Well it has not been that long that we have had fresh goat milk...and it is even better than I had
imagined!
I have known the great benefits of goats milk for a while but honestly had not put them to the test, or tried goats milk before getting my own goats. The goat milk is rich and delicious on its own, the health benefits of raw goat milk is amazing, but there is so much more that the goats milk can be used for.
Last night we have made goat cheese for the first time. It was a pretty basic recipe, but that has made me want to try to make more cheese. Maybe we will try mozzarella next. We mixed the cheese with herbs and it turned out so good! It was rich and creamy and delicious. We also made butter that was awesome and so easy! This has made me so glad we got the goats, it made me love them even more (if that is even possible!)They are such sweet, friendly creatures!
Next we are going to try our hand at making soap with our own goats milk and own our bees wax from Ric's Bees!!
It is so exciting to know that the cheese you use,you made and produced , from milking the goat, and actually making the cheese to testing the final product!! It makes everything you do more exciting and worthwhile.There is nothing quite like creating something from start to finish! It is rewarding, and taste so much better!If you have not tried raw goat milk, I recommend that you do!I think you will be pleasantly surprised! I was!
Help! I think I am addicted to farming! The more we get into this, the more excited I get. In the beginning, it was a small raised bed garden, then we discovered the joy of canning...so you KNOW the garden had to get bigger! Then, what started with a few small chickens for eggs has blossomed into so much more!
The couple of bantams we had led to regular sized chickens. I mean bigger eggs for baking and such made sense, right? That went so well we decided to get some meat chickens, to have our own fresh, farm raised chickens...yep 25 of them! FYI, it takes a while to process 25 chickens the first time! Thank goodness for a friend who coached us through it all! Then we decided, hey we should get a hive of bees! They would make the garden do so much better, and the honey?...Bonus!! Next, we looked into goats, they were so cute, and if we got a small breed of dairy goat, we could have fresh milk, cheese, butter and soap.Aa couple wouldn't be too much trouble. Well, say hello to our 8 goats! Yep, you heard me right, 8!! My girls are awesome, they are so sweet, the milk is awesome and I am so glad we got them.
So they led to, get ready for this, turkeys! Yes, turkeys. We are now the proud owners of 3 full grown turkeys and 1 turkey poult, that is about 6 weeks old! Not to mention, one is sitting on a few eggs, ok 14 eggs, but who's counting! I love the gobble noise they make, and I enjoy watching them! Not to mention I hear the eggs are good for baking! I can't wait to try them!
So, that should be it right, well um..no! This weekend we are getting another new addition that I am so excited about, and hopefully another type when spring rolls around! I will fill you in later on another blog. The point is, its addicting! A lot of work? Yes! But it is worth it! The hard work, to see the fruits of your labor, the knowledge and entertainment you get from all the animals! Knowing what your eating, it's great! Some people think I have gone off the deep end, but the more we do, the more I want to do. I enjoy building the pens, putting up fences, canning my own tomatoes and gathering my own eggs! It is such a great feeling to pull a chicken from the freezer for supper and know the work that went into it, and it tastes amazing! It is addicting, satisfying, and I love it! Where will this all lead, I have no clue...but keep an eye out, you never know what's next!
