Cajun, Happy Birthday! Hope it was a good one.
AZ, I googled the cheese queen to get her website. She sure makes it sound easy on all her recipes. One of these days, I'll get around to or brave enough) to try my hand at it.
Still hot, still dry and still grumpy here. I cringe every time I turn on the water. I keep seeing $ signs running through my head.
September On The Homestead
We got just over a 1/4 inch this afternoon. Still not enough but I will take it. lol
Dollar signs. RE taxes are due in mid-October. All went down a few dollars but why does it seem like I won't have enough money this year when i did last year?
Property taxes? Ours fall due in Oct with a discounted amount if paid early, prorated monthly until the end of January when we would have to pay the full amount.
Sounds like our dollars are getting worth less daily. Sure seems like that everytime I go to buy something. We just paid our self employment taxes for the quarter. I've always said there would be a tax revolt in the country if everyone paid their taxes quarterly.
I don't have cheesecloth. Anything else I can use to drain it in?
Cajun, one of the websites I read suggested a hankerchief or piece of fabric that didn't leave lint.
Hit 100 today on my hilltop...
WOW!!! I'm going to try a cotton pillowcase. Way too big I know but It's all I can think of.
AZgrammie, Happy Birthday!
Thanks Robin, I am now officially an old person. Or did I say that last year?
Cajun, the pillowcase might work but if the weave is really tight it might take a long time to drain. How about half of an old t-shirt? Clean of course, LOL.
I finally opted for a collander lined with coffee filters. The cheese turned out delish.
AZ, age is only a number. :)
Cajun, way to go!
Still working on the garden here. Trying to get a jump on next year by working on weed control, putting straw mulch on the rows that haven't been mulched yet and laying soaker hoses out on the remaining rows. Will be putting up a 10' x 20' greenhouse soon to cover some large potted vegetables to extend the season. Will also be putting up some tunnel frames over a few rows that have tomatoes and peppers, that are producing well, now that the nights are cooler. The beans finally started coming in.
Does anyone here live near Thorndale, TX? There's a company there that sells the ripstop clear tarps I need to make the greenhouse, but I can't find any reviews or BBB listings on them.
Robin, some of the folks here (farmer's market folks) have switched to a rod with long fibers to support tunnels. They say they last much longer. 7 Springs Farm carries them locally... well, a hundred miles away, about as local as organic supplies are here.
http://www.7springsfarm.com/
Thorndale is up by Austin. Why not just buy a roll of greenhouse plastic? would be cheaper i think. Find an agg. supplier near you and get prices.
Here is the finished product. Now I am really looking forwardto milking my own gtsn making cheese.
Aha! Another birthday girl! Hope it was a good one AZgrammie! Wish you an excellent year ahead.
We are too far from Thorndale to be of assistance. Have you shopped any of the online sites? If you go with a greenhouse plastic, make sure it is UV rated. If not, you will be replacing it too quickly. I had been shopping for frost cloth in the latest FarmTek catalog, you might take a minute and see what they offer. www.FarmTek.com They are in Iowa, not sure how their shipping costs run.
Good looking batch of cheese ~ Cajun. I was going to suggest using a cotton dish towel to strain it if you still use them.
Thanks, Pod, today has been great, spent (only) 2 hours weeding the lavender fields this morning, heard from all 3 of my boys and some of the gkids (gkids on facebook, or course!) and my twin brother. He keeps saying he was born first because he was more ambitious, I keep telling people I kicked him out so I could have more room & food. LOL (That only lasted for about an hour, though.)
Cajun, what a pretty cheese! What is in it, chives? Green onions? How clever to think of coffee filters. I have been out of coffee filters for a week so have been using a small square of cotton cloth for my morning coffee fix. Went to town today and got another package of filters.
If you have goats, how lucky you are, their milk is supposed to be best for cheese.
Thanks for the links. Lots of cool ideas and info.
The frame I'm using is a portable carport frame. I found the tarps online, but couldn't verify the company. It will cost me about a third more to use the tarps instead of greenhouse film, but the clear ripstop tarps would be quick and easy for me to put up alone. My little greenhouse is made from the same UV protected material and it is holding up extremely well after two years. I'm all about doing it the easy way.
I've got my tunnel supports already. I've been using flexible pvc pipe for my hoops on the low tunnels, sliding the ends over short pieces of rebar. I'm still using hoops that have been outside year round for 8 years. These will work for the taller vegetables. I'm using some plastic covered flat wire/cable I found on the property for the shorter tunnels. Need to order my row covers, though.
Got just over an 1/8 inch of rain yesterday. Still waiting for more of the stuff.
We could sure some rain. It's dry.
That's green onions in the cheese. Next time i am going to try lemon basil.
I got my fall stuff in. I made a new planting bed just outside my door. I'm down to square foot gardening but at least I will be able to take care of it. I put in pak choy, bok choy, broccoli raab, chives, leeks, several lettuces, carrots, osaka purple mustard. It may not have time to make but at least I feel like I accomplished something positive. Been a while since that has happened. I may be able to extend the season long enough with a row cover to get a bit from it. If nothing else it will be a good trial run for the SFG concept so I'll do better in Spring. I sure have come down a long way but I'm still gardening so at least I am still moving forward. Life can't beat me if I don't quit.
You got that right, Caj!
