Bacon Scramble

Yikes - looks like there might be fewer feeder pigs this year. Does everyone know about this? The virus that is killing piglets?

That is a beautiful pig. So much bacon...

We'll be looking for pigs in the next couple of weeks. This virus tho, is some serious business. This story talks about how quickly it spreads and how it can wipe out a new crop of bacon seeds fast. The good news is tho, if the piglets make it, they will be fine. And no, doesn't look like it is a threat to people. Altho lack of bacon is a crime.

The last sentence of that article is staying with me, "We're all used to: 'We've got plenty of food, it's cheap. We'll eat what we want to,'" Meyer said. "We Americans are very spoiled by that, but this is one of those times that we're going to find out that when one of these things hits, it costs us a lot of money."

For a lot of reasons I've been thinking about this very thing. I'm concerned about the drought that has been on the West Coast - and if we are going to have a hotter than normal summer... and if we are already heading into the growing season without a lot of bacon. You know that food prices are just going to keep going up.  And no joke... the drug cartels in Mexico are killing each other over... limes. So what do you think is going to happen if there is a real food shortage and not just a garnish fruit?

What do you do?

Make your own food. Get a garden growing, get some meat chickens, do what you can with what you have. I know a bunch of folks who raise meat rabbits for their table and do a bang up job. Rabbits are easy to raise, easy to process, and well... breed like rabbits.

Well. They are made of meat....

As for us... we may have to look at alternatives to pigs. Very soon we are going to be flooded with goats... so this could be the first ever Year of the Goat BBQ. It is the world's most popular meat.

I'm also keeping my eye open for lambs. The trouble with lambs around here is that everyone wants them for 4H projects. Which is great - unless you are the person that wants to just have sheep and don't need the fancy, ribbon winning ones. They are expensive.

Another option would be to swoop in and scoop up some bull calves from the dairy operations around here. If we are going to have buckets and buckets of goat milk, well then, might as well feed out a bull calf, finish him on pasture, and call it veal. Is that horrible? No - what do you think they do with all the male calves on a dairy?

So we'll see what happen. But however it turns out - this could be a very interesting year in farming.

Happy Friday everyone - do you have your meat strategy worked out?

It's getting hot in here...

Yesterday we had a beautiful blue sky day - it was perfect to get some seedling started in the greenhouse.

Yikes - um... gettin' a little hot in here...

But boy was I surprised when it got to almost 90* in there!

Fortunately I had thought about this and implemented Project Ventilation. If I had done much better planning I would have constructed a window in the closed end - but remember that I'm not intending to keep the plastic on for the whole summer. I'll be using the hoop as a trellis after this summer really gets growing.

Quick and easy ventilation system.

So these binder clips were a fast and easy solution. I just untucked the plastic from the closed end and clipped the plastic about a third of the way down.

I also took down the plastic on the door leaving just the screen in place. I need to find a better solution for this - for instance I think I need to get some hooks so that I can open and close the plastic on the door more easily. The screen door is necessary to keep the chickens out. And other birds looking for a quick snack.

The screen door keeps over-interested chickens out.

When it started to cool down I just put the plastic back up - easy peasy!

Today I'll be potting up more seeds and hopefully will get some potatoes planted. We are headed for 75* and super sunny - good thing I have a way to keep the greenhouse from over heating.

Happy Thursday everyone!

A Super Sandwich.... the Monte Cristo!

I don't know how I lived my whole life without trying a Monte Cristo sandwich. Maybe I thought it was too weird... but it's not, friends. It's amazing.

Look at it. Just LOOK at that sandwich!

My problem with french toast is that it doesn't have enough protein in it. But this... this sandwich solves that problem. Sure you'll still have a sugar high but it's worth it.

I love the Brown Eyed Baker so you can check out her recipe and method here.

As for me it's just a matter of making the custard and keeping the ham and cheese sandwich together until you get it into the fry pan. Some purists believe this has to be served with preserves but are you kidding me? With all this fabulous maple syrup we've been cooking down? Salty from the ham, sweet from the syrup, and fabulous from the custard. This is a taste sensation.

