her thoughts | KW Homestead

Category: her thoughts (page 8 of 21)

Farm Food Friday: Rooster, Potato, and Tomato Soup!

The great thing about this soup, is that we raised almost all of the the ingredients!

Let me start by saying that the photographs do not do it justice… And you are going to need either a huge pot or two pots!

Ingredients:

Bones and the partial meat of 3 teenage roosters
Lots of sweet potatoes
Lots of Irish potatoes
About 25 garlic cloves
2 quarts of cubed tomatoes
2 Large onions
Celery
1 pint of corn
Basil, parsley, oregano, garlic powder, jalapeños

Directions:

The first thing we did was butcher our roosters, and since that would take forever to explain, we’ll save that story for another time. We roasted and ate some of the roosters and left part of the meat on the bones for our soup.

We cooked the roosters in a large pot with water and a little salt to make the broth. We included all of the bones, even the feet (which had already been peeled). The next day is when we had planned to start the soup, and when we removed the pot from the fridge to de-bone the meat, we found that the entire concoction was gelatinous! Talk about good, healthy, fat! Even though these roosters were not fully matured and they are not a breed that is bred just for their meat, they had so much delicious fat on them!

Yummy, fatty, chicken!

Best broth ever!

I de-boned the meat and placed the bones in the crockpot so we could cook these down further and make bone broth.

Then we sauteed diced onions, the garlic cloves, and celery in some of the fat. The onions and the garlics were from my dad’s garden!

The rest of the fat/meat/broth jelly was added to the pot and it started to melt and become true broth again. We added some of our diced and frozen basil, parsley, and jalapeño from the garden and let this melt and mix together.

Next in was the corn.

A lovely potato medley!

Then we added the potatoes (all from our garden) and once the soup was up to temperature again, we added the tomatoes. The tomato mix we used was a frozen bunch of cubed Cherokee Purples, San Marzanos, and Black Plums.

Then we added more basil, some oregano,salt, and garlic powder and continued to let it cook until the potatoes proved to be done!

The finished product!

And then we ate it! Last night for dinner and today for lunch and tonight for dinner… This soups is one of our favorites so far!

.:.

Clipping Goose Wings (and a Big Honking Update)

April 1, 2015 / Emma / 1 Comment

A couple new goose updates here on the homestead:

1. First of all, we decided that utterly free-ranging geese was no longer something we wanted. Too much goose poop in random places (i.e. the carport or even the front porch) that always made me want to scream and then chase them around the yard in frustration. Also, the quartet was often found standing in the road and I don’t need to explain to you just how dangerous that is!

2. We started incubating 14 goose eggs a few weeks ago, but we’re not sure how things will go with them… (Explanation of why we’re unsure is below)

3. The goose nest that we once discovered was abandoned by all of the geese, so that’s a no-go!

4. We’ve built a new fence for keeping the geese confined. The fence moves every few days (just like their old home that now houses the pigs) and is lower (about 2.5 feet tall). The fence is made of cut cattle panels, that are able to be “stepped in” to the ground so we can change the shape and layout of their area whenever we come across any garden beds or plants that we need to avoid having in their space.

5. During the beginning of their renewed confinement, Audo somehow learned how to climb/fly over the short fence (which was weird since he is the heaviest one) and would escape any time he wanted. After clearing a couple of their favorite yard-nest spots of eggs, and after a few days of only Audo roaming around outside the fence, we discovered that Audo was laying eggs!!!!!!!!!

Which, of course, means that Audo is a female!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, we’ve been operating with the information that Audo was male this entire time, understanding that the rest were females.And now it seem that we might not even have a male at all! There are ways to tell that I will not go into here, but Google it and prepare to be freaked out if you are interested in knowing more about sexing a goose (yes, I did just write those words).

Audo’s femaleness might mean that all of our incubating is for naught, unless another goose has been a male all along!

6. The last goose update was actually meant to be the sole subject of this post, but I got a little bit carried away…

In order to keep Audo inside the fence, we had to clip her wings so she can’t catch enough wind to lift herself over the wire. Clipping a bird’s wings of is not what it might sound like to you (a horrible inhumane act that hurts the bird). Instead, it only involves catching the bird and trimming her feathers, not hurting her at all.

