tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8884610467022224157.post4472886295304809258..comments2023-08-28T04:49:47.536-07:00Comments on Milkweed & Teasel: The Expletive PostJennifer Monterohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10003650742439806128noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8884610467022224157.post-27142295902209532762012-08-13T15:44:10.569-07:002012-08-13T15:44:10.569-07:00You don't need to blanch kale! This is why kal...You don't need to blanch kale! This is why kale is amazing. Just stack the leaves on a baking sheet, plop a brick on top, and freeze it. Then you can put the frozen stack into a bag to prevent freezer burn and then just cut a chiffonade off the block as you need it.octopodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13527567851222207553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8884610467022224157.post-84401731861245428082012-07-21T07:36:08.269-07:002012-07-21T07:36:08.269-07:00I felt a lot like that when we went to pick out ou...I felt a lot like that when we went to pick out our pigs. I read a detailed article about what to look for -- eyes set wide, big hooves, a proportional shape -- and then three of them just went from the pen to the truck amid a storm of outraged oinks. To this day, I'm not sure how we chose. <br /><br />And that's my kind of experiment, with the sheep poo! I'll be on the edge of my seat, waiting for results. Do you suppose pig poo would work? One of the things I never knew about livestock is that all poo is different. I never woulda thunk it.Tamar@StarvingofftheLandhttp://www.starvingofftheland.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8884610467022224157.post-10780139790954538062012-07-19T11:15:44.488-07:002012-07-19T11:15:44.488-07:00I bet you can find an alpaca farm somewhere and ha...I bet you can find an alpaca farm somewhere and haul off a truckload. This particular garden is at an actual alpaca farm; I farmsit for the owner occasionally, and she offered space for a garden in exchange for some veg. She took my anconas when the rat problem happened this spring. I was out there yesterday harvesting (kale up to my waist!), with our new meat birds hanging out in the coop, just marvelling at the yields and thinking about roast chicken.<br /><br />I'm experimenting now with hard harvests of kale to see how much I can lop off and have it still come back. Also trying to freeze kale - blanch, chill, spread on baking sheet, pack in gallon bags. Haven't done that before; don't know how long it will last in the deep freeze. And today's last experiment - beet kvass, from garden beets and the whey from draining some cheese this morning. <br /><br />I would love to experiment with the finer points of cooking my here-at-home woodchuck, but I have no firearms and wouldn't (yet) know how to use them. As for alpaca, I figure you can't eat them, ride them, or milk them so they aren't much of an interest for me. Other than for their beans.meganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10064483599165161879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8884610467022224157.post-47759713182338347692012-07-19T10:35:17.491-07:002012-07-19T10:35:17.491-07:00I have only just discovered your blog and am reall...I have only just discovered your blog and am really enjoying the lovely insights you post into self-sufficient life and shepherding. Thank you so much for your wonderful writings! I don't know if you follow the Juniper Moon Farm blog, but Susie just wrote a very moving account of her beloved ram, Ernie, which encourages me to think that a great many successful shepherds pick their sheep for sentimental as well as practical reasons:<br /><br />http://www.fiberfarm.com/2012/07/requiem-for-a-good-sheep<br /><br />I intend in the future to keep some sheep, and I am sure I will do things like pick sheep because they look pretty and require valium the first time I take the ram lambs to the butcher... it must be part of the process of learning to live close to animals.<br /><br />Re: sheep poo and garden "tisanes"... I have just finished making a disgusting concoction in aid of my food-growing mission this year; dead slug soup. The idea was that if you collect a lot of slugs, many of them will have infections and bacteria... I read about it here:<br /><br />http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardeningequipment/8675592/The-war-on-slugs-starts-at-home.html<br /><br />...if you allow them to die, then the resulting liquid will in theory be full of slug-hurting bacteria. I have covered my borlotti bean bed in the stinky stuff which I made according to this theory... I don't think this activity was nearly as pleasing as making sheep-poo tea looks, but I also got some "slug-buggers" which are pellets of scratchy sheep wool, stuck together with sheep poo, and apparently a great irritant to slugs. I don't know if you have a slug problem where you are, or if you use your sheeps' wool to try and contain them, but apparently the itchy surface of wool is very repellent to slugs... sheep are so useful!