Ohiofarmgirl's Adventures in The Good Land is largely a fish out of water tale about how I eventually found my footing on a small farm in an Amish town. We are a mostly organic, somewhat self sufficient, sustainable farm in Ohio. There's action and adventure and I'll always tell you the truth about farming.


Monday, April 4, 2011

First Peep and The Big Cheese

Look who showed up!

Its our first peep - is he a cutie or what? White chickens usually start out as yellow...but this little guy has very little yellow but is already white and pale grey -- I think he's gonna be a stunner. And he has clean, not feathered, legs. He's vigorous and peepy. Yay peeps!

Our little duck PigPen aka Biana aka Lady Gaga aka Snowball, set a nest in the garage. We took up the duck eggs and gave her some chicken eggs to hatch. She did a great job and hatched out five. However, when I went to check we found that two didn't make it - we think that another hen may have tried to run her off the nest. Or the peeps wandered off. So we scooped up the remaining three and took them in the house.

But, the three little peeps were kind of lonely in the tub alone.... so of course I went to Tractor Supply and got... heaven help me. Meat chicks. Its true - the first wave of Creepy Meats is upon us. Will I never learn?

I have some record keeping to do so bear with me here...

Farm Notes:
* We are on the last day of unseasonably cold and this should break this week - followed by instability with storms, temperature swings, and all manner of ridiculousness.
* The trays of seeds I started outside are actually doing OK. There are sprouts so they are being kept warm enough in my hillbilly greenhouse.
* The trays I started inside did remarkably well. Today I transplanted the scarlet runner beans and sunflowers into bigger pots. One of the beans is almost 18 inches tall!
* The growing medium we made did really really well and I'm thrilled to have a cheap and easy, do it yourself potting mix. I got a wheelbarrow full for about $6.
* The gladiolas I started haven't done one thing but lay there miserably. F-
* I potted up some dahlias (from the store) today hopefully they will be ok. Some of the tubers already had little sprouts on them.
* I put Debbie in the "Day Spa" today by herself to give her a break from Dahlia and the Milk Stealers (dang - that would be a great band name!). She needs to eat more, I'm not sure Sunny is letting her have enough hay.
* Sunny continues to milk like a demon. But frankly she is getting a little pushy. She had to "meet the dog" the other day and realized it wasn't so funny to push me out of the way to get thru the gate. Dog#1 kept her in. Good dog, bad goat. Good thing she's an awesome milker.
* Nibbles is doing great. She didn't even notice that her babies were gone. She's milking well but getting a little fussy up on the stand.


Cheese Notes:
* Made another Big Cheese on Friday. It was epic. Its now brining. Monday it will need to move to the "drying" station which is really just a tray and a plate out of the reach of the Insane Cat Posse. Then it will move to the cheese fridge.
* The previous cheese (shown above on a drying mat) is just about dry - I need to remember to turn it over every day.
* The cheese in the fridge is ready to be waxed.
* My plan to release us from grip and our false dependence on store bought cheese is progressing on schedule. Moooahhhwwwaaahhhahahahahhaha

Happy Monday!

10 comments:

Kristin @ Going Country said...

YAY CHICK! I keep hoping our hen will hatch some eggs this year, but it's not looking likely. Therefore, I see a trip to Tractor Supply in our future, as well. And yes, I think some meat chickens will be coming home with us. Which I will probably always think of as Creepy Meats. So thanks for that.

Autumn said...

Yay!! Peeps! I almost bought a bunch of Creepy Meats, Black Sex-links, and Silver Laced Wyndottes from out local feed stores. I think I should have a brooder set up first! Anyway, that cheese looks delicious, what kind is it?

Mr. H. said...

There is a cartoon our grandson watches called "Peep and the big wide world" but I like your peep and the big cheese much better...and your peep is definitely cuter. That cheese is awesome...wow. Good for you, no more store boughten cheeses.

David P. Offutt - The Gastronomic Gardener said...

Cheese Glorious Cheese! Love the farm notes. Funny how the blog becomes a record, Since I've started blogging the garden, not so many entries into the Garden Journal.

Kelle at The Never Done Farm said...

The cheese looks wonderful, what a way to go, free from store bought and homemade is ALWAYS so much better:o)

We just got a couple of fresh goats, looking forward to cheese, yogurt and icecream again!

I have tomatoes, melons, cabbage and peppers to transplant into 5" pots from their 4-packs, hopefully tomorrow.

Enjoy your updates and your blog very much!

Blessings,
Kelle

becky3086 said...

That sounds great. I would love to be able to produce my own cheese but no goat yet :( I already have 3 sets of meat birds growing from TSC. I believe we have about 24 now. I like to buy them a couple weeks apart that way I don't have to butcher them all at once.

Gingerbreadshouse7 said...

Another cute little chick, your farm is really growing. I like the way the cheese looks, Your really getting to be a good little ole cheese maker :o)

Grandpa said...

He is a cuuuteee alright!

Can't blame you for being so happy OFG, you are more than self-sufficient in cheese. Can say "cheese" all the time!

Have a glorious week pal.

Ohiofarmgirl said...

No problem, Kristin! Hee hee hee just wait until you fry one of them creepy meats up in a pan!
;-)

Thanks Autumn, its a gouda. Isnt it lovely? Yay cheese!

Mr. H, I have a song I sing for all the peeps - its about the whole wide world! Who knew it was a 'real' thing!

Cheese glorious cheese is right, David! I'll be making other varieties soon. But for now I'm all gouda all the time. And yep, I type as fast as I talk so this is the easiest way for me to keep track of the goings on.

Hi Kelle! I'll pop by and see whats going on at your place. But I thought you were taking a break? So glad about your new goats!

Great strategy, Becky! We usually divide up our butcher days. But its so easy to get them a week or so apart when the chicks can be purchased in small quantities from TSC. Thanks for stopping by - chime in anytime.

Thanks Ginny, its so much fun to see the new babies. I love their little happy singing. I'll snuggle one for you tonite.

It is all cheese all the time, Grandpa! We are having storms now but after that its gonna be a glorious week for sure. By the way, I love your A to Z challenge!

small farm girl said...

So when I get ready to start making goat cheese are you going to have a class that I can attend? lol

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