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Have you waited too long to try a Monte Cristo? You've got to give it a go. Really. You'll be surprised.

Free Meat!

Look what we found.....

Creepy meat eggs.

Some of the meat chickens are laying! I always think this is hilarious but this time they seem to be consistently producing about an egg a day. That's one egg total for all of the meat hens. Not great production numbers but still - better than nothing.

I'm taking up these eggs and we'll see if we can get them to hatch in the incubator. I have no idea if they are viable or not - but might as well try. What's better than free meat, right?

Nice and plump.

Our fatty creepy meats are really... fat.  They are like little bowling balls. This is the group from last fall. They are overdue for being butchered but it's been so darn cold that we haven't been able to do it. We can't believe they have done so well in this bitter winter. We think we only lost one - and that was due to a creepy meat heart attack. I think we lost one of the chicks and that is about it. Wow!

Yesterday was a big harvest day. We set the meat roosters directly to the freezer. Hopefully in the next couple weekends we'll get the rest of the meats sent to their glory.

Happy Monday everyone! Do you have any free meat?

The Best Hoof Trimmers EVER

Friends, my life has been changed. My hoof trimmers. I am not lyin'.

Nibs was.... reluctant.... to let me trim her hooves.

A while ago my pals over at High Tail Farms posted this stupendous how-to on Trimming Goat Hooves. I have to admit my eyes were opened. Previously I either hacked my way thru trimming the goat's hooves... or I just got the neighbor kid to do it. Adventures in trimming for me always ended with a fight, someone bleeding, or crying - and not by me.

But wow! High Tail Farms really hit the nail right on the head about how to get it done. I was absolutely mesmerized. So I had to find out what tools they were using.... it had to be something really special.

And it was.

These are, hands down, the best hoof trimmers EVER. They have revolutionized goat care for me.

Truth be told, I would have never ordered these. I'm entirely too literal sometimes and similar trimmers have been labeled as "hoof rot trimmers." Well. My goats don't have hoof rot - ergo I do not need them. Foolish me.

I was still skeptical when the trimmers arrived. I stomped out to try them out on my least annoying goat, Debbie. It was like a hot knife thru butter. I was done before she even noticed I was holding her foot. Next up... my most annoying goat - Nibbles. She barely batted an eye. You'll remember that I very nearly killed her one time. These trimmers work so fast and cut so quickly that Nibs didn't have a chance to have a breakdown. Just snip snip snip and away she went.

I even got Daisy and Darla done in record time. Honestly I couldn't believe it.

I don't know if it is because the blades are so sharp, are so strong, or because they are designed for success - really I don't even care. This is the best money I've spent on goat care.

If you hate doing your goat hooves the run, don't walk to order these hoof trimmers.You won't be sorry.

Then run right over and check out these incredible step by step instructions by High Tail Farms. 

Does everyone know High Tail? They are so much fun. HighTail Farms is located in Hammond, Louisiana. They are dedicated to providing people with ethically raised and humanely processed pastured poultry and sheep, fresh eggs, and raw meat for pet food. Check them out! You can find them on 'the facebook' here. 

Do you hate trimming goat hooves? Then you just need the right tool for the job!  Come on everyone, right out and give those goaties some beautifully trimmed feet!

Happy Saturday everyone! 

 
Editor's note: Again with the associate links to Amazon? Yep - someone is going to ask so I'm including the link to this incredible trimmer. Remember if you order something thru my Amazon store,  from one of the links, or the black Amazon search box on the right side of this page I'll get a tiny percentage of the sale. If you like this blog, or if I've helped you at all in your farming efforts, just make a purchase from Amazon to show your support. Thanks!

Taking the barncat to the vet - 4chan style

Our lean, mean, rat hunting machine.

For the record, I do not advocate 4chan. Don't go there. Just... don't. But I do love their way of storytelling. I thought it was appropriate for the telling of how I took our barncat, Shine to the vet the other day.