OMG, will this heat ever let up? Our weather monitor has been registering 98 to 101 for the last three days.
Well, keep your fingers crossed for me....40% chance of rain tomorrow, 20% Sunday and Tuseday and 30% for Monday.
I found rennet at IGA today. It was on the rack by the ice cream with the ice cream toppings. The package said it is for making custard and ice cream, but nothing about cheese. Hope it's the right stuff. Planning on making cheese, yogurt and sour cream this weekend.
What kinda cheese ya' makin'?
Goodmorning, Everyone!
Maybe rain today. WhooHoo! Still have to go do some watering this morning....just in case.
Darius, I'm going to start with cream cheese and mozzarella. After that, I'll try a Jack that looks pretty simple.
Cool beans, Robin!
Be sure and post about the mozzarella, and the jack when you get to it. I have 3 gallons of raw goat milk in the freezer, destined for cheese... but no time or space at the moment to start it.
Jack as in Monterey Jack? That is my favorite cheese. Please let me know how you do it.
Yep, Cajun, that's the one. Probably will do that one next week.
According to the radar, the rain has passed, but whoohoo, it rained all of 14 minutes! LOL
My cheese making plans are on hold till Sunday or Monday. Time got away from me today and I still have a bunch of stuff to do before I go to bed. Anyway, here are the directions (with pictures) for mozzarella and it's only suppose to take 30 minutes. http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/pg/21.html As mentioned earlier, I bought the Rennet at IGA. They also have the citric acid with the canning supplies.
Edited to add: Here's the same basic recipe with a nice little time table at the bottom. http://www.cheesemaking.com/recipes/recipedetails.html
That front with the little bit of rain (1/8") sure "cooled" things off. Temperature dropped 20* However, the humidity was 77%, so it didn't feel any cooler.
This message was edited Sep 24, 2010 8:46 PM
Thanks for the links. I'll check them out as soon as I get time.
We sure need rain. My creek is going dry.
Yea!!!! Got a little over an inch of rain last night and it's cool out side. Yea!!
Just thought you might want to know that.
Nice out this morning. Still no rain but we had a very heavy dew.
No rain here but cooler. I find if I expect nothing, I am rarely disappointed.
Hope to find my "ambish" today and accomplish a few things now that it is finally nicer weather.
Hopefully it is coming everyone elses way too.
Podster, when you find it, if you have any to spare, please send it my way.
Beautiful here, too.
Awakened to RAIN (and chilly)... looks like 3 solid days of it. My microbes and weeds are singing "Yippee!"
Darius, WhooHoo!
We are in the direct path of a small rain cell, which should arrive in 2-3 hours. Like Cajun, with heavy dews the last few mornings and that tiny bit of rain a couple of days ago, the parched plants are really soaking it up. The grass is starting to green up a little, too.
Robin, how amazing to find rennet at the IGA. I'm sure it is the right stuff, rennet is rennet, whether vegetable or animal. From now on I'll look for it over by the ice cream toppings, but I think it is hilarious that's where somebody put it.
We are getting rain today. Started just before we left for church.
We did get a 2-day soaking rain a week ago, but now the Weather Gods are wreaking vengeance -- supposed to be record-breaking temperatures down in the Phoenix area, 108 on Friday, and this is the end of September! My gdaughter's wedding is Saturday so I will be down there. Up here in the mountains the highs are in the 80's, clear and sunny.
Things I need to do by mid-October when it usually starts freezing at night:
Fix the cow-fence down in the arroyo -- heavy rains a month ago washed part of it away. I'll take T-posts down with me this time and rebuild the rock pillars with a T-post in the middle of each. Guess i'll leave a clear path in the middle for rain water -- just barbed wire across it. I did get the rest of the 80 acres electrified, so hopefully that part will repell the cows. Usually takes them awhile to find the non-electrified fence across the arroyo. Building fences on a solid limestone shelf ain't easy!
Next, replace the 1" bubble wrap on windows & ceilings of my two greenhouses, big & little. Summer heat caused most of the tape to dry up. Plant seeds that will hopefully grow vegs during the winter. Didn't have much luck last winter, except for keeping little tomato plants alive until spring.
I am awaiting a blueberry plant I ordered, and will have to pot it into a large enough container, with plenty of compost and acid-stuff, but I think I can leave it out on the deck during the winter. Our native dirt if all limestone & clay! I have tried blueberries before and managed to kill the poor little guys.
Sad, sad, sad.
My next-door neighbor (1/2 mile away) died sometime last week. I stopped in to check on him Saturday evening. His dog was outside and came running up to me as always, the door was unlocked as always, so I went inside as always (he could never hear a knock on the door), and found him. Obviously had been dead for a few days.
He had been in poor health but was only 3 years older than me. Was an interesting guy, a good friend and a good neighbor.
I can't seem to get anything done around here today.
Sad, sad, sad.
You are right to be sad, sad, sad... bad enough losing a friend without also being the one who found him.
That is a tough call AZgrammie. I agree on hard to find him like that... that is not how I want to remember a friend.
I will say he was fortunate to have you nearby, checking on him. One wonders what would happen were it ourselves.
Does he have family to take on his dog?
And the 'todo' list grows here too. On the bubble wrap, I have been saving it from packages for the past year. It is my intention to make roll up curtains to cover the GH windows. The roof will be on its' own this winter. What type of tape do you use?