Homegrown Popcorn

Last summer we grew popcorn and we are enjoying it this winter.  The cobs were short, maybe only four inches long, and the kernals are sharp.  Our popping rate isn't as much as commercial popcorn, but it the best flavored stuff I've ever had.  We've quickly decided that anything less than three batches won't do.

Our first cheese in three weeks is drying in the pantry.  We are selling more milk and just haven't had the extra to make into cheese.  We mentioned to the kids that maybe we would buy some cheese at the store but they were unanimous, "No!!" 

My daughters are goofy for chickens.  They regularly bring up a chicken to show off.  This one is Churp, a little bantam silkie.  She's wet from the rain and they wanted a picture of her.

Extra Milk

My teenage daughters suffer from lack of iceberg lettuce.  I prefer Romaine and leaf lettuce, but they like the pale white stuff. I don't think there is any way to grow iceberg in Idaho, but we can grow head lettuce.  It takes a long time to develop so there's really only one crop.  These were planted in April and are just now ready.

We are getting the fencing redone around that weed patch to let the chickens in.  It will be fun to see how quickly the chickens demolish those 4-four high weeds.  One of the little chickies watched the work from the branches of a tree.

One of our milk customers is out of town this week so we had extra milk, which we're turning into extra cheese.  Yesterday I made a parmesan.  Today it sits in a brine to salt up before it goes into storage for ten months.

The day before that I made a cheddar.  Today it dries on the shelf, getting ready to be waxed and then age for 2-6 months.

Today I'll make another cheddar. 

We were big cheese eaters before we got Christina, but now with the best tasting cheese we've ever had, our cheese really doesn't last long.  It takes me a while to make cheese — two hours of stirring plus about four more of being around — so I won't let the kids eat it as fast as they want.  It seems to me that a cheese should last longer than the amount of time it took me to make it.

First Romano

After five months aging, we cut into our first romano.  We pulled out the knife and it did nothing on that hard rind.  Then we tried the electric knife.  Still nothing.  Finally we got the bone saw and slowly chewed our way through the block. 

It took alot of strength. My husband had to throw some body weight into it.  The flavor was pretty mild, which is a little disappointing after all that work, but we've noticed a big difference in our cheddar's flavor from the day we open it until two days later in the frig.  We're hoping this flavors-up too.  That block of cheese grated up to fill a gallon bag.  It's time to make pizza!

I finished the quilt top.  This quilt will be 90"x90".  I didn't mean to make the border so big, but after they were cut, the deed was done. I don't have enough of any one fabric for the back side so I might piece together two different ones, or maybe I'll look for a sturdy sheet for the backing.

After laying it out, my three-year-old gave it a test drive.

My teenagers do lots of talking about what they want.  Ok, they're complaining about what they don't have — things and leisure.  I remembering wishing similar things when I was their age, and suffering for lack of them.  Age and this life have taught me how I can have anything that is worth having because God has given me the strength and ingenuity to grow it or build it.  That's a powerful lesson that I hope my children will learn faster than I did.

Full Dairy Day

This romano is coming out of the press and going into an all day brine.  It is cheese #55.  I am slowly learning how to make cheese better and how to accept the things that just don't work out. 

We're still getting holes in the cheese.  I emailed the cheese supply place about the holes and they said that we might try stirring less (we can do that!) or adding more pressure.  We're doing both.  It'll be two months before we know if it worked.

The day is full of dairy stuff.  A cheese culture is growing in a jar in warm water inside the crock pot.  A warmed gallon of whole milk with culture and tiny bit of rennet will be fromage blanc tomorrow after spending the night draining.  Cream is culturing in warm water to be churned into butter tomorrow.

Yesterday we had a family come over at milking time to learn about Christina and how we do things.  They plan to become regular milk customers.  It's so much fun to see people taste their first Christina milk and the smiles as they see how we live.  They all tried milking and did pretty good.  The kids especially liked visiting the steers who seemed to enjoy the attention.

