Tiny Farms

Okay, so I didn’t intend for so much time to pass between posts here at Roundrock Journal, but there were some access problems last week (you may have noticed), and life has been hectic. We were able to get out to our woods two Sundays ago, and we stopped by the pond on our way in to see how mama goose was doing on her nest. She was still sitting on it then, which suggested to me that she must have been near the end of the gestation. I think by now the eggs have hatched, and we probably have goslings swimming about the pond. I’m not sure when we’ll next get out there, but I sure hope we’ll get a look at them when we do. I’m sure this would not be the first hatch of waterfowl in my forest, but it’s the first one I’ve been aware of, and it makes me feel that my stewardship has been worthwhile. I know. It’s silly in a way. But for me it’s also a big, encouraging, enriching deal. It makes me feel happy and warm inside. So there!

OK, OK, so that was a terrible play on a old country song, but it's kinda how I feel today.Now mind you, I'm not a petty person by nature...usually... but I have to say I did get a good little chuckle to myself today when I was sitting in my office BSing with a couple of my friends that have know me since, and gave me a good bit of ribbing when, I started raising chickens and growing more food. Homesteading... you know. Anyway, I was sitting there with them as one was telling us how he's planning on building a chicken coop at his new house this winter so he can have some chickens next year. I gave him a little bit of a hard time about how "see... I knew you'd come around.." and then the other guy chimes in to say how "yeah I need to figure out how to make a coop too. My wife really wants to raise some chickens too."Oh man, to say I laughed is an understatement. I told them. See... You guys thought I was so crazy five and a half years ago when I started doing this stuff... Told me all the "gonna be a farmer" jokes and all... Now who's crazy??I guess I was just so far ahead of the curve from them that they couldn't see ever being in the same place. LOLSo like I said... "I was Farming.... when Farming wasn't cooooool!"Hope all of you are doing great. I've been jobbing jobbing jobbing to finish up stuff here in time for both of our families coming out next week for my oldest sons graduation. But I have lots more goings on. Espalier, New garden areas and water harvesting swales to share.Hopefully soon.Best all.P~

Please note: If you are new to my blog you can catch up on the reasons for my raw milk passion and the struggles our own farm have experienced, by reading any of the previous posts on the topic I have written over the last 3 years . To do so, simply enter "Raw Milk" in the search bar under the picture of our house, on the right.Unable to make it to Wisconsin, South Pork Ranch Cows can onlychew their cud and wait for the trial results.Do you know Vernon? Well, neither do I. We have not (yet) met but we are on the same team. Today his trail began in Wisconsin. Charged with four ridiculous counts, intent on ceasing his way of making a living for a family via the sales of raw milk and raw milk products, he continues to stand strong for his beliefs. His commitment towards the provision of healthy food for his neighbors, his customers, his children has cost him time, money and the ability to provide for his children. Yet, he stands strong and against those in our government who have so over reached their boundaries that they would threaten a hard working, God-fearing man with fines and jail time all because of raw milk sales. Although our battles here for raw milk freedom have only just begun we are grateful to the leaders in this country and our neighbor Canada for showing us the way. Please read Vernon's story HERE. Keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers and if you are anywhere near that courthouse please swing by and show your support. It became clear to us at our May 1 meeting with the Illinois Department of Public Health that the raw milk farmers and consumers opinions are not at all supported or really welcomed.Why else would the Dairy Work Group operate without the benefit of Roberts Rules of Order? Not a single motion was made or asked for the entire day regarding the proposed new rules. Not a single rule was removed from the list first generated by IDPH and it's initial committee deeply loaded with FDA, Big Dairy and Illnois.gov representatives even though they were opposed by the raw milk farmers and consumers who filled the room that day.Nor, have we, the Dairy Work Group (or at least not THIS member) of the work group received a single email from the work group's leader Molly Lamb IDPH Division Chair of the Food Drugs and Dairy Division containing the minutes of the May 1 mtg which are supposed to be approved by the Dairy Work Group within 30 days of the last meeting.This means IDPH has just 7 days to get those minutes to us.They have also not posted the June 11 Dairy Work Group mtg Conference call or our Face to Face mtg scheduled for July 16 on their IDPH WEB PAGE CALENDER. Seems like old habits, i.e. not following the Open Meeting Act of Illinois, are hard to break.