<br /><br />http://www.greengardener.co.uk/product.asp?id_pc=3&cat=27&id_product=27<br /><br />I can attest that applying the slug-buggers to the ground around the bean plants was infinitely more pleasing than handling the yucky dead-slug soup... I shall keep up with the progress of your tomato plants and the sheep poo tea.Felixhttp://www.thedomesticsoundscape.com/wordpressnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8884610467022224157.post-49634732689124948562012-07-19T08:51:09.820-07:002012-07-19T08:51:09.820-07:00Ohh Megan, it's interesting to hear that about...Ohh Megan, it's interesting to hear that about alpaca poo - or "beans" as they're called here. I see bags for sale but wondered if it was a gimmick, like lion dung from the zoo purported to keep deer off of one's rose beds. Like you, I was never sold on the actual animal (I had an alpaca burger recently - tasted like rabbit) but I love your observation about their valuable back ends. <br /><br />Have you got any other experiments in the offing you'd like to share??Jennifer Monterohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10003650742439806128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8884610467022224157.post-43248048168893392462012-07-19T08:46:04.532-07:002012-07-19T08:46:04.532-07:00Hazel - I'm envious that you've been to th...Hazel - I'm envious that you've been to the farm! We have no celebrity farms / farmers in our local vicinity but we do have competent ones that are generous with their time (I try not to pet their animals). <br /><br />I will post of video of my morning sheep cuddle, it's Ewe2 the big Texel gal. Matilda is going through a teenage phase and doesn't want to know me anymore.Jennifer Monterohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10003650742439806128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8884610467022224157.post-31929955552909319022012-07-19T08:42:32.768-07:002012-07-19T08:42:32.768-07:00Colette - I'm glad other people make decisions...Colette - I'm glad other people make decisions based on nothing more than compassion and good vibes. Of course our choices usually make for good anecdotes, if not good breeding stock!Jennifer Monterohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10003650742439806128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8884610467022224157.post-25449186123945251062012-07-19T05:34:15.581-07:002012-07-19T05:34:15.581-07:00That's the only way to really experiment, at l...That's the only way to really experiment, at least in my world. I always find myself snarking back at comments on various blogs that ask "what about doing it this way? or that? Would it work?" -TRY IT AND FIND OUT. Wild experimentation with what is to hand means you learn more. Okay, well I do. <br /><br />And in that vein, this year's experiment tells me that alpaca poop grows incredible gardens. I have three plots - two I've had for years, invested in loads of soil amendments, they test well for organic matter and all that; both are just eh. But a brand new, just cut this spring, garden covered in lots of not-even-composted alpaca barn clean out has made greens, tomatoes, and squash plants larger than I have ever grown. If the fruiters have a great fruit set too, I am sold on alpaca poop. Not the actual animals so much, but their back-ends are awesome.meganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10064483599165161879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8884610467022224157.post-2875537490687417512012-07-18T22:43:04.015-07:002012-07-18T22:43:04.015-07:00Ah, now the celebrity farmer I know about! No good...Ah, now the celebrity farmer I know about! No good at celebrity fishermen, but my 8 year old daughter is rather smitten with the farmer!<br /> <br />We live not all that far from his farm park and when we went a couple of years ago I did have to prepare her for the fact that he wasn't going to actually be there amongst the Kerry Hills.<br /><br />I watched that episode of Country File and thought of you and your Dorsets. Which of your ewes wags her tail?!Hazelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05388175819512214533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8884610467022224157.post-40331873341398658232012-07-18T16:47:37.133-07:002012-07-18T16:47:37.133-07:00I brought a ewe because she was called Winky and h...I brought a ewe because she was called Winky and had one eye missing and was really tame.<br /><br />Turned out I ended up with a free Dorset Down ram lamb as she was expecting. always thought of her as my Super Market Sheep offer, buy one, get one free!!<br /><br />I totally forgot to check out her under carriage, teeth, feet etc but thoroughly enjoyed having her to lead my very small flock.<br /><br />And I had Portland sheep because I like the lady who owned them.<br /><br />Now I am going to sit and watch Countryfile on iplayer!!Colettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05918092647201479349noreply@blogger.com