Hey Everybody. I almost have the computer fixed, I am not going to have a post today. The How to Tuesday posts are incredibly labour intensive, so there isn't time to pull one together today. I will have a post for tomorrow, I am going to be looking at soil ammendments, and preparing beds for winter. If you haven't already done so you may want to start with a simple soil composition analysis. You can find the directions here

 For Herbal Thursday I will look at Evening Primrose and Friday I am going to share my efforts to begin winterizing the beehive.

Sorry about today's post, I really don't like to miss a Tuesday post, but sometimes life happens. Have a great day everyone, talk tomorrow!

Hey Everybody, today we are going to make elderberry syrup. Elderberry, Sambucus nigra, has a rich history as a treatment for colds and flu and with the first cold of the season having already arrived here at the homestead I thought I would share my recipe for elderberry syrup with you.
Make sure of your source for elderberries, there are multiple varieties of elders and where you live can determine the varieties you will find when wild crafting. The leaves stems and uncooked berries of all elders are poisonous. When you are removing berries from the stems try to keep it as clean as possible. The leaves and stems contain cyanoglycosides and will become concentrated if left in with the berries during the reduction phase. The good news is you can buy  the Sambucus nigra, European Elder at most good nurseries.

To make the syrup you will need:
1 cup of fresh elderberries, (or 1/2 cup of dried)
3 cups of water
1 cup of unpasteurized honey, the more local the better.

Step 1:

Put your elderberries and water in a heavy based pot and bring to a boil. The colour will change to a purple raspberry hue.

Step 2:
Reduce the heat and simmer, until volume is reduced by half

Step 3:
When mixture is reduced by half, mash with a potato masher to break up the berries

Step 4:
Strain through a mesh screen or a double layer of cheesecloth.

Step 5:
When mixture cools to warm, add in 1 cup of unpasteurized honey, stir thoroughly

Step 6:
When cooled, pour into a bottle or jar, label and store in the fridge.

This will keep in the  fridge  for approximately three months. I made the one batch after we harvested our berries last week; but I know I will need more during the winter, so I put 1 cup of berries in each of five plastic bags and put them in the freezer so I can make up batches of syrup when needed.

Elderberry syrup works on the immune system in much the same way echinacea and cranberry do, so it is important to start taking it at the first sign of illness.

Dosage:

Children: 1- 3 teaspoons every three hours.
Adults: 1- 3 Tablespoons every three hours

Note: For children under 2, add the syrup to hot water. This will to kill off anything in the honey that might make them sick.
Have a great day every one!

Happy First Day of Fall! I know not everyone welcomes fall like I do; you know who you are, those of you who see fall as a harbinger of winter. Cold long Canadian winter. Now I am not a huge fan of winter. I enjoy it probably up until late January and then it starts to wear on me. Thankfully that is just  about the time the seed catalogues start to arrive; so sanity saved.

Fall, or autumn as one of my grade school teachers tried to drum into me, fall is my favourite season. It is the time when all our hard work on the homestead surrounds us, the jars of canned food and medicine, the freshly butchered chickens and pig in the freezer the root cellar brimming with squash, turnip, carrots, apples and potatoes. The weather is amazing, warm days and cool crisp evenings, the first aromas of woodsmoke in the air. Mother nature's beautiful colour display, snuggling into cozy sweaters, having time to think as the workload slows down to a mangable 70 hours a week.  Fall is time to sit back and enjoy your family friends, all your hard work and most importantly, the beauty surrounding you everywhere you turn.
















I think we should turn the first day of fall into Homesteading Day. Doesn't matter if your entire harvest is three bottles of jam in your closet! You are a homesteader at heart and you are well on your way simply because you have done something! There are many people out there who share your dream of the house / farm in the country  who haven't done much but dream: but you actually did something, You canned three bottles of jam, you took the time and money to purchase your supplies, you read up on how to make and safely can your jam, then you did it! That hot, humid Saturday while the other people took a drive in the country in their air conditioned cars dreaming about which property they will have "someday", you stayed home canning jam and becomming a homesteader.
So for you and everyone else who is living the homesteading life, Today is our Day! 
 
