Homesteading: The Filly, the Freeze, and the Sourdough Experiment
By: JGM
Summer is almost upon us, although here it still feels more like spring. Some big jobs have been accomplished, while others continue to languish. Such is life on a farm.
The biggest news is that yesterday we welcomed a healthy filly out of our homebred mare, Tantra. She is a lovely buckskin, or perhaps a bay. At this point, only color testing will settle the question. If she moves as well as she looks, I suspect she will be a keeper.
Our mare Caranja, whom we have owned since she was a filly, is now nineteen years old. Although we have scaled back our breeding program, we are not quite finished. Caranja is due as well, though I am not sure how many more foals she has left in her. One or two, perhaps, if we are lucky. In total, we are expecting two more foals this month.
I have been riding at least one horse, and often two, every day. That is a considerable investment of both time and energy, which means some of the less essential chores around the farm have been pushed aside. There are only so many hours in a day.
The garden, however, is thriving. Garlic harvest is just around the corner. The kale has gone absolutely crazy, although I have not frozen any yet, which is entirely my fault. The squash is already producing. Carrots are up and looking good. The basil has finally sprouted. I plant it later in the spring because otherwise it simply refuses to cooperate. We have been eating a lot of beet tops, which I sauté with garlic and squash - very tasty with a b-b-que! The tomatoes are growing well, and there are already tiny green fruits hanging on the vines. We have enjoyed plenty of lettuce, cilantro, and spinach, although the spinach has now surrendered to summer.
I am most proud of my Apios americana plant, which already has lots of ground tubers growing. This is also called the American ground nut and a favorite of native Americans in this region in times past.
The Apios also has a wonderful flower and is quite the specimen plant.
Unfortunately, Virginia was hit by an almost unheard-of late freeze near the end of May. It wiped out nearly all of the young fruit across much of the state. So, although all our trees and we have about 60 fruit trees, look great - there is very little fruit this year.
Our blueberries and blackberries escaped and should produce exceptional crops, but peaches, apples, plums, and cherries are another story altogether. The damage has been severe enough that the Governor has petitioned the federal government for disaster assistance. It will be a lean fruit year for many growers.
I have been on a sourdough bread-making kick in recent months. Robert has decided that sourdough agrees with his digestive system better than other breads, so I set out to learn how to make it efficiently. It has taken the better part of six months to develop a system, but I think I finally have it figured out and can now reproduce the results again and again.
I expand the starter and make enough dough for fifteen to twenty loaves at a time. I know crazy, right? Then, I go through the process of kneading, proofing, etc., which is labor- and time-intensive. It also uses just about every mixing bowl in the house. Then I divide it all into loaf-sized portions and freeze them. When we need bread, I simply pull out a dough loaf, let it thaw overnight, shape it, allow it to rise a bit more, and bake it.
I also dehydrated a large quantity of starter for long-term storage. Once the frozen bread supply is gone, I can simply rehydrate the starter and begin again. The result is that I can do one concentrated burst of bread-making and then largely forget about it. Aside from occasionally baking a loaf, there is very little maintenance required. So far, it has worked remarkably well.
For the next batch, in a couple of months, I will write up a photo journal on my adventures in making sourdough (trust me, there have been mishaps) as a homesteading article.
As I write daily, ride daily, entertain guests, travel, and help maintain a busy farm, anything that reduces routine maintenance is a welcome development. I think others might appreciate the idea of making a lot of dough at once, then freezing. Plus, I have found a number of little shortcuts in making sourdough, so stay tuned for that.
This week we had visitors staying in the guest house. Our friends, Taylor Ferber and Rob Nelson have been visiting for the week. Robert and I both have a tendency to work, work, and then work some more, so having friends in town gave us a good excuse to step away from our routines and enjoy ourselves a bit.
We had several excellent meals at local restaurants, including Patty O’s, which holds a Michelin Selection in the tiny town of Washington, Virginia. The same owners also operate the Inn at Little Washington, located next door, which is a three-Michelin-starred restaurant. While there, we unexpectedly met up with our friends Nina and Colby May, which is always a pleasure.
We also spent plenty of time cooking together here on the farm and fired up the grill more than once.
One day we went ziplining. Another day Taylor and I did what women occasionally must do and went shopping for clothes.
Now, I do not always drive fast cars. In fact, I am quite fond of my Ram 3500 dually. But when I do drive a sports car, I prefer a Porsche. For those who do not know, my husband maintains a long-running and entirely unapologetic love affair with fast and vintage automobiles.
On the poultry front, we now have three peababies hatched, with more on the way.
A funny thing is that the peacocks (below is a young male) are fascinated by the little chirps that the babies make. Soon after the above birds hatched, this yearling bird below wandered into the office to come gander at the babies in the incubator.
The video below: Robert and I gently herding the boy outside…
The older little one that imprinted on me remains thoroughly convinced that I am its proper parent. It has no interest whatsoever in spending time with the younger birds and still prefers riding around on my shoulder whenever possible.
We also ended up with two turkeys, which have now been moved to an outdoor pen and have become surprisingly calm. In another ten to twelve weeks, they should be ready for processing. I never look forward to that day, although it is part of raising your own food.
The chickens continue to lay and lay and lay. I am constantly making dog food with the extra eggs, finding ways to use them ourselves, and giving cartons away to friends. We feed the hens plenty of scraps, and I must say that laying hens are truly God’s gift to the farm. They turn leftovers into breakfast with remarkable efficiency.
Mowing season is now in full force. Our friends have even been lending a hand, with Rob Nelson, who grew up on a farm, helping bush-hog some of the back pastures. Until the summer heat finally shuts down the rains, usually sometime in August, mowing and weed-whipping are never-ending chores, particularly since we do not use herbicides. As a result, Robert and our farmhand are already putting in long hours on both the tractor and the zero-turn mower.
As for the division of labor, I occasionally bush hog, but I rarely mow. Robert, on the other hand, spends far more time on the tractor than in the vegetable garden. The garden requires watering several times a week when the rain does not cooperate, plenty of weeding, and a steady stream of planting and maintenance.
The cows have not been bred yet, although I have had a veterinarian out to begin the process of artificial insemination. With the horses, we do this ourselves, but breeding cattle this way is new territory for us. We will be using sexed semen, which is somewhat less viable, but the increased likelihood of producing a heifer makes the extra effort worthwhile. In the dairy world, bull calves simply do not command the same value.
As foals are born, mares must be bred also. As always, there tends to be more than one “yahoo” moment when dealing with 1200-pound hormonally motivated animals, with 100-pound babies running around underfoot. All must be carefully controlled, so no one gets hurt.
As I write this, a gentle rain is falling outside, which means I am temporarily excused from watering duties. But there is always another task waiting. The peababies have outgrown their box, so today I need to move a stock tank into the house and set up larger accommodations for them.
It is going to be a busy day. Robert will be taking our friends to the airport, and I will be hauling Jade to another farm where a trainer from Portugal is working with several students.
The partners in crime:
When I ride daily, I always have company - the three amigos don’t actually want to be in the arena with me (too boring). Yet, spend the entire time peeking under the gate - making sure I don’t go anywhere?
So with that, I bid you all farewell for the day. The farm is calling, the horses are waiting, and the peababy is undoubtedly planning her next attempt to turn my shoulder into permanent real estate.
Jill, your weekly missives about farm life warm my heart, bring a smile to my face, and cause me to thank the Lord for both of you with prayers for blessings, stamina, health and safety!
Sounds like a very busy and productive life! Love to hear the homestead stories.