More Goat Shenanigans...

It's been a little while since I've posted anything about Jenna's goats...so here's an update.

April and Dot have fun personalities, but have also spent a lot of time getting into of trouble!  They spent about two weeks penned in with the chickens because they were escaping their pen!   While they were in with the chickens, they learned how to open a locked container of feed, and get the wire guard over the chicken feeder open as well!  Naughty goats! 

We got some vinyl coated 2 x 4 wire put up inside the 3 rail fence which bordered two sides of their pen, replacing the chicken wire which they were going over, and then under in order to escape.  We should have named at least one of them "Houdini"!

Jenna's 4-H leader was here this week, just checking in to see that things are going ok, and to answer any questions for us.  Before he arrived, we trimmed their hooves, gave them baths, and weighed them.  Did you ever try to weigh a wiggling goat?  Jim had to hold them and stand on the scales, while we tried to get an accurate reading...interesting experience!  Dot weighs around 70 lbs, and April weighs around 75 lbs. Their weight should be between 60 - 110 lbs. by fair time, which is the end of September.  Everything looks like we're right on track!

The biggest challenge (now that they're secure in their pen) is walking them.  This will get them used to being handled in the show ring, and help with their conditioning.  We first used the halter, and now are using a collar and lead. 

Jim and Jenna walked them over to our neighbor's house to show them to him through his back windows.   Sometimes they cooperate...

...and sometimes they don't!  Dot is particularly cantankerous...

 

She has to sample just about everything she sees, including the apple tree...

Bathing them went a bit better than walking them.  It was a hot day, and April loved being washed...

And in true "Dot" fashion, she had to wiggle through most of it!

There's never lack of something to do this summer around here!  If you're bored, come on over and get to know the goats!  You just might fall in love with them and their shenanigans antics!



Milk Testing...

Being aware of the milk quality of each cow, and knowing just how much each cow is milking is an important part of dairying...

Every so often, we take individual samples of each cow's milk and send it to the DHIA (Dairy Herd Improvement Association) lab for testing.  The test tells us the percentage of butterfat and protein in the milk in addition to the somatic cell count of each cow.  These components play a part in determining our milk price each month.  High butterfat and protein raise the price per cwt (hundred pounds of milk) and low somatic cell counts earn us a bonus. 

We know how the herd is doing on average, but this gives us information on each cow individually.

In addition to analyzing the quality of the milk, testing also tells us how many pounds each cow is milking.  We hook this meter up to our milkers.  The milk is measured and recorded for our personal records.  We turn the gray valve at the bottom of the meter and fill a sample bottle to send for testing...

Each sample bottle has a preservative pill in it to keep the milk fresh until it is tested.  It turns the milk orange..if you look closely, you can see the color change.  Each bottle is labeled with the cow's name or number...

After we're finished milking, the meters are washed along with the milkers and the pipeline...



We got the test results back in the mail today.  Our milk quality/somatic cell counts were excellent!  We wish, however,  that our butterfat and protein would be higher.  I guess we'll have to give some of those cows a pep talk!

Hi-Crop Spraying...

Can it be just two short months ago...

...that we had more rain than we knew what to do with...that we wondered if the corn would ever get planted...that we wondered if the seed would ever grow...that we wondered if the sun would ever shine again...that we wondered what kind of summer we'd have?

The rain finally stopped...

The corn was planted...a bit late, but planted...

The sun came out...

The seed grew...most of it, anyway...

...and so did the weeds!

Early in the season, we had all the corn fields sprayed for weeds.  Since then, the corn has been growing quickly, and in most cases is well over our heads. 

Last week we scouted the fields for late emergent weeds.  We walked through the fields enough to get a feel for whether or not weeds were enough of a problem that they needed spraying again.  We were looking primarily for pickle vine, thistles and high grass.  Too many weeds will stunt the growth of the corn.  We saw a little pickle vine and just a few thistles, but some high grass and broad leaf weeds.     *note to self...always wear long sleeves when scouting corn fields which are at least head high, or be prepared to take Benadryl to counteract the itching!

