Deerfield Ma

Yesterday we took a field trip to Deerfield MA because I wanted to check out the New England Cheese store. The company is owned by a woman named Ricki Carrol. I use her amazing book on cheesemaking as well as her awesome website to help in my explorations as an artisnal cheese maker.
I figured it would be fun to check out the store and save myself shipping and handling. ( I neglected to take into account the cost of gas!) But ends we were already out in Springfield for the national dairy goat show, a road trip to the cheese store became very appealing.
Cmd to find out it is not really a retail store. It is an amazing online store with a cubicle of a reception area! Never the less I did have a nice chat with the staff and I grabbed a few sale items in addition to the blue mold.( Yum I can almost taste the homemade gogonzola now.)
I was thanking my lucky stars however that I had not driven all the way from Carver just t check out the store!
Since Don and I had about a half hour of free time we wandered around the main street of Historic Deerfield. It is had t think of western Massachusetts as the frontier. But for almost 100 years they engaged in frightening warfare with the local Indian tribes.
I tried to imagine being one of the forty two families who settled out there in the wild west. Why would you risk everything like that?
But as we ate a picnic lunch along the banks of the Deerfield river I got an inkling. The Connecticut and Deerfield river flow thru an amazingly soil rich valley between gently rolling hills. The landscape is breathtaking and the earth productive.
We sat yesterday along the bend of the river. My feet swung like a small child's as I perched on the tailgate of Don's red Ford pickup. His feet touch the ground but my legs are too short. We were eating deli sandwhiches and sipping ice cold lemonade. The sun was hot but we remaied cool sitting on the tailgate under an enourmous maple tree that had to have been there when those early frontiersmen first arrived. Across the street from us was an ancient farmhouse. The house itself was surrounded by fertile corn and squash fields. Rising up behind the fields was a tree covered stretch of hills. The landscape was so rich and lush, no wonder they risked it all!
I marveled at the fields of growing vegetables. Those fields have been providing food for people for over three hundred years. Don't you find that amazing and humbling?
Imagine what it must be like to farm in the fertile crescent and contemplate ten thousand years of production! WOW.
As I sat swinging my legs and sipping my lemonade I again felt that psychic connection to the thinngs that have driven me lately.
We were out in western MA to learn more about goats and milk and cheese production. Because of that yearning to learn I had the opportunity to sit alongside a farm whose production has helped feed our people since the late 1600s.
I would drive home later that day to harvest the cherry tomato crop from our own little piece of earth. Then milk my goat and try out my new cheese press.
I do not think I can adaquately describe the sense of peace and rightness of being along the banks of a river, perched on a pickup, contemplating our lovely country and my place in it.
I felt so intouch with our past....even the violence to the native people and the legacy of slavery (awesome info about Deerfield and both its slave and abolishionist past.) I felt such hope. Yes the Indian wars were gruesome and the slavery era horrible. But those frontier people persevered and created and farmed.......ahhhhhh I am just not able to express.
I do wish tho that th folks im Washington argueing over the debt ceiling would go sit on a tailgate and think about what really matters. Then get the job done. I am doing my job....

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The train....

