Gingersnap, Gypsy, and Remembering a Face

The weather was pretty enough to take Ginger and Gypsy out for a romp over the weekend.

Gypsy is really filling out and looking good...she will be for sale soon.

And Ginger is such a pistol....we were going to call her Ginger Girl but are going with GingerSnap instead....

While looking at the photos I took of them during their romp, something hit me like a ton of bricks.

Look at this face....

Now picture it in black....

Yep, Legacy's newest granddaughter will be staying here.

Bad Dog

Okay, I forgave him when he shredded trash all over the front yard.

After all, he's just a puppy.

And when he chewed the hose into about 412 pieces.

It takes around 3 years for these guys to fully mature, I have to be patient.

And when he climbed into the lilly pond last summer to cool off.

But this!?!?!

Brace yourself....graphic crime photos ahead.

Oh the humanity!

Bad bad dog.

It's a good thing I love him so much.

Pickling Beets and Smokin Bacon

It's been a busy day today; starting with pulling the beets from the garden...

I didn't plant very many, not only because I'm the only one in the house that eats beets....but also because the ultimate plan is to make pickled quail eggs....and for those you need pickled beet juice.

Still, these few jars will last me the year and I am really looking forward to the eggs.

First you trim the tops and then scrub them very well to remove the dirt.  Once they are scrubbed, place them in a pot and cover them with cold water.

Bring them to a solid boil for 10 minutes, then drain them and let them cool completely. 

Scrape the and cut them into chunks, place them into sterile jars, and add a few whole cloves to the jar.

While preparing the beets, make the pickle and bring it to a boil...

 The pickle that I use is:

1 cup water

3 cups vinegar

2 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon pickling spices

Strain the pickle and ladle it over the beets.  If you leave the pickling spices in, they will get bitter over time.

Cap the jars and process them in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.  They are so pretty...I can't wait to taste them...

Today our bacon was ready to smoke.  While getting the smoker going I rinsed and soaked the bacon in cold water...

After a few hours in the smoker it looks like this...

Once it's chilled in the fridge overnight in the fridge I'll slice it.

Guess what's for breakfast!

Pretty Things

Yes, I love my pretty garden ornaments and especially wind chimes.....

Bob is pretty much all about "getting it done and none of that frilly stuff".  Hmmmmf

My little lilly pond is one of my pretty things that really serves no purpose...unless you count the fact that the dogs consider it their giant oasis to slurp up water and dig around in the mulch for a while to get a comfy spot.  And then nap.

Which explains why I have to give the pond a facelift each year. 

Yesterday it looked like this:

I spent many hours yesterday weeding and raking that area....and pruning the wisteria. 

Before I got the job done, a couple of other pretty things showed up so I reluctantly abandoned the project for the day.

This morning I was back on task and finished the job.  I'm trying something new in that area, I planted a few Japanese eggplant, watermellon, and canteloupe along with some Zinnas.  We'll see how it goes.  For now this is how it looks:

Ham and Bacon Day 2

Just one day later, you can see the difference in the meat.  Each day the meat is rotated twice.  Here is the bacon before turning...

I turn over each piece, cover, and place back into the refrigerator...

And do the same thing with the ham....

Weigh it down with plates, cover and place back in the fridge...

Making Ham and Bacon Day 1

The last of the processing of 'BaconBits' the pig began this morning.  Since I gifted a fresh ham to someone, we'll only be curing 1.  Also on the to-do list is just over 5 pounds of bacon.  There would have been more bacon, but this pig was very lean...and I opted to cook it rather than curing.

Hams and Bacon are SO easy to do, but it does take a bit of time.  For the bacon you will need:

Brown Sugar, Kosher Salt, and Pink Salt.

And of course some lovely pork belly...

This recipe will do up to 10 pounds. 

First you weigh up 1 pound brown sugar:

Then a pound of Kosher Salt:

Put them in a glass bowl and add 2 tsp Pink Salt...

And mix WELL.  You want the pink salt evenly distributed.

Then you cover every inch of the bacon slabs with the mixture.  Get every little fold...

Cover the whole thing and pop it into the fridge.  You will need to turn it every day.

As for the ham, you will need:

a fresh cut pork thigh

16 cups of water:

4 cups brown sugar:

4 cups of Morton Tender Quick

And a couple of handfuls of whole clove:

Heat it all just long enough to dissolve the sugars and salts; then cool the brine.

You need a large non-metallic container for curing the ham, preferably one that allows just a bit of space around the meat for the brine.

Once the brine has cooled, pour it over the meat and weigh it down with a heavy plate or two.

Put the lid on it and put it into the fridge.

All of this meat will be turned at least once a day during the curing process. 

I hope that I have explained the first step clearly enough. 

Stay tuned for Day 2.

