Its a 70 compost/30 topsoil mix.
LOL Cajun, isnt that it, when you need something its mia? I have that prob with tape measures. I seen your post about doing that, sounds interesting. Did you get any up and planted yet?
No One said a HomeStead has to be in the country! =)
I have about twenty plants in the first piece of gutter. They are doing well. Expecting rain the next few days so it will stop my projects yet again.
Weve gotten drenched here as well, not complainin since its saving on the water bill but Id like to get back out there and plant some more without losing a shoe in the mud LOL. How many you doing total?
Cheesemaking this past week...I did some things differently this time around. I used a turkey fryer instead of the stove for one lol. Took all my cheesemaking recipes to my aunt so I grabbed one offline. This the recipe but I do my own thing. I save all my milk and put it in the freezer when it hits the expiration date and just write "cheese" on it. When I get about 4 gallons saved up I dethaw it. Stick it in the pot and let it sit out for a day to "ripen" up. 2nd I dont buy culture, I get a chunk off the cheese I have in the fridge and put in with the milk. Like that home made cheese press? lol maybe someday Ill get a real one
Ingredients
2 gallons cow or goat milk (do not use UHT/UP milk)
Mesophilic culture (choose one):
1 packet direct-set mesophilic culture
1/8 teaspoon bulk mesophilic culture
Rennet (choose one):
1/2 teaspoon liquid animal rennet,dissolved in 1/2 cup cool water
1/4 teaspoon double-strength liquid vegetable rennet, dissolved in 1/2 cup cool water
1/4 tablet vegetable rennet, dissolved in 1/2 cup cool water
2 tablespoons sea salt
Equipment
Large pot
Thermometer
Long knife (curd knife; does not need to be sharp)
Cheesecloth
Cheese wax
Cheese press
Instructions
In a large pot, heat the milk to 85°F, stirring frequently.
When the milk gets to 85°F, add culture, stir in with an up-and-down motion, cover, and allow to ferment for 1 hour.
Stir to homogenize the milk, and slowly fold in the diluted rennet. Using an up-and-down motion with your spoon will ensure that the rennet works its way through all the milk, so you can get the highest possible yield.
Allow the cheese to set for 1 hour, or until the whey begins to separate from the curd. You should see a layer of mostly clear whey floating on top of the curd, and the curd should be pulling away from the sides of the pot.
Using the knife, carefully cut the curds into 1/4-inch cubes and allow to set for 5 minutes. Do not stir.
Over the next 30 minutes, slowly heat the curds to 100°F, stirring frequently. As you stir, the curds will shrink.
Once the curds are at 100°F, maintain the temperature and continue stirring for the next 30 minutes. If the curds get too hot, remove from heat.
After 30 minutes, stop stirring and allow the curds to settle to the bottom of the pot. This will take about 20 minutes.
Pour the curds into a colander. Place the colander and curds back into the cheese pot and allow to drain for 15 minutes.
Remove the colander from the pot and turn the curds out onto a cutting board. You should have a semi-solid mass that looks like jelly. Pour the whey out of the pot, cut the mass into five slices, and place back into the pot. Cover.
Fill a sink or basin with 102°F water and place the pot and curds into it. Keeping the temperature of the curds right around 100°F, turn the slices every 15 minutes for the next 2 hours. This is the cheddaring process and will give your cheese its unique flavor and deliciousness.
After 2 hours, the curds will be shiny and very firm. Remove them from the pot and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Place back in the pot, cover, and place in the sink filled with 102°F water.
In 10 minutes, stir gently with your fingers or a wooden spoon. Repeat twice more.
Remove the pot from the sink and add salt. Stir gently once more.
Line the cheese press with a piece of cheesecloth and carefully place the curds into the press. Wrap the cloth around the cheese and press at 10 pounds of pressure for 15 minutes.
Remove the cheese from the press, unwrap, and flip the cheese. Re-wrap using a fresh piece of cheesecloth, and press at 40 pounds of pressure for 12 hours.
Remove the cheese from the press, unwrap, and flip the cheese. Re-wrap using a fresh piece of cheesecloth, and press at 50 pounds of pressure for 24 hours.
Remove the cheese from the press and air-dry for 2 to 3 days, until smooth and dry to the touch.
Wax the cheese and age at 55° to 60°F for at least 60 days. (Click here for practical methods for aging cheese.)
Homemade cheese press lol
Im also set for mothers day for the Ladies in my life :). Handpainted pots I made with my boys handprints. :) Got the pots for 1.99 ea. Grew the Daylilies from seed. Voila! Cant wait to give them to em. :D
Well, you are ahead of the game! What a nice Mother's Day gift!
Wow! You've been busy.
I admire your cheese making and that fact you can keep up with all those steps. I will have to stick o soft cheese. Guess I must be ADD. Darius would have really enjoyed talking with you about the cheese making. She was really into it. She even had a cheese cave.
Love the flower pots. And what a great gift.
How are the rabbits doing?
Rabbits are doing great! Matter of fact Darius started making a nest yesterday morning :D Took Buck and my oldest to a Kids Funshow my RBA put on. They got Best in Show for 8 and under. Proud Mama here :)
Cajun, the hardest part to keep track of is the first day for me. Usually running after kids and dogs and sometimes I get sidetracked with laundry and forget how long its been cooking lol. I wish she was still here I bet she had some neat tricks to share.
