Ohiofarmgirl'sAdventuresinTheGoodLand-where ya been? whatcha been doin

[lorihadams]

Hey darlin', sorry about the duckling....I agree, the salsa should be okay...maybe it was cause your maters were so big and juicy....those pics were a little obscene btw....I had some interesting thoughts run through my dirty little mind when I saw them.....

 

[Wifezilla]

When in doubt, add more lime juice.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

thanks ladies! i think i'm ok with the salsa. i added more acidic stuff so should be ok. just very nervous about any canning. yikes!

so more and more happening here.. but my stupid internet connection is all messed up. it will get fixed tomorrow but i have limited access...and apparently i'm using it to get in a fight with one of the meanies over on the herd site.... yikes! all i want to know is...since when did owning farm animals turn into some kind of elitist club? wow!

anywhooo....

Floppy, our last broody hen, hatched out 5 or 6 little lumpkins and they are popping around. all look great! i think we might have one white leghorn tho - they are some crazy chickens for sure.

and then it looks like Bianca the little white duck (formerly QA's slutty little duck, Snowy) is hatching a few more today!

apparently fall is the new spring.

its hotter than all hot out there so its an inside day. boo. i'll get the house shoveled out and get more maters done and heaven forbid, i might just get caught up on the laundry!

we got some great news... we'll be taking Vita, our Saanan, back to the breeder probably next week. its good b/c she's at the end of her big milking production curve - and she eats like a horse. and instead of us throwing her in with the neighbor's boer buck... she'll get a proper breeding.

we are so lucky that our breeder works with us. he keeps the kids and we get our gal back in the spring. it works out better financially for him - but we dont have to worry about her flopping over dead (she's a hard birther) and we dont have to over winter her. we hate to see her go but we know he'll take good care of her. and she wont be subjected to the stupid pigz anymore.

thats the news here. i'm gonna try and get one more thing done outside but its already a scorcher out there. better get one more iced goat-pucinno down before i head out
;-)

 

[Javamama]

A proper breeding... you know what I'm laughing about...

 

[keljonma]

so the salsa tasted good.. but it just made so much more than it said. i am/was afraid that it watered down the acid?? so i was supposed to get 6 pints but i got more than 8!!!

by the time i got everyone milked and in the house it had already sealed from the water bath. so i just left it and put the extra in the fridge. actually its pretty good.

they just pound in the "do the correct measurements" so much that i didnt want to mess it up.

and then in the middle of it i ran out of jars! and then that demon-possessed walmart makes you buys stuff you dont need... aaaghgh so $40 later.. and i almost forgot the jars!

I had the same experience with salsa - and just wb canned it with no problems.

I found that (locally) Cherry Valley Amish store charges the least for canning jars. Other than that, Family Dollar and Drug Mart in our area are still charging less for canning jars than the WM. Just a thought.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

ha ha ha ha ha ha heres the best part, javamama.... its not even gonna cost me $50!!!!

* screams with laughter and falls on the floor in hilarity *

we drop Vita off FOR FREE. the breeder takes and sells the kids for $400 - $700!!!!!

i was dyin to tell that SOMEONE his crappy goats couldnt stand in the winning circle with the breeder we know.. but you know how that goes.. i'm just muddlin right along with my looser goats and all. HA!

and no we dont want the $$ even if its a lot. we love our breeder and want him to do well. and we dont want to be in the business of selling goats for lots of reasons. while we might miss out on that $$ its a short term gain that wouldnt amount to much if we had to do all the work.

and you know how i am about birthin' the babies.. i'd die or puke or whatever and there is no way.

anydangway...... i'm sure i'm banned from the herds site now so i'm no even botherin to go back. and i cant get the window to open with this stupid connection! ugh!

so to that end - Javamama i'll reply to your hay question here if thats ok:

a lot of times you can go and look and get just a bale to two to try out. i've gotten free bales b/c the growers are so sure we'll be back. they are generally right. but since you dont have your goaties yet you can always ask:

1. if its been rained on
2. if its been stored inside
3. if its been from this year (some folks still have last fall's hay)

if you go and check it out it should smell like green heaven and be really flaky. its ok if its dryish on the outside but inside the flakes should be green, if its from this year.

 

[Javamama]

It seems like the blinders go on over there when it comes to our animals for SS purposes, as opposed to a business. Unfortunately it can really turn off newcomers, no matter which way they are wanting to go. Ah well, we aren't supposed bring stuff from over there to this site, so that'll be then end of my comments.
So glad we have this place

Thanks for the hay advice. There is so much to choose from up this way.

 

[FarmerDenise]

That sounds like a super deal about Vita. I would go for something like that also. Makes perfect sense to me, especially considering how you feel about the whole birthing thing
This self sufficient lifestyle is too much work as it is, and taking care of an animal that is not producing, just adds to the workload with minimal return (smooches are nice, but on a farm, everyone needs to contribute )

Those super hot days are miserable, we are do for some. We managed to not have our usual alotment yet this year.
You just spend your day doing the most important stuff in the cool of the morning and evening (if it gets cool in the evening) and checking on the animals all day to make sure they haven't keeled over in the heat.
This is when I fondly remember my cubicle days. If the super hot day fell on a day off, we would pack up and head of for the beach, where it is always much cooler. After a day of being wind whipped and beach combing, we would pack up all the goodies we gathered and contentedly drive back home, hitting the wall of heat as soon as we got past a certain hill, only to melt again.

We are do for a hot one today also, I better get back out there and get those waters filled with electrolite water

 

[ksalvagno]

OFG you are very lucky to have your goat breeder who worked out the deal with you. Especially if they have a good healthy herd. A quality, healthy goat farm who would be willing to work out those types of deals are so extremely hard to find. Any quality breeders around me don't offer those kinds of things. The ones with the problems and dirty farms would. That is why I ended up being a "breeder" and have my own bucks and a larger herd. Originally I was only going to have a couple girls with using buck services outside. But I do have to consider health issues with the alpacas. When I couldn't find a clean herd that would do that, poof, I'm in the goat breeding business. Actually is working out with the economy. My goat sales have been pretty good this year and I'm enjoying it.

 

[FarmerDenise]

I happened across that thread, since my goats are going to need "servicing" at some point, if I ever want milk from them. Ouch.... and I'll leave it at that.
OFG, you are fortunate to have your breeder. I think I'll probably contact the dairy, where I got my goats and find out if she'd be willing to breed my girls and what she would want/need from me. I am concerned about biosecurity, since I wouldn't want my girls to catch anything, but I am not too fussy about what the kids turn out, since I'll be selling them anyhow, possibly meat goats. I will definitely be looking for the cheapest way, but still wanting to keep my girls healthy. Hopefully I'll find a good deal, like you