Okay so here we go:
1. I got a huge splinter jammed up under a nail on my right hand 2 weeks ago. I couldn't milk for a week. My nail is coming off and it's still stiff and difficult to bend at the top knuckle closest to my nail! OUCH!
2. We lost a 20 gallon batch of chevre (soft goat's milk cheese) early last week. Instead of being nice and creamy and spreadable, it turned out more like mozzarella. Slimy and clumpy. It took us quite a while to figure out why. Just to be sure it wasn't the milk itself, we checked every goat for Mastitis using the California Mastitis Test or CMT. I'm happy to say that all of our ladies with exception of 2 tested negative and those 2 are very slightly on the line, what may be called a "weak positive." We took them out of the milk tank and are treating them with Vitamin C and good helpings of garlic during feeding. Vitamin C helps boost the immune system...I think garlic does too, but I'll have to check on that. The reason for the failed cheese we realized is that Katy (our awesome helper who comes to help out with chores and milking during the week) had 2 of the first time milkers confused. We accidently had colostrum mixed into the milk tank and it doesn't make very good cheese. Ooops! No worries though, we were just glad to figure out what went wrong. We are not taking that cheese to market. I learned a lot about paying attention to the milk quality during and after milking, and the importance of testing often for mastitis.
3. Last week Scott gave me my first lesson in cheese making in the cheese plant. We made a 10 gallon batch of Boursin (soft cow's milk cheese.) It came out beautiful! Today I set chevre (soft goat's milk cheese) by myself for the first time. I followed all the directions from Scott and Nate and tonight around 8 or so it should be ready to hang! *Keep your fingers crossed that it turns out as good as the Boursin!* Scott said we can't afford to fail on this batch. Eeek!
4. We still have baby goats! I took them out for a walk on our lunch hour today. It's nice and warm and sunny here! We have two more ladies who have not kidded yet. Prime should be going this weekend and Gem.... well Gem is anyone's guess. Scott doesn't think she's pregnant at all. Jen says she is. I'm not taking a side in this one. :)
5. The new house is coming right along! Scott and his dad are working all week to lay the floor boards! Nate tiled the kitchen yesterday with beautiful slate tiles!! The water heater should also be installed this week. Then it's only a matter of deciding when we want to move the goats and the cheeseplant and ourselves up there.
Well those are the highlights. Things here are just getting busier and crazier. Nate left this morning for his trip out to Colorado for school. He will be gone for a month! So now that I know some more about the goats and what goes on in the barn and how to carefully and safely handle milk, I'll be stepping into the cheese plant more. Scott will be teaching me the techniques and science that go into cheese making and hopefully I'll be keeping you informed of what I'm learning and how the hell I'm going to turn all this into my own farm someday. Believe me, it's on my mind constantly. I don't have any plans yet, but I'm gaining lots of ideas. Scott helps when he starts most comments to me with: "When you have your farm, you'll see..." Or "Next year, when you start your farm, this is what you'll need to do..." Etc. I appreciate it. Those comments remind me each time of how I got here and why I'm here to begin with. I am having such a great time! I'm learning so much! Seeing so much! Doing so much! I almost feel like a farmer somedays. It's coming.
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