They're Peeking!

Look what I found in the greenhouse today...

Kale, spinach, lettuce and radishes are all peeking....

The carrots are a little shy though...

Back in Production

Now that the number of daylight hours are increasing, the avian ladies of Windwomen Farm are settling back into their nest boxes. We have 14 hens, but 6 of these girls are more than 4 years old, so 6 or 7 eggs per day is the best output we can really expect.  The team has had record lows this winter...1 to 3 eggs per day with some zero days sprinkled in there.  But, they are ramping up on a grand scale!  Yesterday I gathered 10 eggs...definitely a winter record!  The picture above is the last 2 days harvest! Nice!

Now if I can just stop dropping them on the way back to the house....

Planting the Greenhouse

Yes...we have a greenhouse here at Windwomen Farm...the igloo looking structure in our profile picture is a passive solar greenhouse made by Growing Spaces, a company out of Pagosa Springs, CO. it is an 18' diameter geodesic dome, with 24" high raised beds around the perimeter, an 800 gallon water tank that is the thermal mass for the passive solar system and a small active solar system that powers the lights, fans and the fountain in the water tank.

We bought the kit and installed the greenhouse in 2009...I will post a future blog on the construction...Using the greenhouse has been a steep learning curve, but very rewarding...every year we get better and better at it...learning how it is symbiotic with our outdoor beds because it extends our growing season and allows us to have okra, habaneros, poblanos and other hot weather loving crops, in this short growing season, that are critical to this expat from Texas because all of these are vital to proper Texan haute cuisine.

The goal is to plant, grow and harvest year round, but despite having well read copies of, The Winter Harvest Handbook and Four Season Harvest, by Eliot Coleman, we have not yet reached that pinnacle of vegetable gardeningdom for various and sundry reasons...

This year's reason was because we had a minor case of wilt on the brandywine tomato vines that we grew in there last summer.  Early last fall, I decided to treat all the beds and beds structures with hydrogen peroxide and then MB and her niece DB, took some llama manure from Wunsapana Farm and top dressed the beds, with it and our own compost.  Then we let the beds rest until last weekend.

With the occasional help of a small propane heater during the ultra-frigid (10 degrees F or lower) late January, early February nights, the bed temperatures in the greenhouse reached 45 degrees F.  The magic minimum temperature that seeds of cool weather crops need to germinate.  So I planted the first succession of kale, carrots, spinach, radishes and lettuce...I was so excited to get out there and actually dig in the dirt that I forgot the peas and mache...ah well...there is always next weekend...and the weekend after that...and the weekend after that...

WOOHOO!  We're on the downhill side of winter!!!  And in a couple of weeks we'll be seeing green peeking out of the dirt before the snow is fully melted!!!

Have any of you started planting yet?  Transplants indoors, in a greenhouse or outdoors for those of you in more temperate or even tropical regions?

Dog Dynamics

It's now been a little more than a week since the established dog dynamics at Windwomen Farm were thrown to the wind.  Prior to Saturday, February 2nd, the routine of the household was well established.  Get up, open the back door, dogs go out, open the back door, the dogs come in, feed them and then they each go to their own scheduled events...Frannie, the old black shepherd, will head to the living room, lie down on the rug and promptly go to sleep.  Emmett, the blue merle Aussie/BC cross, looks up at you with pleading eyes and asks to return outside to patrol the perimeter and protect his patroon from trespassing foxes, deer, rabbits...can you say,"SQUIRREL!!"...This routine was repeated again in the evening...except for the "Get up" part...All was "calm, well ordered, exemplary", to quote a favorite movie line.  Even the cat, Cinder, knew when it was time to come to MB's desk chair for pets and to beg for more food.

Now life at Windwomen Farm is totally dependent upon the actions or lack of action of Walker, the new puppy.  When Walker is asleep, everything is calm and orderly.  When Walker wakes, a hasty trip outside is necessary.  This time it's not as simple as opening the back door, you must go too, no matter the weather.  The trips outside at 9:00p, 11:00p, 3:30a (when Buck the rooster crows...God know why...) and 5:00a in the morning, are beautiful with moonshine on the big snow flakes, but very chilly...it helps when the trips coincide with a hot flash, but alas...those are pretty hard to schedule...And then there was Nemo...that storm set us back on the potty training by about 3 days...

Of course, Walker is never quite ready to back to bed after each constitutional...she makes the rounds and gets an official rebuff from both Emmett and Frannie before she settles back in.

After 5:00a, and breakfast, Walker is ready to play...if Frannie is in the vicinity, Walker sucks up to her...she knows who is CEO of dogdom on the farm...Frannie tolerates the fawning monster for about 5 minutes, then sends her packing and retires to MB's office for some peace and quiet.  Once the brown-nosing is over, Walker sets a trajectory for Emmett and her approach is that of a steamroller...Emmett is her personal chew toy for about 10 minutes, then he gets up and the game is on!  There are windsprints through the kitchen to the living room and back again, tug of war skirmishes and wrestling matches that could rival any in the WWF...all of this will be banished to the outdoors in a few weeks but the reward is definitely worth the short term turmoil...