This video is a bit funny, actually, since we hadn’t clipped goose feathers before and we weren’t sure how Audo would respond. Watch and see how we did it…

Jason held her and I did the clipping of just one wing to keep her off balance and to make sure that her flying would be crooked if she ever tried to fly over the fence again. If you try this yourself, be sure to have tin snips to use as scissors, since the heavy duty shears and scissors I used really weren’t tough enough for goose wings!

.:.

Duckling House and Bedding

March 27, 2015 / Emma / 2 Comments

This video features our ducklings again!

Also included is an explanation of their house and bedding…

.:.

Welcome to Heaven: Meet the New Ducklings!

March 25, 2015 / Emma / 4 Comments

Today the new ducklings arrived at the post office, and we went to get them!

They were fantastic when they emerged from the box and very quickly started eating and drinking. They are very relaxed and literally the cutest things I have ever seen!

This video explains a little bit about them and the breeds we have…

Holy Duck: A Home for the Babies

March 18, 2015 / Emma / Comments Off

Spring is here and you might already know about our first batch of Spring babies… Our 30 Khaki Campbell ducks!

We kept them inside for a little while and after the weather became consistently warmer we decided that it was high time they got kicked out (they were smelly and so messy!).

We wanted to be sure to build them a space that was near the house so they would be safer and easier to feed and watch. We also needed their space to be sheltered and secure, so a perfect spot seemed like the carport! Mind you, once we finish the poultry brood house (posts about this forthcoming) most ducks and other babies will grow up in there!

We need a bigger space than before so they would have room to run and spead out, but we were limited by the carport space, which actually worked out well… 2 cattle panels (oh, how we love to use cattle panels!), folded in the middle at right angles made a great 8′ x 8′ space for them. These panels were covered with chicken wire to keep ducks in and sneaky bad guys out (foxes, raccoons, possums…).

The carport pen!

The dog crate that was their only home before, became the space where they could escape the wind and bask under the heat lamp.

Inside their cozy dog crate.

We learned quickly that they really didn’t care much about the heat lamp beginning around 3 weeks old and for the past week or two we haven’t been turning it on very often! The dog crate was surrounded with plywood and cardboard which act as walls, and covered with a blanket to keep in their warmth.

Not beautiful, but very functional!

The first few days they were outside we locked them in the dog crate at night to be sure they were warm and safe, but we’ve since realized that leaving the carport light on makes them safe enough and they really enjoy spreading out!

The entirety of the 8′ x 8′ pen was lined with large cardboard pieces to keep the floor of the carport from becoming too stained and gross, and the cardboard was covered with leaves, straw, and pine chips to absorb their pooping and bathing shenanigans.

In one corner of their pen their 5 gallon water bucket hangs, suspended by an old metal pipe. Nipples (plastic ones, folks!) hang from the bucket and we refill their supply by pouring in water from the top. Pretty easy! Underneath the bucket is a large metal pan with hardware cloth attached on top. This collects any stray water droplets (and there are a lot!) and keeps the rest of the pen from getting totally soaked. We have to dump this pan out every few days so it doesn’t overflow.

Water for the ducklings!

The flock, keeping as far away from me as possible!

We finished the cage off with bird netting on top, just in case. We doubted that any hawk would be audacious enough to fly into the carport to snatch baby ducks, but stranger things have happened and we wanted to be safe.

The ducks are 5 weeks old now, and they are really starting to get adult feathers. Soon they’ll be big enough to move out into the real world–just in time for ducklings-batch-2 to arrive in about a week-and-a-half!

.:,

Goose Nest!

March 11, 2015 / jason / Comments Off

We found a secret goose nest the other day, filled with 10 eggs!

The eggs were completely covered with leaves and partially buried in the pebbles and leaf mulch surrounding our front porch!

Goose nest right by the front porch!

