No Babies, Babies to Eat, and a Baby Luke
No Babies, Babies to Eat, and a Baby Luke
Maribel was not pregnant, so she is not having babies for us to make money off of. However, we are now considering breeding her to Oscar to make "Kuneshan" babies (Kune Kune + Meishan). Both are lard breeds, and the babies would be born around October. We could then use some of the proceeds from her babies to pay for her getting processed.
We ran a gutter from the barn to the pig's water trough to get them fresh water. However, they prefer to walk in it to cool off, so it's more dirty than clean. We are in the process of constructing a new watering system that would store ~250 gallons of water at a time.
Since Maribel is not pregnant, she and Moana are getting moved to the pasture soon with the other pigs. Rosie is due on July 26, so somehow we are going to have to move her up to the barn. We put in a new fence system for the pigs and goats that we are hoping is going to be much, much easier to move. The netting kept getting tangled every time we tried to move it (which defeats the whole purpose of us purchasing the nets. We thought they were going to be more convenient to use and move).
Pigs can be trained to respect just two lines, but the goats have to have four to keep them from escaping. The little buggers.
And let me tell you, they are WIDE. They are due the first and second weeks in August.
Oscar wanted to meet the baby while we were moving them to the new pasture.
Last year we constructed the hoop coop and purchased the chicken de-featherer as a stepping stone to raising meat chickens this year. Sam and I purchased 50 meat chickens with a plan of keeping about 2 roosters and 12 hens (to breed next year) and processing the rest.
Sam also wanted to replenish our Maran chickens since ours got eaten and bought two fancy breeds (fancier than TSC, that is) meaning we had somewhere along the lines of 80 chicks delivered to our house.
Unfortunately, we have had nothing but trouble with them. We had nearly 20 chickens die during their stay in the brooder (~ 4 weeks). We lost almost all of the Marans.
Once they were feathered, we tagged their wings and sent them to the hoop coop to make room for the 30-some chicks our hens hatched out in the nesting box (the results of your husband not gathering eggs every day when it becomes his job because you are too pregnant to walk up to the barn, haha).
We started tagging wings this year as a means of keeping up with chicken ages. Despite what people on farming forums insist, roosters are not good to eat after a certain age. So we tagged all of the chickens hatched out this year so we would know when we need to process the males. The females we will likely keep for eggs of course. We tagged the meat chickens so that next year we can distinguish between the breeding stock and their babies that we are going to eat.
Since moving them out to the hoop coop, we've lost another 10-15. We aren't sure what's going on, but I have a strong suspicion that it was a bad hatch at the Cackle Hatchery this year.
The egg turner we designed earlier this spring did not work as expected. Combine that with a low hatch rate, and we were able to hatch 0 turkeys this year. When the turkey hen started nesting, I had hopes that we would finally get some baby turkeys. And then she got eaten and never came back.
We were also excited about blueberries this year after planting a small orchard last fall. And then it got really hot all of a sudden, the yard dried up, and (most of) the bushes died.
Aand the donkeys escaped their pen while we were in the hospital. We've since bought a stronger energizer and have plans to redo their fencing as well.
So lots of difficulty on the farm this year, but we are still working to figure everything out. The great thing about farming is there's always next year to try again.
We plan on selling our farm products at a craft fair in September in Danville, so we've been doing some prep-work for that as well. The kids and I have made several batches of wildflower jelly! We made violet jelly (which was delicious!), lilac jelly (which was disgusting and fed to the pigs), and rose jelly (which smells amazing!). The violet jelly is always fun to make because it turns bubble gum pink!
The original color of the flower water is in the back bowl (kind of a bluish purple).
Add lemon juice and ta-da! Magic.
In addition to the napkins I've already made, I'm also going to be selling children's aprons. Let me know if you'd like a custom made apron for one of the littles in your life!
Sam has broken the tractor so many times, he is practically an expert on how to fix it. I don't even remember what he broke at this particular time, but I do remember it required him to build his own temporary forge. Which was pretty cool to watch.
We've been doing some rearrangement on the farm (or prepping to) in preparation for piglets being born. One of the biggest achievements was getting electric run out to the barn! It was an adventure-and-a-half to get the support wire run from the corner of our house to the barn and THEN wrap the extension cord around it a million times. 
But, now we have an electric fence energizer hooked up in the tack-room.
Which allows us to not only power the hopefully newly expanded donkey (and Bruno) pasture but also run electric line to the farrowing pen to train the Meishan pigs and Bruno to respect the electric line. They should all be getting moved soon.
