Homestead Milk Cooling

If you cool your fresh milk right away it will stay fresh much longer and have a better taste.
Here is how I cool mine. I put it in water in this rinse tub and add ice after the jars are in.
It looks funny because the fridge in the kitchen has almost nothing but ice trays in the top freezer.
When we have more milk I use another rinse tub. If you have just up to three jars, you can put them in the sink the same way.
The tubs are in the laundry room.
Hope this helps and enjoy that milk!
Nancy

A New Calf

No matter how many times I see a calf being born I am still very much in awe of the miracle. There are those tense moments when you are watching and waiting. Praying that everything goes well. And feeling sorrow for the cow and its suffering. This was her first calf so she really didn't know what was going on. But, as soon as their calf is born, they know just what to do. You see her here in the pictures licking her calf to clean him (Yep. A little bull calf.) up and get the membrane off. It also warms him and gets the circulation going.

There is a special noise that cows make when talking to their calves that they don't use any other time and they know that noise just as soon as their calf is born and they start speaking to them right away.
After you see that the birth went well and that the calf is responding well, there is the watching and waiting to see if the calf nurses. This little guy wasted no time after getting up on his wobbly legs in finding the teats. This cow wasn't sure what he was trying to do at first but after a few attempts by him, she figured it out and everything went well.

I hope that you will have the experience of watching this miracle take place and be reminded, as we are, that there is so much more in God's plan for his Creation than just our everyday existance. We see His handiwork all around us and for this we are so very grateful.
Nancy

P.S.This cow is Jersey and Black Angus and was bred with Black Angus. When we bought her mother she had been bred with an Angus bull so we bred her with Angus in order to have beef cattle.

Speaking of Bug Spray....

A friend that uses chemicals was talking about the insect problems in his garden this year and said that he sprayed a chemical on there. His comment was, "It doesn't do any good; it just makes them meaner." Our neighbor then came over and said that he had used the same well-known chemical and it hadn't done any good at all. Hmmmm.....
Well, I was happy to find something homemade and harmless that worked.
Nancy

Homemade Bug Spray

Just wanted to let you know that the homemade bug spray worked very well in getting the bugs on the run. (See previous post.) We didn't see any beetles or worms. I'm sure we will need to spray again before long as it wears off.
Hope you have a great day!
Nancy

Refrigerator Pickles

The refrigerator pickles we tried are good! I got the recipe at the Choosing Simplicity blog site. I wondered if soaking them in the salt and ice would really make them crisp, and it does!
I mixed up a concoction to spray on the garden for pests last night. I have never seen so many beetles at one time in my life. There is no way to hand-pick them all because they take off in another direction when you disturb them (and I definitely disturbed them). I have tansy growing and insects don't like it so I made a strong tea out of it, added chopped garlic and cayenne peppers after it cooled, let that soak a while, and then strained it. I poured in a little dishwashing liquid and vegetable oil to make it stick and smother smaller insects. We also have worms in the garden that we haven't had trouble with before and there are GOBS of them. They are eating the jalapeno pepper plants like crazy. Normally (did I say NORMAL?), nothing bothers them.
Well, it's always an adventure.
How's your garden doing?
Nancy
P.S. Thought I'd better mention that I diluted the mixture with water before using and that I sprayed right before the sun went down so it wouldn't scorch the plants. Early morning would be good, too. Don't spray when it's hot or when the plants are in full sun.

Pickle Making

Let the pickle making begin! I was able to make a half-gallon jar of refrigerator dill pickles today and three quarts of regular kosher dills. We haven't tried the refrigerator pickles before so we'll see how they are after they sit in the fridge for three days. The recipe says to wait at least three days and that they get better the longer they are in there. I hope we like them because they are super easy to make.
We weren't sure that we would be able to have a garden this year because of the weather so we are extra happy and grateful to be getting these.
This may seem so obvious that you wonder that it took me so long to realize it, but when I was working in the garden earlier this year planting seeds and plants, it dawned on me that we plant and God does the rest. It's all up to Him. We can't control the weather or anything else. We do what we can and then it's up to Him to give the increase.....or not. He gives life. Period. This is very humbling. And awe-inspiring. And freeing. We've worried and worked so hard in trying to plant around the difficult weather, all of the insects, and everything that wants what you plant. We think, "I'm just not working hard enough or smart enough. Or I've missed something that I should have seen." When I think about it, this applies to everything I do, doesn't it? Everything I do as a wife, mother, grandmother, or friend. I do what I can, planting the seeds, and He does the rest. It's all Him. They are all His. "But, Lord! I've tried so hard!" We can't give the increase. Only He can. And He will. He will.
My daughter-in-love pointed out that it is the same with birth. You do all you can to be healthy and prepare. To be informed and make good choices. And then..... the outcome is in His hands. His precious hands.
Keep planting those seeds and watch for the increase.
Nancy

Fresh Garlic

We dug our garlic last week and the bad news is that several of the tops rotted off when we had all of that rain. The good news is that not all of them did! I was able to make two braids and we have quite a bit without tops to use for food and medicine. There are so many things that garlic is good for. It really is a wonderful herb. And, oh so delicious!
I'll try to put a picture of the braids on here as soon as I get them hung up. They are heavy so I need to put something stronger up to securely hold them.
I hope you will think about planting your own garlic plot this fall. It can be as small (or as large!) as you want. Come next summer you will have your very own fresh garlic!
Nancy