Blog Slacker Part 3 ~ Things to Love About Fall

Things to love about fall...

Breeding season! Bellowing does, blubbering bucks, the clingy odor of the rut hangs heavy in the air.  As usual the does did not cooperate with my ideas for the breeding plan, we will have kids scattered towards the end of February through mid-March. We are happy to wash and put away our stinky breeding coveralls and there will be no more goaty-dates in my new car this year. The breeding page on the website is up to date, here is the link: http://www.capralane.com/planned-breedings

Beautiful blue fall skies, ever-changing leafy displays, living in the country where raking is optional. . . 

Resourceful postal workers. In the city that box would've blown away.

Hemi. . . our latest rescue. He has a total of 27 toes, fitting, given my profession... Hemi is short for Hemingway, who is partially credited with bringing the trait of paddle-foot or polydactyly,  in cats to the US.  Hemi is now fully recovered from pneumonia and life on the streets and growing well. He will be a barn cat, eventually.... He really loves the couch right now. 

Tinder...the dog who hates everyone (but me!) loves Hemi. They wrestle and snuggle 24/7. T-dog is deadly but loves kittens...who knew?

After a few late night stake outs and shoot outs, we finally got the little bastard who took up residence in our chicken coop. No chicken attacks but several dozen broken eggs later, we got him! The best part is, we didn't get sprayed. Neither did the dogs nor the cats. A few stray bullet holes in the chicken coop (oops...it was dark!) should make it look more threatening to future intruders.

"Take that, trespasser!"

Blog Slacker Part 2 ~ Meat

Chore time is trimming down nicely. After exactly 8 weeks, and 0% losses the chickens were processed and we filled our freezer with 30 birds averaging 6-8 lbs each. 

After distributing a few of the pre-ordered birds, I've delved into winter cooking mode, stocking up on stock, chicken soup, chicken and dumplings and paprikash. Last spring's beef was put to good use by stockpiling chili and using the last of the garden to make stuffed pepper soup. Everything goes with mashed turnips...and carrots...and zucchini. I think I planted too many. Again.

There's such a difference in these birds that we raise solely on grain, veggie scraps and milk. No greasy stringy dark meat, excellent flavor. Boy can they eat! We were flying through feed, 50 lbs at least 2-3 times a week.

Variety is the spice of life! Alpaca chops for dinner. Taste and texture of beef, zero gamey taste, maybe just a hint of smoky flavor. Very lean and healthy. Again with mashed turnips...and carrots.

Remember when the pigs were cute? For about 5 minutes? They quickly turned into destructive eating machines. They tossed, yes tossed and chewed up the 18" x 18" x 2" pavers in their pens. They lifted the 100lb rubber mats to burrow under them to sleep. From birth to 250 lbs in a little over 5 months. Overall very efficient. Raised mainly on milk, a little hog feed, whole oats, cracked corn and garden scraps, they cost only about $100 to raise to 500lbs live weight and yielded nearly 70% in meat. We finished them on acorns after reading that most of the world's best Spanish hams and cured pork products are finished on acorns and on wooded forage. 

A great angle...check out those hams! 

Now all is well in the world, our freezer is stocked with fabulous beautiful bacon, roasts and chops. The acorns were a good move, the flavor is fantastic. Aside from the odors and sometimes daunting displays of strength, they really were fairly easy to deal with. Loading and unloading went smoother than expected, no one was hurt! Recent news stories reminded us to respect those hogs...

Baxter and Bettina are now Baxter I and Baxter II. Fall feather displays  are suggesting that they are both male. They are growing very large, very quickly, and yes, I am scared of them. When we reach in to feed them they are right at eye level. I hope they don't realize Thanksgiving is right around the corner... No worries there, they truly are incredibly unintelligent. They pace back and forth behind their enclosure in the wind and rain, too dumb to walk around and go inside the shelter.

The last of this years surplus goat meat has been distributed and orders are filling for next year. My pumpkins, so promising early on this year turned into a total bust. Little black beetles burrowed under every last one of them and destroyed them. Maybe next year...no time or motivation to carve one, it would probably blow away anyway!

Blog Slacker Part 1 ~ Fall Highlights

 Capra Lane has not dropped off the face of the earth....just very busy! After fair week we were inundated with overflowing work at our "real" jobs, the ongoing desperate search for hay, family weddings and birthdays and finally filling our freezer with the fruits of our labor from the garden and the barnyard.

After months of poor planning, M and I finally gathered a free day dedicated 100%  to cheese. Armed with 3 reference books and 12 gallons of milk we tried to put our education and skills in hard cheesemaking to good use. 

So far...so good! Floculation (gelling), curd cutting, careful timing and hours of sitting by the stove.  After pressing and brining, we had produced 3 goats milk tommes and one wheel of garlic and chive fresh pressed cheese. Into the aging cave (dorm refrigerator) it went. At first, no excitement..which is good. Then mold. Then panic.

After consulting with our trusty cheese leader, we scrubbed and washed and continue to do so every other day. Brown  spots and gray fluff gave way to pearlescent blue-green and white. No rotten death smell but still intimidating. "Taste it" she recommended. Hells no. Too scared. Something tells me the affineur should not fear affinage...

Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks...a family wedding over Labor Day.  This spot should be at the top of everyone's "to-do" list and is definitely high on my "repeat" list. I have my eye on that ranch in the valley...

Buffalo...another one of those animals that is somehow bounds more charming in its natural habitat.  We accomplished a ton of sightseeing in our 24 hours. 

Happy 90th birthday to Nana Batt