Join me in celebrating the first International Homesteading Day!

We will be celebrating by butchering 15 chickens, how will you celebrate?

Hey Everybody, well it has been another crazy week here at the homestead! The push is on to get everything done as we feel fall closing in. It really is a weird September, we have had frost for the past two nights now, we were lucky to escape the snowfall they had out west,  but the cold mornings are a hurry up and get it done kick in the pants; and the forecast for tomorrow is calling for close to 2 inches of rain.

 The guys have been busy getting the garden ready, they have moved close to half a ton of rock, by hand, away from the new garden. There was an old  foundation smack dab in the middle of where the garden needs to be, the pigs did  a great job of rooting up the rocks so they were close to the surface. KillWilly in particular loves tossing rocks around. The lower bed is leveled and Gary will be taking the rototiller, aka the beast, in there within a day or two to incorporate the manure from the pig yard. Then we will be planting garlic next week. We haven't received the Siberian variety I ordered from Vesseys yet, but it should be here soon and we have our own saved seed to plant. I was hoping to be able to plant a covered crop of buckwheat in the garden that we could till under come spring, but with  the cooler weather coming early I think we are going to end up just mulching heavily with old straw or hay. This is what the pasture looked like on May 20th of this year:

Then on Labour Day weekend after the pigs had been there for a few days:

Now today, the first terrace, closest to the camera, is leveled and just waiting for the manure to be worked in.

Speaking of the pigs, Patches has been bringing her latest litter out foraging
this week. They were born on the first, so she is keeping to the same schedule
she always has. They are starting to eat from the creep feeder, but had a great
time running around and pushing up dirt with their snouts! There is nothing that
is as hysterical to watch as a little piglet trying to catch a grasshopper. I
could watch them all day!

The doorframe for the new basement door arrived yesterday, so we should get that in next week. Then we can start closing up the basement at the back of the
house. That is going to make a huge difference in the amount of wood we burn
this winter, it is also going to make it easier to keep the basement at a steady
temperature for sprout production. After a year of experimenting Gari is producing well over 100 pounds of fodder a day and we want to double that for the winter! I have been busy putting together a guide to growing fodder, we are producing all this feed, winter and summer, on a set up which cost less than $150.00 to put in place. And it saves us somewhere around $300 a month in feed costs!  The animals love to get their fodder everyday.

The other preoccupation around here this week is getting ready for 4H Pro-show. This is the huge provincial show for all the top qualifiers for kids from 4H  clubs all over Nova Scotia, Reiley is showing both Ivan and Pepper next weekend. He was supposed to show both animals in conformation and showmanship but there was an overlap in the schedule so he had to choose between beef and goat for showmanship and has decided to show beef. So pepper will only be shown in conformation class. Reiley is also taking one of his wood working projects, and  will be competing in the beef and goat judging classes also. It is always a  crazy busy weekend with kids running on too much sugar and caffeine with too  little sleep, (barns open at 5:30 Saturday morning) and we wouldn't miss it for the world.

So, next week is garlic planting time, I may set up a couple of cold frames in the new garden and plant some greens just to give us a bit of an extended season. The tomatoes have all succumbed to late season blight so they
need to be hauled out and burnt, the heavy frost last night has finished most of
everything else off so a clean up in the garden is necessary. It is also time to
get the bees ready for winter. I will be opening up the hive and checking on the
amount of honey they have, insulating the unused portion of the hive and the
top. I am hoping to be able to remove those two plastic frames from the original
nuc which gave us such a headache in July. I don't anticipate harvesting any
more honey this fall. I would rather leave the honey there for winter stores
than have to start feeding them in March.  I am also going to be testing the soil in the new garden beds and  figuring out what amendments need to be done. It is easiest to do these in the fall and  I will  have a post next week about this topic.