I am aware that I should have watched the President speak last night about the debt crisis and the lack of political compromise. But instead I took to my bed to reread one of my favorite authors whose 19 book series takes me away to Egypt and England at the turn of the century.
I understand that it is foolish to assume that once I carefully cast my well researched vote that I can sit back and allow those I voted in to make the big decisions for me. But life is racing by like a runaway train and sometimes I am driving it, sometimes I am a bewildered passenger holding onto the strap, and occasionally I am clinging to the top of the train-laying flat- and worrying about the low tunnel up ahead. It can be hard to maintain that cool calm determination to see through the big political decisions of the day when all the small decisions just may derail me.
I listen to un-compassionate people talk about how citizens should not expect governmental handouts and I wonder how to pay for health insurance, mandated by Massachusetts, when there is no more unemployment benefits because the recession is over. I suppose unemployment is a government handout too and it is naive to look at it as something we have all paid into since the age of 16 (in Donnie's case the age of 14.)
Luckily Don is a man of many talents and so he has three jobs lined up for his 'handyman' business, plus three more possible. He went from unemployment to working 60 hours a week and that is OK too. But working for yourself still means searching out health insurance and figuring out the myriad of tax laws and self employment legalities. I watched him on the computer last night, up til midnight trying to sort through paperwork. Then on those most hottest days he stood under the shade of our big spreading oak, sawing hammering and creating cabinetry for a client in Rockland.
We lie in bed late at night holding hands. We think if we can just hold on and chug through this next year, Fall of 2012 will come along and our burdens will be lighter. I should have a full time teaching job by then and his self employment will then be a great adventure and not a grueling worrisome ride.
So last night, as I read my book I shook my little Tupperware bowl with its airtight seal, shaking and shaking the goat's milk to make the butter for the next morning's toast. This morning I picked veggies from the garden for supper and started another round of cheese making. I collected the eggs for breakfast and milked the goat for this morning's tea.
I plan on sitting in the garden reading again later today but perhaps I should spend sometime trying to comprehend t the governmental debt and what to do about it.
Apparently we are the little engine that could! As always of course just before the big scary world gets too much, my little world comes in sharper focus and I am reminded to appreciate.... My little friend who is mute laughed hysterically yesterday after watching me trip over one of her toys. She laughed so hard she lost her balance and fell on her diaper padded bottom. I pointed at her and said "HaHa how do you like it?" Giving me a cheeky grin she pointed back at me and began laughing all over again.
Imagine being 7 and unable to speak. Imagine being unable to utilize meaningful sign language beyond a few gestures because all the muscles in your body are in constant spasm. Imagine not being able to do normal bathroom things at age 7 or even being able to walk or run or curse or read or write. Imagine being that child's parent.
I spend my work days talking talking talking to a little girl who is mute. Pouring language into her in every way by speech and sign and the written word. By stories and games and commentary on her favorite little tv shows. Every work day I model communication for her and hope and pray for her and her family.
One day after her frustrations erupted and she took a swipe at me, I ducked and said to her mother. "I am so afraid her first words will be FUCK YOU SUE."
Her mom looked at me and quietly said "If she speaks, if she ever speaks.... 'fuck you Sue' will be the sweetest words ever heard."

Cheese and animal crackers.

One of the tricky parts about cheese making is you have to make it when the milk is available. Well I had a gallon and 3/4 of milk ready and no room left in the fridge so that meant cheese making time. Apparently it doesn't matter if it is one million degrees out I still have to make the cheese. I know we all love to talk about the good old days. But there is a darn good reason why fast food is available!
Think of how much time it took our ancestors to make cheese, to make a fire, to cook or wash.
Uggg. Anyway.... I figured I would make some more feta but I had to pasteurize the milk because this feta recipe calls for the cheese to age in a brine mixture (salt and water) for 30 days. Although I am certain our milk is germ free....no point in risking any one's health. But pasteurization means keeping the pan of milk at 145 degrees for 30 minutes a hot and tricky maneuver let me tell you!
I still had some left over milk so I also have some fresh chevre hanging over my counter, dripping whey until ready to chill. There is a quicker way to pasteurize, I believe you get the milk up to a much higher degree but them it is only something like 15 seconds at that high heat. I will have to investigate.
Next week Don and I are taking a field trip to the New England Cheese place as well as checking out the American Dairy Goat Association's National convention out at the Big E so we shall come home with lots of good ideas.
I am trying to rush all my cheese making and goat tending skills because come Fall I will have a severe time shortage. Working 2 jobs plus doing my Masters come September is exciting but......
So summer is for cheese making and herding and showing. Our bunny project too has not had this much improvement since back when Mary was a young teen. Joe and I carefully pour over the genetics and debate the merits and flaws of our stock. We carefully check on nestboxes and try to stay ahead of the paperwork and cleaning chores.
I finally have the pedigree software all figured out and if I keep up with it I should be able to make the financial sheets and breeding and showing information not to mention the pedigrees all up to date and easily available.
In the mean while we face the always hard choice of who to cull and why. Who to show and who to breed and when to get it all done. So many choices and decisions to mull. At least at a bunny show you do not have to wear all white!
The goat show was a great success. One of the parts Joe liked the best was getting to know 2 young boys who show Nigerian Dwarf goats and having the opportunity to bottle feed one. Mama did everything she was suppose to out in the show ring and I learned how to properly groom her for the next show.
Late in the day as the sun moved into her pen area I put her on a leash to come and sit in the shade with me. Well she kept pawing my like a dog with her hoof, to pat her. Did I mention I was wearing all white? After pushing her and laughing and scolding I decided to ignore it, like she was a little kid. Well then she just kept her paw up on my white lap and leaned over to clean between her toes! So much for teaching her anything!
BTW a goat travels so much quieter in the van than Bambam the obedience show dog who insists on whining with excitement the entire trip. Mama just curled up and went to sleep!

