Fresh Goat Milk Mozzarella

I took the time the other day to cook up a batch of mozzarella cheese from some of my goats milk. While I have made all sorts of cheese in the past, a friend organized a coop for a Mozzarella/Ricotta kit from New England Cheesemaking Supply Co. at a price I couldn't resist and it included a a simple mozzarella recipe I had to try. I had taken a two day seminar from Ricki of NECS a few years back at the University of Wisconsin and knew that have very high quality supplies.First I mixed citric acid (from the kit)into a gallon of milk and heated it to 90 degrees using the supplied thermometer. Then I added dissolved rennet (also in the kit) and let the milk sit to form a curd. You can see see the custard like cheese has separated from the watery whey. I then cut the whey with a large knife into 1" chunks and then heat them to 110 degrees while gently stirring. Viola', curds and whey!
After draining the whey I was left with a relatively small amount of curd, which is normal in cheese making. The whey can be used in cooking and baking and animals love it!
The trick with this method is you can use the microwave to heat the curd for stretching. After removing as much whey as possible, I heated the curd in the microwave for one minute, i again drained the whey and added 1 tsp of salt and folded the whey into a chunk.
I heated the curd again for about 30 seconds, I'm aiming for a temperature of about 135 degrees to start stretching and forming the cheese. You can pull the whey into string cheese, form it into a ball, little mouthfuls or a braid and then place it in ice water to set and hold its shape.
Here I've made a classic Caprese salad with Brandywine tomatoes and basil from the garden.
Melted on spaghetti, our favorite with garlic bread!
This cheese can be made with store bought milk and I'm sure you have the utensils necessary in your kitchen, so give cheese making a try. It's very fun and rewarding! What a great way to get picky children to eat dairy.

Doelings (and a buck) that need to go!

I think it is time for a couple of the girls, and one of the boys, to go. I don't need that many to milk and I really would like to have an all registered Oberhasli herd.

Both of these girls are about 7 months old and come from a friends dairy herd. They were bottle raised on pasteurized milk and are very friendly. They have been dis-budded, vaccinated and wormed. The girls have been running with an older registered Oberhasli buck, so it is possible that they are bred.

Alpine type doeling

LaMancha type doeling

I also have an 8 month old registered Oberhasli buckling I would like to sell.

Registered Oberhasli buckling
I'd like to get $75 each for the does, or $125 for the pair of them. I'm asking $150 for the buck, but I am open to trades too.

The Great Squash Invasion

Buttercup

Apparently this is a good year for winter squash, at least in my garden, despite some squash vine borer damage. The vines are sprawling every where and they are loaded with fruit. There are already ripe pumpkins, Delicata and Australian butter squash. Lots of spaghetti squash, acorn, butternut and and buttercup ready soon.
Delicata
Butternut

Sugar Pie Pumpkin
Festival
Australian Butter Squash

Ivory AcornSpaghetti Squash

I've been very happy to see bees out pollinating in the mornings when it has been a bit cooler, but not nearly as many as I have in the past. I think I will have to learn beekeeping and get hives in the future, it sounds really fascinating!

In addition I've had a few volunteer vine pop up in the yard! There were some 'Blue Moon' pumpkins left out over the winter, but I have yet to see a fruit on these vines. They grew in the shade and are producing only male flowers that I can see. One is right outside the kitchen door!The zucchini and yellow summer squash are still producing well due in part to the late second planting I tried this year to help thwart the heat and bugs.

Today I'm going to put up some bread and butter pickles and try to can a batch of wax beans. The rain yesterday brought some respite from the steam room heat and humidity, but the bugs seem to be getting worse day after day. A batch of guineas are in the process of hatching (seven live keets so far). If the rain can stay away, I'm hoping to get caught up on at least some weeding, the potatoes will have to wait for another day when the ground is not so wet.

Have a great weekend!

Things that go boom in the night

Well, today started at about 1 am when a front and thunderstorm blew through. After sprinting up and down stairs to close windows against the deluge and turn the brooder light on the new ducklings to keep them warm, I was able to get back to sleep. The power stayed on for which I am thankful as the large incubator is full and there are about a dozen newly hatched chicks in the brooder.

This morning found another section of one of the large, old trees around the house down in the driveway in between the buildings, but right on the back of the stock car.

You can see how lucky we were, the shed is to the right, the house in the background and the chicken coop is in the foreground to the left. The damage to the fencing does not not appear to be too severe. Yes, that is the cat perched in the middle of the mess.

Some dead limbs fell elsewhere, like this branch that went through the particle board cover on one of the rabbit pens.

Over all a total of nearly 2" of rain, along with winds of up to 60mph made for a fun night. Most of the tomato towers had toppled and needed to be re-staked this morning. The weather is predicted to be hot and muggy all week long, so I think any canning will be done outside.
The old air conditioner decided not to work after all these years. I generally only need to run it a few days every year and this year, while it cools, the fan refuses to work. I've searched all the stores in the area and the only thing available are the very expensive models, so I guess I'll just tough it out unless I find something on Craigslist.

Today I need to finish sexing the last two litters of bunnies and separate them into buck and doe pens. I also need to launder a ton of diapers, I really wish Boogie would get more interested in using the potty so I can eliminate that chore! Hopefully, that will happen soon. I'm off, the sooner I get started, the sooner I'll be finished!

Garden Woes

The garden is looking really good and producing well. This year, like every year, there are a few failures and disappointments. This morning I found cabbage worms had eaten off most of my fall broccoli seedlings right down to the soil leaving little stubs.Fortunately, I had already planted some of them and have all of the fall cauliflower planted. I may start some more today, but it may be too late unless I plant them in the hoop house.

Despite my best efforts, it looks like I lost one of the banana squash vines to borers. Happily it only appears to be one as you can see the other healthy vines in the back.

My biggest problem is my Montmorecy cherry, which is standing in water left behind by all the rain we've had, so all its leaves are turning yellow. I imagine the roots are rotting and I will probably lose the tree :(

Fortunately, most everything else is doing well so I am digging potatoes, picking chard and have plenty of cabbage.

Tomatoes, peppers and eggplant are loving this weather.
The melons are almost ripe.
So over all not too many problems, though I did have complete failure of my edemame seeds, it certainly could be much worse. I need to get the hoop house moved to its new location ASAP and there is some tree trimming that needs to be done. I just got a small load of dirt that needs to be utilized as well. Perhaps another raised bed?
Now it's time to start canning tomatoes!