Time to call in the hi-crop sprayer!

This is the only piece of equipment that can get through the tall corn.   I rode along here at home, and I learned a lot! . The clearance underneath the truck is 6'. That's enough, he told me, that occasionally when he's travelling down the road (top speed around 35 mph) that motorcycles sometimes drive right underneath him.  NOT a good idea!!

 I think it looks  like a big grasshopper when it's "wings" are all folded up...

 The width of the sprayer, when his "arms" are extended, is 90 feet...45 feet on each side.  The sprayer is equipped with a GPS which maps each field.  When he gets to the end and turns around, the computer can tell where he has already sprayed.  If there is any overlap of spray on his return path, the individual drop nozzles on his arms automatically turn themselves off, to avoid wasting spray.  Pretty slick, I think!

This is looking directly in front of the sprayer as we went through the first field.  If you look closely, between the rows you can see the drop nozzles.  They are situated along the arms to hang down between the rows of corn and spray the weeds on the ground. 

He told me that a lot of farmers are having the hi crop sprayer in this year, due in part to the wet spring we had.  Some of the weeds are late emerging, and the first spraying just wasn't enough...

A different perspective on a corn field...



 It's good now, almost a week later, to see those weeds slowly dying.  It's just one more thing that Jim has to be on top of, to ensure a good crop of corn to feed those hungry ladies in the barn!

Knee-high...

...by the 4th of July!

Or so it used to be...



I'm sure there are a variety of reasons why the corn is much taller now by the 4th of July than it used to be...weather, planting dates, improved seed corn, etc...but it's definitely more than knee-high today!

Happy 4th of July!

What's In a Name...

For some, choosing a name is simple. ..Perhaps you like to use a family name, to make a special connection to a loved one…Perhaps you choose a name that has a specific meaning…Perhaps you simply like the way it sounds when you yell out the back door about 15 times…

When we named our children, their middle names were chosen because of a connection with someone in the family.  Their first names had to be simple…my name has been misspelled and mispronounced most of my life, and I didn’t want that for our kids…

When it comes to the cows…our calves are each given a numbered ear tag at birth…this tells us at a glance their sequence in age, and takes us directly to their spot in the heifer identification book where their birthday and genealogy is listed.  If one of the cows also has a name, they’ve earned it! 

Recently, we had fun looking back through our heifer books, reminiscing about some of the names we’ve used in the past.  Here is a sampling…

Mary – there’s always a Mary in the barn.  She’s usually a cow with a very nice personality.

Attitude – hmmm…I wonder what her personality was like?

Perdita – was speckled and reminded us of a Dalmatian…remember the movie 101 Dalmatians?

Houdini – could escape from her stall with ease at the most inopportune times.

Tipsy – couldn’t walk in a straight line.

Jackson – at least one person had fun riding her like a horse…like General Stonewall Jackson

Patti – named after the wanna- be girlfriend of a young man who was living with us.

Flicka – looked like a race horse …from the book My Friend Flicka.

Goliath – was a giant calf.

Tongueless – as an ever curious first calf heifer, she managed to stick her tongue through a guard on a fan, and sliced off 2”-3” of her tongue.  We hand fed her grass for several weeks while her tongue healed.  She made a full recovery and lived a long, productive life.  She always had to be in a stall where she could push against the edge of the feed trough to get the feed into her mouth, since her tongue was so short!

Bartlette – had a pear shaped spot on her forehead.

Job – she had some rough times in her life!

Stumpy -  was short and stumpy.

Belle – she was named after her sire, Belltone, a well known bull In his time.  She just turned twelve this month... the oldest cow in the barn, and the leader of the pack.

Ringley – one of the first cows that had a ring in her nose.  She will be twelve in October!

Light bulb Lily – this one was from way back, before my time.  Someone apparently thought that her teats were shaped like light bulbs (what a way to be remembered!)