Today we opened a new bucket of wheat.  We have six buckets left of the sixteen we started with.  But then I remembered that it's May and we bought that 700 lbs. of wheat in July or August.  This year we'll buy more if the crop is surplus or the same if it's not.  After a year of this Idaho organic whole wheat, I can't imagine we'll ever go back. 

Growing in the Present Moment

I planted onions two weeks ago and put them out in the little greenhouse.  Nothing.  Not a single little shoot.  Hmpf.  It says germination is 7-14 days, but I'm thinking it's not going to happen.  I'll bring them indoors and see if things change.  

The sun came out for a while so we headed out.  The goat heads have already taken off.  I can't stand goat heads.  After the satisfaction of pulling those nasty weeds out, we get a second satisfaction as the chickens enjoyed some fresh green.

It's been over a week and time to turn the cheeses.  When I'm diligent about getting to them, almost no mold forms, but when I lolly-gag they get mold patches.  The mold comes off easily with a vinegar wipe, but still. 

We tested Christina's milk and it shows "weak positive," consistent with the state lab's results.  We have several options but one requiring the least effort is to treat her with antibiotics and throw the milk out for four days.  We decided to do it this evening after milking.  The antibiotics are easy to give, just fit a little tip into each teet and squirt it in.  We are greatful to have time off from cheese-making as we get the garden in, but rationing milk is another shift.

The spiritual masters speak repeatedly about living in the present moment.  God is with us every moment; looking at the past we can remember God's loving action and looking to the future we can anticipate the path God has laid for us, but God is most accessible in the present moment.  This living with constant shifts pulls me into the present moment without the effort of will power.  We garden when the weather says.  We harvest when it's ready.  We deal with lots of milk and then we suddenly change when it stops.  Family life pulls you to the present too, but there is a new intensity to the present that this life has given us.  I am going slowly, but I am going.

Preping for Extra Food

We're supposed to be tilling the garden today but it's still raining.  This is the last time before our trip when we could till, so now it has to wait until we get home.  Catching a decent day to till and plant is always a struggle, but this year seems more difficult than most.  Being gone for six days right in the middle isn't making it easier.  I'm praying for several good days as soon as we get home.

With half the family gone, the rest are going to have trouble keeping up with the milk and eggs coming in the house — about four-and-a-half-gallons of milk a day and about five dozen eggs a week.  Today I taught one of the twins how to make pudding.  She thinks that is a preferred way of using milk and eggs.  After about sixty seconds stirring, she asked how long it would be until it boils, but she made it all the way until it was done.

My husband is getting trained up on making cheese.  We are still making two or three cheeses a week to keep up with the milk.  We're both getting tuckered out from so much cheese-making.  As I've talked with people who had cows when they were young, not a single one has said their parents made cheese.  Instead, they had a hog who ate up the extra milk.  My husband's resolve against building a pig pen is waning.

On Strike for Spring

After a decent nap, I spent some time in the sewing room and finished all the cutting.  Here is a whole quilt in neat little piles.  Now I start piecing them together.  I love how designs emerge as pieces come together.

My husband made his second attempt at a romano.  Thank God we have so much milk that an extra three gallons is nothing. Learning to make cheese is not a quick process.  I think it can only be done by rich people or people with a cow.  You go through a lot of milk figuring things out.

We moved those giant cabbage plants outside.  I'm optimistic they will be OK in this little greenhouse.  It will give them a little protection while they wait for the garden.

And it's going to be a wait. This morning we woke up to more snow.  By this time of year, I'm usually out in the garden getting beds ready, but this year winter has held on longer.  Last year we had hoops up in early February growing radishes.

Combined with our blahs, we are taking this as a message from God to go on strike for spring.  God will bring spring one way or the other, but it's an opportunity for us to be part of it.  I once heard a great explanation of how prayer works.  God doesn't need our prayers to realize something needs to be done, but God puts those prayers on our hearts so that we can enjoy sharing the goodness of answering prayer with God.  Count me in!

