Queen's Edge Farm: Farm Things

Monday, December 8, 2008

Farm Things

Yesterday, I drove the small garden tractor and little trailer to help Rodney string one strand of barbed wire for the front fence. We may be getting an elderly donkey to house for awhile, and we have been checking fences to make sure everything is wired up and secure. Rodney needs to install one gate at the back of the property, to make sure the donkey can't get into the area where the dogs and chickens are located, and then we should be good to go. I hope the puppies decided and learn to stay away from the donkey. I am worried they will get killed, but I'm not going to keep them caged up, they'll have to learn to fend for themselves.

We picked up a New Zealand Black breeder doe this afternoon. She is to replace LuLu who was murdered by a couple of stray dogs a while back. This doe was bred this morning, so with luck we will have baby rabbits in a month. Hannah will be getting a baby rabbit next week that she can make a pet, but the new black rabbit named "Jessica Rabbit" is to make babies for future meat or to sell. Haven't decided yet.

The other evening when the guys arrived home with their "doe", they hung it in the garage to skin and butcher it. The girls were greatly interested, and stayed to watch. After a few moments, Hannah told me "I need to go inside, my stomach is getting really sick." Lauren was the more morbid one and stayed.

They also cut the feet/talons a dead bird that we found on the side of the road. I think it must have been hit by a car, but we couldn't see any damage to the body on the outside. Lauren was able to take a close up picture of it, so now I can post it online to get an accurate name for it. I've seen lots of red tailed hawks, but this is a new type of hawk that I haven't noticed before, and that Rodney is calling a "Mexican hawk", but that name doesn't pop up in the search engines for me. Here are the pictures that Lauren took of the dead falcon.

http://www.peregrinefund.org/Explore_Raptors/falcons/crstcara.html

Okay, after much searching, I THINK this may be the bird we found...not a hawk after all but in the falcon family.

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Rodney asked that I put a little note on here that he has fixed the hot water in the kitchen, so that after all my whining of having to carry hot water from the bath tub to the kitchen to wash dishes, it is NOW done. Praise God! ;-)

Okay Rodney, here is a list of the other things you can work on if you are feeling "frisky".

Oven (electrical connection)
Floor board in bed room (I am going to fall through soon)
Clean the carpets for me ;-)
Take out the trash (it's by the back door)

This is just the house stuff. I have list of things at the land if you want those too. LOL!

Umm....move the container ?? (I know you are working on it)
Finish the bridge
Finish the fence
Finish the coop
Install toilet in container
Cut down the weeds in the garden, disc it, and add manure ;-)

I can keep going, I have lots of things I need/want done, but that I lack the energy for...I hope I get my energy back after the baby is born, because I am tired of being tired.

By the way, in case I didn't say it already. Thanks Rodney for fixing the hot water.

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Grandma's Yummy Cinnamon Rolls

2 pkgs active dry yeast or 5 tsps if using bulk yeast
1/2 cup warm water (not too hot)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening, butter, margarine
2 tsps salt
2 cups milk, scalded
1 1/2 cups cold water
10 to 12 cups flour (white or whole wheat)

Yield: 4 loaves

Soften yeast in warm water, springkle in a tsp of the sugar
In LARGE mixing bowl blend sugar, shortening, salt and milk until shortening is melted. Add cold water, cool to luke-warm. Stir in yeast. Gradually add flour to form a stiff dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth and satiny, 5 to 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover with foil or damp towel. Let rise in warm place (85 to 90 deg) until light and doubled in volume about two hours. Punch dough down by plunging fist in center. Knead dough for about 5 minutes.

Roll out one fourth of dough to a 16 X 12 inch rectangle. Brush with 2 TBSP of melted butter. Combine 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1/3 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon (or more to taste). Sprinkle mixture over dough. Starting with 16 inch side, roll jellyroll fashion. Either cut into 16 1 inch slices or leave as a whole loaf. Place on a greased pan, cover and let rise in warm place until light, about 30 to 45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees about 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Mix one box 10X sugar with 2 tbsps water. If too stiff, add more water until icing consistency, add a drop of vanilla too. Spread on baked bread while bread is still warm.

2010 Homestead Stats

Laundry Soap

Homemade Laundry Soap:
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
~You will also need a small washpan or bowl that holds about 2 gallons.

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the washpan. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Transfer soap (using a funnel if necessary) into empty plastic laundry holders, milk containers (I use my empty glass milk bottles and old Fab containers) Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use ½ cup per load.

Wild Mustang Grape Jelly

Wild Mustang Grape Jelly

5 cups grape juice (about 3 1/2 pounds of ripe grapes)1 (1 3/4 ounce) box of sure-jel pectin7 cups sugarBefore getting started it is best to clean the entire kitchen, making sure the sink is empty. Bleach the sink and all utensils used in making jelly (I do this as I sell my grape jelly as part of my homesteading business.)

Wash the canning jars in warm soapy water, and rinse well. Set off to side.

Place a large pan of water on the stove to heat. Once it starts steaming, place lids and rings in the bottom, and 2-3 jars (depending on if you use actual jelly jars or pints) to sterilize.

Next make the grape juice using clean washed grapes (make sure you use rubber gloves when picking or washing wild grapes)To 3 1/2 pounds of clean grapes (6 cups of grapes) add 1 1/2 cups water.Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 10 minutes.Strain and squeeze out all of the juice with cheese cloth (see paragraph below)
I didn't have cheese cloth, so I poured the grape mixture into a large spaghetti strainer with a large pan underneath. I had to stir it around some as the skins and seeds would sink to the bottom, and clog the colander up. Stirring allowed the liquid to drain out. I then used a large metal spoon and squished it some to get more of the juice out.

In a very big pan, put 5 cups of the juice (it’s okay to add no more than ½ cup water to even out amount)Add the fruit pectin to the juice.Mix well.On high heat, bring to a full rolling boil, and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.Stir in sugar all at once, and bring back to a full rolling boil, again boil hard for 1 minute stirring constantly.
Remove jelly from heat, skim off foam
Use a large spoon inserted inside the jar to lift CAREFULLY out of the water. DO NOT TOUCH THE INSIDE OF THE JAR OR THE RIM WITH YOUR HANDS.
Ladle jelly into hot jars, place a lid and ring onto jar (do not tighten yet).
Set jars to the side. After a while you should start hearing “pings” as the jar seals.
When jars are completely cool, tighten rings and store on pantry shelf.**SIDE NOTE: Wild Mustang Grapes are normally ready the end of June, so be prepared. Keep an eye open for vines on the side of the road, or any that friends and family may have growing in their yard. Many people just let them grow and don’t do anything with them, so it shouldn’t be hard to find a good supply. Also, the more you pick off the vine, the more the vine produces new grapes, so you probably won’t EVER run out of grapes to use until the vine dies or you get sick of making jelly. Good luck and feel free to contact me at queensedgefarm@yahoo.com for questions.