sweet,wonderful grade LaMancha doe gave us a solid milk chocolate doeling. Lacey, unfortunately was CAE positive and became symptomatic. She was in so much pain that we had to put her down. It was one of the hardest things we have had to do. We loved her so much. But we have her daughter who was pulled the minute she born into this world since she never received so much as s drop of milk from Lacey, she will be free of the CAE virus. We had to say goodbye to our beloved Lacey, but we have her beautiful daughter to remember her by.
We also brought in a new Jr herdsire and a new doeling!
Without further ado, here is our babies!All registered names are of course pending approval by the ADGA.
Oat Bucket Farm Website
So much has happened! Each of our three does had a single kid. Tally had a ten pound chocolate buckling who is already in his new home where he is the Jr herdsire. Hershey gave us a beautiful, chocolate and white doeling. And Lacey, our sweet,wonderful grade LaMancha doe gave us a solid milk chocolate doeling. Lacey, unfortunately was CAE positive and became symptomatic. She was in so much pain that we had to put her down. It was one of the hardest things we have had to do. We loved her so much. But we have her daughter who was pulled the minute she born into this world since she never received so much as s drop of milk from Lacey, she will be free of the CAE virus. We had to say goodbye to our beloved Lacey, but we have her beautiful daughter to remember her by.
We also brought in a new Jr herdsire and a new doeling!
Without further ado, here is our babies!All registered names are of course pending approval by the ADGA.
This first pic is our new Jr herdsire, Crossroads End's Diamond Rio in the lead, with Crossroads End's Lady Antebellem (the black and white one) and Oat Bucket Farm Lacey's Jewel both following him.
Crossroads End's Lady Antebellem (Bella for short)
Oat Bucket Farm Almond Joy (Joy) in the forefront with Oat Bucket Farm Lacey's Jewel (Jewels) in the background.
Crossroads End's Diamond Rio (Rio)
Bella and Joy
Bella says, "I am just too cute for words!"
Joy says, "I am just as cute."
Jewels says, "I'm cute too and I have jewels (wattles) to boot!"
Oat Bucket Farm Website
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Green!
There is green outside! Okay, so I know that it isn't technically spring yet. In fact we are looking at getting a bit of snow (I am really hoping the weather people are wrong about this) by the end of the week. But, there is green outside. The stems of the rose bushes are turning green, the strawberry plants are starting to turn green,little clover like plants are starting to spring up and there is a faint tint of green in the yard if you look closely.
The humidity is also back. For the past two days there has been a humid south breeze. Oh it was lovely! My parched sinuses were in heaven. It really has been a beautiful couple of days.
I even found some sort of dead flying insect in the goats' water bucket yesterday! Okay I know, getting excited about the return of bugs seems strange, but I am just so ready for spring.
We bought tons of seeds last week and in a couple of more weeks we will be tilling and planting the cold weather plants. I can't wait! We have so many garden plans this year, including reworking an old plot and creating a whole new one. Gearing up for garden season is almost as exciting as gearing up for kidding season which begins next week with Tally.
The dragging days of winter are almost over. Soon they will be replaced with a frenzy of activity. Green things will be growing, gardens will be getting put in,baby goats will be bouncing around and baby chickens will be cheeping. I love spring.
Oat Bucket Farm Website
The humidity is also back. For the past two days there has been a humid south breeze. Oh it was lovely! My parched sinuses were in heaven. It really has been a beautiful couple of days.
I even found some sort of dead flying insect in the goats' water bucket yesterday! Okay I know, getting excited about the return of bugs seems strange, but I am just so ready for spring.
We bought tons of seeds last week and in a couple of more weeks we will be tilling and planting the cold weather plants. I can't wait! We have so many garden plans this year, including reworking an old plot and creating a whole new one. Gearing up for garden season is almost as exciting as gearing up for kidding season which begins next week with Tally.
The dragging days of winter are almost over. Soon they will be replaced with a frenzy of activity. Green things will be growing, gardens will be getting put in,baby goats will be bouncing around and baby chickens will be cheeping. I love spring.
Oat Bucket Farm Website
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Through a Child's eyes
Having children allows me to see things through the eyes of a child. It is a wonderful thing that ensures I never fail to see the magic in the world. Whether its magnificent shapes in the clouds, the intricate colors on a bug, or in tonight's case, the simple wonder of a shower.
This evening my youngest, who is three, discovered the novelty of a shower. Baths are fun, lots of splashing and carrying on, but tonight, there was a new element. Tonight the shower was on. And oh the simple joy of water falling from somewhere up near the ceiling. I let him plug up the tub and he gleefully sloshed back and forth the length of the tub, in and out of that wonderful glittering fall of water. The pure happiness that such a thing inspired was magical and I thoroughly enjoyed being yet again allowed to see the world through the eyes of a child, where it was so much more than a simple shower and a couple of inches or so of water.