our first goat show

Talk about white trash. At the crack of dawn I pulled into the Walmart parking lot, van full of chickens and the goat. Apparently you where a uniform while showing. So I had to buy a white button down shirt to go with my white pants. White at an agricultural fair! I was a wreck getting here especially with the Cape traffic. But I need not have worried. I was instantly IDed as a newbie and everyone has been very kind and helpful. Goat people it turns out are a lot like bunny folk. I have a little while before I have to don on my show whites. I did find out adults can do fitting and showmanship and so I am entered in that. Now do not ask me what fitting is. I do knows the judge asks questions in showmanship so I think I can handle that.....Mama is totally relaxed as long as I sit near here. She is fascinated by all the other goats.....I shall update you all as the day goes on.

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Animal Planet

Yesterday I did all the morning animal chores myself. Now that we are a 'real' farm that casual phrase 'feed and water the animals' is not a quick or simple task. It took me two hours to milk the goat and care for goats, bunnies, chickens, dogs, and our new baby ducks.

It has never taken so long before but Joe was sleeping over a friends and he is normally my morning helper. Also we have never had this many animals in production before. But we have a goat in milk, baby ducks, chicks, and bunnies and various new mothers who need extra attention.

For instance a new mother rabbit might not keep her babies covered in the nest and the nights have been cool. Conversely she might over stuff the nest box with her belly fur and toast her newborns in this summer heat!

Also milking the goat is not a simple task of grabbing a stool, a milk pail, and a handful of grain. I take a hand towel then wet and soap half with warm water to wash her udder and stimulate her let down reflex. In the house I already have a clean glass milk jar with the little filter (a metal ring, funnel ,and coffee filter like material) all set to go. I also double check that the stainless steal pail is scrupulously clean. (We have a separate dish strainer for all the milking supplies. As soon as milking finishes I immediately wash anything to do with the milking, it never sits in the sink or on the counter. It is then allowed to air dry without the regular household dishes being in contact.) Then I go outside, fill Mama's grain bucket, and allow Mama out. She immediately hops onto her stanchion because she is a good girl, and because she wants her uncomfortable udder milked! I also release baby from his dog crate where he spends about 6 hours sleeping so as not to steal my milk!

Galaxy is funny. He loves his crate and will often nap in there during the day. At night he hops right in there when I come out and expectantly awaits for his treat. Then he lays right down to go to sleep.

I brush Momma quickly, making sure any bits of hay or wood chips are not on her coat, not to mention loose hair! Then I sit next to her and she companionably leans into my shoulder. She does not do this to Don when he milks her and I take it for a delicate compliment on her part to me.

Then I wash and dry her udder and take a few test squeezes of milk to make sure it comes out white and healthy. Don can milk the whole time with two hands but my right hand tires quickly. So I always start two handed and then go to one hand. As soon as milking is done (10-15 minutes) I make sure they have hay, grain, and water then I put them in their paddock and immediately bring the milk in to strain and pop in the freezer. The milk goes from udder to freezer in less than 25 minutes, a Key to fresh tasting not goaty tasting milk! After a half hour the milk is transferred to the fridge (the freezer is to bring the milk down to 40 degrees as quick as possible.)

As you can see the milking is pretty quick but the prep work to make it all run smoothly takes some time; as does preparing the all water bottles (we use gallon milk jugs) for watering the other creatures. Feeding the big chickens means gathering eggs and feeding the little chickens means spending some time trying to get them use to being around people. Then there are the baby ducks who are deathly afraid of anything other than their fellow ducks!