Earlier this month, Willie Nelson, alongside Annie Lennox and Carole King, was presented with an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music! Longtime friend, fellow member of The Highwaymen, and Rhodes scholar himself, Kris Kristofferson, joined Willie, and sons Micah and Lukas, onstage at the Commencement Concert to perform Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” and donned a cap and gown to present Willie his degree at the ceremony. Congratulations, Willie!  For today's Music Monday, we dug out some clips of Kris and Willie (and friends) performing at Farm Aid from our archives. Enjoy! Check out our YouTube channel for more Farm Aid videos.

Tuna packed in olive oil with marinated artichoke hearts, lemon, and fresh basil on baguettes makes a scrumptious, no mayo twist on tuna sandwiches. Perfect for toting on picnics or hikes, to work, or just out to the backyard. All content and words are my own. If you're wondering what these BlogHer reviews are and why I write a few of them a year, please see my long replies in the comments section of this post. Thanks for your support! We love sandwiches. We eat so many sandwiches that we often go through two loaves of homemade sandwich bread each week, and there are only two of us. We also love potato chips. So when my publishing network, BlogHer, asked if I was interested in sharing a sandwich recipe as part of a Perfect Picnic Pairing campaign with Kettle Brand Chips, I knew they'd come to the right blog. One of our favorite meals is what we call a picnic, though houseguests usually look at us funny when we announce that we're having a picnic for dinner, we're eating it in the living room, there's no basket in sight, and it's the middle of a Missouri winter. Picnic season happens year round on this farm. Once they get past the initial surprise and lay their eyes on the feast, they're always thrilled. Our typical dinner picnic spread includes a warm loaf of homemade crusty bread, pretty vintage platters piled with sliced leftover meats like homegrown grilled steak and roast leg of lamb, two or three kinds of cheese, an array of cut up raw vegetables (preferably fresh from the kitchen garden), hard-boiled eggs from our hens, various condiments, a dish of nice olives, and if we're going all out, a big bowl of natural potato chips. Recipe and $100 Visa gift card giveaway below. . . Click here for the rest of this post »

[From 10-May-2013] Couple hundred not-so-early early lettuce, toughing it out in the semi-sauna-like greenhouse, along with seedlings that should be out in the field soon. This year, we went from chilly late winter conditions to summer-ish heat, with absolutely no mild spring in between—one day to the next. Always exciting (never dull)! Early lettuce heats up

Not the best display since I forgot my table cloth.Fortunately there were old burlap bags in the truck. I am fortunate enough that I do not need to haul my soap all over the country selling it at markets and shows. I can only imagine how hard that is for those of you who must do that on a regular basis. You have my deepest respect.Because we own our own farm store most of my soap is sold there. . But I do attend one farmers market every summer sponsored by the farmers group we belong to, The Stewards of The Land. I am there most Saturdays.And then once a year we attend the Rare Breed Animal Show at Garfield Farm in LaFox, Illinois and we sell our soap there. It's a great opportunity to talk to people about the critically endangered Red Wattle Hog we raise as show them how beautiful soap made with lard can be. The antique box is an old watchmakers tool box,a Christmas gift from oldest sonPlus we get to see lots of fun Heritage Breed animals and all the products that their owners sell from them like wool and goats milk soap and glass buttons. (Not sure what part of the animal the glass came from...best not to ask.The weather was perfect, the crowd was good , the sales were very good. Well we think they were good. We forgot to count how much change we brought with us, I forgot to count exactly how many bars of soap I brought with me (somewhere between 125-150) and I have yet to count how many bars we brought home with us. But the soap box was much lighter.Business Woman of the Year Award here I come!The best part was the help we got from GK Wesley who while restocking my soap had his picture taken several times by the local news photographer. He also made change (sometimes it was even correct change) and kindly took a piece of soap out of a two year olds mouth who mistook it for a piece of cheese.Husband to right. GK Wesley next to him. Future homesteaders on left checking out RW piglets Fortunately the mother had a great sense of humor. Even more fortunately our farm liability insurance is up to date.

