Preparing for winter

As summer winds down and we creep into fall I start to think about what needs to be done to get ready for the end of the year.  Winter is NOT my favorite season, in fact I despise the cold.  I thank God that I live in Texas and that He gives us mild winters....although anything below 50ºF is absolutely frigid to me, and frost and snow are unbearable for more than 1 day in a row.  Whether it's due to my achy bones, or due to growing up in the South I don't know.  All I know is that I hibernate during the winter months, and do a lot of prep in the fall so that I can afford that luxury.

Of course there is still plenty of work to do during the winter months as well, but the work is cyclic.  I do much more cooking, baking, and sewing during the winter months while I'm trapped indoors.

One of our biggest concerns each winter is having enough hay for the animals to get us through Jan and Feb;  about 60 bales that must be bought, stacked, and stored...because both money and hay are scarce during those months, and the goats will never survive without plenty of hay to keep their bellies warm.  My goal is to have 100 bales by the end of Nov, which gives us the 60 needed for Jan/Feb and 40 to use for Dec and March that should get us through till the spring grasses emerge.  Our primary hay source during milking season is alfalfa hay in the form of Chaffhaye, but during the winter they need the long stemmed grasses in their rumen to generate body heat and keep their unborn kids growing.

Of course it looks much better once it's stacked in the barn...

Speaking of kids.  I have no idea what kidding season is going to be like this year.  Not that it's ever all that predictable.  I believe that Holly and Rita are both bred.  They should be our only first fresheners.  I think Tina is bred, and she should be first to kid.  And I bred Joy and Faith to Ditto.

However as we do nearly every year,  we've had 3 occasions with lovesick bucks escaping their pens.  Each time was marked on the calendars so that we can back track and determine parentage and due dates in the future.  We're still on milk test until Jan 1, so I'm planning to milk the does through without breeding if possible.  Joy should be the only milker to freshen.

I am hoping to keep kidding season a bit light next year since we have a new grandson due Jan 24.
I've also been filling jars and filling the pantry.  There are a lot of good sales going on this time of year, and we've got a lot of empty jars since I didn't do much canning over the summer.  We put up potatoes last week...I found them for $.30/lb and they were nice spuds...

So I bought about 50 pounds to put up and get us through the year...for a total of about $15.  Not too shabby.  I always can my potatoes in chicken stock....

Next on the list was chicken.  Our grocer had split chicken breasts on sale for $.99/lb which is a great score since I can remove the skin and bones for making stock....and then can the meat.  I'll be doing a lot of chicken since we use a LOT.  A pint jar of chicken breast makes a great casserole, soup, or salad...and will easily feed 6 people or more if you stretch it.

I am doing them in batches of about 25#.  First I remove all the meat ... the skin and bones goes into an open roaster and cooked in a 350º oven until dark golden and caramelized...

Then the bones are added to a large stock pot with onion, garlic, celery, and carrots....covered with water and kept at a simmer for about 20 hours.  Once strained and canned....I try to make GALLONS of this every year and use it for cooking most every day.

When I cut the meat up for canning I try to remove as much fat as possible...and the meat is cut into cubes.

$25 worth of chicken made 13 quarts + 1 pint of stock; and 12 pints of meat.

I'm pressing to get this all done because we'll start processing our own meat in just a couple of weeks.  Our pigs Biscuit and Gravy are getting big.  Gravy (the dark one) is already about 200# and will be first.  Biscuit has always been a little smaller and we'll give him a couple of extra weeks to grow.

This little guy keeps me from blogging as often as I'd like, but maybe now that we're indoors more I will be able to post more!