>snatch up barncat, Shine, and shove him in carrier 
>he starts screaming as soon as we start the drive - the long drive
>'dont worry Little Bro, i know that feels' i tell him
>he screams louder, i drive faster
>10 minutes into the hour long drive i start to smell something bad. real bad.
>'dang, son, wut you been eating?'
>it smells like he's been eating rotten rats that have only ever eaten rotten indian food 
>my eyes start to water, open the window 
>hang head out the window - it's that bad
>blow out my too-short ponytail
>Shine's screams are now just humiliated whimpers
>drive even faster - finally get there
>arriving at the vet with a blown out ponytail and a slightly poop covered cat. not awesome.
>'dang, OFG, what stinks? is that you?' ha ha vet reception girl
>drag Shine out of carrier - hand vet tech poopy carrier
>extra fresh poop sample FTW
>vet tech brings me back the now clean carrier, 'do you want your towel back?'
>'no. no, honey i dont.'
>i threw in the towel. hee hee
>vet comes in - Shine suffers humiliations galore
>shotted up, wormed up, fixed up, find out he's been brawlin'
>warning from vet there's been a tom lurkin' and beatin' on our bro-cat, Shine
>burn with rage, determine to add more dog patrols
>give vet all my money and thanks
>Shine sleeps like a baby the whole way home
>#priceless

The warning from our vet that either Shine has been roaming too far afield and got into someone else's territory - or more likely that there is a new tom on the loose has set us into high alert. Normally we would welcome a wanderer - foundlings and orphans are can come right on in and commence to hunting rats. But not a tom that is looking to fight.

Shine is more of a lover than a fighter and the only other time he's been in a tumble was when he got a bad bite right on his bottom. The vet said he was probably running away. While he is no craven - Shine's hunting record shows that - the fact is that feral toms can carry disease. We also worry about our other barncat, Bobbi, who is very timid. If Shine can't fight off a new tom then there is no way Bobbi could.

Our solution will be to make sure we get Shine locked up in the garage a little earlier and also to send the dogs out early - and late.

I also need to have in my notes that we need to give Shine the next dose of wormer in 30 days - So May 2.

Hopefully Shine will forgive me for dragging him off to the vet. But we are glad we got him fixed up and that he will be back to his full hunting speed. The War on Rats is ratcheting up and we need our full compliment of hunters in tip top shape.

Happy Thursday everyone! Are you taking care of your barncats?

'Scuse Me While I Kiss This Pie

Let's be clear about one thing. If it's not chocolate then I barely acknowledge it. Sure I like this pie, and this one, and this one.... but seriously. My favorite flavor of anything is chocolate.

It's so beautiful!  And delicious.

So you can imagine my surprise when I fell in love this Maple Sugar Tart. Really in love... like " 'scuse me while I kiss this pie" in love...

I might have narrowly avoided burning down the house the other day and I managed to save the maple syrup I had been finishing on the stove. I quickly cooled the molten lava... I mean syrup... but I was afraid it would turn to "candy" and ruin my dreams of french toast. So I added some cream to some of it hoping to cool it even more.  But then what? I had to use it up - and fast. So I consulted 'the google' and found this tart. You have to try it.

True to it's claim that the tart would be ready to bake - crust and all - by the time the oven heated... this was indeed the easiest tart I've ever made. And the most delicious.

Just stunning.

It's like everything you love about pecan pie without the bothersome nuts. Plus, it's just beautiful. Mine finished in about 35 minutes and was just gorgeous. Be warned tho, I can't imagine this turning out with any of that fake syrup. You have to use the real McCoy.

In case you are wondering, yes, it is a breakfast food.

Fortunately the rest of the syrup turned out to be just fine. I'll try again later today - I have one more bucket of sap to boil down. All I need is a cup of maple-y goodness and then I'll be making this again.

Happy Tuesday everyone - have you found the tart of your dreams?