suustainable

Everybody loves our goats!

2012-02-11T19:32:00.010-05:00

Since late spring last year we have a new cat who lives down in the barn. It's been a blessing, I actually was already checking the SPCA about barn cats, as we now have no rats or mice down there for only a handful of crunchies each day! Now all we need is a cat who does not mind living with the chickens and geese LOL

I named him Casper as in Casper the friendly ghost, since initially we'd only see a blur, running away fast. By accident I caught him in a live trap - I was going for gopher - and had him checked out by the SPCA. If you catch a feral cat and drop him off, they'll spay/neuter for free if you take it back!

Casper really took to the goats and below is hugging our laMancha Gazelle. He will give all three goats face huggs when he can, and by the time it turned Fall he now also wants his own huggies from us. It took about six months but now he's about as snuggly as any cat I've known!

"I like you sooo much!"

"You're my favorite!"

Let's start a new project!

2012-02-11T18:03:00.005-05:00

I found this beaten up looking Sunfish along the side of route 96 last fall and immediately wanted it... we went back the next day and picked it up. Of course, the hull looked much smaller on the ground and I figured I could just pick it up - really - and put it on the roof... so two strong guys later, I was lucky we were near a farm, the boat was on the roof and I slowly made my way back home - wondering what my hubbie would think...

Since I do come home with found projects quite often he was not that impressed, but not that enthusiastic either - all he probably saw were the botched fixed leaks and scratches, not the potential of quiet afternoons on the Lake! When in college my hubbie and I went sailing whenever we could, mostly with 16m2 Falcons. But they're more hassle and cost to handle than a simple sunfish so I already had my eye on one of these - plus, I see them on the lake each summer from route 13 and they look like such fun little boats.

So, I started surfing the web to find info on how to properly repair fiberglass hulls and found this great article:

On the Dubious Merits of Accepting Free Boats by Alan Glos

It read just like something I would do, and did, when buying and restoring our 1958 Metzendorf camper! Which my son and I dearly love and take out at least a couple times a year even tho camping time is the busiest season for my work.

By the way, I do have more than just the hull - I was smart enough to ask if they had more and received a mast & boom plus most of a tiller/rudder. I did already find a used sail, and probably a daggerboard. The DuckWorks article inspired me to contact Alan Glos and it turns out not only does he live close by, we also know his son, Michael of Kingsbird Farm at the Ithaca Farmers Market, where I work and from whom I get local organic lard for my soap business! Sometimes the world wide web is surprisingly small :)

The boat - lots of booboo's and potential!

more garden benches

2012-02-10T16:20:00.005-05:00

Still working away on my Pony Project (tho Icelandics are traditionally called Horses, of course) and with all the moving around of our wood was inspired to make two more garden benches. One with the last bit of water damaged black walnut and one with the newly milled sugar maple from our back yard. I think we might have maybe for two more benches in materials and then we're out... and the nice thing of making these benches? If they don't sell I get to keep them :)

From the craigslist ads:

natural edge sugar maple garden bench - $150 (Ithaca)

garden bench made with sustainable materials
ready to be placed outdoors and weather, or to sand down and stain

The natural edge wood is sugar maple, milled from a wind storm felled tree in our back yard. The frame is made from pine shipping wood and local hemlock

The bench is the size of a love seat, about 54 inches wide with arm rests of rounded edge sugar maple and a perfect angle back rest.

natural edge walnut garden bench - $150 (Ithaca)

garden bench made with sustainable materials
ready to be placed outdoors and weather, or to sand down and stain

The natural edge wood is very likely to be black walnut (those boards are from a dwindling supply of water damaged wood, hence this project). The frame is made from pine shipping wood and local hemlock.

The bench is the size of a love seat, about 54 inches wide with arm rests of old weathered barn wood and a perfect angle back rest.

How to keep a milk lye mixture cool

2012-02-03T17:45:00.014-05:00

Which is actually surprisingly easy: just freeze the milk :)

Why would you need to keep the milk/lye mixture cool? For one, the heat will change the color of the milk from milky white to bright hunter orange and that color will transfer to the finished soap. So unless you make bright orange soap, the burnt milk will throw off your finished product's color at least a little.

But also, burnt milk means the heat broke down all the good stuff (you know, vitamins, minerals...) that are part of the milk - and which are actually why you want to use milk to begin with. Which means soap made with orange milk/lye is not of as good a quality as soap made with cooled down milk/lye.

How do I keep my milk/lye cool? I measure my milk beforehand (in fluid ounces, as milk is heavier than water) and store it in ziplock baggies in the freezer. Since my recipes are pretty much tailored to my crockpot that means I mostly use 32 fl oz of milk at a time.

When my oil and fat mixture is to temperature, between 100-120 degree F depending on the fats used (some need more heat to melt first and then I place the crockpot directly on the concrete basement floor to cool down) I take out a baggie of milk from the freezer. I run the baggie under a hot tap to release it from the inside, and to create some moisture to start the dilution process. I also use a little bit of water to rinse the milk residue out of the baggie and pour that over the frozen milk, which wets the chunk and gives some starter fluid in the tub to stir (but is not necessary).

I place the chunk of frozen milk in a plastic tub and make sure the outside of the frozen milk is wet (if you let it sit a bit it will freeze up again). Then I sprinkle a layer of lye crystals over the chunk and stir constantly (no splattering!) to prevent any one place from heating up. The heat of the lye will melt the frozen milk, so whenever the lye sluices off I add more crystals. It takes me about 20 minutes in all to slowly but steadily add the lye to the milk and most times only have a little frozen chunk left which will melt on it's own (but keep stirring).

Do's and don't's of the milk/lye mixture:
- Never let it sit (to heat up or cool down) as the fats of the milk will saponify.
- Keep stirring, as milk does not transfer heat as easily as water; it will build up heat locally and thus burn that area of milk (mixture turns first yellow then orange if you're really not paying attention).
- Add lye crystals steadily but slowly, no sense in hurrying as you have to wait for the frozen milk to completely melt anyway.

If the milk/lye looks off white or slightly green (like whey) the temps are around 80-90 degree F. If the milk is turning pale yellow to yellow it's closer to 90-100 degree F. I have not temped orange milk/lye yet, as that happened once (my first, uninformed, attempt at milk soap) and have tried my all to never have that happen again!

I also started to freeze other liquids like coffee, tea, apple cider, wine etc to be able to make low heat lye mixtures as these liquids also have ingredients like vitamins which you'd like to retain to work for you in your soaps.

The best thing about low heat lye mixtures? Hardly any caustic fumes! I do turn on my (darkroom) fan and wear a gas mask, but that's more for just in case than really needed, seems like.

Glycerin?

2012-02-01T19:19:00.006-05:00

Something neat I thought I'd share:

What you see here is a raw soap mix, as in the oils & fats are chemically altered by the lye (saponified) to form soap, stirred with a hand blender. While blending something really neat happens on the surface: the formation of pure glycerin!

In commercially processed soap the glycerin formed in the saponification process is separated from the main soap to be sold separately, leaving the soap itself more harsh. Which is exactly why any hand made cold process soap is immediately nicer in use than commercial soap as the naturally occurring glycerin is still in the bar.
Here I stopped blending and the glycerin whirlpool sinks / absorbs back into the soap mix. This particular mix is Lye Soap, made with local organic lard and well water.

2012-02-01T19:10:00.003-05:00

Although we have some sort of root cellar downstairs (the cement cubby where the well connects to the basement) it's damp so not that good for apples etc. With normal winter weather we've had great success keeping all the pumpkins, pears and apples in our sunroom - an unheated concrete floor east facing room, which does get below freezing if it's really cold outside, but also tends to cool down and heat up fairly tempered.

But this year, with the 50 degree sunny days our storage is going fast! I sure hope we'll last till March - most years we can still feed the girls some sort of funny looking apples & pumpkins but don't think this will be one of those years. On the other hand, it also means there is not much snow on the ground which helps foraging and stuff should start to grow pretty soon - unless we get a late winter to make up for the delay...

How did I do that?!

2012-01-31T20:57:00.007-05:00

I've had quite some success with this soap texture - and not many people who've guessed correctly how I did it :)

I'll share below how I do it, but don't think it's my original idea - lots of people use this stuff in all kinds of genius creative ways...

As you can see, the texture is bubble wrap, but when used as a mold it looks a lot like the inside of a beehive - which is exactly why people like me love to use it for honey type soaps!

First off, cut the bubble wrap to size and fit into your mold. I use dollar store drawer dividers, tape the wrap on each long end, and then stack it into another divider so it does not bow out as much when the soap is added (these things are not very sturdy).

Pour in the soap, making sure the wrap is all the way to the bottom and into all the nooks and crannies. Otherwise soap will puddle around the wrap, the corners will become rounded, and the soap on the outside will be discarded.

One soap bread is demolded (back), one is waiting to go.

Turn the mold upside down, release the soap from the mold and gently drop on work surface. Then unpeel the wrap's edges to slowly but steadily pull of the wrap from the soap bread. I do not reuse the wrap but I do have enough from my photography business anyway.

And that's all, folks!

A couple things to think of, tho... regular soap needs to be insulated (even heated a bit) to reach the gel stage. Milk soap only needs some insulation, I find a piece of insulation foam on top of the mold to be enough, as milk soaps runs hot. Add honey to the mix, and the soap heats up really, really easy. So - DO NOT INSULATE, COVER or sit CLOSE TOGETHER. The soap WILL overheat!

And this is for regular milk with honey soap! Add insulating bubble wrap to the mix and you're in trouble... What I found works real well is to remove the bottom dividers when the soap set enough to retain shape (about an hour) and place the molds right onto a cold concrete floor - it sucks the heat right out of the soap just as it does out of my feet :)

come birdie, birdie...

2012-01-31T19:49:00.007-05:00

Our bird watcher in training, four year old Simon is using his small binoculars to look for birds. Don't think he found any, though... He's looking towards the recently 'discovered' back woods.

A pretty picture, one of the few nice winter images of this season. It felt more like spring today; no coats, upper 50's, and it's not even February yet :)

2012-01-31T19:38:00.004-05:00

From the Cornell Small Ruminants list serv:

"Although most of us who keep small ruminants know how to do these things already, here is something for those new to goat or sheep-keeping and a "refresher course" for the rest of us. :)

How to Trim Goat Hooves
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugMu_c2lGyI&feature=youtu.be

How to Disbud a Goat Kid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnxI5_gi7BI&feature=related

Notice how the goat kid is suckling on fingers contentedly right after being disbudded! The iron cauterizes nerve endings at the bud so that they no longer send pain signals. The kid is mainly fussing because it does not like being held (and this is a scary moment for ALL concerned).

Disbudding is important for dairy goats in the parlor and at shows because a domestic goat with its mostly-straight horns can do incredible damage to its friends, family and caretakers -- think puncture wounds, torn udders, gouged out eyes, and slash-wounds to large muscles -- and sometimes just by accident! Disbudding the horns ensures that these injuries will never happen.

The goats in the videos are mini-Nubians -- which are smaller than standard Nubian goats, but larger than Nigerian Dwarf Dairy goats, and are a blend of both breeds.

Chris
Little Biddy Farm
Oswego County, NY"

I also found information about a dehorning paste, made for calves but should also work on goats. I'm still a bit in two minds about horned or dehorned goats - it sure is easier and safer, but it also takes away the goats' self defense. I'll probably try it on one or two of the female kids whom will probably end up in the freezer anyway...

The dehorning paste is available at Jeffers.com for $4.95 for 4 oz.
"Dr. Naylor Dehorning Paste - Quick, economical. One application on horn button before calf is 2 months old. No cutting or bleeding. Also for use on sheep & goats."

we reached the back woods

2012-01-29T15:31:00.007-05:00

My son and I are slowly working our way thru our point eight of "useless" property, bush wacking paths and clearing waters. A big hurdle was a large willow that had fallen over my planned path and creek crossing. Last summer a friend of ours with a big chainsaw helped to cut it up and with some solid concrete blocks and heavy duty landscaping pallets we built a nice bridge over the creek. My little man loves going back here, to play in and with the water (there is always some flow) and gets some exercise to boot!

This was last week, when it actually looked like winter! The small creek was still flowing and Simon's big whoop was pushing snow into the water, both from the logs and the bridge.

This is the newest path - which looks a lot easier to hike this way with the thick snow fall, but is actually a mix of mud, water and grass humps. Between snows we've hauled most of our boardwalk pallets down here and have an initial path which come spring when things are not frozen to everything else I'll square off and screw in place. Our completed path goes thru a mix of woods, swamp, scrub (pic above), swamp, woods again and ends at a pond and this winter we finally made it to the back woods!

2012-01-27T21:53:00.001-05:00

Just a nice pic to end the day :)
our land from left to right, standing at the back pasture looking towards the house and barns

what the heck?!

2012-01-27T21:30:00.005-05:00

This is what happens when a goat's milk with honey soap recipe overheats... I knew something had gone wrong when after an hour or so after pouring I checked the heat with my hand and pulled back fast as the middle was angry, angry hot! And I was left with a big spongy spot middle + honey leaking + oil separating = big mess...

My method (trial and error) of gelling the soap (letting it get hot enough to gel / cure but not so hot that it separates) is heating pad and insulation for water only soaps, insulation for milk only soaps (i.e. piece of foam on top - nothing else) and no insulation whatsoever for soaps with milk AND honey. BUT what I learned last week is that if it's a large mold of soap with milk & honey ALSO put it on the cold, cold concrete floor - just in case :)

I rebatched this batch of Bee Good and the result was actually nicer than the straight up soap. The bar has a very nice opaque silky look to it, very fancy.

The way I rebatch soap is putting it thru the kitchen machine to noodle (like zucchini). Put all the noodles in a stainless steel pot (not aluminum) inside another pot with hot water and a heat resistant trivet (to keep space). Pour a little milk (goat, cow, soy, whatever) over the noodles, enough to make them look wet but not so much it puddles on the bottom. Add lid, boil water and keep it at a slow boil while stirring occasionally. It will take hours for the soap to liquify enough for pouring! When the soap starts to get liquid again and is pretty easy to stir, pour into mold. It's better to heat and wait, than to pour too soon - if the soap plops instead of pours into the mold it's likely too chunky and will not set with that silky opaque look but instead look like old crumbly cheese...

I have not had success using rebatched soap in small shape molds, the soap is too thick and sticky to get into all the little bits and pieces of small molds.

expecting...

2012-01-27T19:16:00.006-05:00

Our goat girls now have a back door, yay! My hubbie made a nice dutch door with multiple choices: both open, both closed, bottom open top closed, bottom closed top open - whatever I want. It's already proven it's usefulness when mucking out the barn, fresh air but no goats inside and I could leave the stall door open for easy loading... it sure is the little things that make life easier :)

These are the girls eating lunch - they only get fed once a day now, half a bucket of apple pomace (left over from pressing cider) and a cup of bran each. But Thirteen still does not share well, so I feed them in two places and it kinda works like musical chairs with most times Thirteen ending up with two places! So sometimes I grab her collar and hook her on for 15 minutes or so - she can eat but not move places - and that settles her down for a couple days or so.

5 more weeks and Gazelle is due :)
Her first kid(s); she's about as tall as the adult does now and getting bigger every day - it's so neat, we've had her since she was a few weeks old!

Tack Room saddle racks

2012-01-24T19:40:00.004-05:00

As per request some closeups of the saddle racks I built for the new tack room. I used scrap wood so the dimensions are not exactly the same for the three racks I made, one is larger than the other two. The most important measurement is the length of the rack itself, which traditionally is 24 inches but I used 22" for the one and 20" for the other two. The Icelandic saddle shown fits perfectly on the 20" one so I am glad I shrank them a little (also since there is not that much room between the wall and the door).

The other measurement is to use 1x6" boards for the angled top (one ripped one board width smaller) and cut of the corners at a 45 degree angle. I ripped a piece of 2x4" into a triangle shaped 45 degree angled brace piece with a 30 degree chop at the end. The brace bar is a 1x2" with two 45 degree angle cuts. The back board is a 1x8" (or 1x10" whatever you have around).