Willard and Arlene – were twins, and we named them after my aunt and uncle.  Willard was rather short and stocky like my uncle…Arlene was a tremendous cow who milked well over 100 lbs. per day! (and no, my aunt and uncle were not offended…they thought it was amusing!)  We named their heifer calves using my cousins’ nicknames… Sissie and Weasie.

Sampson – was a big, strong cow who liked to throw her weight around.

Lazarus – almost died from pneumonia as a calf, and had some other close calls.  You can read her story here…

Dirty Pig – self explanatory J

Nameless – I guess we were out of ideas on this one!

This is just a small sampling...as we remember more, I'll pass them on to you!

How do you come up with names for your animals?

Refrigerator Pickles ...

My family loves pickles...so I planted lots of cucumbers in the garden this spring. 

The plants have taken off, and to my surprise, this morning when I checked I had a bunch of mature cucumbers ready to be picked.  Cucumbers have a way of sneaking up on you like that, don't they?!

In the past, I've not had a lot of luck with keeping cucumbers nice in the refrigerator until I have a quantity large enough to make a batch of pickles.  So...what do you do when you have just a few...more than enough to eat fresh, but not enough to can?

Try these Refrigerator Pickles...

Refrigerator Pickles

Prepare 3 quart jars for pickles. 

Slice 1 medium onion into the bottom of each jar

Fill the remainder of the jar with cucumbers, sliced 1/8"- 1/4" thick

Stir the following ingredients together to make syrup.  Do NOT heat...syrup is used cold

4 cups sugar
3 cups vinegar * if vinegar is mild, use 4 cups and omit water
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
1 1/4 tsp tumeric
1 1/4 tsp celery seed
1 1/4 tsp mustard seed

Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Pour over cucumbers in jars just enough to cover.  Screw on lids.

Refrigerate at least 5 days before using.  These pickles will keep in the refrigerator for as long as 10 months!


My sister told me about this recipe a number of years ago, and I remember that we loved them!  It's a quick, easy way to make delicious pickles without making the kitchen a hot, sticky mess...just what I needed today, especially since I just mopped my kitchen floor!  :)

Meadow Tea Recipe...

What is better on a hot, humid summer day, after working outside, than a cool, refreshing drink of Meadow Tea...or maybe you call it Garden Tea, or something else entirely! 

Almost every summer, there is a friendly debate on facebook among some of my friends over the name for this summertime drink!  Apparently, according to what part of Pennsylvania you hail from, the name is different! 

We call it Meadow Tea, I guess, because it is often found growing wild along the edge of the meadow.   While I do have some "wild" tea, the leaves that I use come from plants that I purchased at a local greenhouse and planted where I wanted it.  There are lots of varieties available to choose from.  ( I think mine was actually called Chocolate Mint)  I now have enough tea to feed the entire neighborhood...it spreads that quickly.  But my family loves it, and I'm hesitant to say just how quickly a gallon is consumed!

This is the recipe that I use most often...

Fresh Meadow Tea
(makes 1 gallon)

Bring to a boil:

     2 cups sugar ( I skimp on the sugar! )
     4 cups water

Pour over:
     2 cups mint leaves, packed (and thoroughly washed!)
     2 sliced lemons

Let stand overnight.  Strain off concentrate and store in the refrigerator.  When ready to serve, pour into a gallon container and fill with water and ice.

*This freezes well!  I usually cut all of my tea at once, and make several batches.  I store the concentrate in quart sized containers, and they each make one gallon of delicious Meadow Tea!


So...what do you call this delicious drink?

Just and update to the recipe...I learned another way to make this from a friend, which I personally like even better!  Here it is...

*Bring 6 cups of water to a boil 
*Add a large handful of tea leaves, rinsed
*Let them steep for about 30 minutes
*Remove leaves and drain the "tea"
*Add 1/2 cup sugar and stir until dissolved
*This makes enough concentrate for 1 gallon of tea

This recipe is much quicker to make, the tea is much lighter in color, and it's not nearly so sweet!