Coping with Abundance

With egg production coming up, today we used the last of the frozen eggs.  I froze beaten eggs in one cup increments, 5 eggs each; they work perfectly in cooking.  Rather than letting this one thaw out, I thawed it in milk as it warmed up into pudding.

Now that we are through the "dry period" of eggs, we realize that next year we need to freeze more and put them where we can find them.  We had many slim weeks on eggs.  Then I found another two bags in the freezer with eight cakes in each.  Shesh.

Last Friday I helped on a girl scout sleepover with my twin's troop.  Milking went fine with us gone, but my husband didn't skim or pour any milk.  We got home Saturday evening and by Sunday morning there were twelve gallons of milk in the frig!  I got busy and today we are down to a respectable four.  I skimmed cream, poured drinking milk, sold two gallons, got a parmesan started, made pudding, started butter, and got this batch of fromage blanc going. It cultured overnight and today it drains.

Today my husband will make his first parmesan, with me looking over his shoulder. You may pray for marital peace.

Those little plants are growing like mad!  This being my first success with indoor plants, overgrowth is something new for me.  I could probably put these cabbages in the garden, they are pretty cold hardy, but the garden spot isn't ready.  I have a little outdoor greenhouse, more like a green-cubbie, that I think I'll put them in.  They should be able to wait there until mid-March when the garden is ready.

With most of Friday and all of Saturday and Sunday busy doing other things, today is a full day of catching up.  We are baking bread, making cheese, and cooking snacks.  It's the burden of abundance, but a what a wonder burden it is.

Everyday Ketchup

We ran out of ketchup so it was time to make more.  I had no idea how easy ketchup is to make.  It's anther food mystery we've uncovered.

We stewed some tomatoes and onions for a while and then put them through a food mill.  Smooth sauce was left.  I boiled some cinnamon, cloves, and celery seed in vinegar and then let it soak while the tomato sauce continued to stew.  After straining the vinegar mixture, I put the pure liquid into the tomatoes, added some salt and sugar, and stewed it down.  It's the most flavorful ketchup I've ever had.

I was supposed to start another batch of plants two weeks ago, but I finally got them done today.  These are lettuce from seed we collected last summer.  I didn't keep the varieties separate so they are all mixed up, but in a month when they're ready to plant, we won't care.

I only collected a few seeds last year.  This year I want to do a better job saving seed and I'm intentionally buying only heirloom seeds.

We are filling up the frigs with cheese.  Today I made cheddar, our favorite.  After culturing and cooking the curd, they are pressed several times, getting turned and redressed each time. At first they are pressed at low pressure for only ten minutes.  Then a little higher for ten more.  Then higher for two hours.  And finally at 50 lbs. pressure for 24 hours.  This is after only the first pressing.  They stick together, but just barely.

Dirt Freedom

The temperature was mild and we took advantage of it.  There is a stump hiding in our garden out behind the barn.  Everybody got a shovel and started digging.  After we get it exposed we can hack it out or the neighbor offered to pull it out with his tractor.  After only a few minutes of digging, jackets came off and the work went pretty well.  It sure did feel good to be outside working in the dirt.

I have finally figured out how to freeze grated cheese.  I know, many of you are shaking your head at me because you figured it out long ago.  After you grate the cheese, freeze it on cookie sheets and then put it in bags.  We've been having trouble with cheese all melding back together even in the freezer and that makes for frustrating pizza days. Now the cheese stays loose and separate.

Our cream cheese is turning out good every time.  It tastes a little different than the stuff in the store, but as that store memory fades, I'm finding how much I like this cream cheese.  It also makes the best frosting I've ever made. 

Today our twins turn ten years old.  One of them celebrated by doing her first two-handed milking.  She did really good!  Milking takes a lot of coordination and some strength, so it's not small thing that she can do it two-handed.