Assemble the two 1x6" boards first with wood glue in the joint and self tapping screws (helps prevent cracking). Then glue and screw the angled brace with a flush edge towards the back board. When dry position on back board as you prefer (about a quarter down from top looks nice) and pencil guidelines around top and edge. I think it's easiest to lay the saddle part flat on a table with the flush edge towards you, add glue and then quickly position backboard, holding board in place with one hand and screwdriver with the other (start the screw first). I use a 4" screw thru the backboard into the angled brace for extra strength. The rest is pretty straight forward, add some more screws to secure 1x6's and position, glue and screw brace. Then dry, sand & paint!

We have a router so I rounded off all edges and corners for a more finished look (don't round where the boards joint). I can't take credit for the design, I slightly altered an existing design used in the tackroom of the barn I take lessons here in Ithaca, NY. I also saw a similar design in a fifties german childrens / horse show where they used half a rounded beam instead of the two angled boards directly bolted into wall studs. Have fun!

Goat's Milk Soap

2012-01-05T20:00:00.002-05:00

Since I don't have enough to do, haha, I decided last year to start a side business in milk soap making. Actually, it was not that quick of a decision, making milk soap is one of the reasons I got the dairy goats and my sister is a soap maker as well. When she came over last winter I had a quick three week boot camp, showing me all the do's and don't - of which there are quite a few as lye mixtures and raw soap are hazardous.

Last month I did my first and successful show with my new line of milk soaps and other specialty soaps (anything but water with the lye) at the Trumansburg Winter Fest. I lucked into a bunch of small apple crates from Ludgate Farms closing down to use as backdrops for my very useful and cute looking cut down crates, most of which were broken ones we got when we bought the house years ago. It's nice to have power tools!

For more information, on the business and on my soaps, please visit my site at www. FarMountainFarm.blogspot.com

We have a tack room

2012-01-03T22:23:00.005-05:00

With the expected shortage of hay this year I decided to stock up well. Before I got all the hay in though I built with the help of my hubbie (he framed it) a separate tack and feed room in the shed right on the other side of the main goat barn. He even extended the board siding of the new barn to the side of the old shed which makes it look much nicer. The dividing wall (outside wall of shed) now also has a dutch door instead of a window, so if the front barn door gets frozen stuck again - like several times last year - I don't have to go thru the window!

The hay area is about twice as big as the open stall in the barn, it fits about 55-60 bales. The tack and feed room is about 5 feet by 8 feet and has a large built in feed bin in the back with shelving for buckets etc. I also built three saddle racks from a design I spotted at my horseback riding barn Kelviden. I slightly altered the design, it had a angle cut I did not know how to do, and am quite happy with the results. I used three old warped pine shelves (ripped 6" boards with the table saw) and some 6" pine board and rounded all corners with the router. The one saddle I have on loan (it fits the horse I like to buy) fits perfectly, now all I need is the horse to go with it :)

WNY EquiFest 2012

2012-01-03T22:14:00.004-05:00

Western New York’s FREE
Equine Exposition & Equestrian Gathering

March 18, 2012

at the Showplex, Hamburg Fairgrounds

Clinicians ~ Demonstrations
Exhibitors ~ Vendors

FREE ADMISSION

more info at www.wnyequifest.com

the buzz is that Gudmar Petursson will be there
and Sand Meadow Farm will have a booth

some pics I found...

2012-01-03T21:55:00.008-05:00

The school our toddler goes to hatches eggs each year and this year they had too many ducklings to handle - and yes, they do make a mess! I had just built the rabbit hutch and borrowed the white fencing to make a rabbit / toddler play area so I moved the ducks in there. I knew it was temporary anyway, either they would be part of the main flock or be in the freezer two months later.

Having the ducks right up at the house worked great predator wise - nothing bothered them - but not so great having them right next to the picnic table... especially with damp or rainy weather their yard had a distinct ducky smell! On the other hand, Simon loved feeding them and this way he did not get harassed either (by the geese).

On a side note, while we spent Christmas down in the City we walked from the subway back up to the apartment and I found two more panels to the foldable fencing! They are the exact same kind and fitted perfectly... no idea why they were stacked out with the trash. My hubbie was not real happy with my 'dumpster diving' - even tho I see it as the ultimate recycling, cutting out the middle man, haha - but he did rearrange packing the car to fit it.

He's always so embarrassed when I "shop" along the road, it's almost cute, and I feel weird. And then we visited my Dutch friend Karleen in CT and she also 'recycles' whenever she can. We had a lively conversation about the availability of public dump sites (which Ithaca does not seem to have) lounging on a nearly new 'rescued' couch, drinking tea from a 'rescued' kettle while enjoying the view of a beautiful 'rescued' horse painting. She's cool :)

Icelandic Horse tack options

2011-12-30T14:19:00.007-05:00

Seems like being active doing stuff does not leave much time and/or energy to kick back and write about them as well afterwards! Plus, two accidents and starting a new small business kinda take up quite some time as well...

Luckily our local Icelandic group had quite a few activities this late summer and fall so I did get my horse fix, exercise and recreation taken care of rather nicely - a great big thanks, girls! We rode with mostly the same riders, Cordy from Penn Yann and Stephanie & Deb from Naples and explored the Seneca Lake Outlet Trail, Stephanie's extensive woods & fields, Cordy's nice woods & vineyards (the houses! wow!) and last but definitely my favorite, the Backbone Trail of the Fingerlakes National Forest.

To get back to the point, I found a few good places to buy Icelandic tack and other horse related things and thought it would be nice to share them. Not everything is as easy to find as a simple google search - word of mouth still seems to be the best way :)

The Tack Shop at Tolt Away - www.ToltAway.com

Tolt Tack, the US Supplier of Icelandic Tack at www.ToltTack.com

One company I was referred to several times, with high accolades from all, Dunne & Krum Icelandic Tack Store, seems to have gone out of business unfortunately.

Quite a few of Icelandic Horse breeders also sell tack, but most seem variations of the tack shown above, for higher prices. My absolute favorite is the Tolt-Line Set 400 with rounded leather, a bridle set I'd seen and admired at Heleen Heijning's West Wind Farm, and when I have the opportunity (or they have a sale) it will be the first thing on my shopping list!

A couple Horse equipment, tack and whatever you ever might need catalogs are (also good for leaving thru on a cold dark stormy night, with a cup of hot tea and a roaring wood stove...):

State Line Tack at www.StateLineTack.com
Large equine selection, seems to have similar prices as Jeffers.
State Line Tack sells Kiwi gate latches - the Deluxe Gate Latch - which I'll be getting for the new gates of the back woods pasture (you can open & close one handed).

Jeffers Pet Supplies, Equine Supplies & Livestock Supplies at www.JeffersPet.com
Large horse and livestock selection, seem to have the best prices around.

Dover Saddlery at www.DoverSaddlery.com
A favorite of all, gorgeous catalogs, but pricey looks like (but could be better quality?).

Schneider Saddlery at www.sstack.com
They have an especially large selection of horse blankets and lots of western riding equipment.

toddler picnic table

2011-08-19T16:48:00.008-04:00

And how easy it was to make! With a design from the internet and some free 2x4's from Lowe's this one was made in an industrious afternoon. It was actually more work to get it painted than it was to get it cut & put together! And all I paid for where the screws - the lumber was strapping wood from lowe's and the paint was something left in the basement by the previous house owner...

Find the complete plans at:
www.ana-white.com/2010/03/plans-kids-picnic-ta ble-you-can-build-it-for-15.html

Bunnies!

2011-08-19T16:23:00.009-04:00

Haven't been here for a while... it feels like forever!
Summer always is our busy season, lots of gardening, selling photography and new this year: making soaps. It's getting a little less hectic recently, so I'll try to back up and add some things that happened the past couple months over the next couple posts :)

One of our goat kids died few weeks back from a major worm infestation we totally missed... by the time I realised something was wrong, dropped off a fecal sample at cornell and started her worm treatment it was already too late. Right after that we got an open email warning about major worm infestations because of the wet spring - we're not the only ones to loose animals this year.

On a happier note, I was able to sell two of the girls, Karamel from Thirteen and an unnamed boer from Monica, to Sarah who was Simon's toddler room teacher. She's starting her own petting zoo (and my girls sure are used to little kids by now!) to accompany her new daycare. The girls will live lives of plenty (of hugs and treats) I'm sure!

And we seem to have enquired two bunnies - two babies from Angelika's angora bunny collection. They are real friendly tho not tamed much, we're working on that! No food unless they eat some from my hand first :)

Initially they lived in the chicken ark which they outgrew pretty fast, so with some left over hemlock 2x4's and repurposed tongue and groove oak flooring I made a two apartment bunny house which works really well. The layout is something Angelika's husband Simon designed for her bunnies and I copied for mine - I really like I can raise a wire wall in the middle and separate the bunzen immediately when needed, with a house for them on either end.

And if the bunnies do go back to Angelika I can use it for brooding chickens which would be really nice instead of the sunroom!

go organic - or not?

2011-06-14T12:01:00.000-04:00

On the "dirty dozen" list are:

1. Apples
2. Celery
3. Strawberries
4. Peaches
5. Spinach
6. Imported nectarines
7. Imported grapes
8. Sweet bell peppers
9. Potatoes
10. Domestic blueberries
11. Lettuce
12. Kale/collard greens

The group also lists the "Clean 15," or those that rank lowest in pesticide residues. These are:

1. Onions
2. Sweet Corn
3. Pineapples
4. Avocado
5. Asparagus
6. Sweet peas
7. Mangoes
8. Eggplant
9. Domestic cantaloupe
10. Kiwi
11. Cabbage
12. Watermelon
13. Sweet Potatoes
14. Grapefruit
15. Mushrooms

After-the-Plant-Sale sale!

2011-05-19T19:02:00.000-04:00

The After-the-Plant-Sale Sale
Wednesday, May 25, 4:00-7:00 pm
CCE-Tompkins, 615 Willow Avenue, Ithaca

The Master Gardener volunteers from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County have some perennials left from the Plant Sale this past weekend, and Josh Dolan (who works with community gardens/Gardens4Humanity) has some veggie transplants and woodies left, so we are having a joint sale here at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, 615 Willow Avenue,
Ithaca.

Getting ready for yet another bonfire...

2011-05-18T19:51:00.003-04:00

In the middle of the pic, right behind the mowers' trailer, is yet another bonfire pile! Hubbie and I have been cleaning out the back woods of all the maple that was left over from the large tree that came down. We had the bottom part milled, but the crown with all the small stuff was still there for us the clean up. And of course it had fallen right where I planned part of my woods path and new goat fence!

I use that yellow wood contraption in my tractor trailer to stack and haul scrub and it works like a charm. With that thingy I've been able to get most of the large loose stuff cleaned out. Last year I did not realize I could use our chop saw to cut smaller diameter wood to wood stove size so there is a large stack of relatively good wood left of the bonfire stack we're been slowly working our way thru. I do not feel like going thru it again to separate out the decent stuff. This year we did and now have quite the stack of small rounds in our fire wood house.

Saturday it's time for a bonfire again... hope the weather will hold!

Our new baby goats!

2011-05-18T18:15:00.006-04:00

These two are Monica's new girls, born Friday the 6th at around 1030am while Simon and I were mowing the lawn :) We'd checked at 1015am, noticed Monica looked heavy and did not get up to look at us over the door, but no contractions and her water had not yet broken... less than half an hour later, both girls were born and the placenta was on it's way! Man, human births are not like that!!!

Trying to stand under mommy's watchful eye. The little beige headed kid is called "bunny" the other one has no name as of yet.

My kid checking out Monica's kids. He was very impressed by her post delivery cleaning skills, and told daddy later in a surprised voice: "momma goat licking baby goats!" Hey, as long as he does not expect me to clean him the same way LOL

we've got chicks - and 40 of them!

2011-05-18T18:00:00.004-04:00

Just like the past three years or so we ordered meat birds and I picked them up April 15th. It is unbelievable, the growth difference between these and my hen chicks! And they behave differently too, much more food oriented -less interested in foraging, but way interested in their human 'mommy' bringing them food! I feed them twice a day a set amount otherwise they'd overeat.

The first year we grew Cornish X meat birds from Agway, great birds but man, they grow fast. And every time they moved around their joints tend to click... it just did not seem natural, a harvest ready bird in 8 weeks! So after that experience we chose Color Rangers, which grow a little less fast (12 weeks) but with hardly any of the health issues.

This year I ordered even more chicks than usual - we only need about 20 birds for the year - as we had several friends and acquaintances interested. So we'll barter some with Eileen for sewing & baby sitting, with Christine from school for beef her husband grows and with a hunter for venison. How varied our freezer contents will be!

Only after two weeks or so they moved to the outdoor "lean too". Still with a heat lamp, at least at night or when it's chilly, until they grow their complete feather coats - and it stops raining!

Alternate Goat Cart

2011-05-17T21:25:00.012-04:00

When I found this bike cart it took me a while to think of a way to use it - you won't see me bike anytime soon, Ithaca is not dutch flat - and what a way it is! With guidance of the Working Goats site I devised shafts from 3/4" electrical piping we have laying around (intended for goat barn electricity someday).

One day while Monica was still pregnant - she's due the next week - I figured, what the heck, it's beautiful weather, Monica LOVES cookies, let's see what happens! I had parked the cart in front of their pasture for a few days for them to get used to the thing and with a handful of horse cookies and the new harness we went to work.

First I walked Monica on her leash around near the barn and close to the cart. She ignored the thing.

I put a cookie in the cart seat which got hoovered up real quick.

Then I walked Monica around while pulling the cart myself, sort of next to her and behind her. This made no impact either.

So I took the big step, maneuvered both in position (with cookies) and hooked her up. Now the cart got a good once over, and then it was time for more cookies according to her!

While leading her by the leash we walked around in front of the barn once or twice at the cost of two more cookies and I unhooked her to end on a good note :)

Monica got a nice mouth full of the fresh spring grass as reward!
She's such a good girl!

The balance of the bike cart is perfect for a toddler or two in the back - or some shopping, but nothing major heavy as the floor is just canvas. And it hardly weighs anything either, it is significantly easier to pull than a metal gardening wagon. I can't wait to put it to good use - and Simon can't either, he loves being towed around the yard!

Looking at the pics I do think I'd like to move the shaft hooks up a couple inches, the point up front seems long and leg room seems tight. Guess we'll know for sure when we start using it for real.

Oh, Monica had healthy twins the Friday after, both girls...
Which means I do not - yet - have a boy to wether and train as a cart animal! Go figure, we got five girls from two mommy goats! And if number three Gazelle really is pregnant (starts to look like it) you see we'll get a boy from her, and a girl from her & buck Jamie I'd want to keep...

Greenhouse progress

2011-05-17T21:15:00.003-04:00

It's getting there!
The plastic sheeting roof is on, the wall is painted, the windows are in, the doors are hung - and we even started on the inside furniture.

Here my dear hubbie is working on the seedling table, It's fairly tall - and we're tall people already - but I wanted to store empty planters under it and have room for a row of black 55 gallon drums for heat retention. It's actually nice having a tall bench for weeding, tho lifting a full 5 gallon waterer is a little much. Guess I'll need to get another garden hose & sprayer :)

Right now I'm working on leveling the pathway, which has a 6 inch hemlock runner on both sides. I'll recycle whatever gravel is still hiding in our woods and pave the pathway with my treasured stack of collected bricks. Some have neat inscriptions on them and some I even moved all the way from Pittsburgh! Really!

local plant sharing list serv

2011-05-17T20:51:00.002-04:00

And here I was thinking I could use one of these :)
It's already available, and even funnier, I know who started it! If only he had mentioned it to me before...

From the Plantcycle webpage:

PlantCycle
From Gardener to Gardener

The intention of Ithaca Plantcycle is to share plants, seeds, tools, ideas, and make it easier for people to turn the hills and terraces and flat lands of Ithaca green. Our primary goal is to promote food security.