 So the final full week of September, chores in the garden as we take most of the last of the harvest from the garden, there is still a lot of canning and preserves to put up, apples to can for applesauce and pie filling, pumpkin and some squash the rutabagas will need to be canned and I need to put up some more blueberry. On the herbal side I am drying sage, thyme and basil. I will be
potting up the cuttings I have for the herb "window" in the kitchen; rosemary,
basil and chives. The mint, lemon balm and othe tea ingredients are drying nicely. I will be attending the Christmas Craft Sale at the Digby Elementary School the last weekend in November. I will have a wide assortment of soaps and herbal products there as well as some of my silver wirework jewelry. Lots of fiddley things to get ready for a craft show.
I am also in charge of decorating the rental hall for Digby County 4H awards night on the 17th of October, (how do I get myself into these things?). I want to join the Exhibition Committee so the first meeting there is October 1st and I have just started working to try and resurrect the Digby Farmers Market for next year. On top of that Reiley needs to start schoolwork, There is painting to be done inside, the pantry and 1/2 bath to gut and build new, the regular 4h meeting schedule to start up again..... I think I need to lie down now.

I have always been uber organized, you have to be with five kids all going in different directions. This past year being here with just Gary and Reiley I have kind of let things slide, time to pull up my socks and get things running again. Honestly the busier I am, the more I can get done. Firstly I have to get the house running on it's schedule again. If you have a set schedule for your house, monthly meal plans, who cleans what and when; it frees up so much time. It was how I went back to school with four kids aged 4 - 10yrs. Not only went back to school full time, but  took a part time job as tutor and lab instructor in the nursing program, maintained a 3.95 GPA and kept the kids going to Girl Guides, gymnastics, karate, soccer and public school all while Gary was working 70+ hours a week and managed to meet the target of family meals at the table a minimum of 5 days a week. Yes I had a lot of support from Gary but the organization I had built into our routine made it possible. I have let it slide, time to get it back! Have a great day everybody! ( Remember to breathe!!)

For most of us it is relegated to a side dish for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, from a herbalists perspective it is a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and possible cancer prevention tool. The American cranberry,
Vaccinium macrocarpon, is an evergreen shrub growing to 6 ft . It has small leathery leaves and can be found growing in bogs and wetlands from zones 3 through 7. The information in this article refers to American cranberry, not the various high bush cranberry, a vibernum, also known as crampbark, found in nurseries today.
  
Cranberry has traditionally been used as a treatment for urinary tract infections, (UTI). For many years it was believed that the high acidity of the cranberry lowered the pH of the urine thereby making the bladder a less hospital environment for the bacterium which causes UTI's. In recent years however, scientific studies have shown that the structure of the proanthocyanidins, (flavonoids), actually block the bacterium's ability to attach itself to the lining of the bladder. Researchers are now studying this evidence to see if it could prevent stomach ulcers in the same way.
 
Cranberry has been shown to be a powerful anti-inflammatory, specifically
acting upon the cardiovascular system and digestive tract. The phytonutrients in cranberry that are especially effective in lowering our risk of unwanted inflammation, and virtually all of the phytonutrient categories represented in cranberry are now known to play a role by blocking the cytokines which tell our bodies to start an inflammatory response against against a perceived threat. Dietary consumption of cranberry has also been shown to reduce the risk of chronic, unwanted inflammation in the stomach, large intestine and  blood vessel linings. Therefore, anyone with an auto immune disease should benefit from an increase in cranberries in their diet. This cytokine suppressing ability in
addition to high fibre content  means that a high dietary intake of cranberries
will help lower your risk of atherosclerosis, plaque build up within the vessels
and lower your 'bad' cholesterol levels.
 
Nutritionally, cranberries are high in manganese, vitamin C and E and fibre. A 1 cup measure of cranberries, approximately 100 grams, will supply your body with 18%  of your daily fibre intake requirements. . We are all familiar with the pictures of cranberries floating on the water as farmers flood the bogs containing the plants. For years this harvesting method was done simply for convenience, it is much easier to use a boom to gather floating berries than
it is to try and pick berries from plants in soft boggy ground. Recent studies
have shown that anthocyanin, the phytonutrients that give the berries their amazing red color, increases  in direct proportion to the amount of natural sunlight striking the berry. So having berries floating on top of the water will actually increase the concentration of anthocyanins, making this humble berry even better for you.
 
