Soap

I've been making soap this week. Sometimes I get inspired and want to do it, other times I'd muck the barn before making soap!

The brown is Indonesian Teakwood, arguably my favorite scent. The blue is Beach.

This one is Lilac. I think I'll use the wavy cutter to cut it today.

I also made bath bombs. I want to do more of these, but ran out of baking soda, much to my goats' dismay. I got some lemon/eucalyptus essential oil and want to do some "Cold Care" bath bombs. School is starting back and that means the start of cold season.

I also want to try Kris' idea of fresh cucumber in soap. Cucumber Cream. Yum.

There Will Be Eggs Again.... Some Day

 

I have had an outbreak of broodiness on the farm. At last count, I have 6 hens either sitting on eggs or with chicks. When they're sitting, they're not laying!

 

This is the second time this leghorn mix has gone broody!

The weather is so dreary. I'm starting to lose my "get up and go". The garden needs picking and I cringe at the veggies I am sure to be losing out there. It's all I can do to brave the mud, muck, and oppressive humidity to care for the animals.

I worked on a couple indoor projects on Sunday- 2 batches of soap and bath bombs. I am very excited about the bath bombs. There is a store in Savannah that sells these for $3 each. I love them but cannot justify $3 baths. Now I have a slightly less expensive option (the ingredients still cost plenty and now I understand why they charge so much).

Asher was barking a lot in the night. I have a tractor of meat chickens out there and have seen some evidence of coons. They've eaten my cantaloupe and knocked over the chicken feed. I am a bit scared to go assess damage this morning.

Stay dry out there. I better get a move on these farm chores. They're not going to take care of themselves.

Citrus

My trees survived the brutal winter in my orangerie (aka my sunroom) and are laden with fruits.

Meyer Lemon

Persian Lime

Satsuma

Ruby Red Grapefruit

Cheese Class

Saturdays are so busy! I get up at 6:30 to get the chores done and book it off to the farmers market. I usually need a nap when I get back home.

A few weeks ago, a friend asked if I would be willing to teach a cheese making class. I hadn't done one in over a year. Last class I did, the garbage disposer broke, flooded the kitchen cabinet, and we were forced to get water from the laundry room!


I told my friend that I'd do it and told her of my small fee and the requirement that everyone bring a bottle of wine. We had the class late yesterday afternoon after Market (and after my nap).


What I great time and a great group of people. We had 6 people attend including a couple who drove three hours to attend on their 22nd Anniversary! I just love it when you get a group of people together who really hit it off.


Everyone left happy, full of cheese, and armed with the ingredients and the directions to make a dozen more batches of mozzarella at home. Some people even stayed to milk the goats.


I've already had people ask if I'll do another one, and after this great experience, the answer to that is yes!


If you are interested in coming to a class, let me know and we'll work out a date. We made mozzarella this time but we could conceivably do feta instead. Feta would take a little bit longer, the cultures are a bit more expensive, and I'd have to make up a batch the day before so attendees can see what it is like after it's been salted, so the class would have to cost a tad more.

Not Enough Hours in the Day

I'm still here and plugging along.

The Midland Community Farmers' Market is going great and keeping me very busy! I spend the majority of the day Wednesday and Friday prepping for the market.

Even though I swore I wouldn't after the heartache with the last milker and buckling I bought, I went and bought another milker along with the replacement buckling. This is Love Song. She has lived here almost two weeks now and everything is going well with her. My new buckling Rocco is great too!

I am getting about 5 gallons of milk a day now. That seems just about right to me. I could use one more regular milk customer, but until he/she comes along, I'll make more cheese!

I got the June DHIA test results back. I'm so proud of my girls! I couldn't believe the spike in butterfat. At first I thought the results must be wrong until I put it together that I've been feeding a few of my does extra sunflower seeds to put some meat on their bones. Apparently, they're putting the extra in the pail and not on their ribs!

The herd average jumped to a whopping 5.7% butterfat for June. Betty Buttercup topped the charts with 6.8% butterfat. That's more than double her May results.

I need to get my goat page updated here. I will be taking reservations for kids this year and will also have at least 3 milkers for sale come spring. I have some very beautiful show quality does and bucks now. Their kids will do anybody proud on the stand or in the show ring.

I've been doing a lot of mushroom hunting too. It has been fun to add edible species to my repertoire. This Bolete is edible, though I did not try it. I like to find it a few times and have it properly identified before I feel comfortable trying it.





The meat chicks arrived yesterday. I hope they made it through the night okay. We put them right out in the chicken tractor.


I'm late to milk now. Hope y'all have a wonderful day. Stay cool out there!