Just this past week we found out that we caught a bee swarm! We set the bee box out three months ago and when the prime months passed, we stopped checking it and spraying it with the Bee Command (supposed to smell like a Queen Bee and attract swarms). So it's been left to Mother Nature, and Mother Nature decided she wanted to move in anyway! I've been in contact with my bee mentor, and they will be getting moved to a new temporary home soon. Thanks Betty and Carol for letting us borrow your farm for three weeks!
Now, for some pictures of some cute babies. Who doesn't want those, right? Lucas (Luke) Timothy was born on June 23rd at 9:51 in the morning. He was 6 lbs 12 oz. He's our first navy-eyed baby, though I don't think they will stay. We are thinking his hair may turn blond like his Daddy's did when Sam was little.
He is the cutest, sweetest baby and gives really good snuggles!
If you haven't seen the introduction video where everyone guessed his gender before he was born, head on over to our YouTube channel, and be sure to subscribe to get updates when we make new videos!
I can't believe he's a month old already! Rylee loves to read and sing to him, and asks to hold him all the time. Will Will doesn't know his own strength and constantly flattens him or squeezes his head in attempts to give hugs and kisses.
Before Luke got here, Rylee and William got to do a bit of modeling for a local boutique in Lawrenceburg. Look how cute they were!
Rylee was a bit shy on stage, but William rocked it.
Other than it being ridiculously hot that day, the kids had fun (I think).
And the clothes were adorable!
They are a goofy pair but now that Luke is here, they've been playing together so much more! Sometimes better, sometimes worse.
Rylee also got to paint her nails for the first time! We resurrected the Gilkison tradition of painting our nails red white and blue on the 4th of July. The girls loved it! I only got to paint two nails red before Luke needed to eat (for the rest of the night).
All-in-all, we love being a family of five. Sam and I agree that we love having three children even more than we love having two!
Buffalo Chicken Wings
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt
10 chicken wings
2 cups vegetable oil
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup Louisiana hot sauce
1/3 cup Red Hot hot sauce (original)
1 pinch black pepper
1 pinch garlic powder
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Whisk together the flour, paprika, cayenne pepper, and salt in a medium sized bowl
2. Coat the chicken wings in flour on both sides and place in a single layer on a plate. Put in the fridge while the oil is heating up.
3. Heat the oil to 385*F in a tall pan
4. Fry the wings for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Do your best to maintain the temperature around 375*F . Make sure you let the temp rise back up in between batches. Raise the temp to 385*F to compensate for the cold chicken you are about to put in.
5. Remove wings from oil when done and place on a paper towel lined plate.
6. While cooling, melt the butter then mix together with the hot sauce and the seasoning. Place wings in a bowl (preferably, one that has a lid), pour the hotsauce mixture over and either shake or stir to coat the wings.
Chicken Madeira (Cheesecake Factor Copy Cat)
(except I use white wine instead of Madeira wine)
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound asparagus, ends trimmed
1/4 cup butter, divided
1 pound sliced mushrooms
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 medium onion, diced
1 TBS fresh minced garlic
2 TBS parsley
2 large chicken breasts
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup mozzarella cheese
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Cook the asparagus in a large pot of boiling water for about 2-3 minutes until bright green. Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process and strain in a colander. Set aside.
2. Melt 2 TBS butter in a large skillet before adding mushrooms. Sauté for about 5 minutes until the liquid evaporates.
3. Salt and pepper the mushrooms and cook for a further 2 minutes until the mushrooms turn golden brown.
4. Add the onion, garlic, and parsley and cook about 2 minutes until tender. Place aside in a bowl.
5. Slice each breast in half (horizontally) and season with salt and pepper.
6. Use a paper towel to clean out the pan before melting the rest of the butter.
7. Sear the chicken until golden brown and fully cooked (about 5 minutes both sides). The chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165*F. Remove the chicken.
8. Add the wine and stir well to deglaze the pan. Add the chicken broth and heavy cream and bring mixture to a simmer. Simmer for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture has reached the desired consistency.
9. Place the chicken back in the pan along with the mushrooms and asparagus (arranged around the chicken). Top with mozzarella cheese.
10. Transfer the pan into the oven and broil for 3-4 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden.
11. Serve over pasta noodles. Enjoy!
Pax Domini cum spirito tuo temper sit,
Torey, Sam, Rylee, William & Luke
Do you or someone you know live near Harrodsburg, Kentucky?
Do you want to eat farm-fresh eggs from happy, healthy hens? ($3.50/dozen)
Do you or someone you know live near Harrodsburg, Kentucky?
Do you want to eat farm-fresh eggs from happy, healthy hens? ($3.50/dozen)
Check out our shop!
Comments
Post a Comment