An exhausted puppy is a good puppy...Emmett has a worthy playmate...the antics are pretty funny (for the most part) and awfully cute...

But...sleeping through the night again is one routine that can't be re-established soon enough!

It's A Comin'...

Looks like a big'un blowin' in folks!

They're calling for up to 20+ inches in our neck of the woods...the Heldeberg region of the New York state Appalachian mountains.

We're all set with provisions and contingencies...propane for the house, greenhouse and to run the backup generator in case power goes out.  Plenty of wood for the stove in the shop and the fireplace. The truck is gassed up and ready to plow the drive and the lane.  The snowblower is gassed up and ready to cut the "luge runs" out to the shop, greenhouse, chicken coop and hives.  The hives are blockaded with straw bales to help keep them protected from wind and snow and the coop is covered with greenhouse plastic so the girls are protected from the wind and don't have to walk around in the snow.  Top it off with frdge, freezers and cool storage full of veg, fruit, dairy and meat....a nicely stocked wine cellar...some beer...

We...Are...Ready....

Of course, now it probably will only snow a couple of inches and that would just be all good too...

For those of you under the storm/blizzard warning areas...how did you prepare?

Sad Farm Dog and the New Farm Apprentice

Our farm dog, Emmett, used to have a playmate that lived on the 5 acres next door.  Mater would come over on occasion and he and Emmett would play until they couldn't move...it was a good thing...Mater did not pay the chickens any mind because he was raised so close to them and Emmett was raised with them...

But, now Mater doesn't live there anymore.  Frannie, our other dog, is too old to really play with Emmett although she tries on every now and then.  Emmett has managed to keep himself busy by becoming the farm guardian dog and that worked until it got too cold for him to be outside long...

Now he spends the frigid days watching over the farm out the window...

I am totally projecting human emotions onto him, but he looks sad and bored, doesn't he...

So,  MB and I talked about it, did a little research, went out yesterday, and came home with...

Our new farm apprentice!  

Meet Walker...best guess is that she is eight weeks old, Mom was an aussie or australian cattle dog cross (we met her too) and looks like dad was at least related to a Labrador somewhere along the line...she's bright and seems to be socialized well with both humans and dogs...she has made herself right at home as you can see below...

Typical baby, plays hard for 5 minutes and then takes a nap...

Wish us luck...THERE'S A PUPPY IN THE HOUSE!!!!

From Scratch Magazine

I signed up for the online magazine "From Scratch" today...what a good find!  It was recommended by our friend Jenna Woginrich of Cold Antler Farm.  The magazine interviewed her in it's premier issue.  It is chock full of good info and it's free!  Read It Here!

While you are at it, take a look at Jenna's blog, Cold Antler Farm...she is a gifted writer and author of several books...her blog has a following in the thousands!

As Promised...Greek Yogurt...

The past couple of weeks have flown by...the nine to five and daily homestead chores, sometime take priority over writing.  Henny Penny rejoined her coop mates the week before this last bout of posterior biting cold.  Under cover of darkness she was taken from the chicken ICU and placed into the dark hen house with all the others.  On Sunday morning, when the hen house door was opened, out she hopped just like all the others.  None of them appeared to pay her any mind as they got down to business scratching around in the coop.  That's the beauty of chickens, if you change things in the dark, they are oblivious to the difference the next morning...Let's hope things continue to go well for her, not sure if another trip to the chicken ICU, aka MB's office, will be welcomed.

We usually make a batch of greek yogurt on the weekends.  As with most things, the quality of the ingredients is critical to making a good end product.  All of our milk is delivered fresh from the dairy, just 3 miles down the hill.  Homemade vanilla extract, local maple syrup, fruit jams and honey from our bees are used as flavoring.  Making yogurt is much easier than you would think. 

I know...I know...you are thinking, "Yeah right...easy like puttin' socks on a rooster...".  

No really...it does take a little bit of time and planning, but it is easy and the excellence of the end product makes it all worthwhile.

To make a batch of yogurt you will need the following:

A stainless steel (SS) pot with a thick bottom to "scald" or re-pasteurize the milk. Alternatively, a SS double boiler may be used. Do not boil the milk. This gives the milk a "cooked" flavor, and increases the probability that it will burn on the bottom or boil over. In addition to the thick bottomed pot, I use a fabulous invention called a simmer mat, pictured below.

This baby pretty much guarantees NO MORE SCORCHING!  WOOHOO!  It is available online from Lehmans and other kitchen supply sites.

You will also need the following:

A utensil of your choice to stir the milk while it is heating and cooling

A kitchen thermometer, digital or dial, with at range of at least 0 to 225 ^oF (-10 to 110^oC)

A whisk

A ladle

A canning funnel is handy but not mandatory if you have steady hands...just saying...