We first got our Toulouse Geese from McMurray in 2008. We got ten goslings and it turned out to be four girls and six boys. We ate four boys that first winter. So we started that next season with all four girls and the best two ganders. They are Toulouse Geese, a breed that will live to be forty years old, at least. We don’t think they’ll outlive us, but they could. So now it’s 2013, the older girls are five years old. Suddenly, we’ve figured out how to get goslings. The first few years were iffy. I blamed it on a lack of deep water, something I read somewhere, but Frank was convinced it was mere immaturity. It turns out he was right. I don’t mind being wrong about that at all. Then, even when they finally hatched some goslings, they’d all get off their nest to co-mother actual babies rather than hope for future babies. They love the babies. They are the most doted on critters that I’ve ever seen. The grown-ups become the outside guard to everyone else and yet they are so tender and sweet to the babies. They seem to be teaching the babies correctly, about who to be aggressive to and who is our friend. If a gosling calls the alarm, the entire calvary responds. With poults, it’s almost the opposite. The poults panic and vocalize about every damn thing, so almost everyone ignores them, and I have to fight that urge myself. No wonder poults are so fragile. They cry wolf far too often. (peep peep peep peep!!!!!) That last note is the one to listen to. If it’s calm, they are okay. If it’s a screech, they aren’t.) STFU. We’ve had three geese successfully hatch goslings so far this year. The first with eight, on May 16th, then one with five on May 17th, then another with ten! on May 18th. The most exciting bit is that the other girls have stayed on their nests. We have the first two clutches in the barn, because they kept going too close to the road. The third one seems to be doing okay, staying up near the barn and behind it, so we are letting them have a bit of freedom. I think I’ll keep the ones in the barn in there a bit more, until I have a safer way to keep them way from the road. I have two girls setting inside the barn, two setting under the eaves of the house, and one silly girl who is still laying eggs, and setting on the clutch next to a brush pile up the hill. I found the gang of turkeys picking on her today for some stupid reason and had to help her fend them off. I guess everyone else in her gang is busy so I need to keep an eye on her. I think she’s the youngest girl we have. I have got to figure out a way to band all these babies. Frank thinks we want to keep all our girls again and just keep a few boys from this year’s crop. I am hoping the plastic bands we have will work and have to figure out how to catch the outside goslings to band them. The ones in the barn should be easier. We just have to figure out a way to get the grown-ups out without them killing us, then catch and release each goslings. Easy!

Any Gilligan Fans out there? Then you are aware of the fun and games that can come about after a three hour tour goes wrong. Ginger was highly over rated. Maryann? The real hero.Our tour however worked out just fine. The Fairbury Garden Club arrived right on time (as they had scheduled months ago, these ladies are organized) in old shoes like I had advised (these ladies follow directions) and after the meeting provided sugary snacks and fruity drinks (these ladies come prepared) Per their request, we first toured the farm, several were even brave enough to give Mad Max his yearned for behind the ears scratch, then gathered at the back porch for the speaker of the evening.Keith. Yes, that is correct. My husband stood up in front of a good sized crowd and talked about bees. For those of you who know my guy you know he is great one on one but really does not enjoy crowds, or so he always told me. It was obvious he's been fibbing. He must have figured out early on that his big mouth wife was more than willing to have her face out in front so why should he? But Tuesday night he blew it bad by not only talking to folks about bees, and their care and habits but he also seemed to be enjoying it. At one point he even asked the woman if anyone had questions?!?Of sure, they feigned a mild interest in my wee chat about making your own soap but it was the bearded guy and his queen bee that kept their interest. Oh well, I've had my mug in the paper twice in the last week it was certainly time for Mommy Dearest to get out of the limelight for once.

Cheese makers perform a daily alchemy, turning a perishable ingredient – milk – into something durable, storable and dense with protein: cheese. As a farmstead cheese maker you must rise before dawn to milk your animals – and  this milk is the magic. Cheese has a terroir, just like wine. Instead of the quality of the grape, it is the milk that is the first (and possibly the most fundamental) thing a cheese maker must get right. Happy goats make great milk, great milk makes great cheese.  Enjoy!