Ithaca plantcycle is an e-mail list (“listserv”). There is no cost to join — just visit the Plantcycle information page and subscribe. (Be sure to respond to the confirmation email that you will receive after subscribing; it’s necessary before you can use the list.) Then, if you have something to share, you can send a message to share@plantcycle.net to reach all the Plantcycle subscribers. If you are wish to receive no more than one message a day, subscribe to the digest mode. You may respond to a either the sender or the group.

We are always interested in your comments and suggestions about Plantcycle and your ideas on how to improve it.

Pat and Andrejs

2011-05-02T20:23:00.003-04:00

For a couple of years I saved these flat rocks with the idea to make a path or something with them. We found them in our woods, at our property's edge, I even picked up some large ones thru a craigslist ad. But after I again slipped and nearly went on my butt hauling chicken feed down the slope I gave in, got all my rocks and puzzled together this great looking and well working stone step staircase!

I used four loads of five buckets each of gravel as a foundation, and sprinkled that with Quickrete we had left over from the goat barn build before placing the stones. The steps are surprisingly solid, only one or two wobble slightly and might not have at all if we had not used the steps while the quickrete was curing (forgot about that step). But man, was I glad we have an old pile of driveway gravel on our property! That would have been 20 bags of $5 each, geeh.

No, that's not the new door :)
I removed the old door and put this didn't-quite-work greenhouse door in the opening so it does not rain in as much. Had to tie it down with bungees though, this one immediately blew over as well! Maybe we should start thinking "windmill" instead of "solar array" LOL

Indonesian Scrambled Egg & Easy Curry

2011-05-02T14:41:00.005-04:00

Needed:
bunch of eggs (we love geese or duck eggs for this)
Sambal Oelek (chinese stores sell this)
soy sauce (thick version, also called soy paste)
pepper and salt to taste

Add table spoon of soy sauce and sambal to hot oiled skillet.
Add eggs, seasoning, let congeal.
Scoop and mix eggs and sambal/soy but keep the chunks fairly large.

This is really good in curry!

I like to make fast & easy curry with:
1 can of coconut milk
curry paste, curry seasoning or premixed curry sauce
1 can of peas
1 can of whole corn
1/2-1 can of pineapple chunks
maybe some bamboo shoots, baby corn or palm heart

from the garden and/or freezer:
chopped string beans
bellpepper pieces
collard green leaves
pak choi greens

When everything is thoroughly heated add the egg mixture.
Eat with steamed brown rice, maybe add a little kurkuma for fun!

almost time for veggies...

2011-05-02T14:35:00.003-04:00

Our basement windows have this eerie glow at night... from the seed sprouting setup in my photography studio! Two layers with four halogen lights (two fixtures) each I start my leeks mid February, cabbages etc first of March and tomatoes and peppers mid March. My tomatoes look a little forlorn this year, a little extra TLC needed looks like, but other than them everything else is growing like, well, cabbages!

Leek plants, cabbages (broccoli & head cabbage), basil and more cabbages (broccoli & brussels sprouts).

I find that using the flat lids and the high domes for sprouting, even in the closed "greenhouse" cabinet really help the seeds going. When I first start the flats I only use the flat clear lids and lower the lights pretty much right on top of them. Then when the seedlings touch the lids I raise the light fixtures and switch to the taller domed lids. A couple of weeks before they go out I remove the domed lid and slowly let them acclimate to the air in the cabinet, then move them out to our sunroom and then outside behind the house (back in sunroom at night if night frost is imminent).

Last year I did not use the domes on the tomato and pepper flats - I wanted to use larger starting pots and the lids did not fit - and mice (!) had gotten in and eaten most the young seedlings! I could not believe it...

Make your own tallow

2011-04-28T21:28:00.006-04:00

For my soap project I got a 5 gallon bucket of beef fat from Maine's restaurant supply store off of route 13. They sell the stuff for 50c a pound, but that's before rendering and I was pretty curious how much tallow would be rendered and how long it would take! Well, it took me two days to cook it all down, first boiling it down in a stock pan, then frying it in a cast iron skillet to get it all... The house reeked of frying for days (kinda pleasant/unpleasant) and the stove needed a good cleaning as well, but the (pet sitted) dog and chickens loved the cracklings left over!

Quite a few of my soap making books referred to getting tallow for free from supermarket butchers (leftovers) but after asking around town no-one seemed willing to do so. Maine's was the only one willing to separate and store the fat (not just for me) for a small fee and he told me with the fda cleanliness rules anything that leaves the cutting block and hits the garbage can is therefor contaminated and can not be sold/given away ever, even for animal food or soap making. Maine's has food grade buckets they sort the beef fat into before tossing, which is extra work, and not something everyone wants to do.

From the 25 lbs of fat I got about 12 lbs of tallow, which is about a dollar a pound. Still better than pig fat at $1.75 a pound, but that's already rendered :)

some winter pics...

2011-04-28T21:18:00.007-04:00

I thought this looked so funny in the shallow sprinkling of snow last winter! All those ducky footsteps - the chickens don't come out as soon as it snows, but the ducks don't seem to have any issue with that, and they sure love hanging around outside in the rain!

My privy project turned out such a success and then a big wind blew the door right thru the hinges... both black hinges are bend at a 15-20 degree angle (which is why the door doesn't close) and that tongue & groove board of the door is badly cracked. I took the door off recently, took it apart and glued the board back together - next time I'll also add an outside lock (way out of reach of little kids hands) just in case!

DIY cat pee remover

2011-04-22T20:04:00.003-04:00

Yep, I put the cat in the livetrap in our sunroom, not thinking livetraps don't come with kitty bathrooms and our sunroom does come with carpeting...

From the DoItYourself Forum:

Get rid of cat pee and dog pee smells forever - Recipe

Ingredients
Baking Soda
White Vinegar
Dishwashing Detergent
3 % Hydrogen Peroxide

Directions:

1. If the cat has recently urinated on the carpet, first absorb as much of the cat urine as possible using paper towels or an old towel. Place clean paper towels over the cat urine area and tread on them so as to absorb as much of the urine as possible. Repeat with dry towels until no more moisture can be absorbed.

If the cat urine has dried and you are not sure where the soiled area is you can use a black light to detect it. In a darkened room the black light will pick up urine and other stains. Hand held black lights can be purchased for between $15 to $25

2. Next, wet the area with a solution of 50% white vinegar and 50% water. Make sure you use enough of the solution to penetrate the fibers deep down. Allow it to almost dry. You can assist drying by blotting with paper towels as described above. If you own a wet and dry vacuum extractor use that to remove excess moisture.

The acidity of the vinegar will neutralize the ammonia in the cat urine.

3. Apply a liberal amount of baking soda over the affected area and drizzle it with a quarter of a cup of hydrogen peroxide mixed with a teaspoon of liquid dishwashing detergent. (not caustic detergent that you put in a dishwasher) Work it in with a scrubbing brush or your fingers (be sure to wear rubber gloves) to dissolve the baking soda and work it down into the carpet. Allow it to dry. Then vacuum.

The vinegar will neutralize the ammonia and hydrogen peroxide is a powerful oxidizer capable of killing bacteria which cause the urine smells. Baking soda is a well known deodorizer which absorbs odors. Sprinkle it on your carpet monthly then vacuum up to keep your carpet smelling fresh all the time.

Important. Never use ammonia or ammonia-based products on the carpet. One of the ingredients of urine is ammonia and your cat may well be encouraged to re-offend in the same area if it detects the smell of ammonia. Many household cleaner cleaners contain ammonia so be sure to read the label.

If you don't have hydrogen peroxide on hand you could substitute it in an emergency for a spray laundry stain remover. Check the bottle. If it says 'Oxy' anywhere on the label then it probably contains hydrogen peroxide.

Caution, you should test your carpet for color fastness in an inconspicuous area.
Use only 3% Hydrogen Peroxide.

For peed on Laundry:

Remove cat urine odor from laundry. Use this method on your clothing, bedding, rugs or anything you think you can stuff in the washer (not including your cat). Simply add ¼ cup apple cider vinegar along with your normal laundry detergent, start the washer and VOILA!

>>> tried it, and it works! Does still have soda crystals coming up in the carpet (sort of a cloudy stain that vacuums out) and locally the carpet is really clean - but - NO SMELL!

SPCA feral cat program

2011-04-19T22:19:00.003-04:00

With the new goat barn and multitude of rodents I was thinking of contacting the SPCA to rehome a feral cat - they have the ads in the store at the mall. And while I was thinking about the pro's and con's someone moved in :)

For the past couple weeks a slender grey very shy cat has been prowling our perimeter and sleeping with the girls (hay stacks are sure a cat magnet, Greebo loves to sleep over in them too). I was not really planning to mess with it, but after catching it by mistake in the livetrap - someone is tunneling big time thru the shed and barn - I figured might as well have the feral cat program look him over.

So he went today and turns out it's a boy and already neutered! So most likely a dumped pet, tho for us he's been real snappy and hissy - our "pet" name has been "enge kat" (scary cat) and Simon wanted to leave him at the SPCA and take the beagle in the window back home!

Why I am posting all this? Turns out the SPCA has a program for feral cats where when you catch one and bring it in (and I presume then take it back to your barn) they'll spay/neuter and vaccinate it for free! You can contact them at 257-1822 and they operate on Tuesdays.

baby goats - oh my goodness!

2011-04-11T22:16:00.000-04:00

We have baby goats! Last Friday the 8th in the late morning Thirteen delivered triplet girls, all by herself as she had not given me any (for dummies) signs she was ready! The girl with beige head was chilled and off in a corner when I found them, so I gave her some extra attention and a teat to herself since they needed some help nursing the first day or so as Thirteen's teats were pretty swollen. Right now she's running on empty most of the day as they suck the milk straight out the moment it's available - good thing we have a couple extra gallons in the freezer for ourselves :)

Our toddler Simon likes to go down to the baby goats at least once a day and check them out, though he's still pretty shy and careful with handling them. Thirteen is not too fond of him, he moves unpredictably, and keeps me between him and her at all times... guess she does trust me, at least a little.

Make your own chicken feed

2011-04-05T12:14:00.006-04:00

10 pounds mixed grains - Farmer Ground Flour has everything from soup to nuts in the "waste" grain mix Tom's been using--corn, wheat, wheat bran, buckwheat, oats, rye, spelt, etc.; texture varies from flour to meal to whole grains.
1 pound organic fish meal - from Fertrell via Hilltop Organics in Dundee, NY; made by International Protein Corp., Minneapolis, MN
4.15 oz (1/2 cup) Fertrell Poultry Nutibalancer - from Fertrell via Hilltop Organics in Dundee, NY

recipe from Tom Shelley, Compost Educator and Sustainability Scion
Learn more about the Sustainable Chicken Project at steephollowfarm.wordpress.com
and on facebook www.facebook.com/129295929#/home.php

Working Goats

2011-03-31T17:29:00.005-04:00

After finding that picture on the web at WorkingGoats.com I knew for sure, this is the year I'm gonna try to train one of our goats to pull! We have that same green metal garden cart, and man, is it a chore on my joints getting it back uphill (even tho it's empty most of the time)... Hopefully we'll have a buck, or two to choose from from our first group of goat kids and I can start training from scratch. It'll be a while before I'll have help pulling the cart; definitely not this year, maybe next - but I am already looking forward to having help moving the chicken manure, goat manure, wood and weeds :)

A few weeks and Thirteen our first doe to deliver is scheduled to kid! Michael my goat guru invited me to watch the birth of his first kids of the season; his Nubian doe delivered two kids, a boy and a girl, very graciously and without any help even tho the first one was breeched.

A lot of training and equipment information an be found on the Working Goats website. They also sell harnesses, but with the help of friend Eileen we sewed one ourselves which seems to fit fine (have not pulled with it yet). Later I'll upload some pics with measurements etc for other sewing enthusiasts.

my plunge into soap making

2011-03-21T11:41:00.003-04:00

With the three week stay of my sister last recently I decided it was high time to learn the ins and outs of soap making as she makes and sells artisan soaps at renaissance fairs for years now. No better way to learn than from an expert I think :)

And I must say, now I know what to look for and what to look out for, soap making is not as difficult as I worried - sort of like making custard with rubber gloves and a ski mask - and definitely a heck of a lot more addictive than I anticipated! Which kinda means that if I'm not gonna sell any bars anytime soon, we'll have plenty of soap for us and any birthday presents until the end of times LOL.

So, what did I learn?

Lye goes in, but does not come out, so to say: soap making is a chemical process which means the fats/oils plus lye equals soap and the process is called saponification.

Wear protective clothing, gloves and goggles - until the chemical process is complete the soap soup is caustic and can burn holes in what you wear and you!

Go slow, do not hurry; no distraction from kids, cats or husbands allowed.

Wait 24 hours before cleaning, most will be saponified and suds up, plus it's not as caustic.
Oh, and if you have a septic system, wipe all chunks off first and discard in the trash - no sense in blocking up the pipes with "undigested" soap traces!

Don't handle uncured soap with bare hands, we have to wait the 6-8 weeks as well.

Before doing any actual work have someone walk you thru the process, either "live" or by reading lots of books with color pictures and watching a dvd or two. You'll need to learn what to "look" for before mixing any hazardous chemicals on your own.

About that last, have a gallon jug of vinegar on hand to neutralize any caustic spills if needed.

My sister taught me well :)

What materials seem to work for me?

a large 7qt crock pot
a digital scale
2 candy thermometers
a large (narrow) measuring beaker (to add lye crystals to water)
a medium measuring beaker (to weight water in)
a small measuring beaker (for lye)
several metal stirring spoons (full and slotted)
several rubber spoons to remove the last bits
several molds
rubber gloves
large safety glasses (wrap around kind)

an electric grater to hand mill / rebatch
a small band saw to cut hardened soap.

I already had the large crockpot (bought on sale at Wegmans) for making apple butters and most of the beakers from our dark room - a bunch of the other stuff I got at the Salvation Army store and Dollar Stores around town. The scale I got at Bed, Bath & Beyond (wait for the coupons) and the large beaker at Maine's restaurant supply.

You can use pretty much anything as a mold, though you might have to line it (wax paper) and/or freeze it to get the bar out. I prefer partially flexible plastic molds that don't need to be lined and most of the time the bar comes out of fairly easily. Ikea has good food grade plastic storage containers (with lid), kitchen stores carry flexible silicone molds like square cake pans or muffin pans and dollar stores tend to carry drawer dividers - all useful soap molds. Same for empty milk containers (waxed cardboard), pringle tubes, novelty cake pans, oatmeal containers, pvc piping...

Interesting books:

Soap Makers Workshop by Mc Daniel.
My definite favorite how-to book, comes with instructional DVD. Great pics, great recipes, geared towards people who'd like to start a soap making business.

Handmade Soap by Country Living.
Not really a how-to, but loads of good recipes and ideas.

The Soapmaker's Companion by Cavitch.
Lots of recipes, techniques and know-how (learn to design & calculate your own recipes).

The Natural Soap Book by Cavitch.
A great basic guide for herbal and vegetable based soaps.

All available thru Amazon.

Interesting websites:

Miller's Home Made Soap Pages
www.millersoap.com

Majestic Mountain Sage (has a lye calculator)
www.thesage.com

When I feel like typing again, I'll add some of the recipes I made the past month!
The olive oil only soap smells wonderful (and no added fragrance whatsoever!) and the oatmeal and honey soap smells like cookies... I still think it's funny, though, when cleaning my soap making stuff the stuff to clean off is soap, that'll suds up and clean itself :)

it's Spring... time for Bird Houses!

2011-03-21T11:19:00.008-04:00

I made a whole bunch of birdhouses - just before my second hand surgery and I knew I would not be able to do anything for at least another two months... I googled quite a few sites and settled on a couple interesting designs and ideas. We still had quite a few hemlock 6, 8 and 10" wide planks left over (not so much anymore) and all the houses below are made from what we still had laying about the workshop.