Today's extra task with the rabbits was to remove all nest boxes from does who did not deliver live kits. The nest boxes are full of hay and shavings plus sometimes bunny fur, bunny poop, and sadly little dead bunny bits. I dump it into the chicken pen so the chickens can begin the process of composting it. I also had a couple of nest boxes that I had removed but had not cleaned yet so they had some yummy bugs- as a treat for the hens.

Tuesday and Wednesday was bunny delivery dates but I left the boxes in a couple of extra days 'just in case.' Sometimes a mother does not deliver, or delivers dead kits, but she carefully makes a nest anyway and I want to encourage that behavior.

Of course I carefully check the nests because a mom can have a dead baby but go on to deliver perfectly normal kits later that night. Also it is important to check the the nest boxes of successful does because one of their live babies might die and its litter mates trample it in to the corner of the nest box to rot (I hope you are not snacking while reading this, sorry.)

Mistakes happen. Today for instance I carefully checked an empty nest box of AJ. She has had a couple of litters before, always 2 kits. On Tuesday she had 2 dead babes. But she continued to build and care for her nest. I checked the nest Tuesday night and Wednesday night but sure enough it was empty. However today as I was dumping the contents into the chicken yard.....4 tiny all back babies came tumbling out, very much alive. Frantically I returned the nest box contents and wriggly babies back in and raced over to AJ.

She immediately hopped into the box to inspect and I quietly slipped away. Hopefully she wont reject them. She is a protective mom and sometimes pees all over her babies after someone touches them so I will have to make sure later they do not get a chill. My big worry is that the nesting material surely mixed with material from other boxes and so I hope that wont anger or confuse her.

I write all this aware that so many of my blogger friends come from so many differing parts of my life. This will all sound familiar to my animal friends. But for people not involved in this way of life, it certainly sounds very foreign. For example last night I had a great conversation with my book club friends as they tried to figure out the hows and whys of breeding and showing. To them the bunny litters for instance sound like a huge amount of animals and work. But having done this for 15 years, many years without this much fecundity, I am just so grateful.

One of my non rabbit friends was amused at my bunny friends on facebook vying for a certain color or bunny. It is just beyond her, this rabbitry talk, but she is fascinated I think.

Tomorrow I do a huge thing that I am a wreck about. I compete in my first goat show. I am not even sure I filled the show form out correctly! I think I am suppose to shave Mamas udder but I have not. I hope she will not be sad being separated from her son but I do not think I can bring him. I have no idea how it will all work. Plus before the goat show we are entering Joe's 12 chickens. This is all for the Barnstable Fair. Joe wants to talk to fellow chicken people and I want to talk to goat people and learn all I can.

The chores and the paperwork and the sights and sounds....almost all of it is wonderful. Naturally there are challenges, like caring for them all in a snowstorm, or when another 'hen' begins crowing and you realise its a rooster. (grrr happened again yesterday. I need to get that boy out of here!)

But playing with them, watching them, caring for them, and sharing with them.....tonight we go to play softball over at the ball field. I will be bringing the goats so they can graze. Mama will like that but I am betting Galaxy will want to play second base.

It is fascinating all this animal knowledge and interaction and work and planning. Amazing to think people eat eggs, drink milk, eat their meat, without a clue as to where it comes from or how it is manufactured. Tomorrow I will milk a goat who got her sustanance from the overgrown little league field.

one year and a lifetime ago

I woke up a year ago right now. Still groggy from anesthesia I knew immediately that the surgery had been a success. I got normal feeling back in my right arm and it meant I also got my life back. By the time the surgery on my neck was performed, three months after a simple garden move at days end " pulled something " in my neck I was in constant agony. I could no longer sit or drive. I could not hold anything in my right arm, not the tea kettle, not a sauce pan, not so much as a pencil. Even my left arm was beginnin to weaken. And oh the pain....unending and unendurable.
But I woke up one year ago right this moment and stretched out my right arm and the weakly squeezed the doctors fingers with my right hand. That moment that very moment of realisation that things would be ok offered the same sensation after the safe delivery of each of mychildren. Oh it was absolutely a very long very slow recovery. But not a day goes by that I do not feel a sense of humility and gratefulness for the donor who have his bones, the surgical team who knitted my spinal column back to a new normal, and for the miracle of the human body and its ability to heal. Today I walked and swam and held a cold coke in my hand and thanked my Maker for giving me a second chance to appreciate my body. I know religious folk often speak of the soul as if that IS what we are. Perhaps in heaven that is what we will be. But for now at this moment in time we are BODY and soul. And this body might be lumpy in some places and saggy in others. But it os a revelation all the same. Stand up straight pleasez Shoulders back as up to the heavens you reach your arms then slowly down to a proximity near your toes. If you can do that my friend you too have a marvelous gift.