A bowl or large mixing cup (2 cups or larger)

4 canning jars with lids (quart size), sterilized in boiling water or washed in a diswasher with an antibacterial cycle 

1 canning jar with lid (pint size), sterilized in boiling water or washed in a diswasher with an antibacterial cycle
1 medium sized "cooler" such as a Coleman Playmate or the old styrofoam ones, etc.
2 large bowls, 2 quart size or larger

Take 1 gallon of the freshest milk you can find...raw, whole, skim or anything in between...try not to use ultra-pasteurized milk, it will not give you reliable results and don't get me started on what the ultra high temperatures do to the proteins and the good biological denizens of milk! Pour it into your thick bottomed pot or double boiler.  Heat the milk over medium heat.  You can go to medium high if you are using the simmer mat or a double boiler.  Scald/heat the milk until the temperature is 185-195 F (85-90 C).  Again, do not boil the milk.  Stir often to minimize the skin that often forms when milk is heated.

Once it has reached temperature, take the pot and place it in your sink that has been filled with just enough cold tap water to cover the sides of the pot, but not enough to overflow into the pot.  Stir and cool the milk to 122-130 F (50 to 55 C).  The milk will cool quickly.  I generally remove the pot from the cooling water when the temperature is at 140 F (60 C).  It will continue to cool while you prepare the inoculant.

Now take the mixing bowl or the large measuring cup and ladle about 1 cup of the milk into it.  Then take 1 cup or 1 container of the freshest plain yogurt you can find and put it with the milk and whisk thoroughly.  The yogurt must have live cultures.  It should only have milk and a list of the live cultures on it...Several of the big brands are good...Dannon, Stonyfield, Oikos and Chobani...regular or greek, it doesn't matter...unfortunately, the local organic brands are not always the best to culture with, mainly because they often have been on the shelf awhile.

When you have whisked the milk and yogurt into a homogeneous mixture, inoculate your pot of scalded milk by pouring the mixture in and stirring well.

Ladle the neonatal yogurt into your sterilized jars. Put the sterilized lids on and tighten them well.  Fill the cooler with about a gallon of water that has been heated to 130 F (55 C).  Place the jars into the cooler, making sure that the water only reaches to the bottom of the lids.  Put more heated water into the cooler, if the water does not reach the bottom of the jar lids.  Because our water heater is set to 130 F, we can use hot water straight out of our tap to fill the cooler, if your water heater is set lower than this, you will have to heat the water up on the stove to get to the incubation temperature of 122 F (50 C).

Close the lid of the cooler and go away for a minimum of 3 hours...we incubate for more than 12 hours because we usually time our yogurt prepping in the late afternoon or in the evening on Saturdays.  We have let our yogurt incubate as long as 24 hours without any issues.

SO!  In 3 or more hours you will have a beautiful batch of yogurt!  You can stop here and add a couple of spoonfuls of your favorite jam, some fresh or frozen fruit, maple syrup, honey, eat it plain...whatever floats your tastebud's boat.  OR, you can keep going and turn it into thick, yummy, decadent greek yogurt!  I guarantee that if you have a dedicated yogurt hater in your household, this stuff will make them a convert with one bite!  WOW!  I made myself so hungry writing this that I had to go get some out of the fridge for myself!  Excuse me as I type with my mouth full....

Essentially, all that makes yogurt "greek" is draining some of the whey out of it.

The picture below show the draining process of the yogurt.  Two hours of draining two quarts of plain yogurt will yield 1 quart greek yogurt and 1 quart whey.

To drain yogurt, take a double thickness of butter muslin (available at kitchen stores or online, a clean, large handkerchief works well too), and line a large sieve or bowl with it.  Pour 2 quarts of the freshly made yogurt (before refrigeration is best) into the middle of the muslin.  Gather the muslin up by the corners and tie up the corners with a large rubberband, clean string, etc. to form a sack, of sorts, and suspend the sack over a bowl to catch the whey that drains out.  We suspend ours from the faucet as seen above, but I have suspended it from upper kitchen cabinets by opening the door and using a wooden spoon weighted down on one end with a pile of dishes inside the cabinet.  You can get inventive...use what is available to you in your own kitchen.

After 2 hours...don't go any longer or you will wind up with a nice batch of yogurt cheese, which is a nice substitute for cream cheese, btw...take the muslin sack down, place it in a clean bowl and untie the corners of the muslin...this is what it will look like...

Grasp the muslin by 2 adjacent corners and roll the yogurt out of the muslin into the bowl.  Scrape any remaining yogurt, that clings to the muslin, into the bowl.  Whisk the thickened yogurt to a uniform consistency, flavoring can be added now, if desired, or you can always flavor it later.  Now package your greek yogurt into jars, the size of your choice.  1/2 pint canning jars are a perfect size for  breakfast, lunch, snack or dessert.  Refrigerate.  This yogurt will stay good for 2 weeks, maybe more, ours is always eaten long before that.

And there you have it!  The best greek yogurt you have ever eaten!  Here is a picture of ours flavored with blueberry freezer jam (the best!) made by our friend LD.  It's so good we barter for it!

Now I know what you are asking...,"What in tarnation am I gonna do with this here quart of whey?"...

We use the whey as a supplement to our dog's food.  We store it in the fridge in canning jars and pour it on their dry food and they lap it right up.  It is also good for chickens, pigs or other critters you may have.  We also use the whey as an ingredient in our soap, our homemade bread, and as cooking liquid (like stock). 

If worst comes to worst, as a last resort, you could put it in the compost pile.

But, that would be sad...you should cook with it...really...