The only reason that I noticed the nest at all was because China was laying in the leaves, totally flattened out as if she were dead. Since she’s usually very wiggly and noisy, I was surprised about how quiet and still she was! She didn’t move when I came close to her, and didn’t even blink. I watched to see if she was breathing, and I didn’t see any movement at all. I suppose she was holding her breath, but I was worried she was hurt (or worse)!

I even poked her with a stick and she refused to move.

I walked away to see if she would act normally once I left, and later I could see that her head was up and looking around. An hour later when I was back inside, I looked out the window to see her walking around the yard as usual.

That’s when I realized that she had to have been sitting on a nest! Geese will sometimes try to “lay low” by being still and quiet if they think danger approaches them and their nest.

When I checked out the nest I counted 8 eggs, and a day later there was 10!

Unfortunately the geese have not been sitting on them consistently (they trade off) so we don’t think they are viable eggs. But, we’ll see! Such an exciting springtime surprise, anyway!

First goose eggs of the year!

.:.

Spring Cleaning the Basement: Reclaiming the Space!

March 6, 2015 / Emma / 3 Comments

We recently just DEEP-cleaned the basement. And when I say deep-cleaned, I mean it!

Since the chicks lived down there for far too long and we finally just kicked them out, there was a lot of cleaning to do! They had kicked up so much pine-shaving-and-poop dust that we had to vacuum, spray down, or wipe down EVERY SINGLE THING in the basement, no joke. The Christmas ornaments that were hanging on the tree had to be dusted (it is another story entirely as to why we still had the tree up…), the ceiling had to be swept with brooms to clear it of “floof,” and every single plant was wiped down. Shall I go on…? Ahhh!

This took forever but we feel so great now that it is all sooooo clean down there. We even did some rearranging to get ourselves ready for planting, processing crops, and working in the kitchen down there.

The main hang out spce is now tree-free and ready for the ping pong table whenever we're ready to challenge each other to a duel!

The main hang out space is now tree-free and ready for the ping pong table whenever we’re ready to challenge each other to a duel!

We processed and placed the dried crops that were taking up so much of our work space, and we now have a work table free for crafts and other homestead necessities.

What an open space we have!

I am most excited about the kitchen, which has been super-scrubbed and the counters have been cleared off and made ready for dealing with any meats or food processing we plan to do. The dehydrator now has a permanent home and there is way more table space!

Downstairs kitchen!

And now for the big reveal… The bathroom. It was once a hotbed of chicken grossness, and now it is utterly clean and empty! Don’t be shocked by how much it looks like a torture chamber… It can’t help it… It was made that way! Clearly, it is unfinished and might remain so in order to use it for butchery or other activities like rinsing vegetables in bulk (it has a drain in the floor and we have a huge colander).

So clean (by dank and dark basement bathroom standards)!

It feels so great to already be ahead of the game on spring cleaning!

.:.

Birthday Reflections: Why I Love Living on a Homestead in the Country

March 4, 2015 / Emma / 3 Comments

Today is my 29th birthday, and I thought it would be a good (and fun) time to reflect on our almost 2 years in our house in the country…

These are just a few of the many reasons why I love living in the country on our homestead:

When the seasons change, you get to witness them in full color and bloom!
Our blooming Bradford Pear; Bolt loves the spring too!
Where else to have our wedding except on our own land?!
Our wedding.
That drive home from the city… When I leave the lighted ares of the world and finally get to the dark… Then I feel like I’m home.
Being able to use our land the way we want without anyone telling us otherwise. Gardens, animal fences, etc.
Growing cucumbers in the garden.

A yard full of chickens!
Having an entire fridge in the basement dedicated to chicken eggs, duck eggs (in the future), and beer.
Eggs and beer!
Having an entire freezer in the basement dedicated to venison.
Oh, meat!
Having all the animals we want without thinking about city ordinances, etc.
Those crazy geese!
Being able to explore all of the crazy, old outbuildings we have and search for treasures inside!
The awesome corn crib!
Having acres and acres of land to explore.
Walking in the woods!
Knowing that our children will have lots of space to explore, run, play,and grow.
Feeling like our project ideas are endless and boundless.
And many, many more reasons that cannot all be stated here…
Happy at home!

.:.