All nest boxes are made from recycled rough cut hemlock - the rough cut gives grip and traction and the hemlock gives long life even left untreated. The ones listed below are available and range between $15 to $30 each (see craigslist).

The Woodpecker House:

From the site http://www.freebirdhouseplans.net/woodpeckerbirdhouseplan.html
A birdhouse suitable for members of the woodpecker family and also for nuthatches and titmice, including chickadees.

It is attached to boles / main trunk of trees. The bottom is removable. It has grooves below the hole on the inside to make the inside surface rough to make it easier for the baby birds to get out of the box.

measures 30" by 10" (it's large but skinny)

The Squirrel Nest Box!

from the website http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/wildlife/ndblinds/kestrel.htm
Indeed, who needs more squirrels :) This nest box is suitable for the Gray Squirrel, Red Squirrel, and Fox Squirrel.

Squirrels can be attracted by using this box and filling it half full of leaves and mounting it at least 30 feet above the ground on a tree at least 10 inches in diameter. It is not necessary to clean out squirrel boxes.

measures 22 inches by 12 inches (it's heavy)

Wren & House Finch Nest Box:

from the site http://www.freebirdhouseplans.net/wrensbirdhouseplan.html
For wrens it may be placed on a tree or fence post. If attached near the eaves of a building, house finches will use it as well.

The insert / shelf can be easily removed by prying it up and sliding it out for easy cleaning access.

measures 15" by 10"

Robin & Barn Swallow Nest Box:

from the site http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/wildlife/ndblinds/robin.htm
The nesting shelf can be placed near a window where the birds can be observed throughout the nesting season or to a tree trunk or post 6-10 feet off the ground. Barn swallows will also utilize this shelf structure and may be encouraged to nest away from a doorway or other inconvenient location if presented with this opportunity.

the shelf unit is 13 inches tall and 8 inches deep

Peterson Blue Bird House:

Made from both recycled hemlock and old barn wood.
Mount on a post at/overlooking a field at about 5 feet high

for specifics please check the NPWRC website at:
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/wildlife/ndblinds/peteblue.htm

the mounting board is 30 inches tall, the house about 10x14 inches.

Whichever house does not find a new home I will mount this Fall, when I can properly use a screwdriver at the top of a ladder again :)

apple cider vinegar & honey help arthritis

2011-01-24T14:39:00.002-05:00

I've come across one too many references to the apple cider vinegar (with mother) with honey mixture as an old time remedy for arthritis I decided to google for more info - see below - and plan to try it for a while. Since my sister recommends drinking something acidic with meals anyway to help digestion it seems this way I could help two problems with one honey drink :)

From the website: arthritis-treatment-and-relief.com

"Dr. D.C. Jarvis, practitioner in Vermont, wrote a book entitled Arthritis and Folk Medicine. It is an interesting account of the centuries-old remedies used by farmers in Vermont for preserving vigorous health into old age. The book explains in detail the uses of apple cider vinegar for everything from relieving arthritis to reducing blood pressure to curing osteoporosis.

Jarvis believes that people with arthritis are calcium deficient, yet their joints and blood vessels are lined with calcium deposits that interfere with blood circulation and cause pain. He explains: “People with arthritis are usually classified as calcium deficient, although they do tend to accumulate calcium deposits. Vermont folk medicine says they are not making hydrochloric acid in the stomach, or else the amount made is too small. Normal calcium metabolism is so highly dependent upon this acid that when there is a lack of it a disturbed calcium metabolism is inevitable.”

Apparently Vermonters believe that treatment of arthritis, and many other health problems, must begin in the stomach. Jarvis found that when an apple cider vinegar cocktail is taken daily, calcium deposits are released back into solution in the bloodstream to be re-circulated to the proper parts of the body (the bones), thus alleviating arthritic pain and warding off osteoporosis. He explains: “The bones are a storehouse for calcium, and the ability to deposit calcium in the bony framework of the body with the aid of vinegar is certainly of value in elderly people because it makes the bones stronger and much less likely to be broken.”

In his conclusion, Jarvis summarizes the Vermont folk medicine prescription for arthritis: “Give 2 teaspoonfuls of apple cider vinegar and 2 of honey in a glass of water, taken at each meal. If this mixture is not accepted by the stomach at mealtimes it may be taken between meals.”

Use the cider vinegar and honey treatment for arthritis and also apply cider vinegar externally to painful joints. Local treatment can also be given by soaking the arthritic hand, or foot in a strong, comfortably hot solution of cider vinegar for ten minutes, two or three times a day - (a quarter of a cup of cider vinegar to one and a half cups of water).

Arthritic knees can be attended to by making a poultice - soak the cloth in a mixture of cider vinegar and water, (as per above mixture) wring out and wrap it around the joint, then secure with a dry cloth to retain heat. When the wet cloth cools, it should be wrung out in the hot solution and applied afresh. Repeat several times, twice daily.

The Arthritis Foundation does not endorse this treatment and lumps it under unproven remedies. My patients sometimes will try things like this. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I personally don’t see any real harm in trying it. But I wouldn’t advise using this as a substitute for what your rheumatologist recommends."

goat potato chips...

2011-01-21T14:32:00.003-05:00

thinking about other free goat munchies; at some point I read an article about feeding goats dry fall leaves during winter, tried it out this fall and yes, they do eat them like we do potato chips :)

A couple things I learned, they LOVE apple tree leaves, but pitted fruit trees like cherry (wild and cultivated) and peaches are poisonous. As are Rhodondendron, Mountain Laurel and Yew. Do a google search for a complete listing...

When leaves are abundant the goats are probably not that interested in what you offer since it is available everywhere; it's when it's all gone 'in the wild' when a handful each day with their hay will be greatly appreciated. Don't throw it on the ground; eating of the floor is unsanitary anyway, but even yummy leaves on ground tend to be ignored.

I only save leaves in paper bags and when 'collecting' filled bags only save the ones for the animals that are completely dry (at least a couple days no rain) and are light weight, without extra moisture. Wet leaves will start composting, and the molds would make the goats sick, not happy.

Furry Chrismas Tree Recycling?

2011-01-21T13:55:00.006-05:00

I was thinking... seeing all those dumped nice Christmas trees along the roads... how good a goat treat would those make?

I asked Michael my goat guru and he remembered seeing an article on the web about a town collecting all it's trees after new years and donating them to a goat farm, so it's not that unusual of an idea! He did also mention feeding white pine on the other hand (not a xmas tree type pine) can cause miscarriage - very good to know, as we have a large white pine which always looses branches I was intending to feed to my (pregnant) girls!

I brought home a nice looking tree (no spray on glitter etc) and the girls are steadily munching on it - not too much at once, bu munching away none the less :)

See blog article "Christmas Trees recycled by Goats" and article "Rescued Goats eat Discarded Christmas Trees like Candy"

Cinnamon Bread

2011-01-17T21:31:00.004-05:00

6.5 - 7 cups white & whole wheat flour
6 tablespoons sugar
1.5 teaspoon salt
1 pkg / 2.5 teaspoons yeast
1 cup milk
3/4 (1/2 if proofing) cup water
1/3 cup margarine
3 room temperature eggs

filling:
softened butter to spread
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2-1 cup raisins (optional)

Proof dry yeast with 1/4 cup warm water and 1 teaspoon sugar.
Mix 2 cups of flour with sugar & salt.
Put milk, water & margarine in glass bowl and microwave for 2 min.
Gradually add to dry ingredients in KitchenAid and mix.
Add proofed yeast and eggs.
Gradually add the rest of the flour to make a stiff dough which pulls off the sides of the bowl.
Cover with warm damp cloth for 30-60 minutes in a warm spot.

Remove dough from bowl and divide in two.
Punch each half down to about a 14x9 triangle.
Spread softened butter all over, sprinkle with sugar/cinnamon.
Roll as you would a jelly roll, begin at short side.
Tuck in ends to prevent leaking and place in metal bread pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for about 50 minutes.
To see if it's done, turn over and knock to hear if it's hollow.
Place cookie sheet under bread pans as the goodies can leak out.

Great to bring to potlucks, the bread looks wonderful and tastes even better!

From Countryside, Nov/Dec 2010 page 71

Oliebollen

2011-01-10T14:33:00.004-05:00

New Years' Eve fried dough "Dutch style"

1 cup raisins (optional)
4.5 cups all purpose flour
2 cups lukewarm milk
1 tbs salt
1 egg
24 grams yeast

rinse the raisins, black and/or yellow, and drain well
dilute / proof the yeast in a little lukewarm milk
combine flour and salt in stand mixer, add milk, egg, yeast mixture and raisins - mix well

the mixture should fall in flakes, not sheath

let rise covered in warm environment for at least an hour
when it has risen and is full of bubbles it is ready

use a deep fryer on the french fries setting (remove the colander)
use two spoons to scoop batter from bowl, constantly rotating to make 1,5-2 inch balls, and drop them into the frying oil - leaving room to move about

After about 3 minutes turn around, if they have not already done so, and bake for an additional 2 minutes (the larger the diameter of the ball, the longer the baking time). They should be golden brown (like french fries) and crispy, without a doughy center.

"Oliebollen" are the predecessors of Doughnuts - believe it or not since they do taste completely different. The batter changed over the years, especially with the addition of sugar. One invention to prevent a doughy center (an issue with frying large volume) was to remove the center completely, resulting in the recognizable doughnut "O" shape :)

Icelandic Horse books & video

2010-12-24T22:12:00.009-05:00

The Icelandic Horse Farm in Vernon, BC. has several breed specific books for sale. Both Joy and More Jof of Icelandics are very well recommended thru the IceHorsesWorldwide forum and I ordered both for the coming winter evenings to prepare for when my horsey partner announces itself :-)

Below a listing of any and all books Icy I've come across:

A Good Horse Has No Color, Searching Iceland for the perfect horse - By Nancy Brown CND
Joy of Icelandics - By Christine Schwartz CND
More Joy of Icelandics - By Christine Schwartz and Rikke Schultz, DVM CND
Sleipnir’s Story - By Sleipnir and Christine Schwartz CND
Understand Your Icelandic Horse - By Rikke Schultz CDN
New Age Vikings, The Icelandic Horse Volume I - by Elizabeth A. Haug
New Age Vikings, Horse Gathering in Iceland Volume 2 - by Elizabeth A. Haug
New Age Vikings: There is Something About The Icelandic Horse Volume 3 - by Elisabeth Haug
In the Hoofprints of the Vikings, Horse Trekking in Iceland - by Elizabeth A. Haug
The Icelandic Horse in the Home Country - by Johanna Sigihorsdottir (Author), Gary Gunning (Translator)
Living Your Dream, The Icelandic Horse Gletta - by Elisabeth Haug, Lars Perner
The Colors of the Icelandic Horse (English Language) - by Friðþjófur Þorkelsson
The Icelandic Horse (English Language)
The Icelandic Horse in the Home Country (English Language)
The Natural Colors of the Icelandic Horse (English Language) - by Sigurður A. Magnússon (Author), Friðþjófur Þorkelsson (Photographer)
Understand your Icelandic Horse - by Rikke Mark Schultz ISBN 87-989189-0-7
Riding the Wild Side of Denali: Adventures with Horses and Huskies - by Miki & Julie Collins

Easy-Gaited Horses: Gentle, humane methods for training and riding gaited pleasure horses - by Lee Ziegler
The Horse's Choice - by Staci Layne Wilson

For the kids:
My Horse Of The North (was titled Icelandic Pony) - by Bruce Mcmillan (Kindergarten-Grade 3)
Ariel's Journey (The Ice Horse Adventures, Book 1) - by Doug Kane, Christy Wood (Ages 9-12)
Horse Diaries #1: Elska - by Catherine Hapka (Author), Ruth Sanderson (Illustrator) (Ages 9-12)

Video:
The Icelandic Horse DVD - by director Sveinn M. Sveinsson $39.95
The Lure of the Highlands DVD - by director Sveinn M. Sveinsson $39.95
9.5-10 For Riding Abilities- The Ultimate Breeding Goal of the Icelandic Horse DVD - by director Sveinn M. Sveinsson
Riding the Icelandic Horse DVD - director Curt Worden $35
Around the World on Horseback / Iceland's Viking Horses DVD - by Bob Seemann 2005 $9.95
Im Bann der Pferde (TV series 2009) - English Translated by director Lisa Eder
2006 NEIHC Breeding Evaluations at Mill Farm, NY (video on demand) - directed by Steven T. Barber
Tolt with "Diddi" DVD - by Sigurbjorn Bardarson "Diddi" (Actor), Bjarni Thor Sigurdsson (Director)
Eyjolfur Isolfsonn Master Trainer: ON HORSEBACK, a Few Basics VCR - director Sveinn M. Sveinsson
Benni Lindal Icelandic Master Trainer: Training VCR by KVIK hf.

Icelandic Horse YouTube video's

2010-12-24T21:54:00.008-05:00

A very nice german language documentary "Im Bann Der Islandpferde"or "Under the Spell of Horses - Iceland" by director Lisa Eder and filmed by Richard Ladkani. Three part posting, each 15 minutes.

Im Bann der Islandpferde 1/3 - 15:04 min.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqZpMJI1gy8&feature=related

Im Bann der Islandpferde 2/3 - 13:51 min.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idXtcAi_I50&feature=related

Im Bann der Islandpferde 3/3 - 12:30 min.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZran0SxcE0&feature=related

"This film covers the story of an Icelandic family and their love for horses. They live in the northern part of Iceland breeding horses for a living. During the summer they embark on a journey across the vast highlands in order to find new feeding grounds between Iceland's biggest glaciers. To cover the trip across uncharted territory they take eighty powerful horses for the ride. It is a dangerous journey, due to the unpredictable and extreme weather conditions that can change within minutes."

RFD-TV's The Horse Show with Rick Lamb "Knights of Icelandic" episode 316
http://www.thehorseshow.com/rfd_schedule.aspx

Real Men Ride Icelandic Horses - TheThorgud 2:40 min.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfVoU_n97k8&feature=related

Icelandic Horses - Paul Taggart 3:17 min.
http://vimeo.com/18327413

a girl's fun video in the snow with her Icelandic 4:04 min.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH8yoBdGnaI

DIY cheese press

2010-12-21T21:51:00.009-05:00

Easy to make Cheese Press from threaded pipes, dumbbells and a coffee can...

Dimensions don't really matter much, width depends either on the diameter of the cheese mold (coffee can) or the diameter of the largest dumbbells, whichever is largest.

You'll need:
one 2x6x24ish piece of hardwood (larger than width of sink)
one 1x4x24ish piece of hardwood for pressing board
two 1/2 inch by 18" pieces of threaded galvanized pipe (lowe's)
one 1/2 inch 8" piece of pipe for pressing plate
four pipe end plates; two for bottom board, two for pressing board
50lbs in weight; need to be able to make 10, 20 or 50lbs at a time

Drill two 3/4 inch holes in the pressing board to allow the pipes to stick thru.
Attach one end plate to middle of underside of pressing board
screw the short 8 inch pipe in, attach another end plate to end
this creates a nice pressing plate to divide force

Use new coffee can, 6-8 inch diameter, and remove both top lip and the bottom with can opener.
You can make an aluminum pie pan into a drip pan if you cut a small triangle out of one side and bend it down.

Funny enough; with all the expensive and elaborate cheese presses available, this one is actually easy to make, relatively cheap and works like a charm!
I got the hardware from Lowe's, each piece is about $5, and the dumbbells from the Salvation Army, at 25c a pound weight.

Now all I need is a decent Cheddar recipe...

weird tips from around the homestead...

2010-12-21T12:32:00.005-05:00

From the Backyard Chickens Forum - Pesky Black Kitchen Ants!
"I read in Countryside Magazine about using a small pile of cornmeal where the ants can get it. The cornmeal is very corrosive to their digestive tracts and they die. They carry it back to their nest and store it for the others and they die also. Well, I tried it this year and.....it works!!! I was having black ants all over my cabinets and getting into my sugar! Within a week, no more ants. Haven't seen one since. I used fine yellow cornmeal. Left it on the counter for a couple of days only. Hope this works!"