So look for ways to incorporate cranberries into your diet, cranberry sauce
is easy to make from scratch: 3 cups of cranberries, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of
sugar and a dash of lemon or lime juice. Boil until the cranberries 'pop'. This can be eaten fresh or canned in a waterbath canner for 15 minutes.
Cranberries make a wonderful addition to pork dishes ad well as some of the
stronger fish dishes. Try some dried cranberries instead of raisins in your
snack foods and baking. As I mentioned in my post from Tuesday, dried
cranberries mixed in chevre cheese with slivered almonds sprinkled
on top is a favourite dessert around here. Cranberries freeze really well, I
always buy pounds and pounds of cranberries when they go on sale after Christmas and store them in the freezer. If you are lucky enough to live near a cranberry grower, find out if they have public tours, they are harvesting now and it makes a great day out with the kids!
 

**Please note. I am not a doctor. This post is not intended to diagnose, treat
or cure any disease. The information presented here has not been verified by
Health Canada.**

Well we are back in the kitchen today, making fresh chevre with our goats milk. I am not a big cheese eater, I will never be one of those people who start making amazing gourmet cheese from their kitchen. I do however, like fresh chevre, especially as a dessert with cranberries and almond slivers or with some honey drizzled over pear slices and chevre. Yum!

So I received my goat cheese making kit from Glengarry cheese making supplies a few weeks ago.  It was a good deal, giving me a variety of cultures a lifetimes supply of rennet and molds. I was dissapointed with the literature, it had been advertised as coming with recipes, however the recipes were for  what I would consider a person with basic cheese making experience. Also there was no recipe for making fresh chevre. So I researched and found a recipe, I tried it twice with mixed results. I have done more research and I think I  figured out where I went wrong, so through much trial and error, I am comfortable enough to share the process with you.

This is one of the things I love about this lifestyle, you are constantly learning new things. I also make sure that our kids get to see us screw things up, pick up the pieces analyze what happened and then give it another go. Too many kids these days never experience failure; they get participation medals for simply showing up, they get passed on in school all because we don't want to damage their fragile little egos by telling them they weren't quite good enough. Well guess what, that is not how life works. We are doing our kids a huge disservice by "protecting" them. By covering them in bubble wrap we raise young adults who have no idea how to assess the risk in a situation, they never realize the thrill of figuring out a difficult problem after they spent a lot of time not figuring out the problem. They are ill prepared to deal with the everyday failures that come about in the work place and just living day to day life. But again, I digress. Back to cheese making.

So, as I said, I am making fresh chevre with our goats milk. I do not pasturize our milk; if you wish to pasturize your milk I will give directions for that. You can use pasturized store bought milk for this recipe, just make sure you purchase whole milk not 2% or skim.
 
You will need:

4 litres, (1 gallon) of goats milk
calf rennet
culture, I use Mesophile Aroma Type B
a large stainless steel pot
measuring spoon (1/8th teaspoon)
1/4 cup measing cup
large slotted spoon
thermometer
cheese molds or muslin cloth
something to catch the whey in

If you want to pasteurize raw milk:  heat milk in a heavy bottomed
steel pot or double boiler until it reaches 145° F, stirring frequently to
prevent scalding. Hold the temperature at 145° F for 30 minutes. Remove from
heat and allow to cool.

A note about timing, as you will see there is a lot of waiting with cheese making, I have found that heating the milk and adding culture and then rennet just before I go to bed works the best for me. That way I am up and around the kitchen during the time the cheese is in the molds. This allows me to check the texture and remove the cheese when it is just right. (Truth be told it also keeps me from compulsively checking on the set of the cheese when ideally it should just be left alone!)

To make Chevre:

 1. Heat, or cool,  your milk to 75° F remove from heat,  then sprinkle your culture over the top of the milk. Allow it to sit for 2-3 minutes.