After he was clean and had played and played and laughed and tried to catch drops in his mouth, he climbed out. I wrapped a towel around him and we stood in the moist warmth of the bathroom together to watch the grand finale of bath/shower time...the draining of the water from the tub. My son never ceases to be amazed that the drain can drink so much water. He stood there, leaned slightly of the edge of the tub, damp toes curled into the plush rug next to the tub and watched as it gurgled and slurped and with a final gulp, the drain yet again drank every drop of water in the tub. To which my son happily squealed, "He dank it all!"
The world would be better place if adults could find such magic and happiness in such simple things.
Oat Bucket Farm Website
This evening my youngest, who is three, discovered the novelty of a shower. Baths are fun, lots of splashing and carrying on, but tonight, there was a new element. Tonight the shower was on. And oh the simple joy of water falling from somewhere up near the ceiling. I let him plug up the tub and he gleefully sloshed back and forth the length of the tub, in and out of that wonderful glittering fall of water. The pure happiness that such a thing inspired was magical and I thoroughly enjoyed being yet again allowed to see the world through the eyes of a child, where it was so much more than a simple shower and a couple of inches or so of water.
After he was clean and had played and played and laughed and tried to catch drops in his mouth, he climbed out. I wrapped a towel around him and we stood in the moist warmth of the bathroom together to watch the grand finale of bath/shower time...the draining of the water from the tub. My son never ceases to be amazed that the drain can drink so much water. He stood there, leaned slightly of the edge of the tub, damp toes curled into the plush rug next to the tub and watched as it gurgled and slurped and with a final gulp, the drain yet again drank every drop of water in the tub. To which my son happily squealed, "He dank it all!"
The world would be better place if adults could find such magic and happiness in such simple things.
Oat Bucket Farm Website
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Women...Who Stare At Goats
Kidding begins here in three weeks (give or take a few days). As the time draws closer we find ourselves staring at the goats.
Out doing chores this morning and while the goats were eating we stared at the does' bellies. Watching.Waiting. And then we saw it. A bump here, a roll there. More bumps and rolls as the baby goats paddled around inside their mommas bellies. We could see larger rolls and then the smaller bumps of knees and little hooves. Squeeeeee! So cute.
But of course, the bellies aren't all we stare at. We are checking hoo-haas for any signs of discharge, we are looking at growing udders and feeling them to see how they are progressing. Our neighbors probably think we are crazy. But this is a farming community with lots of cows getting ready to calve, so maybe they don't.
And while we watch, we worry. In fact we experience a great deal of anxiety. What if there are several babies and they are all tangled? What if there is only one really big baby that will be hard to get out? What if ... ?
This is why Women Who Stare At Goats have no finger nails and thinning hair. We chew our nails down to a nub and we pull our hair out in a combination of anxiety and frustration when our does stand around as their due date approaches (and sometimes passes) and they happily chew their cud while we wake at every little sound on the baby monitor-the other half of which is in the barn- and make multiple treks to the barn throughout the night to check on them. Which inevitably ensures that they will kid in the afternoon while we are already out there, completely rendering the late night trips from our warm bed to the cold barn totally useless.
Despite all of this, we will go through this again next spring, and the one after that, and the one after that. And each year we will once again join the ranks of Women...Who Stare At Goats.
Oat Bucket Farm Website
Out doing chores this morning and while the goats were eating we stared at the does' bellies. Watching.Waiting. And then we saw it. A bump here, a roll there. More bumps and rolls as the baby goats paddled around inside their mommas bellies. We could see larger rolls and then the smaller bumps of knees and little hooves. Squeeeeee! So cute.
But of course, the bellies aren't all we stare at. We are checking hoo-haas for any signs of discharge, we are looking at growing udders and feeling them to see how they are progressing. Our neighbors probably think we are crazy. But this is a farming community with lots of cows getting ready to calve, so maybe they don't.
And while we watch, we worry. In fact we experience a great deal of anxiety. What if there are several babies and they are all tangled? What if there is only one really big baby that will be hard to get out? What if ... ?
This is why Women Who Stare At Goats have no finger nails and thinning hair. We chew our nails down to a nub and we pull our hair out in a combination of anxiety and frustration when our does stand around as their due date approaches (and sometimes passes) and they happily chew their cud while we wake at every little sound on the baby monitor-the other half of which is in the barn- and make multiple treks to the barn throughout the night to check on them. Which inevitably ensures that they will kid in the afternoon while we are already out there, completely rendering the late night trips from our warm bed to the cold barn totally useless.
Despite all of this, we will go through this again next spring, and the one after that, and the one after that. And each year we will once again join the ranks of Women...Who Stare At Goats.
Oat Bucket Farm Website
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