A Few Things You Maybe Didn’t Know About Pot Bellied Pigs…

March 2, 2015 / Emma / Comments Off

Since getting our pot bellied pigs a few weeks ago, we’ve already learned a lot about them: their behaviors, traits, and personalities!

I wanted to spend the time to let you know a few things that we’ve learned over the past while, perhaps including some facts that you might not have known…

Pot bellies are very smart animals, arguably as intelligent as dogs and sometimes as personable. That is why it has become more common in the U.S. for people to keep them as pets.
Although they are considered pets by many people today, they were originally domesticated 6,000 years ago as homestead pigs for meat in Vietnam and other Asian countries.
When kept in confinement (like a 16 foot x 16 foot pen like we have) they tend to poop in certain areas that they have determined are the farthest away from their food, water, and sleep area. We have seen our pigs leaving their shelter to walk over to the corner where their “bathroom” is. We also noticed that during transport, when we first got all of them, each one of them held their pee until they got out of the trailer/truck/car. They realized that peeing where they were sitting would be wet for them, so they decided to hold it!
Pigs! They’ve decided that their bathroom area is over by the aluminum-walled corner.See the poop?!
They sure can bite! I already knew that adult pigs could eat an entire person if they desired (especially the larger, standard-sized pigs), but I didn’t think that piglets would choose to bite as a defense mechanism! When we were catching them to bring them home, one of the piglets that I was holding chomped down on my upper arm, leaving a major scratch and bruise. Luckily I had on 2 layers of clothes or he definitely would have broken the skin!
Ouch! Dammit, piglet!
Male pot bellies have tusks, just like other pigs and wild boars, unless you get them removed when they are piglets (sounds painful to me!).
Gandalf’s glamour shot. If you look closely, you can see his tusks!
They reach sexual maturity at very young ages… Much younger than you’d expect! For example, our piglets are nearing sexual maturity! Males generally go through puberty at 3 months old and females at 3 or 4 months old. Often, breeding does not result in any litters at this young age, since even though their bodies are mature, they’re still not always fully functioning. And yes, they will breed with their fathers, mothers, or siblings unless you separate them! They definitely don’t have the same concept of “the incest taboo” that we do in the human world.
Pigs can be weaned anytime from 1 month old to 2 months old!
Pigs can eat almost anything, and since they are good at foraging and rooting for food, we’ve put their pen over a nasty patch of poison oak. They should dig up the roots and eat them before spring begins. Then we can plant corn there!!!

.:.

Wind and Winter Weather: Repairs and Shocks!

February 27, 2015 / Emma / 2 Comments

This has been an intense winter, as many of you know from first-hand experience!

We’ve had to make a few fence repairs from the wind, and “pick up the pieces” after winter storms came through and dropped inches of snow.

Here’s our adventure in picture form:

A few weeks ago we had a wind storm that blew gusts around 50 or 60 miles per hour. We never, in our wildest dreams, would have thought that the chicken fence would act like a sail and fold up onto itself like a fan:

Where’d the square-shaped fence go?

An airborne fence? Whoa!

Stupidly, for the most recent winter storm we didn’t prepare for a power outage at all. We over-prepared (is there really such a thing?) for the one before this last one, but not for this one!

Since we get our water from a well, our water doesn’t work when the power doesn’t. We utterly forgot to worry about this, and so when we woke up yesterday to find that our power was out, we realized that we had to find a way to get water for our ducks to drink. We decided that melting snow next to the wood stove was the best bet…

Jason scooping snow into “the bathtub” to put by the wood stove.

And we also forgot to remove the netting from the chicken pen to keep the snow from sticking to it…

The netting became so heavy with snow that it deformed the fence!

Luckily none of the netting ripped!

Yes, that’s a blanket of snow on top of our bird netting!

Even after all the cleanup and repairs we had to do, it still is lovely to have a blanket of snow on the ground. I’m still not sick of winter yet, not when we have views like this…

And of course, the geese were not phased by the situation at all and continued to bathe throughout the freezing temperatures!

They don’t look quite as white as they used to, do they?

.:.

KW Homestead

Pasture Raised Poultry & Edible Landscaping Plants Since 2013