We are living a subsistence life, the kind of life that I've heard put down my whole life, I've heard called poor. But we don't feel poor.  After years living in a cash economy — making money at a job and spending money for our necessities — this feels like greater freedom and a more secure wealth than I've ever experienced.

I Don't Have Patience for Patience

I made that colby with slightly lower temperatures, which means the curds had more moisture, which means they were bigger, which means they hardly fit in the cheese mold.  I careful scooped them in and pushed them down.

The round thing on top, the follower, also got a good pushing to get it into the cheese press.  In the end, the cheese came out larger than normal but looking pretty good.  I wonder if it will be better.  But I have to wait two months to find out!  This waiting months for feedback is tough.  I don't like waiting.

Speaking of little patience, the cows drink out of the hose when we fill their water.  They run up, wanting the freshest water and will stand there and drink out of the hose.  Here is beefy getting his drinks as the water came in.  Even when we were bringing buckets of water, Christina would get right in there and drink out of the bucket as we were trying to pour it. 

Now I know why we like these cows so much, they make sense to us!

A Good Day

We got out the first cheese I made in the new press, a monterey jack.  It is a little more crumbly than we expected, almost a dryness to it, but the flavor is good.  I looked back in my notes and this cheese did get too hot in the curd cooking stage.

We suddenly have more milk in the frig than I expected so I'll make a colby today.  I'll be extra careful not to let it get too hot.

Just a month ago we were getting 0-2 eggs a day.  Now we are getting 5-7.  Plus, I found another bag of eggs in freezer, so we had scrambled eggs for breakfast.  Last summer we had eggs every morning and the kids complained.  Today they wolfed them down and begged each other for more.

The temperature has been low but the sun has been shining.  Yesterday when my husband and girls went out to fill the cows' water, jerky was napping in the sun.  My daughter grabbed the camera and got his picture.  One of my nine-year-old's is working on training jerky to ride.  She leans over him and slowly puts her weight on him.  Of course, the first time he just flopped on the ground, but today she got on him, sitting up, and he took several steps before she got off.

My husband spotted a recipe for pumpkin chocolate cheesecake in our favorite cookbook, Simply in Season.  Yesterday we made cream cheese.  Today we'll bake up some squash.

As I write this we have milk warming on the stove to become cheese, a roast in the crock-pot, squash in the oven with egg shells along side that we'll grind up and give to the chickens.  The older girls are downstairs doing their school work while the twins are at the table reading an Usborne science book.  The little one is helping his Daddy with laundry and then they will read some stories.  The sun is shining into the dining room and we are warm.  What a good day.

Not Very Self Contained

Those seeds I started a month ago have grown!  They are crowding each other out, spreading wide but not leggy.  These grow lights are doing the trick!  They are just shop lights with one cool bulb and one warm.  My husband is looking at that lettuce like it's ready, but I told him to stay back and let it grow some more.

It's time to get them transplanted into larger pots.  The first step is to sterilize the pots.  We pulled them out of the barn and put them in bleach water yesterday.  Today I'll scrub them off and start transplanting.

I've been having a little trouble with cheese not knitting together as solidly as I'd like.  It occurred to me that the problem was temperature.  It's only 65ºF inside during the day but at night it drops into the 50's.  I tried something new.  I put a bowl of boiling water in there and then wrapped the whole thing with towels.

Today a fierce storm is hitting large portions of the country with heavy snow, ice, and very cold temperatures.  They predict many will be without electricity for days or weeks.  We are too far west to be effected much, but we are praying for all those who are. 

It got me to thinking about a week without electricity.  We have plenty of food, but our stove is electric.  We have a well, but the pump runs on electricity.  Our heat is electric.  We have a fire place but it's not very efficient at heating.  It's rekindled the fire under us to get one of those new high efficiency inserts in the fire place for heat and to boil water.  We have got to get some home-based generation system like wind or solar to run the pump.  All of these systems could off-set our regular energy usage as well, which does have a positive effect on the planet.  But in a big storm situation, it would have a pretty positive effect on our family too.