Poultry Production

From our single pair of ducks this year, we began hatching eggs on March 9.  My method of hatching is simple.  I pick up an egg from the duck hen nearly every day.  Once I have collected 3 eggs, I put them in the incubator.  Our incubator is nothing fancy, it's about 20 years old and one of those simple styrofoam things.  I hand turn each egg 4-8 times a day.  Once the eggs hatch, I move the duckling to a large Rubbermaid tub brooder with a 100 watt light bulb for heat...

Once the babies grow a bit, are getting around well, and I'm sure they aren't going to get chilled, they get moved to another large Rubbermaid tub.  They get a water container large enough to climb into, but we remove the heat lamp.  At this stage it is safe to move the brooder tubs outside.

The next promotion is to a moveable wire pen where they are introduced to grass and weeds, and a larger water container.  They eat a lot at this age and by moving the pen every day they get a variety of bugs and plants in addition to their feed...

You can see that they are just beginning to get their feathers....

Once they outgrow this pen, they are moved to the hoophouse.  It's in higher grass and weeds to accomodate their fast growth. 

These are mostly feathered now, and soon will be moved to a finishing pen.

 By the way, the ducks in the hoophouse were all hatched in March.  They should be in the freezer by mid-May.

We use a similar graduation process with the quail.  Once hatched we move them to a 10 gal sized fish tank...

From there they move to a Rubbermaid tub brooder with a heat lamp..

Once they have feathered out, we move them to a larger tub.  This is also when they get a wing clipped. The quail pictured below have all hatched this month. Quail will fly straight up and break their necks on the cage or brooder top.

These are old enough now to go without additional heat.  They will be fully mature within a month.

All of the birds pictured are what we've hatched since March 9.  This is how much meat you can produce in a very short time on a small homestead.  We also have a number of chickens nearly ready to butcher, plus a few extra roosters that will be in the freezer soon. 

No grocery store meat for us this year!

Angel Babies and a Morning Surprise!

After working outside all day yesterday and watching Angel very closely.....finally at about 3:15 I saw this...

Everyone sprang into action and at 3:23 Angel delivered a 6# 8 oz bouncing baby boy we are calling 'Mikey'

I thought for sure she was going to give us all bucks again but at 3:52 she popped out a 5# 12oz girl we are calling 'Ginger'

Ginger is being raised as a bottle baby and she's a keeper.  No doubt in my mind this is Manny's daughter; there's no denying her ear shape and rear width......both of these characteristics are Manny's signature.  Mikey is being dam raised and will go to freezer camp in a few months.

Angel passed the placentas and all are doing well.  After a long day I slept like a baby, all is good.

Then I woke up this morning and of course first thing fed little Ginger before going out to check on Angel and Mikey.  As I walked out to the kid barn I noticed something coming from the loafing area.  It took me about 2 seconds to realize...it was a little black kid!  Sure enough, still a bit wet....but on her feet and healthy....Fiona gave birth to a single doe kid sometime around 6 am!

Weighing in at 5# 8.6oz is little miss yet-to-be-named.

This is Frodo's first kid!!  She is being raised as a bottle baby and will be offered for sale in a week or so.

Just to add to the excitement, we've got quail and ducks hatching like popcorn in the incubator...more on that soon!

Angel's Day

This morning Angel was giving me tell-tale signs that she noted the date on the calendar and is preparing to have her babies within the next 24 hours.  So I moved her to the day spa and began serving treats and answering every call.

This will be an interesting kidding.  She was NOT supposed to have babies this year.  Last year she had monster triplet bucklings and we nearly lost her.  This year she was supposed to take a vacation from the milkstand....but she had other plans.

On one of my trips tending to her I decided that she needed her day of beauty.....and gave her a good haircut.

I'm not sure she was too happy about having contractions along with her hairdo....but she sure appreciated the cookies.  By the way, that beautiful udder is the reason we kept her son last year....not bad for a 6 year old!

Of course once the haircut and photoshoot was done....she was outta here...

No thank you, no tip......

"Just show me to my room now"...

"What time will dinner be served?"

Oh yea, she knows she is royalty.  She was Legacy's firstborn daughter.

This is a 'whodunnit' breeding; 149 days ago both Manny and Pete escaped from the buck pen.  The kids could be either Pete's or Manny's or BOTH.  Since we don't have any of Angel's daughters in our herd, if she has a really nice girl that we plan to keep...it'll have to be DNA tested before we register her.  I'm pretty sure I can guess the sire when I see the kids, but we won't register them without the test for verification.  I'm about 90% sure that they are Manny's...since Pete was on the other side of the yard on that fateful day.  Her 2011 triplets were by Pete.

Right now I'm just praying that everyone comes out safely and that Angel recovers quickly.  It will be a long day and night!