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Artisnal Cheese

Today I took two giant steps in my Cheesemaking endeavours. First I learned how to pasteurize my goat milk. This was not too difficult and it only takes about 30 minutes to do. BUT, you have to figure out how to maintain the milk at 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Obviously if you leave it on the gas stove the milk just gets hotter and hotter. On the other hand if you leave it in the sink filled with hot water it is a bit tricky maintaining the steady 145 degrees.
Next I tried for the first time to cut a pot full of curd into little squares. This is a common step in cheese making but it seemed very daunting to me! I read up on it of course and thank heavens for You Tube which really gives you many different people's versions of how to do something, plus great visuals.
This curd cutting was in the making of Feta cheese. After I cut the curd I had to let it rest and then carefully stir it. In other cheese recipes you have to heat the curd up to a certain temperature and then hold that temp all the while being careful to keep the curds from matting together, and from scorching.
It really is amazing this whole cheese making process. The hardest part of course is the patience it takes to wait for a finished product! It is called 'slow foods' and the theory is you are suppose to look at it as simple filling natural healthy foods that take time and a certain amount of artistry to create. I can appreciate the delicate flavors of such lovingly created food. But I can also see why everyone loves fast food at McDonald's.
This is what it looks like to make Feta. First milk the goat and then strain the milk and drop the temp of it down quickly to 40 degrees. (This part is easy thanks to the freezer.) Next measure out a gallon of milk and pasteurize it. (heat it to 145 and keep it there for 30 minutes. Then plunge it down to 40 degrees as quick as you can!) Next heat the gallon to 86 degrees and put in the mesophillic starter. Stir gently and then cover and wait an hour. (during this hour I fed the chicks, collected the eggs, and re watered the goats.) Next add the rennet (rennet comes from the stomach of baby cows who are totally milk fed) Stir in an up and down motion (so the cream does not separate from the milk!) and let it sit covered for an hour. But make sure it stays at 86 degrees! During that time I kept the pot in a warm water bath and then went and walked the goats to where they could graze.
Then I got to uncover the pot and fingers crossed peer in to see if the curd had set properly! hooray it did. Now cut the curd with a long flat knife (more like a cake server) and let the curds 'rest' for ten minutes. Then carefully stir the curds for 20 minutes while being very gentle to them....cutting any curd that is larger than an inch. Next pour the curds and whey into a cheese cloth lined colander. By the way cheese makers almost never say say cheesecloth. They say 'butter muslin'. Butter muslin is a well made and more costly cheesecloth!
Now twist the ends of the cheesecloth together and hang the ball of cheese from something and let the whey drip out, for four hours! I gave the whey to the chickens but you can also use the whey to make ricotta cheese or of course you could put the whey in soups or even a whey milkshake for yourself!
Next unwrap the cheese and cut into one inch cubes. Since it was a ball shape of cheese the cube thing was beyond me but I did the best I could. Then lay the cheese in a single layer and cheesesalt with a tablespoon of salt. (Cheese salt sounded very fancy and I paid money for it online and then found out cheese salt is simply uniodized salt which I can get at Shaws for next to nothing!) cover cheese and put in fridge. For the next 5 days flip cheese over 2 times a day, pour off any whey and resalt. Then EAT!
Now do you see why you pay and arm and a leg for real cheese? The goat part is easy!
So after five days my friend Brenda who is a Feta buff is going to tell me how it tastes since I am not a Feta fan. I do not like Ricotta either come to think of it. What I want to make is tons of Cheddar and Gouda but I need a little more practice first with the easy cheeses.
the cheese waxing really has me on edge. I tried waxing my legs once and that did not end well. Hope I am kinder to the cheese. Bon Appetite.
PS: They say wine goes with cheese because of the complimentary flavors but really who are they kidding? The delicacy and patience required to make cheese leads Chefs to drink.

feta cheese

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