From Countryside Magazine Volume 95 page 20
Minor Cuts
"Apply ground black pepper to stop bleeding. No, it's won't sting."
Minor Burns
"Immediately apply ice wrapped in damp cloth until the pain stops. It may take hours, but there will be no scar (tried it myself, the cold hurts, but then it fades away, and no blister!)."
Potato Growth Inhibitor
"Commercial potatoes are sprayed with a poisonous sprouting inhibitor. Peel potatoes before cooking. Cooking with peels on forces the poison into potato's flesh."

Advice from a German friend - Bee or Wasp Sting
"Immediately cut an onion in half with as much cells damaged to release as much onion juice as possible; rub vigorously onto sting site until pain goes away. Might need to re-cut onion to release more juice if necessary (also tried and it worked like a charm, hardly any swelling where I normally swell up like a balloon)."

Advice from my sister with night time hungry's
"Drink a little fruit juice or water with a big squirt of lemon juice with your evening meal. The acid of the lemon juice will trigger the stomach to release (more) digestive fluids, resulting in a better digested meal, less/no food left undigested in stomach and thus less/no 'hungry' feeling at night."

- collection in progress

homemade baby wipes / udder wipes recipe

2010-12-21T12:26:00.010-05:00

I think I might finally have found my goat wipes! And of course the winner is the recipe from Fias Co Farm of course: I'll have to stop by Greenstar for essential oils and Wegmans for the off the shelf items - and keep my eyes open for a good food storage container (can always feed the contents to the chickens, if we or the kid won't eat it LOL).

From the Fias Co Farm website:
I like to keep homemade "goat wipes" on hand in the barn for cleaning up goat baby butts, or does during that "leaking time" after they've given birth, or just to wipe my hands. You can also use these as udder wipes since the essential oils give it an antibacterial quality.

To make your own goat wipes, find a food storage container (a coffee can will rust) that will hold a roll of paper towels that have been cut in half. Use only Bounty paper towels, anything else will just become a mushy mess. Cut a roll in half with a bread knife. Remove the cardboard tube. In the container mix:

* 1 Tbs. baby oil (or Calendula oil)
* 2 tsp. Dawn dish washing detergent
* 2 C water
* 5 drops Tea Tree essential oil
* 5 drops Lavender essential oil

(I used to add commercial teat dip in the hope that it would give it an antibacterial quality, but when mixed, the dip's strength dissipates quickly so it's really just a waste of money.)

Place the half paper towel roll into the container, remove it, turn it over, and place it back in. To use your wipes, remove them from the center of the roll.

Another baby wipes recipe, though not recommended for goat wipes as it is not antibacterial. From Backyard Chickens Forum

Strong paper towels work the best.
Cut one roll of paper towels in half.
Take out the core so wipes pull out of the center.

Make solution of 2 cups water, 1/2 cup of baby oil, 1/2 cup baby magic baby bath

Place 1/2 roll of paper towels in container. Pour solution over towels. Store in container. Makes 2 1/2 rolls.

From Countryside Magazine, volume 94 page 76.
Use a roll of absorbent paper towels and cut in half (so not use a serrated knife). Remove the inner cardboard core. Find a container with a lid for the roll to fit snuggly into. Cut an X or very small opening in the center of the lid. This is to pull the paper towels from the center of the roll through.

2 tablespoons Kosher V-6 Oil or (organic) olive oil
1 tablespoon unscented bath gel base
2-6 drops lavender essential oil
2 cups warm water

Note: she finds the V-6 oil much lighter on the skin than olive oil.

natural Laundry Detergent available

2010-12-19T23:14:00.001-05:00

one gallon jars of EGG DROP SOAP
or natural liquid unscented laundry detergent
$10 each

home made from traditional soap making recipe
bottled in recycled vinegar jugs

ingredients: water, fels naptha, borax, washing soda
directions: add 1/2 to 2/3 cup per load
add 1/2 cup of white vinegar to soften clothes if needed
shake well before use - separation happens (hence the egg drop appearance)

I used it to launder my baby son's diapers since he has (had) skin problems from all the additives & scents - and now I use of for all our laundry :-)

the Icelandics of Rien Poortvliet

2010-12-19T23:05:00.004-05:00

If you are interested in the Icelandic Horse I uploaded several pages from Dutch painter Rien Poortvliet's book "Van de Hak op de Tak" to my Picasa page featuring Icelandics. He ended up owning / enjoying two Icelandic Horses, Gustur and Ko, and his paintings and drawings of the two are inspiring. Enjoy!

Maybe someday I'll take the time to translate the little stories he wrote with them...

suustainable Garden Benches

2010-12-19T20:59:00.011-05:00

A new project; and available to the general public from Suustainable: repurposed wood Garden Benches. These beautiful low carbon footprint garden benches are available either as kit or assembled and are listed for sale on Craigslist.com in the Farm/Garden section.

A little background:
I was looking for a nice wood garden bench to enjoy our swamp view with our toddler son. All the outdoor benches available are either poor quality and expensive, or good quality but very expensive - and all made from woods from very far away (pine imported from Germany?! hardwoods from California?!) even though New York has abundant wood resources.

So, I searched the internet for an ergonomic outdoor bench design and found one I really like, that sits wonderful and looks great. I made one, hauled it out to the woods and the swamp overview and have never had so many positive remarks about one of my projects...

Since I enjoy wood working and really enjoy "jutten", a Dutch word for going to the beach after foul weather and finding 'free' goodies (my granddad actually was a real one, found many interesting things on the beaches of Vlieland) I hereby offer my building and collecting skills to you for a nominal fee :-)

About my benches...
- Each one is different, depending on the resources available.
- The woods used are:
• locally harvested and milled ruff cut or finished hemlock
• rescued shipping wood (mostly pine)
• locally harvested and milled natural edge hardwood planks
- The legs, backrests and armrests are either hemlock or hardwood for durability and safety.
- The armrests are sanded down with rounded edges for comfort.
- Weather resistant hardware (star bit self drilling screws).

The benches come in three basic designs:
- Made from repurposed materials only: $75 kit or $100 assembled
- Frame made from repurposed materials, back and seat natural edge hardwood: $90 kit or $125 assembled
- Both frame and seat made from finished hemlock: $110 kit or $150 assembled

The kits come with detailed instructions, clearly labeled pieces and a baggie of hardware. It takes me about 5 hours to cut and assemble one bench. It should take you about 1,5 to 2 hours to assemble one, less if you have woodworking experience.

You can set it in the garden as is for at least a decade (and a half) of use, or treat it with your preservative of choice (wax, oil, stain or polyurethane).

Contact us for more information or to order!
Pick up in Ithaca on west hill near the hospital or delivery within reasonable distance.

2010-12-18T20:29:00.000-05:00

Why do I like horses? I think I must be mad.
My mother wasn't horsey - And neither was my dad.

But the madness hit me early - and it hit me like a curse.
And I've never gotten better. In fact I've gotten worse.

I hardly read a paper - but I know who's sold their horse.
And I wouldn't watch the news - Unless Mr. Ed was on - of course.

One eye's always on the heavens - but my washing waves in vain
As I rush to get the horses in - in case it's gonna rain.

I spend up every cent I've got - on horsey stuff for sure
I buy harness, carts and fancy boots - and then I buy some more.

I can't sew on a button - I don't even try
But I can back a truck and trailer - in the twinkling of an eye.

It's jeans and boots that I live in night and day
And that smell of sweaty horses that just wont wash away.

I ache from long forgotten falls. My knees have got no skin.
My toes have gone a funny shape - from being stomped on again and again.

But late at night, when all is still - and I've gone to give them hay,
I touch their velvet softness and my worries float away.

They give a gentle nicker and they nuzzle through my hair
And I know it's where my heart is - more here than anywhere.

- Author Unknown

reposted from the St. Skutla Icelandic Horses Yahoo Group.

local Icelandic Horse info

2010-12-14T13:33:00.007-05:00

Things I came across while researching the Icelandic breed:

It seems that New York is pretty central in the Icelandic Horse community. I found references to about 15 regional Icelandic Horse clubs and two of them are in New York! Go figure. A fair number of Icelandic (native) breeders and trainers are in this area as well, especially north of the City.

The Northeast Icelandic Horse Club (NEIHC) is a regional club of the US Icelandic Horse Congress. Their goal is to facilitate shows, clinics, trail rides, and evaluations in the New York, New England region.

the Fingerlakes has it's own Icelandic Horse group which meets on Yahoo Groups:
the St Skutla Icelandic Horse Club of Central / western New York
a great question resource for newbies but also a nice way to socialize, to learn about upcoming events and to hook up with trail buddies.

The Yahoo Group IceHorsesWorldwide is an open discussion list for those interested in the Icelandic Horse.

Looking for your own Icelandic?
Equine Now has a listing of privately offered Icelandics Horses, you can specify the state(s) you're willing to travel to.
DreamHorse.com also has a fair amount of Icelandic Horse listings.

But, from looking and asking around I think my best bet for a safe and enjoyable horse would be to buy through a farm / breeder, even though that would increase the price. They screen for health and temperament issues to make sure the buyer gets what they want and can handle, which sounds very valuable to me - especially since I won't have much negotiation room for second changes!

Two barns in the New York area specializing in Icelandic Horses:
Sand Meadow Farm, owned by Andrea and Steven Barber
Mendon, NY (south of Rochester)
toltstar@yahoo.com

Andrea Barber is also the Executive Editor of Tolt News and a moderator for the St. Skutla Icelandic Horse Club yahoo group.

Pangaea Equestrian Services by Knutur and Cerice Berndsen
Barn Location in Stanfordville, NY 12581
PangaeaEquestrian@live.com

Thor Icelandics, owned by Kristjan Kristjansson and family
Claverack, NY 12513
kristjan@fairpoint.net

Two interesting (but expensive) Icelandics only magazines:
Tolt News
The Icelandic Horse Quarterly by the USIHC

Interesting Icelandic Horse websites:
The Icelandic Horse Farm out of Vernon, BC Canada
they also have a nice selection of Icelandic Horse related (training) books
the Icelandic Horse Connection with general Icelandic horse information.
Extreme Farm Icelandic Silent Auction out of Ellensburg, WA 98926
Two video sites worth checking out (if you have high speed) are Life with Horses and Hestakaup, both primarily about Iceys. Hestakaup has a lot of Iceland specific info like trail ride links, buying a horse over there etc.

A very nice 45 minute DVD (also expensive, of course) The Icelandic Horse by Sveinn M. Sveinnson I would definitely recommend watching (borrow if possible)!

have spare energy?

2010-12-10T15:03:00.011-05:00

go chop down a bunch of trees and built a few bonfires - it works like a charm :-)

After learning about the bone tumor thingy I got just a little nervous... Instead of googling tumors or thinking about any biopsy results I thought of something laborious to do that Simon the 2 year old would enjoy as well and voila: now we have a walk through the woods. Nice thing is that Simon fairly regularly asks to go hike back there (bos! bos!), not so nice thing is that it suddenly turned winter and halfway through he or we get chilled and then it's a long way back to the house... but hey, we're Dutch, back yards that large is not something we should complain about :-)

I know, it does not look like much, but believe me: there were so many small shrubs and fallen wood even Simon could not get through without getting caught, tripping or tripping while getting caught! So I built a small wood collector on the trailer of the lawn tractor (basically six upright 2x4's , one in each corner and one in the middle of the long sides to gather all the downed wood and chopped down shrubs to the bonfire pit. I think I did that for about two weeks, several times in the weekend once or twice during week days depending on weather - I must have hauled at least 25 loads of scraps out of those woods to make it (goat) kid safe! I really had some energy to spare, I guess :-)

This view is looking back, the mature trees are on the house side and the New York State Protected Marshland (we call it the swamp) is on the left. Which does mean about half the trail is pretty muddy so when it has rained the lawn tractor has a tendency to get really stuck! I did get two car trailer loads of wood chips from the city to raise things up a bit which does help (no snow cover means wet, muddy ground in pics), but for now when it's really wet it's just not drivable.

And why all this effort?
Couple of reasons: my handicapped sister comes to visit us in February and I plan to have her ride the lawn tractor (snow chains?) all around the place to see for herself what all the fuss is about. She sees the postings and the pictures but last time she was here we tried to push her around in the wheel chair and that just did not work.

Simon needs his physical time, especially in winter. The boardwalk is not all that long yet - large water willow came down and needs to be chainsawed first - and this loop thru the woods makes our hike around the goat pasture just different enough it's fun. Plus, I made a raised platform with a bench (so I can take a rest) for an open view over the swamp and that just turned out gorgeous... the view's not ours but I don't think those neighbors would mind sharing it!

And one more thing: goats like woods. Hopefully this spring I can fence off part of the woods to create a temporary pasture for the girls where they can munch young tree growth in spring (keeps the forest floor more open) and leaves in fall. They won't be allowed in there when they're into tree bark (mostly late fall & winter) to protect our beautiful large sugar maple trees.

I situated the trail with an eventual goat fence in mind as I would like to use live trees as occasional fence posts with steel t-posts in between. From Michael's swamp experiences, most of his pasture is wet at least part of the year, I learned to use tall ones - and so we learn from each others' experiences!

what I learned about worming goats

2010-12-10T14:08:00.011-05:00

This whole goat keeping has quite a learning curve, especially since any book you read and anyone you'll ask has a different opinion and way of doing things! Plus, most internet sites are not local to your area so what works for them does not necessarily apply or work for you...

in short: what I learned asking anyone I could find:
don't try and figure it out yourself, instead focus on finding a goat specializing veterinarian and have her inspect your flock and living conditions and ask for advice - she knows the area and any problems other goat keepers might have.

do not worm everyone and do not worm on a schedule - consult with a vet, or collect fecal samples yourself, for fecal worm egg counts and only treat the ones who need it. It's just like antibiotic use: the worms become resistant from regular exposure.

do no listen to sales people; they're great for general info but are not trained vets...

if you find a wormer off the shelf do not trust the dosage on the label if it is not specifically labeled for goats; of course they are different and need a much larger dosage a vet will need to tell you...

In our area Cornell Ambulatory Clinic and especially Dr Mary Smith are very good goat resources. They sure know about goats, come right to the farm and are affordable. They will let you (and show / teach you) give subQ injections like booster shots and they can process your fecal samples to determine your worming schedule. Dr Mary Smith prescribed labeled for goat Safeguard, available locally at Tractor Supply for about $20, to worm my herd of three (but only two, the kid was ok).

I found two other wormers which I'm interested in:
Molly's Herbal Wormer which is a weekly feed additive consisting of once every 8 weeks a dose of formula 1 herbal wormwood combination and the other weeks a dose of formula 2 herbal weekly worm formula & tonic. It's not that expensive, it's organic and it helps boost general health and the immune system. But; formula one can not be used in pregnant goats, and of course I just bred both Thirteen and Monica...

Another one that looks interesting, and is also available for poultry, is Verm-X USA which are certified organic herbal intestinal parasite control pellets. It seems to come out to about the same cost per month, or maybe a little more than Molly's, but they're imported from England and it does not always seem to be available.

Both Molly's Herbals and Verm-X have horse specific organic wormers available as well.

what happens when the barn turns out better...

2010-12-08T15:09:00.006-05:00

... than you'd ever thought possible? Horsey thoughts pop up again!
I was already (semi) joking to get a pony for Simon when I found out I could get a pony for me as well! Oh my god, all my childhood dreams (well, I only had one dream) within arms reach! No wonder I'm driving hubbie Rolf nuts with my sudden onset of horse obsession :-)

I'll copy/paste something I wrote as an introduction for the yahoo forum of our very nice local Icelandics organization called the St. Skutla Icelandics Horse Group couple days back (with my right hand swaddled from surgery typing is not my strong point right now):

"Thank you for your warm welcome!

