Gorgeous day in the Mountains

Drove to murphy NC there was still a lot of color here and there, took more pictures of the road thru the trees I don't think any of them are as good as the first ones. None good enough to post. Still working on the easy shawl it now takes forever to do one row and still working on the second sock of my pair of socks.

Goat Cheese is done for the season and other happenings on the farm

I will work on making cheese with cows milk , right now I am working on getting my goats bred and this year has been a struggle keeping these older full size bucks out of other pastures. Crazy. Atleast all but 4 are bred I hope and tracie has one that she is A/Iing. I am working on a shawl and I like the pattern a whole lot. will post pictures when I take some.

My crottinwon first palce at the ADGA National Conv. cheese competition in the amateur class

I won first place for my aged white mold goat cheese which are crottins in the amateur class at the 2010 ADGA National Convention which in the amateur div. you could be selling commercial for 6 months and still enetr. I am looking forward to why my chevres didn't place.

Chevre problems

Well my chevre has not been knitting together while it is draining in the molds. It had until about 2 weeks ago and they molded together somewhat but when you took them out they seemed to have settled in layers, still tasted great. So I have been researching and I don't think it is the goat milk being at the end of lactation she is at 5 months but I did just read about temperature being important in the knitting process and thinking about it it started when it started getting cool/cold at night 64-68 degrees inside so this batch I ladeled at 9 hours and the curds had hardly expelled any whey but them I read about the temperature and I will keep an eye on the temp while they drain for the night. It really startled me that hardly any whey was expelled after sitting for 9 hours that the 3 hours longer they normally sit would make a difference. I also used fresh direct set chevre starter.

Day 13 for the mishap crottins and other happenings in and around the farm

The mishaps are holding there own I thru out 3 with slip skin but these are growing the mold fine and tonight I will cut into one and see how it is, the second batch which are at day 15, the ones I sent t the competition I cut this morning and are alrady developing that tang but are still good I wish they were a little nuttier. I am posting the picture of the mishap crottins first to show the mold growth which came even tho at a slow pace and only lost the 3.The second photo is of the first batch and I have cut into them.

I visited a farm stand on the way to Brevard the other day and loved how the apples looked in the long row of baskets all the different colors and flavors, I slao loved the pumpkins and bought some called not another one or something like that. I loved the colors in it.

Finally shipped the cheese off to the competition and breeding season is here...

Well I shipped the cheese off, if I knew how expensive to ship I should have shipped earlier thought it would cost about $45 and it cost $80 what a shocker hope I win. And now the girls are starting to come into full fledge heat and having 2 big bucks is a real problem. They hard to handle when on the scent, finally got them straightened out but it was rough. What I find incredible is I tried breeding my young buck to a mature doe and he was lazy and really not interested but if I thought she wasn't in heat as soon as I let her out she was at the buck fence driving the big guys crazy. Don't know if he ever bred her. But when the doe I was trying to breed to Symbol got lose when I was trying to let symbol in the young buck knew what he wanted. Luckily symbol wouldn't let him do anything. Tomorrow is another day.

Day 10 for the crottins day 8 for the mishaps and more chevre draining

Well the 2nd batch of crottins are coming along nicely and will have to ship out tomorrow for the competition, while I haven't really liked the chevres shape and have one more batch draining before tasting and making a decision of what to ship. here is a picture of the day 8 mishaps they are slowly growing some white mold and look better every day, I have started turning morning and night to see if it makes a difference also there are atleast 3 that feel slippery and haven't developed much white mold if any but are covered with the geo can. we will see.

Day 9 crottins, Day 7 for the mishaps and goats and such

Woow the mold on the 2nd batch of crottins is growing and they are looking good, can't wait to taste them. the mishaps finally have a tiny bit of white mold growing but it is very slow going. Everyday I can't wait to check the cheese to see how they are doing, iy is like opening a present everyday. I need to find a name for these little ones.