2. While waiting, add 1 drop of rennet to 1/4 cup of cool water. Set aside.

3.  Using a slotted spoon, gently move the milk up and down to distribute the culture evenly through the milk. Do not stir.
 
4. Pour in the water - rennet mixture. Mix the rennet through the milk as you did with the culture. Do not over mix!

5. Place the lid on the pot and set aside. The culture mix needs to set at approximately 72° for 8 - 10 hours. The 'cheese' should be left alone at this stage, don't move it around and try not to take the lid off to check every 20 minutes like I do.

6.  After 8 - 10 hours, check for a clean break. To do this wash your hands and insert a finger into the cheese. When the tip of your finger breaks through the bottom of the solids, hook your finger tip and draw your finger out. If the solids break cleanly and don't stick to your finger the cheese is ready to drain.

 

 You can use molds or muslin cloth to drain the cheese. Regular cheese cloth is too open to work with chevre, but if it is all you have, try making 4-5 layers
Decide if you want to keep the whey, if you do you need to figure out what you are going to catch it in. If you aren't going to keep it then you can just drain
everything over the sink. I keep the whey and it goes to the pigs.

If you are using muslin:
            Lay the cloth inside a colander. If you are keeping the whey, set the colander over something to catch it. 
           Using your slotted spoon,  GENTLY lift the curds out of the pot and place in the colander.
          Once all of the curds are in the cloth, gather the corners of the cloth and tie together. Hang the cloth over the container for the whey or sink depending on your preference. I have found a wooden spoon under the knot in the cloth works. You can then place the spoon over a cupboard door handle, or tie some string around the knot and hang that way.

If you are using molds: 
            Place the molds on a rack over the container to catch whey.
            Gently scoop the curds from the pot and place in the molds.
            When you have used all the curds, place the molds together on the rack and cover with a clean dish towel.

Allow the curds to drain for 4 - 12 hours.  Four hours will give you a very soft 
spreadable cheese; 12 hours will give you a texture closer to cream cheese. start checking the texture at four hours and unmold when it reaches your preferred texture. After a couple of batches, you will have a good idea of the time frame for your cheese.
 

Once you reach your desired texture you can add herbs if you wish, either
by stirring herbs through or rolling the cheese in a herb mix. (Think cracked peppercorn).

Your cheese is now ready to eat.  It will store for a week in the fridge or can be frozen. If you are going to freeze it, add salt to taste after it is done draining.

I just posted a little op-ed piece on the facebook page:

There has been a lot of buzz the past few weeks about the rise in beef prices both on the hoof and in the grocery, I have had a couple of clients contact me to ask what we thought about putting on some calves to background. I posted this on the farming in the maritimes group but I thought it needed repeating here:

  " Jumping into the cattle market now is ill advised. Especially with the glut of pork and chicken that is about to hit...

Read More...

Patches delivered 13 piglets late on September first, I have heard back from most of the people on our waiting list and we have 2 piglets still available. I just love little pigs they are just so adorable!

Yarrow,  ( Achillea Millefolium) originated in Europe but is widely naturalised across North America. A plant with a long history of medicinal usage, it is probably most famous for it's association with Achilles, Greek hero of the Trojan War who reportedly used the plant to staunch the bleeding of his wounded comrades. Weather this is true or simply myth from history we don't know. What is known, is that common yarrow has has at least a 3000 year history of use from the ancient Greeks and traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners.

A member of the Asteraceae family, yarrow is a perennial which is often found in poor, sandy soils, frequently on roadsides. It is highly drought tolerant.  Yarrow is characterised by a strong, usually straight, stem ranging from 4 to 24 inches; they have small, fern like leaves and are  bright green to gray green in colour. The tops of the stems are multi branched to support the floral heads. Common yarrow has small white flowers, however with the recent rise in popularity of several cultivars grown for the home garden market, I have seen yellow and pale lavender varieties growing in the wild. The white is still the most medically potent and the plant should be harvested while in bloom. Fortunately it has a long blooming period, from mid June through September in my area. Please remember to wild craft responsibly, taking no more than a third of any particular stand.