I sorta rolled into the Icelandic awareness, having thought for a while our property did not lean itself for horses and not wanting to stable somewhere else - I wouldn't want to my kid off to boarding school either! Then we got a couple meat goats, which evolved into a couple milk goats which needed fenced pasture - and a winter barn... and seeing the new structure go up - much larger & nicer than it looked on paper - made me wonder about getting a pony for our toddler son someday.

So here I was, googling pony housing information, thinking of the ponies back home (we're from the Netherlands, lots of fjords and ijslanders) when I came across a picture of Altario (Pangea) getting ready for a hunter pace event (my newly discovered absolute favorite outdoor event). And oh my goodness, it suddenly dawned on me: a horse might not fit, but Icelandics sure would; we've got an acre of fenced meadow pasture and a 14x10 walk in stall - and I can ride and even jump one!

Unfortunately, my hubbie has not quite progressed from the acquiring goats to acquiring ponies/horses yet - the barn's not even finished... but I'm not sure he realizes the forces of nature at play here! I'm not sure it's safe to stand between me and my own horse - as a matter of fact, it's what got me to America in the first place LOL"

This is my ideal horse "Altario". He's for sale at the Pangaea Farm in the White Plains: he's beautiful, jumps hunter paces but alas, is very much out of my budget... you can check out him and other gorgeous horses on the Pangaea website.

the goat barn is looking great!

2010-12-08T14:20:00.009-05:00

And I am so proud of my hubbie Rolf for pulling it off... though having that "it'll be winter soon" deadline sure was motivating! We just about made it in time, they moved in about three weeks ago, initially without front door and windows but anything is better than a tarp tent, I'm sure. With the last November windstorm Monika aka Mountain Goat did catch a bit of a cold I think, plus Gazelle stopped nursing (and Whitey is safely rutting in the bachelor pad) which made her milk production drop significantly as well with me only milking in the mornings.

I did get her back up to milking fine again, only to find out I would need to stop milking her soon anyway so right now she's dried off and on her date with boer buck Octavian. Not sure why I missed her estrus last month, maybe being miserable from her cold minimized the signs; plus, with the new barn and the cold weather nobody is hanging out with Whitey anymore so he's not as good of an estrus "thermometer" as he was with Thirteen :-)

The barn is not completely done, but mostly done, and definitely working. We have heated water buckets, a place to separate Thirteen from her kid overnight, a large keyhole hayfeeder in the walk in stall, haybales stored within the barn - no juggling flakes of hay while trying to open and close gates - a separate area for the milk stand so I don't have to scrape poopies off every morning, opening & closing double pane windows, a dutch door and since a couple days: light at night! It's funny how "camping out" with minimal resources really makes you appreciate when you do get some!

And why I had to stop milking? Turns out that annoying pain I had in one of the knuckles of my right hand was a (benign) bone tumor - go figure! The milking aggravated the tumor (not used to this sore muscles etc) and made it show it's ugly head before it had grown large enough to be felt or seen, so the removal surgery was not as invasive as it could have been. Still they removed about a garbanzo beans' worth of bone, which was grafted and returned from one of my arm bones to give the knuckle ligament something to anker to. The surgery went fine, and I can still milk Thirteen (one handed) but other than that am pretty much confined to the couch & computer... Bummer!

no-knead bread recipe update

2010-11-18T22:49:00.009-05:00

There are various recipes for no-knead bread available and I started with the one published in a mother earth article last year or so. But, the bread was pretty dense, tasted a lot like sour dough, and did not really rise very well. I tweaked the recipe and came up with a slightly different but just as easy a version that does rise well, has a good crust and nice air pockets throughout - and still needs no kneading :-)

5 cups all purpose (or white) flour
1.5 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups lukewarm whey (or water)
2 teaspoons of herbed salt
2 teaspoons of granulated yeast soaked in warm water with
1 teaspoon sugar

soak the yeast in a little warm water, whisk well
add teaspoon of sugar for food
add flour and salt to bowl
use dough hook, add whey and yeast
knead until ball forms and dough does not stick to sides
leave in bowl, cover with damp towel for about 1-2 hours
remove from bowl, split in two (with floured hands) and pat into bread pans

the two major differences are:
presoak the yeast, and do not refrigerate the dough.

I like to make one long cut in the middle, it makes for a nice split top. A little flour on top looks good as well. It also does real nice as a pizza crust.

And how do I know it's a good tweak? Cause my hubbie told me this morning not to buy the Heidelberg bread anymore, he definitely preferred this new version...

Same with my small herbed chevres... I gave one to a good friend of mine and she told me later she still could not believe I actually made it myself, and she sure was not sharing with her roommates! This from a person who grows carrots and sweet potatoes as big as baseball bats!

firm goat yoghurt recipe

2010-11-18T21:32:00.004-05:00

... with a little help from my gelatin friends :-)

Initially I used a recipe from an article out of countryside magazine, but it did not stiffen correctly. I kinda wondered about that anyway (plus, it used sugar) cause the way I use gelatin for cheesecake sure is different. I retried the recipe but followed the gelatin directions this time and the yogurt looks great!

Heat milk to 185 degrees and hold there for 5 minutes (kills off competing cultures).
Cool milk rapidly in sink of cold water to about 115 degrees.
Add two table spoon fulls of yogurt live culture.
Sprinkle 1 packet of gelatin in some cold water, let sit for 1 minute.
Add milk with yogurt to dissolved gelatin, whisk very well.
Pour into yogurt maker jars, let incubate for 12 hours.
(the longer the incubation the more bitter the taste)
Refrigerate, which stops incubation and sets gelatin.

like I said, it's yogurt for dummies!

very easy hard cheese recipe

2010-11-12T16:34:00.004-05:00

A new recipe I found in the Barnyard in your Backyard book Goat section page 225... I made a batch today and have the curds setting in the (home made) molds in the fridge... we'll see about the claim it's a grateable cheese in about 2 and a half hours!

Heat one gallon of raw goat milk to 185 degrees F and keep there for 5 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup of lemon juice to separate the curds.
Drain the whey and stir in a 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
Press the drained curds into molds and set the molds in a strainer to drain further.
In about 2 hours you should have about 1.5 lbs of mild tasting hard cheese to grate...
Wrap the cheese in plastic wrap and keep in fridge for up to two weeks!

I made the molds from butter containers (food grade plastic) by melting holes with a heated piece of metal about 1/16th of an inch thick (piece of galvanized fencing).

Very curious to see what it will become!

>>>Tried the recipe, two times, once with my new cheese press, and the cheese does not get hard... It's more like panir; not soft cheese, but not hard either. Does not grate but does crumble. I use panir for curry since it does not melt like chevre - but it definitely is not grateable hard cheese :-( The resulting whey is great though!

I started to herb, salt and shape the chevre (2 gallons makes about 7 herbed cones) which I then wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for the rest of the year until milking resumes in spring. I also made cream cheese by whisking not too dry chevre in the kitchenaid (very good!). If only I could make a decent hard cheese :-)

Thirteen goes on a date!

2010-11-10T14:20:00.013-05:00

My first time, though it seemed like nothing special to Thirteen :-) Which is why I got the two older does, they've done all this stuff before!

Here's Thirteen meeting Octavian, the 120lbs 1,5 year old full Boer.

"well, hello there!"

"you smell sooo good..."

"my, you're a big boy!"

'I luvvv you!!!"

"I like you too..."

And that six times in the couple minutes Michael and I watched! She'll be there the rest of the afternoon - they seemed to have a good time - and Mountain Goat will have a nice easy day without hormonal bullying from her herd queen!

And now we have to wait five months...

from rain to snow...

2010-11-03T22:28:00.003-04:00

from one day to the next! It really is too bad, the two cold nights we've had killed all the flowers including the dahlia, cosmos and marigolds which were all still going on strong! Most of the nasturtium in the veggie garden gave the ghost as well and the pepper plants in the uncovered window boxes were toast and served a nice, hot snack for the goats this afternoon.

First year we've had a flower garden and I must say it sure was a success! I'll be looking for flower seeds at the seed savers this year as well, to make my own seed shaker mixes.

goats like apples...

2010-11-03T22:22:00.003-04:00

... they sure are something to smile about!

my patchwork privy

2010-11-03T21:56:00.009-04:00

After two years of slowly digging away at the pit, I finally was able to quit and start building my privy! And good timing too, as our two+ year old started potty training and while playing in the yard did not want to go all the way back up to the house to pee... Which is where this two holer, toddler size version comes from.

Since I knew for quite a few years I wanted to build a privy I was able to collect materials for quite a while. After the build of our timberframe garage / workshop we had a lot of scraps left over and combined with the old basement shelving (5" cherry tongue and groove boards) and a whole stack of lake house paneling (5" pine tongue and groove) I found one day alongside route 34 it seemed time to start.

We also had a couple 2x6" rough cut left overs stored behind the shed I could rip into 2x3"s for the main structure, combined with some rough cut dollar 1x4" planks and ripped scrap packing wood from lowe's for the less than 40" long boards I did not have to go out and specifically buy anything but the door hinges! Oh, and two ventilation panels I kinda forgot to install I just realised (after sitting on a wet seat from ground condensation)!

Oh, the roof are two pieces of (new) left over metal roofing panels used to protect the timberframe roof when it got shipped. And I also had two old but working louvre shutters I cut down short and installed as windows and ventilation. Initially, they were also the main source of light, but since the inauguration bonfire party showed that nobody uses an unlit privy on a dark night I did install a pull cord light fixture inside (also a leftover...) which can be plugged into an extension cord. No point in going thru all the effort if it does not get used :-)

For more pics on the project - though I did not take many pics as I was too wrapped up in the actual build - you can check my patchwork priv y on Picasa.

rain barrel... oh no, wheel barrow!

2010-10-28T14:53:00.004-04:00

couple weeks back we had sooo much rain in one day that my wheelbarrow pretty much filled up... no wonder my shoes sank into the lawn the next morning when I went down for milking!

Ithaca Freecycle

2010-10-21T21:55:00.006-04:00

The ulitmate in reduse, reuse, recycle! I did not quite realise how it worked, only that it needs a dedicated yahoo email account unlike google thingies. So I made a yahoo account and then I still could not use it... turns out it's like a group or forum and you have to use your yahoo membership to become member first. Man, I so no not get computer stuff! Says the person with the blog, haha.

But, long story short, if you like to get free stuff and like to give away free stuff, all local, Ithaca Freecycle is the way to go. Though, if you like to get stuff it pays to check your email more than once a day :-)

I just got my hay barn all filled up again with goat hay, free, from a lady who had to let go of her flock and had it just sitting around taking up space... It is sooo nice to start winter with a full barn! Oh, and let's not forget the two boxes full of assorted canning jars... it was like Christmas!

Oh, you don't need to use the yahoo email if you don't want to - once your membership is approved you can change your settings and add any other email address for both sending and receiving. Yay!

By the way, there is a new (ish) store in town called ReUse that's good for getting reused timber, building materials similar to Significant Elements and home stuffs like the Salvation Army. They have a sister store next door which offers reused computer equipment. They're located in the Triphammer Mall, in the old Millers store.

goat tent makeover!

2010-10-21T21:20:00.011-04:00

Another thing that had to change when we got back from our trip was to separate the kids from the moms so I would actually get any milk! I got about a cup, maybe two for two goats per milking, which does add up, but is not really rewarding. With all those hardwood pallets I found recently (I am always on the look out for another project) I decided to go the wood way and make pallet dividers. I reused the old door from when the tent was a chicken tractor (the goats demolished the chicken wire, took them a couple weeks but man, they shredded the stuff) and now have a nice enclosure of 4 feet deep and 10 feet wide. And get about half a gallon of milk each morning with no milking needed at night (the kids take care of that...) - I should have done this months ago!

I mounted three feeding troughs (those cheap plastic mineral feeders), one for each goat (Spots the boer boy, Gazelle and Fuzzy Bear) and a water bucket and reused two of the three floor pallets to raise the floor to keep them dry at night. It is surprising how well it works!

And the best part? Since I am "handling" the girls, as in moving them about even though I don't touch them as they know where to go (they're smart, took them only a couple times to figure out the routine) they became so much more interactive! Especially Gazelle, who at first was as flighty as can be, is coming for snuggles :-)

Their different characters are also much more apparent, Spots DOES NOT SHARE, especially food, and he'll headbutt from feeder to feeder to try and claim them all... Gazelle just follows him around - it's like musical chairs, with a goat bleating with it's mouth full as accompaniment! Fuzzy Bear will try and eat once or twice, get butted and then decide the food isn't all that good and start eating the fresh hay... with her rear towards the others!

Gazelle is up for grabs, btw, we put her up for sale... Not really set up to take four goats through the winter! Though our goat barn is moving fast, last weekend the roof rafters went up with help of our goat buddy Michael, this week we plan to have the new metal roofing on as well. Wow...

Check the Picasa site for pictures at the Goat Barn Project.

tomatoes...

2010-10-21T21:07:00.007-04:00

Yeah, yeah, I know, it's been awhile... one tip: do not take a vacation in the middle of September if you are growing most of your own veggies! We had sooo much catching up to do, for a while I was canning multiple loads nearly every day. Didn't need the heater on though :-)

The ducks that hatched during our trip are all doing very well, they now live in our "swimming pool" in the back yard and have a little house with a heat lamp to help with the cold, cold nights. They started feathering out and it seems like they are all completely white... which is too bad, I was hoping for at least one black and white duck!

The cayuga duck eggs in the incubator did not make it, the incubator ran dry during our vacation. I had installed an automatic turner to help ease the pet sitter, but did not think to remind her to still check the water level... that sucked, but hopefully my friend will trust me with another dozen come spring! And I did locate a good source for mixed breed duck eggs (including appleyard) for a very reasonable price at Daring Drake Farm, one of the Ithaca Farmers Market ag vendors.

Something real interesting I saw at the Farmers Market was this perfect tomato with a perfect monarch butterfly cocoon attached to it's side! Real strange, and what a beautiful colors in that cocoon - it's almost like Chinese art with the subtle gold touches...

we're got ducklings!

2010-09-16T17:41:00.005-04:00

Even though I had calculated the eggs would hatch just before we went to NC, they actually all hatched right in the middle of our trip! Our petsitter called us, unsure what to do, and it seemed like all but one egg hatched successfully :-)

Guess where we're staying in NC... on the Outer Banks in a little town called DUCK!

knock, knock;, who's there?

2010-08-31T21:15:00.004-04:00

A little Downey woodpecker! I had the garage door open and it looks like he flew in that way but then got confused by the two eave windows and kept flying from one to the other without ducking back out by garage door... I finally caught him with my improvised chicken net at the part of the workshop that has a second floor and I can actually get to the eave window ;-)

He was soo cute, and definitely not someone you want hammering around in your new timberframe building!

duck egg surprise!

2010-08-31T21:00:00.007-04:00

Even though we had a surprise 40th birthday party Sunday for my hubbie, it was I who was surprised with a dozen of Cayuga Duck hatching eggs! I felt like early Christmas :-)

I stuck them in with the Muscovy eggs and will transfer them to the other incubator when those hatch. No sense in having two going at the same time! Unfortunately, it looks like our surviving rooster Eddie the buff Silkie is a bit of a dud - NONE of the chicken eggs were fertile when I candled them! Man! We need a better rooster for next year...

oh, you can actually see a difference between the Cayuga duck and Muscovy duck eggs here, the cayuga ones look almost orange and the others sort of white greenish. Which is funny since cayuga ducks are famous for their dark green eggs when they first start laying!

new hay manger

2010-08-31T17:22:00.006-04:00

When we split the kids from the mommy goats we needed a second hay manger, so I choose one I'd seen on our recent trip back to the Netherlands which seemed to be freestanding. The design and it's use is easy, but it is not a freestanding design - we found out... The very same day we put it in the goat yard they'd tipped it over and Mountain Goat got stuck under it.