Day 8 crottins,Day 6 for the mishaps, some new chevre draininf and of coirs the goats

The second batch of crottins which is Day are coming along very nicely and should be looking good for the competition. Which is a BIG relief because Day 6 or the third batch of these crottins which was to be my back up if something went wrong with the second batch are developing slowly if they will develope a white mold at all. I was told that they should get the white mold but will take time. It will be interesting to track and record how this cheese matures. On to the goats who are sooo00000 into getting into trouble. They can not just settle down and when they finda tasty area they just have to keep going, hoping to find something better like digging the tarps off the alfalfa and eating some before I catch them, but then they can make some pretty pictutes loke this one ,peaceful and cute. Or this one which is like a feeding frenzy, when one goats finds a tasy bit of food the others ahve a sixth sense and comeover and help that goat share it.

Day 6 for crottins and day 4 mishap crottins and of course some chevre

These are the day 6 crottins drying out alittle from being in the fridge and growing some mold slowly, counting on these to enter into the competition. I am a nervouse wreck with the waiting to see if they turn out.

Day 4 for of the mishap crottins, they are turned and in the fridge hopefully they will dry out a little they seem a little slippery and you can see the wettness in the picture but it can be normal I just don't remember how wet the very first ones were. still not much GC growth but in the pictures it looks like there is some.

Made some chevre to and I guess I am doing to much because I forgot to mold it last night so it sat for an extra 8 hours which is ok, just grows a stronger taste I was told, didn't drain much whey before ladling to see if these would form together tighter. I think the lactation period of my goat milk is changing the composition of my cheeses, don't totally get the whole story on that but am working to remember. Just know it changes things. here is the chevre drying in their molds.

Day 5 for the crottin nad Day 3 for the mishap crottin

Day 5 temp in fridge turned all the way down bottom shelf is at 45 degrees, turned the cheese and it feels moist but I don't remember how moist my first batch felt, there is a small amount of white mold growth on the sides, like before it starts on the sides and is mostly where it is close to another cheese not an open space. Need to remember that slip skin occurs when one loses moisture. and I still have moisture but the slow mold growth is because the fridge is a little too cool and lsows it down.
Day 3 of the mishap crottins salted and turned they are showing no signs of the Geo Can. but have some white mold growth before i salted them. Iy will be interesting to see how this developes, hope I get a tasty cheese not matter how it ages.
I wonder if some of the differences is because we are in month 5 of the primary goat that I am milking and month 7 on the one that makes up the difference to get 2 qts every day so I am only holding the milk for 24 hrs before making cheese.
Making another batch of cheese of chevre since I held the milk 2 days before making cheese, If I make crottins on thursday if I have enough milk will they age enough for the competition? Mmmm

Day 4 crottins day 2 mishap crottins

Day 4 of the crottins, well I turned the crottins still seem a little moist alot more geo can. spots all over these crottins interesting if or what difference it makes. No white mold yet. In the fridge now temp in fridge at lowest 45 degrees. kitchen temp this morning was a cold 64 degrees could be why the crottins were so moist. warmed it up to 72 but by that time it was time to fridge the crottins.
Day 2 of the mishap crottins, turned over in mold still coming out on a slant so the curds are still drier and not meshing together like the first ones. hope something turns out for the competition. will make another batch of chevre tomorrow with 2 day old milk. see how that turns out.

Day 3 making crottins and day 1 of the crottin mishap and the chevre is ready

Day 3 of making crottins I have salted and turned, they have started showing GC mold growth and tiny bit of the PC white mold. Tomorrow should show some more white mold growth and the go into the cooling cave aka: my fridge hopefully they will develope just like the other ones. These seem to have a tad bit more moisture to them then the first ones. I will keep a watch for that dreaded slip/toad skin.

Day 1 of the mishap crottins, I ladeled them into the molds and they are settling slowing but don't seem to be packing down as much as the others and the curds seemed drier too. Tomorrow I will turn them and see how they look. they are mishap crottins because I pasteurized the milk and forgot to cool it before adding all the molds and cultures, as soon as I did I cooled to about 80 degrees before the curds had set. so I will see how this plays out. matbe a new cheese!

The chevre is done and looks good, it packed tighter as I didn't drain as much whey out before ladeling into molds. I also used freezer milk so will have to see how they taste.