Yarrow has strong antibacterial antiseptic, antispasmodic and astringent,  properties. It has a traditional use history  which includes bleeding wounds, gastrointestinal problems, fighting fevers, lessen menstrual bleeding and to aid circulation. The fresh leaves were also chewed on to relieve tooth aches. Practitioners of TCM have used it for the ability to affect the kidney, spleen, liver and energy channels throughout the body.

Yarrow has  strong antiseptic properties which make it a natural for herbal first aid kits. To make a very effective blood stop powder, gather full plants from the ground up while in flower. Wash and then hang to dry out of direct sunlight. When plant is dry, chop roughly and then grind to a fine powder with a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder. Store the resulting powder in a small jar, out of direct sunlight.

I use this powder on any wound for people or animals. The antibiotic properties fight infection while the astringent properties naturally draw the wound closed. It is great to put on when dehorning animals.

A note of caution, while yarrow is generally rated as safe, prolonged use of high doses will cause problems. It is best to conduct your own study of yarrow, or consult a herbalist or other natural health practitioner.

Go have a look for some yarrow, it is an easy herb to incorporate into your homestead medicine cabinet. Have a great day everyone.

**Please note. I am not a doctor. This post is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. The information presented here has not been verified by Health Canada.**

It occurred to me today that while I have spoken often of parts of our plan for Hand-Forged Farm I have never really laid out the entire plan for you. Today you get the full vision!

We first and foremost are a working homestead / farm. We will continue to produce fresh healthy food for ourselves and the community. The structure for the market garden is being put in place this fall, so that we will begin selling produce starting in the spring of 2015. The first greenhouse will be completed late this fall. We will be offering a limited amount of CSA memberships next year and expanding as we bring the garden to full size the following year.

The garden also serves as a valuable teaching tool for those who want to learn the skills required to produce their own food. From WOOFER,s who stay for the season, or part of the season; to workshop participants who come for a weekend to learn a specific set of skills. There a few more plans that will revolve around the garden, but those details will need to wait for now.

The barn will grow also, to start with Gary wants to run 2 sows and a boar. We are on the hunt for a Tamworth gilt, he might also consider a Duroc. The pigs will continue to feed our family and local community. We will continue to sell weaner pigs but will also be raising more of our pork for sale. Gary is finally happy with the system he has worked out for growing sprouts as fodder and is now producing well over 100 lbs a day summer and winter. The animals are all doing very well on them and we are ready to expand. Keeping more pigs will also allow more hands on experience for those who want to work with pigs.

I want to build up the goat herd to six milking does, This will provide enough milk for our family's needs and my soap making. Again, the expansion will allow for more hands on workshops and teaching opportunities.

There are no concrete plans for cattle at the moment, but I have a feeling one or more of the boys may have plans in that area. This would be at least 3 years out right now.

Herbs are also an integral part of the plans. There is going to be a large herb garden which I will use for our medicinal herbs. I plan to use our homestead as a venue for herb walks and wellness retreats and workshops. We plan to bring in other teachers and leaders to give workshops; herbal weekends are a great place to start.

A new orchard of apples, pears, peaches and cherries is going to be planted next spring. Between the garden and the orchard, we will need a few more bee hives. I am planning at least 1 workshop next year for introductory beekeeping.

We have a food forest planned for an area close to the ridge line on the property, and I am working hard to bring a permaculture design course here in late next year or early the following year. Accommodations for WOOFERs round out the plans on the drawing board for now.

Whew!  When I write it all out it sounds almost impossible; but when I look back at what we have done in the past year I know we will bring it all together. It is what we have always wanted to do. We could just build up our property and become almost self sufficient, but we have always wanted to share our knowledge as well as learn from others. For us that is the only way to really become self sufficient... by being part of a self sufficient community.

Humans were not meant to function in isolation, a strong community of people with varying skills and abilities is the basis of any healthy society. We have, for the most part, lost sight of that fact. It is our intention to work with as many like minded people as possible to change that. The oft quoted "be the change you want to see", message is alive and well here at Hand - Forged Farm, and thank you for being along for the journey.