She had a small cut on her leg, which did not bleed real much and with bag balm is healing real nicely. She also seems to have pulled or torn a muscle behind her shoulder blade / scapula. Her front left leg is winged out a bit, but though she initially limped there never was much heat or swelling and she's walking fine on it now - not even a week later. The Cornell Ambulatory vet students checked her out as well - I was afraid after talking to friend and RN Eileen she might have dislocated her shoulder - but there was not much to be done. So I help her off the milk stand to be nice, though she did not even want any help with that either this night :-)

I permanently screwed the manger to the split fence post, and found that having it there is really nice because I can fill it without having to go into the pasture! Oh, apart from the 2x4" hemlock the rest is all 1x4"s "dollar pile" wood from saw mill Collins with a piece of left over roofing from our new workshop garage. Nice!

2010-08-31T15:07:00.013-04:00

I found a bunch of hardwood pallets last week, perfect for extending Simon's Swamp boardwalk! There are more pallets where these came from, sort of hidden from view behind a dumpster and the plan is to have everything transported to our driveway soon. The car only fits 5 at a time...

Check out these mushroom pics below, we had soo much rain last week the woods are just breaking out in 'shrooms!

I did get three very nice pallets from behind a strip mall dumpster which I altered into a subfloor for the goat tent. With the humongous amount of rain we had last weekend - 5 inches in a day - the tent bedding submerged, the goats got wet, and the two boer boys got sick with coccidiosis. So now I have to chase them each night to give them very foul tasting medicine - which they "love"... it's good exercise though :-)

Mr. Whitey checking out the new raised floor. Initially I planned to cover it up with hay bedding but they seem to like the floor the way it is.

fried zucchini chevre pancakes recipe

2010-08-30T23:22:00.009-04:00

If you are local to 14850 and love gardening, canning, livestock keeping - in short, the sustainable life in any shape or form - the forum Ithacan.ning.com would be perfect for you as well!

From the Ithacan "Veggie Gardens" forum - zucchini feta pancake recipe:

"CrowJoy": Mine is loosely based on the Moosewood cookbook recipe for zucchini feta pancakes, I just use whatever I have. Shred the zucc, add in whatever herbs you like (I usually freeze the chevre already herbed but mint and green onion is what the original calls for) and any onion/garlic/other veg you want, add about 6 eggs well beaten and the cheese. Add enough flour to get a good pancake consistency. For fun you can add panko (for crunchier) or baking soda/powder (for puffier) pancakes. Fry in shallow oil until the egg is cooked, drain, cool and freeze.

I tried this recipe with about two large shredded zucchini, about a cup of (dry) goat chevre and lots of homegrown crushed garlic and chopped chocolate mint. I was not sure about the amount of flour and should have used more, liquid appeared in the batter about halfway through the frying. We had a whole stack of cakes and came out with at least four two and half person meals! Great, and the toddler gobbled them like french fries...

Something else you can do with those extra zucchini is make zucchini lasagna. Replace the sheets of pasta with strips of 1/4 inch zucchini. Just as filling with a lot less carbs.

And not to forget stuffed zucchini, with a tomato sauce, ground beef / pork and brown rice filling, sprinkled on top with shredded sheep cheese and baked in the oven (350F for about 30 minutes - prebake zucchini, sliced in half, scooped out and seasoned with olive oil and pepper for at least another 30-45 minutes to make sure it's done).

Doesn't this look good?!

Here the pancakes are sizzling in the skillet. This was a first for me, frying in open oil. And a bit disconcerting, after seeing the Mythbusters Fire in the Hole exploding frying oil episode...

all done :-) I stacked them between two plates to keep them warm after degreasing (sort of) on paper towels.

remember our sugar maple adventure?

2010-08-30T23:01:00.006-04:00

This is the result: a wonderful stack of different sized wood planks, both straight cut and natural edge... We never had a good tree go down before, but man, am I glad I pursued the idea to have it milled instead of chopped into firewood! We even have a couple planks nearly 20 inches wide, you don't see (commercial) hard wood that wide very much anymore, the big trees just aren't around the way they used to...

And yes, that is my bike. I am fortunate to be able to pick up our son from daycare by bike - if I want too :-) He loves it though, and points out all the interesting things along the way. I'm mostly panting, trying to get back up the hill (it's 2 minutes to school and at least 20 minutes to get back home...).

We're not really looking to sell the wood, though I did talk to a woodworker at the Tburg Farmers Market (a possible trade for a side table) and a fine carpenter, welder, sculptor neighbor Rob Licht ( a possible trade for a bonfire bbq grill). And of course, not to forget, our initial trade with Ithaca Farmers Market woodworker Dave Brown who paid half the milling fee for a fair share of boards. Thanks, Dave, for making this (ad)venture possible!

something to share...

2010-08-30T22:53:00.004-04:00

A small part of your vegetable harvest of this year, including fltr cucumber, lemon cucumber, more ball zucchini and three types of heirloom regular zucchini... We had playgroup that afternoon, and these veggies were for the taking. Anything left over goes into the basement, where it keeps fine for at least a couple a weeks. I love my basement!

Part of my new flower garden...
I used old snow fencing to keep the chickens out - too much scratching - which makes for a very photogenic wood fence! This is cosmos, grown from seed. The plan (for now) is to grow perennials in the bed closest to the greenhouse and sow the rest in with annuals, like cosmos, nasturtium, morning glory, sunflowers and marigolds. I even found a couple bags of dahlia bulbs for free I planted just in time late spring!

hatching eggs again...

2010-08-30T22:37:00.006-04:00

The one time we come home after dark because of work - I was part of our local annual Artist Market - a fox had gotten into the coop and killed about half our flock! I did not even notice when I closed the door Friday night... but the next morning it was quite clear something had happened, apart from the couple dead bodies in the building itself, the rest of the flock was very quiet and demure... I lost a khaki campbell (two more the next night when I put them in our veggie yard on slug patrol, apparently the veggie yard fence was not high enough, poor birds) and about 10 chickens, including my two new home grown roosters!

And how did I know it was a fox? Because the triple next door neighbors saw it trotting past their porch Friday evening with one of my chicken in it's mouth! Their dog immediately ran at it and scared it to drop the boy, it was one of my boy roosters, and it took shelter under their porch. A day or two later he was calm enough I could come over and catch it - but even though I was very relieved and grateful they called about the homeless chick I did not want to get it; it was Them. That was soo strange, even though they had their little two year old toddler grand daughter running around and I wanted to invite them to our bi-weekly playgroups I just could not get the words out of my mouth... all that cause the man of the house decided to become territorial to all his neighbors with his 30 acre property... oh well, at least I had my boy back.

So, to make up for the losses we put about 35 chicken eggs and about 12 duck eggs in my two new incubators. They're the ones I got (for free!) on craigslist so I did not know whether they would even run, or if they would hold their temperature - but low and behold, two of the three work perfectly and one of the automatic egg turners works fine too!

It feels so "lazy" to have a turner - I'm used to turn them all by hand. But I must say, I have not incubated that many eggs at once before! I am so curious to see all the different chick combinations - we have quite the collection now... hatching sure is fun :-)

goat dewormer information

2010-08-27T13:00:00.009-04:00

I've been doing some google research to figure out how to deworm our goat flock and what to use. I came across a very informative article (the whole website has lots of info and explanations):

From the Stomach Worms and Lice article at www.TennesseeMeatGoats.com

There are three "classes" of deworming medication:

1) Avermectin (Ivermectin). The "clear" dewormers. Ivomec, Dectomax, and Cydectin/Quest Gel fall into this category. Effective against meningeal deer worm, lungworm, and lice. Not effective against tapeworm. Although some Ivermectin is labeled for injection, it produces a quicker "kill" when given orally to goats (Quest Gel is packaged in a plunger-style tube for use with large animals, making it both difficult and wasteful to use because calculating and controlling the dosage small enough for goats isn't easy).

2) Benzimidazoles. The "white" dewormers. Valbazen, Safeguard/Panacur, Synanthic, Telmin, Benzelmin, Anthelcide, TBZ. Effective against tapeworm. Do not treat pregnant does with Valbazen; it can cause abortions.

3) Imidazothiazole: Tramisol, Levasol, pyrantel, morantel. Pregnant does may abort if Tramisol is given to them. Additionally, the "safe" and "toxic" dosages of Tramisol are very close, making this product a potentially dangerous drug.

The Fias Co Farm website article about goat wormers is a great addition to this information.

Fias Co Farm also mentions Ivermectin or Ivermectin Plus (also Noromectin Plus, against liver fluke) as the most commonly used wormer. They recommend to worm everyone the injection dose (1 cc/ml per 50 lbs) but by mouth (drench = squirt down throat), repeat the same amount in 10 days, and again in 10 days - all to kill off any of the larvae and eggs that had not matured yet. And of course, rotate pastures if you can...

One of the more knowledgeable employees at Tractor Supply suggested to worm with a fenbendazole type wormer in fall and an ivermectin in spring, to get rid of both types of worms.

Something else mentioned to me by one of the goat exhibitors at the New York State Fair was DiMethox 12.5% added to the drinking water - though the information I can find mention it's not a wormer but against coccidiosis. Anyone have any other ideas?

Looks like our two Boer goat boys have a coccidiosis infection, so they will be medicated the next five days and hopefully Burger will see a complete recovery. He was turning into the incredible shrinking goat and after he got watery diarrhea I had the Cornell Ambulatory Services come by to check him (and Mountain Goat) out. They also took fecal samples for worms, we'll hear about that later (that way I should know for sure which family of dewormer to use).

A good phone number to have on hand if you live locally: the Cornell Ambulatory Services 607-253-3140, part of the Farm Animal Hospital. They charge a flat fee for coming based on mileage ($30 for us and we're on the other side of Ithaca) and then whatever they do. It was surprisingly affordable - and they came four people strong! Apparently it had been a slow day :-)

When I asked a Cornell sheep specialist, one of the organizers of the Sheep and Goat Symposium, she emailed the following information:

Cornell Ambulatory Clinic has an excellent goat vet, Dr. Mary Smith who wrote “Goat Medicine”. I think she works mostly in the Ithaca, Danby, Enfield, Brooktondale, Freeville area but I am not sure. She has also helped most of the other Cornell Ambulatory vets become proficient with goats and their prices are similar to those of private vets. The ambulatory clinic can be reached by calling 607-253-3140. The vets are out on the road during the day and there is really no true clinic but their office is manned from about 8 am to 4 pm every day and then calls go through to an answering service. Dr. Pam Karner (272-1398) and Dr. Ann Chafee (387-8405) are private vets who both work with goats and can tell you of other vets that are in private practice that also do farm visits for goats.

Homemade Teat Dip & Udder Wash Recipe

2010-08-20T14:49:00.001-04:00

From the Fias Co Farm goat husbandry website:

You need to wash your doe's udder before you milk her and dip her teats after. You can buy all kinds of products to do this with, but I have found it's cheaper and easier to use bleach (Clorox). Bleach is very effective in controlling and preventing mastitis (an inflammation of the mammary gland caused by bacteria). And interestingly enough, I have found that my homemade bleach wash made with Clorox is gentler on my doe's udders them commercial products. I have not had a case of "udder pox" or mastitis since I've started using Clorox udderwash/teat dip. Please do not use cheaper bleach for the wash, it will be harsher on your and your doe's skin.

Make only enough of this wash/dip for each milking. It does not keep. The bleach disperses fairly quickly and you can't guarantee the mixture's sanitizing strength/ability after a few hours. To make an udder wash/teat dip just mix:

1 oz (2 T) of bleach (Clorox only)
one quart of water
a drop of blue Original Formula Dawn dish detergent (DO NOT use any other formula!)

I like to use the blue, Original Formula, Dawn dishwashing detergent, it's the best I have found. Like Bounty paper towels, I'd never use anything else. Dawn (the blue, original formula) is safe to mix with bleach. You must be very careful when mixing bleach with other products because toxic vapors can result.

To use, wash your doe or cows's udder well with your udder wash and dry with a disposable paper towel (Bounty) . Never place a "soiled" towel back in the wash. This will help keep the wash clean and reduce the risk of spreading any "nasties" from animal to animal. Milk the doe or cow. Now, dip her teats. For a teat dip cup I use disposable 3 oz. "Dixie" cups I buy at Sam's for $5 for 500. I'm not usually a big fan of disposable things, but when it comes to milking, disposable can be a good thing. Disposable means less chances of spreading any contaminates that may be lurking and waiting to spoil your milk or give your doe mastitis. You can use the same cup for all the does you are milking at that time. Dip the teats in the teat dip and let "air dry".

goat milk ice cream

2010-08-20T13:23:00.004-04:00

I'm also looking into home made goat milk ice cream - we've had an ice cream maker sitting in our kitchen for almost 10 years now - but are having trouble with the ice cream recipes. For instance, what to do about half and half and whipping cream if it is not available in goat milk and one can not use the readily available cow's milk over the counter versions?

Making a substitute for half and half is as simple as mixing two everyday ingredients. Replace one cup of half and half with 1 tablespoon melted butter, plus enough milk to equal a cup. From Frugal Living at About.com

A substitute for heavy whipping cream can be 1/3 cup butter plus 3/4 cup of milk for 1 cup of cream, in baking or cooking. From WikiAnswers, though I am not sure if cow dairy butter can easily be substituted with plant based margarine (but we'll find out!).

The recipe I'm going to try:
Vanilla Ice Cream (2 qt)
2 cups (goat) milk
1 cup (cane) sugar
dash of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

plus
1 cup half and half (substitute)
1 cup whipping cream (substitute)
or
ca. 1 3/4 cup goat milk and 1/3 plus a table spoon of butter
though I'm contemplating substituting the cream with chevre, it seems much closer in texture and requires less butter.

Scald the milk until bubbles form around the edge. Remove from heat. Add sugar and salt. Stir until dissolved. Stir in (half and half and whipping cream) butter and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Freeze as directed.

5 cups of crushed ice plus 1 cup of rock salt or
5 trays of ice cubes and 2 cups of iodized table salt and 2 cups of water

depending on texture desired freezing is from 20 to 40 minutes.

Hope this will work!

goat milk soap recipe

2010-08-20T13:19:00.001-04:00

came across this blog today - it looks very promising...
Since we now separate the goat kids and moms during the night we get about a half gallon of milk each morning, and it's time to start thinking about making a cheese press and researching goat milk soap recipes!

www.blog.thesage.com/2010/02/10/cold-process-soap-half-and-half-method-with-goats-milk/

haybin plans for goats and other small livestock

2010-08-20T13:00:00.007-04:00

During our trip to the Netherlands I noticed two types of hay bin desings I wanted to further check out. I took a bunch of pics of both of them and decided to try and built the one with the feeding tray for our flock. I have a small rectangular hay bin but I like the built in tray and since the other one is in the kids area now we have a need for another one.

To give you an idea I'll post pics of both, though of course I do not have any blueprint type plans. I might keep track of the measurements of the one we're going to build. Keep in mind the Europe standard is not a 2x4" but more like a 2x3", so judging the measurements is a little tricky. But hey, it does not have the be identical, as long as it is functional :-) I plan to use a piece of sheet metal roofing and will use the width of that to measure everything else from...

I also like that this version is freestanding, unlike the other one which would need two posts placed in a deep enough secure manner.

a boardwalk in the backyard...

2010-08-18T21:05:00.003-04:00

Granddad might remember the trouble we went through last year to bushwhack a path to our swamp with the intention to create a swamp boardwalk. Well, even though the pieces have been ready since last year (we have a very friendly neighbor) we were finally able to actually put them in place last week!

Together with actually friendly neighbors Dough and Bill I got the heavy pieces in their general alignment and used the next couple days to fine tune angles, heights and make up filler corner pieces. The pieces are mostly made of 4x4 ish hardwood pallets with an assortment of recycled wood scraps, including old 2x4 & 1x6 decking and packaging wood from Lowe's. I tried to stay away from (new) pressure treated wood - no sense in leaching a bunch of chemicals into our pristine New York State protected wetlands :-)

We have just about enough pallet pieces to make it to the "creek", which is my goal for this year, or phase 1 of the getting to the back forest project. I'll keep my eyes open for more hardwood pallets this year and hopefully next summer, when the ground is relatively dry, Bill will help me out again!

