Sledding in the Straw

Afternoon chore time can take a while.  Once the kids have tackled their tasks, they have free time while waiting on me.  They just have to stay close to the barn or in the yard so they are within earshot.  Yesterday, Jeffrey and Sydney found a creative way to kill some time. 

I love how well they all play together!

Maggie's Milk: Smoothie Style

 Smoothies make for a quick breakfast.  In our busy household, that's essential!  Bryan can take one in a travel mug for his long drive to work.  I can pick it up and set it down as I help all of our littles get ready for the day.  They have protein.  They have nutrients.  And they taste good!

I love that smoothies are so versatile.  They are really easy to make and forgiving.  Here is what I did this morning:

Fill blender half-full of the wonderful yogurt I made in our dehydrator.  Add a scoop of homemade cottage cheese. Throw in a handful of spinach leaves.  Peel and add a banana.  Squeeze in a bit of honey.  Add a few ice cubes.  Put the lid on. 

Ice crush setting for a minute or two.

The spinach disintegrate, the ice gets smoothly blended, and everything melds together.  Pour into glasses.  Add a straw.  Breakfast in a rush!

What's your favorite green smoothie recipe for busy mornings? If you haven't tried one before, I highly recommend it.

Dried Plums Oops...and Fix!

When you plan on having a crying kid be your alarm, things might not work out quite right.  I left my plums dehydrating last night.  They needed to shut off about 1:30 or so.  Owen usually wakes up and beats on his gate about that time, and gets his second sleep med.  I figured everything would work out perfectly. 

Simon woke up first, so I stumbled around and looked at the clock.  It was 4 am.  That was the most sleep I had gotten in a couple months. For that I am thankful!  But, my plums didn't turn out so well.  They were definitely dried out. 

Hard, crisp and not much fun to eat.  Thankfully, there was a quick fix.  I put a handful in a sandwich bag just to test my theory.  I added a few drops of water, and sealed it up for about 10 minutes.  When I opened it up, the plums were rehydrated just a bit. 

This time they were softer, and much better to chew on.  The kids all approved.  So it was a win-win morning.  I got lots more sleep than normal.  And I saved the plums! 

Do you ever use your kids as alarm clocks?

Maggie's MIlk: Yogurt

We love yogurt!  The good yogurt is so expensive though. I don't buy it nearly as much a I would like. Last year when we were milking Epie, I experimented with making yogurt, and I made at least a gallon a week during most of the milking season. It was one of the things I missed most when we dried her up.

The process to making homemade yogurt was an interesting one for me. It took a few tries and lots of searching the internet before I could get consistent results.

 The crockpot method utterly failed for me.  I probably did something wrong...I think the crockpot got too hot or something.  I'm not really sure.  But, I decided not to try it again.  I didn't like cleaning the pot out! :)

I wanted to try the cooler method, but my cooler is small and would only hold a couple of pints. If I'm going to go through heating milk to make yogurt, I want to make a gallon at a time.

When I came across the heating pad method, I felt like a finally had a winner.  I had all of the required pieces of equipment.  I could make a gallon at a time.  I tried it, and it worked!  The only downside...my heating pad automatically shuts off after an hour or so. 

Because of this safety feature, I had to constantly babysit my yogurt during the seven hours it takes to incubate.  It was a little annoying, but since it resulted in good yogurt, I decided it was worth it.  However, with everything going on in life, sometimes the yogurt would cool down too much during this process and I'd get a really runny batch. But since the crockpot and cooler didn't work for me, I figured this was as good as it could get.

But today when I was preparing more plums to be dehydrated, I realized that our Excalibur dehydrate had a yogurt feature. I don't know why I hadn't noticed it before.  I did some measuring and I think I can fit four quart jars in there when I take all the trays out.I did some quick searching on Google, and found a great tutorial.

I'm so excited to give that a try with tonight's milking.  I'll let you know how Maggie yogurt turns out. 


Have you ever made yogurt?  What method did you use?

Tethering the Milk Cows

I first heard about tethering cows while reading a book by Joel Salatin on sustainable farming. Honestly, it kind of shocked me.  I couldn't imagine tying a cow out.  They were just so big.  But, I kept thinking about it. 

I looked at all the grass that was going to waste around the barn, the outbuildings and next to the road.  Why in the world was I throwing so much hay to the cows when there was still green grass in all those places?  Oh, I know!  It was because our field had been grazed and grazed and was dead. 

We decided to try tethering out, and it really worked!  I used an old washtub that we found in the basement for water.  I pounded a simple T-post into the ground, used a long rope with a slip knot on one end and a solid knot on the other.  I slipped the slip knot around  my cow's neck, and the solid knot over the post. 

The cow can typically graze all of the area that she can reach on the rope in a full day.  Then, I just bring the cow back to the barn at the end of the day.  I move the post and water, and start the next day with more fresh grass for munching. 

I try to keep shade in mind as well.  If I have the post in an area with full sun, I cut the tethering session short and do it in early morning and evening hours only.  This keeps my cows from overheating.

I also only tether the cows out if I am home.  If I have to leave, I put the cows away, or make sure my parents (who live across the street) are home and can keep an eye on my girls. I've never had a tangling problem, but have read enough about them online that it makes me cautious. 

While this isn't the best picture of my cow's face, you can see the tethering process clearly.  The white rope is slipped over Epie's neck on one end and the T-post on the other.  She is able to munch grass that is still growing up around the barn. 

The thought of getting the cows to the post and back gave me some concern at first.  It still does honestly.  Hence the reason I only tether my polled Dexter milk cows and not our huge Holstein steers (our meat cows) with horns.

Have you ever tried tethering a cow or other farm animal? I'd love to hear about your experiences.

My Milk Parlor: Adaptations for a Smaller Cow

Not too many homesteaders who dream of having a family cow will be blessed with a beautiful milk parlor.  Back in the late 70s and early 80s, my parents ran a commercial dairy.  Then they found out that my dad was allergic to cow dander and hay, and shut it down.  The parlor has been sitting empty all these years, just yearning for another cow to grace its presence.

Then I decided that the farm needed some milk cows again!  Definitely didn't want to go the commercial dairy route.  I wanted raw milk for home consumption.  Thankfully the parlor works great for that--even after 20 years of no use or care.

Now when I go out to milk in the morning, I have a wonderful concrete stanchion (actually three of them!) for the cows.  I am able to sit at a stool and have the girls at a comfortable height.  This has been really important with Epie, our short-legged Dexter.

Here is a picture of the parlor after I milked this morning:

A hose, good water pressure and a few minutes later, I have it all cleaned up again.

You may be wondering why in the world I have a tire tied up to the stanchion.  Did you notice it?  Well, these stanchions were built for Holstein milk cows.  I have Dexters, which are quite a bit smaller.  The tire forces the cow over towards my side, and keeps me from having to reach way in to reach.  My Grandpa Bill came up with that idea, and I'm really grateful for it!

The 2X4 tied under the metal is also to help with size.  I was worried that Epie might be able to escape.  I didn't want her to fall off the raised platform.  So we tied up a board.  It also makes a good place to rest my tired head while I'm doing the morning milking.

A resized stanchion with a tire, bailing twine and an old board.  I love it!  We're all for inexpensive fixes around here.  Especially if they reuse something.  

What are some creative, inexpensive solutions you've rigged up?

Frozen Maggie Milk aka Ice Cream!

One of our favorite ways to enjoy our fresh, raw milk.  Add a little organic sugar, vanilla extract, and stir.  Then pour into the neat ice cream maker and let it rip.  (Thanks Aunt Joanne and Uncle Dan!!) Really easy, really good, and really a great way to end dinner.