Category Archives: Homesteading

Love is in the air

In the Spring, a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love--Alfred Tennyson

No, it’s not our son that I’m referring too. Although being a foot taller than his classmates and sporting an impressive upper lip fuzz mustache has turned quite a few girls’ heads, he still is only 13 and not ready for dating yet. It is, however, definitely springtime in our barnyard critter neighborhood.

Our little chivitos (kids) have been jumping and leaping and growing devilish horns these past 2 months, which means that the moms have begun their first estrus cycle since giving birth. This hormonal change has turned Jason Boer into quite the Romeo.

Unfortunately, Romeo doesn’t sing very well. In fact, it’s an awful racket. And although his serenading is just as important for wooing the ladies as peeing on his face (yep), the noise is horrendous. As he likes to make his moves by moonlight, he has woken us up on several occasions. Groggy, it takes us several minutes to realize that no, an animal is not being tortured outside.

Much to our surprise, Junior, at the tender age of 2 months, has become a chorus boy in the love songs. The first time each of us heard his singing, we ran out to the corral in a panic, thinking one of the chivitos (kids) had become stuck and was dying. Nope. He’s just a Romeo in training.

None of the other little goats have the least interest in the fully grown mama goats, so we are astounded at Junior’s advanced development. Occasionally, father and son have been heard to sing duets. AHHHH!

My father-in-law’s macho goat sings in a lovely baritone. In fact, he sings so well, that on several occasions I went outside to see who was singing only to watch the herd pass by on their way up the hill. We should be so lucky.

Well, the good thing is that since all the kids were born within a 2 week period, the love fest concerts should also be finished within a 2 week period. Meanwhile, we’ll just cover our ears and endure.

**********************************The Craft of Herbal Fermentation Course by Herbal Academy

disclosure

2 Comments

Filed under Animal Husbandry, Homesteading

No spark, All sizzle–cooking without electricity

As the hope in ever getting electricity died a slow, slow death, I began to get rid of my kitchen appliances. (See You can lead a horse to water…electric and sewer but you can’t make it drink) They just collected dust sitting around and took up space. So, it was a reluctant bye-bye to the toaster, refrigerator, crock pot, popcorn maker, beater, bread maker, blender, and microwave oven.

I had mixed feelings about letting some of these things go, but over time, I have come to see that I can still do all the baking and cooking I want despite not having my favorite electrical devices.

cam04290-1.jpg

We still have toast every morning, only we toast is on the cast iron Comal. (See COOKING WITH CAST IRON)

cam04332-1.jpg

With no crockpot, I still make savory soups and beans, but with my enameled soup pot on the stove or over an open fire. (See What Are the Safest Cookware Options?)  Beans taste mighty good over the open flame!

Without a microwave, food can be reheated on the stove with my enameled and cast iron Cast Iron cookware. My little Strawberry  Teapot also is just the thing for heating water for hot beverages.   We also have a handled Pot with a pour spout for boiling our raw goat’s milk.  (See Let’s Talk About Food in La Yacata)

Microwaves are bad for you anyway.  (See Electromagnetic fields & public health: Microwave ovensMicrowave Oven RadiationMicrowaves Are Bad For You: 5 Reasons Why Microwave Oven Cooking Is Harming Your Health)

I can still make cakes and cookies using a Whisk or Wood Spatula for mixing instead of a beater. It’s good exercise for the upper arms.

cam03040.jpgbaker

I make fresh bread in the oven with my bread loaf pan set instead of the bread maker, sometimes with my assistant baker. Again, a good upper arm workout!
cam04058-1.jpg

Salsas can be made with the molcajete. More arm exercise! When I need a real puree, I can connect the blender for a minute or so to the truck battery with the ac/dc Power Inverter.

We still have our refrigerator only now it’s a handy, dandy pantry for dry goods. We have fresh goat milk daily as well as freshly laid eggs, so we don’t need refrigeration for those. Our fruit and vegetables we buy weekly and eat fresh. We don’t buy processed food that needs to be in fridge or freezer. Anything that we have left over at the end of the day that won’t keep, we share out among our various animals.

cam04295-2.jpgcam04296.jpg

And we can still enjoy popcorn with our Popcorn Spinner Stovetop Popcorn Popper.

We love popcorn. It’s inexpensive, quick and healthy. It helps with the digestion, lowers blood sugar, has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer and a host more good things! (See Popcorn health benefits)

So, all in all, cooking is still possible without electricity.  And, in the worst case scenario, like if zombies invade Mexico and we are unable to procure gas for our stove, well, then we can cook outside with leña (wood) or use our little indoor fireplace. (See Chim, chimney)

Interested in learning more about cast iron cooking?  Check out my ghost blogger post at Backdoor Survival!

********************************

 

disclosure

14 Comments

Filed under Cultural Challenges, Electricity issues, Homesteading

Chat–The Chicken Cat

cam04048-1.jpg

Meet Chat, the chicken that thinks she’s a cat.

She has repudiated all chicken activities. She doesn’t scratch. She doesn’t roost. She doesn’t cluck. She doesn’t lay eggs.

She comes when I call Kitty, Kitty. She makes herself comfortable at night among the cats on the steps, actually sleeping with them. She marches inside to be fed. She allows herself to be petted. I won’t say that she purrs, but she seems quite happy with the attention.

The cats have accepted her presence and allow her idiosyncrasies as good friends should.

Yesterday, Devil, Licky, Angel, and Tiger went out hunting as all cats do. Being cats, they scaled the wall, slipped through the fence or climbed onto the roof to reach the great beyond. Chat does not have the same abilities and had, up until yesterday that is, stayed within the borders of the Flores mini-ranch.

Yesterday, the front gate was open and Chat made good her escape, probably thinking to follow her friends in a little hunting expedition.

And that was the end of Chat, the chicken that thought she was a cat.

***********************

Herbal Academy Online Courses
disclosure

4 Comments

Filed under Animal Husbandry, Homesteading