The Sanborn Sanctuary Farm

Sunday, February 20, 2011

THE MELTDOWN IS TRAGIC!

Yes, this week we had a nice meltdown. All week the temps were in the 40's:

and the snow began to melt:

It was great! i saw green things!:

I also saw the driveway, which wasn't around for gosh, what? two months or has it been two years?
Hello driveway!

i saw the paths emerging from the white;

I also found the greatest sign of spring; the flowers peeking up through the leaves, emerging from their dormant winter nap.

Even the chickens and ducks were enjoying the meltdown, ducks after all are waterfowl - meaning they like water, not snow. Even if it was a little muddy, they certainly seemed happier.

my tracks in the mud

but then it happened, again! A drop in temp and low and behold~

SNOW!

I could no longer see the driveway:

or the paths:

or the green grass.

The horses were a pretty mess of snowy mares and geldings.

But i have hope, because this happens every year. We have a nice meltdown, then it will snow again, then maybe another meltdown, but another snow after that may not happen. At least i always have the greatest sunsets to watch around here!

Good news is the seeds arrived this week too!

Means the green house will be opening soon, a chance for us to watch produce start its life with the help of my two little hands, some great manure enhanced dirt, some artificial light and a warming coil. Ahhhhh! warm - i like that word.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF.....ME!

Lotsa milk means lots of cheese and other dairy products. So here we go - this is my morning:

decided to make more butter

also decided to make mozzarella!

So i heated the milk up, added the starter and rennet, let it set and then cut the curds into 1" cubes.

decided it was taking too long to set the butter, so i thought i would try a different method: the blender!

But i didn't like the way it was coming along, didn't look right.

so i put it back into the jar and started shakin' again.

back to the mozzarella:

heated the curds back up slowly to 108 degrees by putting it in a pan of hot water.

while that is heating, back to the butter:
That looks better!

Rinse the butter,

then add sea salt and blend:

Then i got hungry:

Avocado - my fav lately!

then its back to the butter:

YAY!

then its back to the motz!

Heat the curds in the microwave, stretch them with a spoon;

form into a ball:

place in a bowl of cold water,

Notice that you have this really cute dog and you must take an image of her again:

Then take advantage of the whey and make ricotta cheese. Heating up the whey until its 185 degrees then pour a quart of milk in. When it heats up this high, the pan makes these large , bubbles that explode and sound like a "kerplunk!" Scares Louie:

Poor Louie.

When the whey and milk start to farm little specks: its ready!

Pour into cheesecloth lines strainer, tie it up and hang for a couple hours to drain. Instant ricotta!

now with all this mozzarella and ricotta - what should i make??????

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

$735.31 WORTH

This is part of the items i have made this past month with the goat's milk: Ice cream, sour cream, ricotta, chevre, buttermilk, mozzarella, feta cheese, butter, cream cheese, 3 large wheels of cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, and then just the milk in and of itself, I got to thinking, "geez! How much money am i saving out there?" I mean this is real, organic, fresher then fresh milk, goat's milk at that, which is difficult to find in any store, and its good for you!

So i went out to do some research, and this is what i found:

organic ice cream: $7 for 1 1/2 quarts
organic sour cream: $3.39 pint
organic ricotta cheese: $5.99 quart
organic chevre: $5 for 8 oz
organic buttermilk: $4.79 quart
organic motzarella: $3.99 lb
organic Feta cheese: $3.69 for 6 oz
organic whole butter: $6.69 lb
small tub or organic cream cheese:$4
a large chunk of organic hard cheese $13 - which is about 1/8 of a wheel of cheese so that make one wheel equal:$104
organic yogurt:$7.39 quart
organic cottage cheese:$4.79 for 12 oz
organic goats milk: $8.29 for a half gallon! (i guess i am not charging my customers enough there)

So tally that up in comparison to what i produced here on the farm and you have exactly: $735.31!!!! Saved on my grocery bill! So.... with that in mind, i totaled up what i spend to feed the gosh darn goats - and this is for all of them, not just the 2 milking does- comes out to approximately $95 a month. If it was just the two does; only $19. So now let's calculate my time: since i don't think i am worth anything less then $10 hour, and if you put the time it takes to milk, feed and create the cheeses and other items as an average of 2 hours a day, most days less, somedays more, that's $600 a month for a total of $695. Minus the savings on food, and i am left with what? $40.31 pure savings! Oh and add in the $36 i get in milk sales and that comes to $76.31!

Hmmmmmm.....that doesn't seem like much.

Now let's factor in the knowledge that this is really better for me, i know where this food is coming from, its healthier for me AND i get the grand pleasure of ACTUALLY doing it myself:

PRICELESS!

I love my goats!

THE STRANGER IN THE MOTH EATEN PONCHO ARRIVED

The stranger

in the moth-eaten poncho

Strolling into town

Imagine hearing Clint Eastwood music:

oh no, its not a stranger - its just Harley.

She sometimes forgets to remove her blanket when she wakes up.

THE CONE OF SHAME!

It was time Edy got spayed. It was sad. She got all excited about going in the car.

She has no idea what is awaiting her.

She was very shy as usual but i left her in good hands and the surgery went well. So the next day i picked her up from the vet. They told me that if she starts licking her stiches that i should consider picking up one of those cones to put on her head. OH NO! Not the cone of shame!

I would never do that to a dog of mine! But sure enough, as soon as we got home, the licker started licking! So i got back into the car and went to Petco, purchased a cone, not in the plain, clear plastic but a stylish, mint green! Compliments her golden fur nicely! But she was not happy....