My Goats, The Barn, My Happy Place

  

Sometimes we find the most joy in the most unusual places, don't we?  Never ever did I think I would fall in love with three little goats.  I never thought I would actually enjoy the smell of the barn and not even mind shoveling goat poo.  But as God is my witness.  I have found my Utopia in a goat barn.

We have had the kids for a year now.  We took my 97 minivan to Kansas to pick them up...a gift from our son.  To say I was unprepared would be an understatement.  Our goats were so tiny!  And I had no idea what to do with them.  Meet Mr. Bill, Laverne, and her twin sister Shirley.  They cuddled in the van but by the time we got them home on that hot July day, they were ready t eat.  

 

It took them a bit to warm up to us, but now they are attentive, loving, 

and full of mischief.

The year has been a learning experience for us.  So many misconceptions!

  So much to learn!

1. Goats do not eat everything.  Not tin cans, not hay when it falls on the floor, not some goat feed.  They are finicky.  They only want the best hay, the leaves off of all the trees, and whatever the other one has.
2. When one goat gets sick, they all get sick.  I read that you need to pay attention to their goat poop.  It should look like bbs and be everywhere.  So one day I started noticing Mr. Bill's poop was soft and more like it came from a cow.  My husband said don't worry.  I worried anyway.  Within a couple of days, Mr. Bill had a bad case of diarrhea and wasn't eating.   Here I sat washing his behind and cleaning up messes.  By the time it was all over, they all three got it, I treated it, and it was over.  Thank God for Google and YouTube.  
3. Goats can get into everything.  They can climb ladders, steal your hat, and pee on your tools. We learned really quickly that they are curious creatures and that they cannot be trusted.   

 Our goats are Oberhasli dairy goats.  Though they are from the same breeder, the twins are from different parents.  We plan on breeding them in the fall so we can have Springtime babies.  The barn is complete but we are considering a buck barn.  Right now they are separated, but Mr. Bill is really rambunctious and unpredictable.  I think he needs to be farther away.  We just have some logistics to work out with things like power and water.  

 

Gardening for Dummies

 I should probably write a book.  You know, like those that are Raising Bees for Dummies or Blogging for  Dummies.  Only I will call it Gardening for Dummies.  We have been here in Missouri now three years.  Each year we plant a garden and each year we are disappointed when the amount of effort does not equal the amount of production.  Well, my friends.  Not this year.  

Last year we planted 26 tomato plants.  They got tall but leggy.  There were enough tomatoes along with some my neighbor gave me to make a little salsa.  That was okay since I was dealing with a boatload of pears at the time.  We got a few squash, some peppers, and a few potatoes.  This year we increased the tomatoes to 33 plants.  We planted cabbage, onions, potatoes, squash, cucumbers, and green beans.  The garden soon grew to jungle proportions.  The tomatoes are caged, but the plants are so big and so heavy with tomatoes that they are falling over.  I even took some wire and some jute and tied them up to keep them off the ground. Every single plant has produced epic amounts of tomatoes.  I have Romas, cherry, big boys, early boys, and heritage.  

The picture above is a daily picking.  Cucumbers and beans and zucchini, oh my!  

This picture is from July when the garden was first starting to get going.  Our pole beans got so tall and so thick that when we had a heavy rain, the whole trellis fell over.  We used mule tape and heavy wood stakes to hold it up.  (I staked them up myself, thinking they would be like last year's pole beans....wrong!)

I planted two plants of the scallop squash.  Next year it will be one.  We fried it.  We baked bread with it.  We grated it and froze it.  I even breaded it and froze it for use later.  Then I donated 70 to the local food bank and on Monday I have about 25 more to take there.

So I started canning.  I bought a pressure canner this year to take care of all the green beans, but the amount of produce I have gotten has also supplied some family members and neighbors.

Glad we are getting eggs as well since the price of eggs has gone up over 40%!  Yikes!

  

My freezer is full and so is my basement storage.  I guess we are ready for the apocalypse!  So far I have frozen:  

• freezer slaw
• shredded squash
• breaded squash

And canned:

• ground tomatoes
• tomato soup
• corn
• green beans
• dill slices
• bread and butter pickles
• salsa
• pasta sauce
• soup starter
• tomato juice
• chili base 
• dill relish
• sweet zucchini relish 
• dilly beans
• corn relish

I feel tired from just writing all this.  We are still harvesting.  Today I picked beans, cukes, tomatoes, and a watermelon.  We still have pumpkins, potatoes, more cabbage, and some onions.  Though I am tired I feel so blessed to have this produce available.  It has been lots of work, but I feel some pride and enjoyment in seeing the bounty.  

Well, off to do more farm stuff!  Hope your weekend is great and your find happiness wherever you live!

                        

What to do with too much cabbage

 As the garden gets in full swing of producing all the tomatoes and zucchini I can handle, I took a peek at my beginning-to-suffer cabbages. I love cabbage: cooked, fried, in soups, and in slaw. But to tell you the truth, I needed a way to “get back to ya later”. So I decided to use my mom’s old standby-Freezer slaw. 

Making it is easy. Simply shred one head of cabbage as you would for making slaw. Add a carrot or two and a green pepper.  I had an orange one so I used that. Add a whole onion and just for fun I added a jalapeño that I just picked from the garden. I used a food processor and put the veggies in a big bowl and salted it down and set it aside. 

Next mix the dressing. Combine 2cups of sugar, one teaspoon of dry mustard, 1 cup of vinegar and a half cup of water in a saucepan simmer until boiling.  Remove from heat and cool completely  

While waiting for your dressing to cook prepare your containers  I used pint mason jars but you can use freezer bags or other sealed containers  

For me, it yielded about five pints. Label and place in the freezer. 

Okay so when I said food processor, this is what I meant. I have had this at least 30 years and my kids tease me about it. But, hey, if it ain’t broken…

My mom made this all the time and it is a great way to add some greens to a meal when the cupboards are bare!  Just thaw and eat!  Yum!