Our toddler Simon and I also made another hiking path to cut through the forested area between the goat pasture and the swamp. Hubbie and I have to do some major chainsawing later to remove the leftover treetop from the maple that came down right over the planned path, but other than that is should be fairly straight forward with my trusty machete and hacksaw. Before we know it we'll be able to hike all the way around the swamp, the forest, the pasture and the meadow without walking anywhere twice, yay.

multiplying backberry bushes

2010-08-18T14:01:00.004-04:00

One technique I found real easy is to loop the long runners which go every which way this time of year through a gallon planter filled with dirt and secure it with some weighty rocks. The looped vine will shoot roots during the rest of the season (as it would otherwise, only into the lawn where you might not want it).

Leave the vine attached until next year, when the shoot comes back up nicely, then cut the main vine. Keep an eye on the rooted vine, water well and when all looks well, transplant late Spring in a good spot, again watering well for at least a couple weeks. Isn't it nice to get free plants from your catalog purchased nursery stock :-)

Of course, this works with all kinds of rooting vines like strawberries & mint and even with currant and gooseberry bushes. Finally a good use for all those fieldstones...

greenhouse progress

2010-08-18T13:01:00.008-04:00

Still working away on the greenhouse... hopefully it will be all done in a couple weeks, just in time to transplant some of the leafy greens to overwinter!

The frame was finished last fall, but since we did not have a roof covering picked out hubbie Rolf decided not to put the windows in yet either, just in case some weird windstorm would blow them out or something.

We did decide to reuse the aluminum frames that came with the 4x4 foot double pane storefront windows, but as it turned out we mounted them upside down last fall so they all had to come out (including all the wasp nests). Other than the running around while handling heavy, heavy sheets of glass all went relatively well and the front is now finished and looking good!

Last weekend Rolf finished the front, rehung the door and installed the window on the left. Since the shed is leaning badly to the left, installing anything right angled next to it has been a bit of a challenge. Luckely we have a table circular saw now and are able to make nice straight angled cuts :-)

Next on the list is the back, where we need a door and a similar window on the shed side - and last but not least; the roof top ventilation and the plastic covering... we might need to get some help with the latter, manouvering a 14 feet by 40 feet piece of plastic does not sound like a two person job!

good ground cover for vegetables...

2010-08-16T15:43:00.004-04:00

Just read this tip in the current Mother Earth News magazine: to use shredded paper as ground cover for row vegetables like tomatoes and peppers. The paper will become a sort of weed impenetrable layer of paper-mache, but it does still let through water and the whiteness reflects light back up to the plants which in the case of peppers really helps getting the fruit to ripen in time. Something to try next year!

I've always liked to use grass clippings in my pepper window boxes for similar reasons; it also becomes a thick layer that lets thru water but discourages weeds. It does not really reflect light, but it does release nitrates during composting, which might be just as beneficial. Since our peppers are in window boxes anyway they get more heat and ripen fine, even with our short new york summers.

As a side note, most papers including the Ithaca Journal use biodegradable soy bean based inks which are fine to compost back into the vegetable gardens. If you are not sure of the inks used, ask before composting.

sumac "lemonade" recipe

2010-08-02T13:56:00.003-04:00

Excerpt from Sumac: The wild lemonade berry By Sam Thayer, Bruce, WI - published by Countryside Magazine

As previously mentioned, the red-berried true sumacs have been widely used to brew a tart and refreshing drink. This drink is delicious, easy to prepare, fun to gather, nutritious, unique-and free. Its source is easily accessible to millions of Americans every summer.

This beverage has been called sumac-ade, rhus-ade, sumac lemonade, Indian lemonade, sumac tea and probably some other names that I have yet to hear. Whatever people call it, they pronounce it delicious. When made properly it is as universally liked as lemonade. I have personally brewed this beverage from staghorn, smooth, and shining sumacs on many occasions. Keep in mind that my experiences refer to these species in the Midwest, and other kinds might need to be treated a little differently.

Preparation of the beverage is simple. The first step is to harvest the berries. Sumac "berries" are really just seeds covered with a thin coating of flavoring substance and hairs. The large clusters are so easy to collect that in just a few moments you can have enough for a pitcher of wild Kool-Aid that kids will love. I usually just snap off the twig that bears the cluster by bending it quickly, although some people use pruning shears or a knife. You want to get the berries when they are dark red and fully mature, so that they have fully developed their tart flavor, but before the rain has had the opportunity to wash the flavor out. In most of North America, the first clusters are ready to be plucked sometime in July, with the prime time being in early August. Taste each cluster as you harvest to assure yourself that you are collecting something with flavor since occasionally they are bland. A dark purple coloration usually indicates that the flavor of the fruit has developed fully; yet some of the best clusters I've tasted were light pink. Sometimes a white, sticky substance coats the berry heads; this is pure essence of sumac flavor-don't let it scare you off. I pluck about six to eight average-sized clusters for a pitcher of sumac-ade. Sumac 'berries' are seeds covered with hairs and a thin coating of flavoring substance.

A potential mistake is to harvest the berry heads before they are ripe, in which case they will produce an unpleasantly bitter brew. More commonly, the problem is that the berries are collected long after their flavor has been washed out by rain. Although I have found good-tasting berries into April, this is the exception; around here the vast majority of them are spent by the end of August. You can expect to find good ones, if you taste around, until early October and sometimes later-and there are always those with just a hint of flavor. To enjoy this refreshing summer beverage in the middle of winter, it pays to harvest the heads in prime time and dry them, so you don't have to worry about using mediocre material.

I take my half-dozen berry clusters, cram them into a pitcher, pour cold water over them, crush them up a little with my hand, and then let the pitcher sit in a cool place for a while. Pouring boiling or hot water over the berries makes for poor flavor, for it leaches tannin from the stems, causing the drink to become bitter. The longer the berries infuse, the stronger the drink will be. When the flavor is to your liking, just strain the drink through a cheesecloth to remove seeds and hairs. Sumac-ade is pleasantly tart with a light pink color. Some people add sugar, but I prefer it without.

The tartness of sumac is partly due to ascorbic acid (vitamin C) so one also has a health incentive to drink this beverage.

There are other things that can be done with sumac-ade. My sister made one of the best wines that I have ever tasted from it. I once prepared a potent sumac concentrate by soaking four batches of berry heads in the same water, one after the other, for one-half hour each. This concentrate made a wonderful and very tart jelly. The flavor is transformed and weakened somewhat by the boiling, so be sure to use a very strong sumac brew for the jelly. Euell Gibbons recommended using sumac-ade instead of plain water to boil elderberry and other fruits that need a touch of tartness to liven them up for using in jam or jelly. Also, the young, thick, tender tips of sumac shoots (especially staghorn) in early summer can be peeled and eaten raw or cooked. They are sweet and delicious, much like raspberry stalks.

Since sumac is related to cashews and mangoes, anyone allergic to those foods should avoid it, or proceed with extreme caution. All in all, however, the sumac is a wonderful tree, deserving of much more attention from those who love the outdoors. Unfortunately, the fact that it shares names with a tree of ill-repute has caused many to shun it. That does leave more for us, but either way there's plenty of sumac to go around. Why not try some this summer?

Sam publishes Forager's Harvest. Sample issues are available for $3 from The Forager's Harvest, PO Box 129, Bruce, WI 54819.

poultry butcher / processors

2010-07-13T11:48:00.004-04:00

Seems like Graps Bros is out of the chicken business - they had an intense check and failed approval for the poultry processing part of the business... they do still do goats etc, but since both brothers are nearing their 70ties they did not feel like investing the time and money to update the poultry part to qualify again - and I don't blame them!

If you are looking for someone else in the area as well, through the poultry forum of the Ithacan website we found a local Amish butcher near Ovid.

Parish Road Meat Processing / Paul
2666 Parish Road in Interlaken, NY 14521.
607.869.9446 but only between 730 and 8am (no machine, but will call back).

waddaya' mean: nobody eats rhubarb?!

2010-07-13T11:45:00.004-04:00

my chickens literally eat everything... including rhubarb leaves, as you can see from this pic! I've had to fence the plants in, otherwise they'd have been mowed down to the ground! wow... I just wish they'd eat japanese beetles with the same vigour :-)

2010-07-13T11:33:00.003-04:00

Our sugar maple adventure

2010-07-13T11:23:00.004-04:00

During a nasty thunderstorm with lots of wind a very nice sugar maple came down at the back end of our property (behind the goats in the treeline). Since the base of the tree did not look rotted we decided to call a timber miller we know to find out what we could do.

Scott from Ithaca Urban Timber Salvage also thought the wood was in nice enough quality (as far as one can see without cutting) to try, and he gave us a good quote for the cost of cutting it up in 8 to 10 foot pieces (the diameter at the base was more than Rolf's saw could handle), transport to his mill, milling it to 1.5 inch boards (live edge) and delivering it back to our place. He lives right around the corner - maybe we can borrow that great tractor again sometime :-)

This is the final haul of the day, two large diameter long pieces, one large diameter short piece and two medium diameter long pieces. The one log on the left measered out to 200 board feet alone! wow... David Brown the farmers market woodworker is sharing costs for part of the wood - good thing we did not offer half the wood for half the costs; after loading Scott mentioned there was quite some more wood than he initially expected! Goodie - lots of material for lots of new projects :-)

finally our foundation posts are set...

2010-07-01T16:06:00.002-04:00

Here is Alex pounding in the last couple posts, this time foundation posts for the goat barn. They look to be leaning left, but they're not, the shed is leaning right... First we'll finish the greenhouse (place windows, place plastic roof) then it's on to the big build!

Good Strawberry Jam recipes

2010-07-01T15:52:00.006-04:00

What to do with all those you-pick strawberries?!

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

2 1/4 cups of crushed strawberries
1 3/4 cups of cooked rhubarb
6 1/2 cups of (organic cane) sugar
1 3/4 pouch of pectin

Add fruit into 6-8 quart suacepot.
Add sugar, stir until desolved.
Add 1/2 teaspoon margarine to reduce foaming (if desired).
Bring mixture to full rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly.
Stir in pectin quickly.
Bring back to full rolling boil and boil 1 minute exactly, stirring constantly.
Remove pot from heat and skim off any foam using a metal spoon.

Ladle into sterilized jars with 1/8 inch headspace.
Process for 10 minutes in a waterbath canner.

From Sure Jell Certo information pamphlet.

Spiced Strawberry Jam

5 cups crushed strawberries
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 box 1 3/4 ounces powdered pectin
1/2 teaspoon margarine
7 cups (organic cane) sugar

Combine strawberries and spices in 8 quart saucepot.
Add the pectin and margarine.
Bring to a rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly.
Stir in exactly 7 cups of sugar and mix well.
Return to a full rolling boil and boil for 1 minute exactly, stirring constantly.
Remove pot from heat and skim off any foam using a metal spoon.

Ladle into sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
Process for 5 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.

From The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest, page 199.

Thank you, Alex, for the multitude of strawberries!

growing leek from seed...

2010-06-07T14:11:00.006-04:00

I found that Leek plants are rather "carnivorous" meaning they need a LOT of food to grow properly. I sowed them into flats last year but the plants never grew well and stayed pretty pale until they were planted in the ground.

This year I made a point to really "meat" their needs and feed them protein, in this case in the shape of milk rinses and whey. For a while we were feeding a goat bottle kid and had lots of bottle rinses left, together with our own yoghurt / soy / rice milk rinses, collected in a mason jar I gave all that to the little leek (and onion) plants. They grew like crazy! They grew so big and numerous that I had 100+ little plants left over after planting from only two flats & envelopes of seed...

I came to the idea when I read that houseplants like the rinses of milk bottles and then do not need commercial plant food. It seems to work! I've fed my plants left over cold tea which also works, but not as good as whey & diluted milk.

Zucchini, pumpkin and squash also like lots of extra feed, so I plan to keep saving whey etc to feed that to them over the summer and see what happens. If my chickens let me, that is :-)

where to get those "vruchtenhagel"...

2010-06-06T21:24:00.006-04:00

Net via de Cornell Dutch Club een nieuwe site doorgekregen met allerlei nederlandse lekkerheden voor een voor zover ik kan inschatten redelijk normale prijs - ex. verzenden natuurlijk :-)

www.destroopwafel.com

De moeite van het bekijken waard, hoewel de site zelf nog niet helemaal honderd procent werkt... maar ja, ze zijn ook nog maar net geopend!

easy brassica tunnels & bellpepper "greenhouses"

2010-06-02T12:24:00.004-04:00

Last year I got some row covers from GardensAlive.com to help with cabbage worms on the broccoli and green cabbage plants. Up until then all my little transplants would be devoured by caterpillars but after using the row covers we had both a good crop of broccoli and cabbage...

I used two designs to keep the fabric off the plants, one a permanent wooden a-frame on which I stapled the fabric and another a bent into a "v" shape metal rebar sheet which I just covered with the fabric but removed it when it was not needed anymore and stored overwinter. I found that the mice went to town on the fabric of the wooden a frame but that the fabric and metal frames of the other set up were in perfect second year use - and very easy and light to set back up!

The fabric is a light weight insect and frost barrier, also good for zucchini, cukes etc. It is pretty affordable and I got mine (and left over) from GardensAlive.com. The width 61 inch of the fabric matches perfectly with the folded in half metal frames with just enough skirting left over to weight down with dirt. If the plants are fairly sturdy the fabric can be placed right on top of them and pinned into place. You can make your own pins by bending old rusting metal wire into a "u".

Last year I reused the metal frames as a climbing frame for the cukes when they were large enough and the cabbages did not need anymore insect protection. I got the rebar sheets from Lowe's for about $6 each (all the way to the right, last row of store at the contractors end, at left on bottom row about 20 feet from corner), and when bent in the short direction they also make perfect tomato cages!

Another experiment that is going real well is growing bellpeppers in old window frames. With scrap wood 2x4 and 2x3 we've made permanent window boxes (no lid necessary, only at beginning and end of season). My two are one window wide and two windows long, about 4 feet wide and 8 feet long. When there is a frost warning they're easy to cover and the glass keeps in heat overnight to keep the peppers warm. I find that peppers in the "greenhouses" produce more, bigger and faster than ones planted outside of them! I also immediately mulch with grass clippings, and that way you'll only have to weed occasionally, the windows & mulch do a good job discouraging weeds.

p.s. keep an eye out on gardensalive, they have 50% off coupons regularly, especially early spring...

Enjoy the summer!

Metzendorf tidbits

2010-05-31T13:59:00.003-04:00

From Metzendorf.blogspot.com

What does Metzendorf mean?

Metzendorf is a surname that is from the German language. It can be split into two basic words – Metzen and Dorf. Metzen is the metonymic (a name derived from) occupational name for a cutler (someone who makes knives). It is derived from Middle Low German messet, metset ‘knife’, ‘dagger’ or Middle High German metz(e) ‘knife’. Dorf is a nickname or topographic name for someone who lived in a village. The meaning of Metzendorf is essentially “the village knife-maker.”

What is a Metzendorf?
The Metzendorf Trailer Manufacturing Company manufactured travel trailers under the same name from the late 1950s to early 1960s. The trailers themselves did not have model names, but were referred to by length. The trailers ran from 12 to 15 feet and were not much taller than 6 feet high so they could be stored in a garage. [haha, I researched this too but when I came home from Seneca Falls with out trailer it sure did not fit our 8 ft garage door...] The trailers sometimes had drop floors so an adult could stand up straight. The trailers were manufactured in West Farmington, Ohio, approximately 10 miles northwest of Warren, Ohio.

The owner of the company was named Martin Metzendorf. Martin Metzendorf and his wife had the traliers built with Amish laborers. Mrs. Metzendorf picked out the interior patterns and colors. They delivered most of the trailers themselves until a delivery accident deprived Mrs. Metzendorf the use of her arm. They sold the business in the early 60's and the trailer was produced for a few more years under the Metzendorf name.