A New Schedule

Today is a good day to make cheese, but we don't have quite enough milk.  Jerky's old enough that we decided to milk all four quarters this morning for the extra.   It filled more than a single bucket, measuring out at 3-1/4 gallons.  Carrying two buckets into the house was a new challenge.  I was a little worried how the cows would handle the schedule change, but Christina took it in stride.  Jerky wasn't quite so accepting, but did fine.

I'm out of sterlized milk and it's time to culture a starter. I started by canning quarts of milk.  30 minutes in a boiling water bath and they are sterilized.  Today I'll culture mesopholic for cheese.

We out grew out little cheese frig and got another.  These are wine frigs so we can set the temperature at 55ºF and the racks allow good air movement.  The red cheeses are the waxed ones — cheddar, colby, and jack.  The yellow ones are italians that dry to a form a rind — parmesan and romano.  My husband pointed out that if I want to make more cheese, he could build a rack and stack these frigs right up the wall.

Those cheeses without wax get mold easily.  I'll wipe any mold I find with vinegar.

Today we'll also churn butter, bake bread, make something for snack like zucca bars or brownies, and then we need to figure something out for dinner.   And our newly three year old son starts formal homeschooling.  It's just read an assigned story, listen to a nursery rhyme, and play with blocks, but he likes having a "schedule" like his big sisters.

Little Ones

We're still letting jerky take some milk.  Christina is giving us over four gallons a day so we don't need any more.  Jerky is so big now, but he's still Christina's baby.  It's so cute how he cuddles up to her as he nurses. 

Today our baby turns three years old.  We made cream cheese yesterday that we'll use for frosting.  If you look at the ingredients for commercial cream cheese, you'll find several things besides cream and culture.  Ours is only cream, culture, and one drop of rennet.  It's thick but not quite as smooth as commercial cream cheese.  However, when I get it in the mixer with some powerdered sugar, it whips up smooth and rich.

Today we'll bake a cake and make spaghetti.  And we'll probably finish off a three-pound block of colby.  This is the first cheese I made after Christina freshened (calved) and the last one with the old nasty press.  It looked so nasty when it came out of the press that I almost didn't take the time to wax it.  But even with holes it in and pretty mild from only two months aging, it has good flavor and better texture.  This container was completely full when I cut the block up yesterday and now it's mostly gone.  Our little one turning three has done most of the damage. 

Learning to Adjust

We got two eggs yesterday and we are happy!  Since the days have gotten dark our flock doesn't lay much.  We could put a light in the coop to get more eggs, but instead we're trying to live with God's design — chickens don't lay much in the dark.  Last week we went several days with no eggs or one egg.  That was hard.  Then we got four!  We were so happy.  I've learned to modify many of our recipes for fewer eggs.  Last summer when we were getting eight to twelve a day, I modified recipes to use more eggs.  This sustainable living means constantly adapting to the reality of the food God provides for us.

My husband is making a big batch of sausages he is calling chorizo.  He mixed the meat, spices, and curing salt three days ago.  Today he rolled them out into logs using wax paper.

He laid the logs out on roasting pans and dried them in the oven at 200ºF all day long.  The house is full of smell.  Each time he comes into the kitchen he said, "oh, that smells good."  Each time the girls and I come into the kitchen we say, "ugh, what is that smell?"

I made a monterey jack cheese two days ago and it bombed.  I tried cutting the curd in a different way but it didn't knit together well.  This time, I went back to my old way and things turned out better. But not perfect.  I wonder what I'm doing wrong?

We have been eating that jack that didn't turn out, with kids raving about how good it is.  It's so bland, but there is a hint of good flavor.  It is good to have a slicing cheese.