Queen's Edge Farm: Farm Update

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Farm Update

I am now chicken-less. My Pyr killed all my remaining chickens in one day. I am so depressed over that...if I could find a good home for the Pyr he'd be gone. He is really good with the goats, which is what I got him for, and great with the kids. The only bad part is he is a chicken killer. I thought I had him beat by putting the chickens back in their coop/pen full time, but he dug under to get some crackers/scraps I had tossed out to the chickens. It doesn't matter how much I feed him, he still loves the chickens scraps. Well, the hole he left was big enough for the chickens to come out of, this spelled their doom.

With the cold temps and rain lately, I haven't been able to work outside. It is amazing how fast trash accumulates, especially windblown trash, and the dogs tearing up stuff outside. I think I'd love just to have Baeta and Muffin, that is it.

We had significant rain this week, 5 inches. The pond is totally full, as well as, the overflow on the side. When we first moved out here when it rained, the water would flow out the back, and rise so high, it would start inching towards the barn. Now, with the overflow area (which I was against being dug at the time) the water stays away from the barn, and fills up the second area great. This provides great drinking water for the animals, and the girls just had to go "swimming" today. It was 70 degrees and quite warm in the cabin, so off they went, only to return wet and muddy. They were headed to their dad's tonight so they had to go into the shower.

I spent yesterday afternoon cleaning the bedroom. Four hours, three trash bags and a rubber maid container later. I had most of the clutter under control. I moved the girls back up to the loft, making their beds, and adding the electric blankets for them, plus a small heater. I now have the king bed to myself, sharing with James. I found a large piece of olive green fabric that I had bought to make a suit a couple of years ago, and hung it over the bed opening. This gives me more privacy, a darker area for James to sleep better, plus I am not shoved into a corner to sleep, or being wakened by a variety of elbows/hands in my face, or knees in my hiney or stomach.

Today I spent all day doing laundry, and cleaning. Filled another trash bag of trash, washed all the dishes and swept the floor. Lauren folded the laundry and picked up in general in the living area. I have several piles a long the sides of items to be taken to the shop. Still not done cleaning, plus the outside needs to have the trash picked up, and the dead chickens taken to the bone yard at the back of the property. Who knew so many animals died on a farm, on a regular basis? Between the heat this summer taking my rabbits, chickens getting killed by the dog, and a dog dying, we have a regular horror show going on out back. The local buzzards are happy with us that is for sure.

Once the couch is picked up tomorrow and taken to the shoppe for the reading room, I will have more space. I really like having the couch to watch t.v. on, all of us fit, but it is so crowded, it is hard to walk through. I am looking forward to a large, carpeted area for James to play on, and the girls can lay on the floor to watch t.v. or play themselves.

Tried to watch Mel Gibson's Apocalypto movie tonight. I received the DVD in the mail from Netflix. The movie is far too graphic for me, and not to my taste. I only lasted 28 minutes before I had to turn it off.

Off to bed, it's 12:30 a.m., and the baby is waking up to eat.

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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.