Day 2 of making crottins and chevre

So far so good, I turned the crottins and this time turned them over while in their molds had to tap hard on the mat to get them to slide down, a few fell on an angle so I had to lift the mold for it to fall flat and then put the mold back on top hopefully to keep the little round shape. this is what they look like after I take the mold off. The chevre was also turned this morning, they hadn't been holding there shape well, but their mold shape is flared so I usually put them back in the mold with the flair still at the top, this time I just flipped them, some still set over night and the top was at an angle but not as bad as before. 2 things I didn't do this time: 1.I didn't take as much whey out before ladling them into the molds. I think the time before I drained to much whey out before ladling the curds in the molds so they were to dry to settle and mold together. The last ones also had big air gaps which I attribute to the same to dry conditions. 2. I turned them leaving them in the molds upside down, if they settle they will have flared bottoms. we will see. I salted the chevre and the crottins will have their first salting tomorrow at 7. Now that it is getting cooler first it was keeping the house at 70 degrees with the air on, and now that it has really gotten cooler at night keeping it at 70 if I am not at home will be tricky, if I leave the air on it will get to cold if I leave it off it will get to hot as the day warms up. At night in the beginning of fall there is generally a 10 degree difference between outside and in. It was 68 this morning inside and 55 outside. Another hour or so before milking Heather and maggie and hopefully getting enough to make another batch of crottins. Timing is everything, soon the fridge will be full of cheese. Chevre again on wednesday if they are still giving me 2 qts a day.

Goats, cheese and creating a newsletter.....

Lavender Hollow Jody's Girl got a 9th place out of 23 at the Gwinett County Fair not what I hoped for. I showed 5 and got 9th,10th, 12th,13th and 14th. Now I wait to bred them and see how there udders look. And now the breeding season is upon me I have bred 2 does so far and will start breeding the others as they come into heat. Arranging them is toughest especially if it rains to make sure they have cover but other bucks can not annoy them. I am still milking 2 does Heather and maggie. heather is giving 2 qts a day right now and maggie 2 cups but still no sign of high somatic cell counts so I am still making cheese and speaking of cheese I an making cheese all week end for the ADGA convention cheese competiton Oct 18-22. I am entering 2 flavored chevres and a crottin (aged soft cheese mold ripened) I am excited and worried since my first batch came out perfect to me. the flavoured ones are one I cal tuscany a driedrossemary,onion,pepper and paprika and a sugared pecan and dried cranberry. Along with the crottin. I also made a sundried tomatoe and fresh basil for friends. I want to start a newsletter calling it Home grown Cheese, making cheese simple. I want it to be for and to connect everyone that makes cheese at home. Offering anyone a connecting point to cheese.

blueberries and peaches are in season

the blueberries have been so sweet this year I picked in georgia and are te best and the peaches were ok they are freestones and I made a milkshake with them

blackberry,blueberries

Blackberry picking, cheesemaking and the girls

Was a little to early to pick any qty of blackberries but the bushes are full of the tight little green ones and i found a few ripe ones covered a distance just to get about 3 handfuls and it was HOT! Looking forward to going back next week end hope we get some rain so they will be luscious. Ok on to cheesemaking. I made some chevre' early this spring but haven't had time to milk the girls much BUT last week end I made fresh ricotta from happy cow milk which is a low pasteurisation milk from cows that are fed on pasture and rotated. It was delicious I mixed it in with my hot German potato salad and it was unbelievable refreshing and added a whole new flavor. Now the Girls they are doing well the electric net fencing has really helped opening their grazing area while I am gone and on the week ends they seem content to stay in the big pasture hope they continue too. Would like to get more of the netting when I can afford it. The kids are all looking good except the late spring babies they just never seem to grow that well but the one born with a bum leg, probably a pinched nerve is getting around very well and I van just note some favoritism at certain times but I think she will be ok.

Darn 2 bucks born today

A doe that I really wanted at least one doe kid gave me 2 bucks today nice hefty ones weighing in at 7.4 and 7.14 , she has a nice littel udder her half sister has a nice udder also but bigger even as a 2 year old, hopefully this does will be just as nice but bigger next year. I still have 2 does left that should kid soon or in 2 weeks depending when they bred since they didn't kid when I saw them bred. Mother and daughter are the ones who haven't kidded this round, I still have 2 or 3 more that will kidd in may/june if they are pregnant.