Going to be a nice day here today, cant wait to get outside and plant. Lots of veg coming up! My strawberries have TONS of flowers, I can almost taste strawberries! LOL
You should be proud. That is a great pic. Can't wait for baby bunny pics.
Cajun Me Neither!!! LOL Checked on her yesterday shes bulging pretty good. Put my hand on her stomach and theres a foot pushing out, so I rubbed it a little bit and it started wiggling haha then they ALL started wiggling. Poor girl, I took her an apple and she just nibbled it a bit. Which isnt normal, she normally scarfs it down. So Im thinking anyday now, Im horrible at waiting!
My grapevines are getting loaded down with grapes, cant wait till fall. sugar snap peas are starting to pop up. Cleaned out the hutch the other day and spread it all over my Tomatoes and peppers. They were both looking a little rough, hope this help.
4 fat happy babies in the nest box this morning :)
I miss having bunnies!
So cute. With just four it makes me think this must be her first litter.
Yes ma'am it is! Little unplanned on my part. Checked em this morning and she'sfeeding them. So far everything is good and she's doing her part :)
That is good news. What are your plans for the bunnies?
Keeping 1, other 3 will be dinner
That is a good plan. They are delicious. Are you keeping a doe?
Theres one perfectly marked I want to keep. Im hoping its a doe, if its a buck I may sell it.
A lot of time has gotten away from me since I checked in with you last. How is everything going?
Oh girl, its going! Just been to busy to post, ill bb later
Be looking forward to it.
Sorry its been a preserving tornado and trying to keep up with the fall... Its the busiest time of year for me!
1- Mommy getting revenge
2- Can-a-thon
3- Rabbits on mag again
4- Buck getting his 4th leg for Grand Champion
Badcat you HAVE been busy. lol
Weve had 7 litters this year, most went to freezer camp. We butchered 5 hogs over the weekend, 1 is in our freezer. We built another hutch for the rabbits over the fall. I made cheese for a gf all summer. Just made 20 pints of peach jam for some Rabbit Friends.
Its been a great year! Just starting seeds now :) Noticed my onions are still growing and I have baby sprouts on my brussel sprouts! Going to pick up our hams and bacon on Sat. Hubs hopefully gets a deer this weekend.. Been a crazy year and looking forward to another lol.
Annette you KNOW what its been like lol xx
Hope yall have a great 2015!
1- beef summer sausage
2- baby b sprouts in jan! :)
3- last litter for 2014, born 12-28
4- onions still alive!!
5- brussel sprouts :)
Me and a gf are going to raise pheasant to eat this year... Im super excited about this!!!! woooottt!!!
Pig.. minus the bacon and ham.. yummy :)
Pheasant, huh? Save some feathers for me, lol.Where are you going to raise them? looks like you have a freezer full of meat.
Love them babies!
Im going to hatch chicken and pheasant eggs at diff times this spring and raise them in garage until around april. Moving out to gfs house I been making cheese for.
Can't wait to see the new baby chicks! We used to have them when I was growing up.Chickens, not pheasants.
I have never eaten pheasant. I have eaten grouse and it is delicious!! I am anxious to see how your pheasant hatching works out. Will you raise them for eggs to hatch so you can have a steady supply for meat?
Well I did some research the other morning on them. I live in IL, she lives in MO. Just need a permit to have them here, But I cant find anything on MO DNR site, so Im guessing they cant be reared there. So might be a no go on them. Ill just hatch some chicks lol.
Pig results are in. 166# of meat at $1.56/#. Id definately do that again!
So cold here today, went out to feed/water and my hand froze to the cage lol.
Sorry about the pheasants. I was excited for you. But chicks are good too. Maybe you could branch put into quail. They are tasty and you can sell pickled quail eggs pretty easily.
Good job on the pig. I wish we had a place to raise one. I would sure get another. We put two in the freezer about three years ago. 546 pounds of meat. They were big but tender and lean. They were a breed called Blue Listed. Pretty popular here but I had never heard of them before. Their names were Pork Chop and Spare Rib.
lol great names for pigs, never heard of that type. We will see how it goes, getting new brood cages tonight. Im excited, but Iv been spring cleaning the garage as well. Freezing out there
We dug two stalls today. I am nearing the end of my stall cleaning days. I have MD and am getting weaker. We usually hire it done but our guy could not be found today. It had to be done before the really cold weather moves in so it was up to us. We got it done but my right side is hurting. I hope I can sleep tonight.
I think I may have to get me a few hens in the spring. I lost my flock a couple years ago to a skunk. I have not replaced them because I had a source for free range eggs at two dollars a dozen. I could not feed chickens cheaper than that. Now my egg guy has sold his chickens so I need fresh eggs again. I got myself a Dremel Ultra saw for Christmas so a chicken tractor may be in my future.
I have been going through my Baker Creek seed catalog. I plan to spend a good portion of my Christmas money on seeds. I will try to trade for them first but don't have a lot of trading seeds right now. Been a hard couple of years here and my garden has suffered. Things are looking up for this year and I am thankful to God.