Devonviolet Acres

[babsbag]

@animalmom is correct about the rennet, don't try the junket. I would buy liquid rennet if you are going to have to get some more.

Good job with the cheese. Now you need to make Chevre, it is easier. Heat the milk to 86° (or whatever the culture says), add the culture, stir and come back in 12-24 hours. Pour it into cheese cloth and hang. Easy peasy. My favorite culture is from New England Cheese company and it is called Fromagina; I like their Fromage Blanc too, they are both milder than their Chevre. Then you can move on to making Feta.

Mozzarella is not my favorite when made from goat milk, it can get rubbery. I have done the 30 minute one and the longer version and both of them can use some extra cream in them. That is why I suggested maybe actually adding some extra cream. IMO the cheese is best when eaten warm or cooking with it.

 

[Devonviolet]

OUCH -- on the finger. Comfrey does work very well for most such injuries. I put some leaves into olive oil, close the canning jar & set it in the hot sun for several days, shake it each day. Soon you have an ointment. It works.

I have a half gallon jar of dried Comfrey, that I collected from a friend's long row, of Comfrey, in PA. She wasn't using it anymore, so she let me cut as much as I wanted. And I cut bushel basketsful!

I made this Comfrey oil, about six months ago, using the dried Comfrey. The plan was to make an ointment, but it never got done. I still want to do that. But, will probably eventually make lotion.

Last Fall, I found a seller on eBay, who was selling Comfrey roots. I've read that goats love Comfrey, so I bought quite a few roots & started them in red plastic drink cups. They are doing well, and I plan to plant them around the property. So we will have lots!

ETA: Thanks for everyone's concern, about my little finger. It was swollen & bruised that night. The next morning, it was kinda stiff. But, I had to take the police off, so I could milk goats.

The swelling is gone & I can bend it all the way. I really think my Comfrey oil helped it heal a lot faster!

Oh, I feel your joy with the goat cheese..... my experience was the same, complete euphoria.

Yes, euphoria is a good word! Yesterday I used 5 pints, of cream, that we made with our new cream separator, to make 2 pounds of butter! M-m-m! I had it on whole grain toast, for breakfast this morning. It was YUMMY!

 

[Devonviolet]

The rennet used for junket is not the same as used for cheese and it will not set... so I have read.

Thanks for the warning, @animalmom! I won't ever use Junket in a pinch.

I actually found a pkg of rennet tablets, in the freezer, between 2 pkgs of culture. Now, I need to wait until we make some more cream, as @babsbag saya Mozzarella is better with add

Mozzarella is not my favorite when made from goat milk, it can get rubbery. I have done the 30 minute one and the longer version and both of them can use some extra cream in them.

The instructions for the liquid say it is double strength & you should use half of what the recipe calls for. I wonder if I were to use a little less than what the recipe calls for, if it wouldn't get less rubbery???

I'm getting ready to place another order, with New England Cheese Co., and will be buying a 1 oz. Bottle of the liquid vegetable based rennet, so I can compare using tablets vs. Double strength (halved) liquid.

 

[Devonviolet]

Well, another successful day on Devonviolet acres!

We've had so much rain lately, we haven't gotten out & mowed the side green strip or back pasture. In some places, the weeds were 5 feet tall! I made short order (pun intended) of those 5 foot weeds, by going one way, allowing the discharge shoot push them over. And then came back the other way, catching the tops, that were laying on the ground. Worked like a dream

DH has mowed the front & side yards, but not the back yard or the other two.

He can use the riding mower, but it tends to jar his body too much & he has a lot of aches & pains for several days afterwards.

So, he "lets" me use the riding mower & he goes around trees & stumps, etc., with the push mower.

Actually I really like using the riding mower. Its kinda a challenge, as each time I do it, I try to go a little bit further into the woods. This time I cleared a 10' square patch, that I have been working on since last Spring.

Right now, we have some patches of Black Eyed Susan's out there, so we mowed around those. It looks kinda pretty!

After I did the back pasture & side green strip, I went around & did the front yard & then outside the front gate. Oh, and while I was there, I might as well do the drainage ditch! We have always used the weed eater there, because DH thought it was too steep, for the riding mower. Well, guess what? it wasn't too steep for ME on the rider! I made short order of that weedy old ditch! DH was really impressed!

 

[Devonviolet]

On our little homestead, we closed the fence today. The last 200' of wire is stretched and up. We will pound T-posts tomorrow and I will wire up the gap in the gully that exits our property. My son showed up Monday afternoon and he helped lay the concrete bags in the gully to make a water gap. We will be able to let the sheep in that area tomorrow! Yep, we had "one of those days" today too!

WOOHOO!!! That is SO exciting! You, DH & your neighbor, have worked SO hard to get that fencing done. That's quite an accomplishment!

I'm hoping that we can get at least some of our fencing in this summer. Rather than try to go back 350 feet. Like originally planned.

We have decided to just aim for the open area, with cross fencing. Once that is done, we can start working to get fencing in further back.

 

[Baymule]

Just woke up from a "plumb tuckered out" nap. Whew! We got the gully wired up and pounded T-posts. I only clipped the top two, trying to get them pounded in. DH can't do the pounding so he helped me line them up and held the wire out of the way. SHEEP ARE IN THE NEW PASTURE!!!!! We let Trip and Paris in and they ran crazy. Their tongues were dragging. When we came to the house, they wanted to come back "home". LOL

 

[Devonviolet]

DH is taking one of those "plum tuckered out naps!" right now.

That is SO cool that you finally have,your sheep AND your LGDs out on the land/woods. Man-O-Man! Would Deo and Violet just LOVE to have some land to run on!!! As long as their goats were there, they would run until they dropped!

Good Job, @Baymule! You definitely deserved that "plum tuckered out nap"!

 

[Devonviolet]

DH went to let Keagan - one of our kitties - out the back door, and saw Porter - our Maine Coon kitty napping with 2 of our Muscovy ducks:

The other day, we went to town & got drenched in a downpour. When we got home, I put my umbrella in the office to dry. Keagan thought it was a good place to take a nap. I just had to take a photo!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That is tooo cute!

 

[Baymule]

Keagan is one Kool Kitty! All he needs is a pair of sunglasses.

I went back to the fence and finished with the T-posts. Trip went with me and "helped" before running off in the woods. Silly sheep would only go as far as the gully before running back to the gate. They are still out there, I'll put them up for the night about 8. I am plumb tuckered out again. I took my shower and DH is frying some ham for us.