Two more goats kidded

Atleast they are not kidding all at one time. The white doe kidded yesterday and had 2 baby DOE kids hooray! They weighed just under 6 lbs small but with long spidery legs one was white and a pale tale and the other black with light tan undercoating and brown facial lines. Today Maggie kidded and also gave me 2 baby DOE kids HIP HIP Hooray! bothe brown with white spots on their heads and white splashes on their sides one a rich brown and the other a ned, brown but hse has small brown spots in her white splach, bigger than yesterdays kids weighing in at 7.6 and 8.6 with long legs also. Maggie is a much larger doe and I was hoping fpr triplet girls but will take 2 girls anyday. will post pictures when it stops raining. Mariahs 2 kids are growing and really have put on some weight. they are out with the herd today hopefully they will do ok mariah is a very protective mother and watches those 2 with eagle eyes.

Finally another pair of socks finished and baby goats over due

I can't bekieve we have had 6 days of gorgeous and warm weather perfect for kidding and my goats due that usually kid 3 days early still none have kidded but Mariah and now rain is coming late this afternoon and for the next 3 days.

Well I finished mt 4th pair of socks and I love the colors.

New baby goats

Mariah had twins 1 doe weighed 8.14lbs orange brown with a white spot on her head and a small splash on her side and a tiny with mark on her leg with frosted ears and 1 buck at 9.1 lbs rich brown with a black dorsel stripe and tan under belly and some black going up his front legs to his knees. before he was 24 hours old he was trying to leap in the air she wasn't attempting any fancy moves just practice using her legs and getting up and down. Picked a perfect week end to have them with nice warm weather during the day, heat lamp at night. 5 more to go over the next few days if I figured right.

A beautifull, sunny day and no baby goats in sight

Wow a nice day and it doesn't look like anyone will kid today which is a good thing since they are not due till 3/8 but with this weather and my girls have a history of kidding 3 days early we are close.

First daffodils of 2010 and snow today and goats

These were taken a few days ago and today it has been snowing, not much has really stuck. It was so refreshing to see them, they were so late this year and not many haven't even bloomed yet. This weather feels like i am still living up north, it has been the coldest winter here in the 9 years I have lived here.

Well in 6 days or sooner my goats will start kidding i hope it warms up istantly not looking to kid in this weather.

snow and goats

We had a beautiful snow last night about 4 inches covering the branches and pine boughs. Woke up this morning to this and 20 degree weather, but my tonight most of the snow is gone only were the sun doesn't get to is there still snow. we don't get much snow here in SC and in the 9+ years I have lived here this is the best and heaviest snowfall. MY GOATS DON'T LIKE SNOW AT ALL or me wearing a hooded sweatshirt at night. I love taking snow photos at night it is soo neat to see the snowflakes falling show up as white dots.
As you can see they look out but this morning they didn't want to walk in it to come out and eat.

Some more winter scenes and the kittens were not to sure about the snow either only 2 would venture out to walk and the eventually play with it even jumping up onto the ice in my water lilly tank to drink the water.

More on socks, risotto and all things cheese

I finished my third pair and have one sock already finished, when one doesn't like the yarn one knits with it takes forever to finish what one was knitting atleast for me, but I finally finished that pair and just love this yarn from plain and fancy out henderson TX. I love the colors and how it knits. Why in one week I finished one sock the other sock is taking longer since I really let slip a lot of things I shouldn't just to knit that one sock. Pictures will come soon. I have have been dabling in tasting cheese mant sticking with ones made in the U.S. and what I can find local BUT I have also bought some cheeses made in Europe and one especially was out of this word BUT expensive called chaource and comes from the Champagne region of France, It is a cow's molk cheese that is soft ripened with a hwite bloomy rind, what I get must be aged a bit because it is creamy near the rind but still chalky in the center and it so far is one of the best cheese I have tasted. I have also found that here in the Us we can only get the one made Lincet but in France there is Hugerot or Rouzaire brands. Today I have invited a friend who I met thru one of my cheese making classes and we will be atsting all kinds of cheese. 3 o'clock can't wait. I also made my very first risotto that though needed constant attention was so refreshing I can't wait to make more, It was a a recipe from The New American Cheese book Lemon Parmesan Risotto with Asparagus I tried it with out the parmesan and mixed a little in but liked it best with the parmesan. It tastes almost just as good reheated as fresh except the asparagus go soft and turn the olive brown color. Next time I won't blanch all the asparagus and will save some to blanch the next day.