Zombie Tomatoes!

We had warm weather in March we thought would last. We bought 36 little tomato plants. They mostly interesting heirloom kinds like Purple Cherokee and Hillbilly.



We planted them upside down, which I don't think they liked. We had some extra black tubing for drip irrigation and we hung that over the top of the pots because tomatoes like lots of water. Well, they got lots of water, but not from our drip tubing.

As soon as we got everything set up, we got several hail storms! Then it was cool and rainy for a month. the last straw came with hail in May! They aren't exactly dead, but I don't think they will make tomatoes either. Maybe they are zombies and will eat us instead of us eating them. Ahhh!!

Milk and Honey Cake

This is my new favorite cake to make. It's easy to make and I can use the milk from my goats. I even made this for my mom on Mothers' Day!

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup fresh goat milk
6 tbsp light olive oil
1 tbsp vinegar

4 tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. prepare a small bundt pan with cooking spray and flour. Combine flour, sugar, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Separately, combine milk, oil, vinegar, and honey, then add to the flour mixture, stirring to mix well. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until center is firm. Cool well before removing from pan. Serves 8-10.

I put a lemon glaze over the top:

1 cup powdwered sugar

1 teaspoon lemon extract

3 teaspoons water

Place powdered sugar in a small bowl and add the lemon extract. Add the water one teaspoon at a time, stirring in between spoonfuls, until the mixture is smooth and forms a thick but pourable glaze to pour over the warm cake.

I also made this cake for a cooking competition in 4-H. We were to make a recipe using foods from the Northwest. My goat milk is of course produced in the Northwest, and I used some local honey. I won a blue ribbon! Here's a picture of me talking to the judge.

Peak Week!

Dairy goats usually give milk for about 10 months. The first 2 months, they increase the amount they give, then slowly decrease.

Last week, our high producer Jezebel, has been hitting her peak milk production. Her record so far is 9.2 pounds of milk in one morning, and 15 pounds for the whole day. This equals a little over two gallons per day, and makes about 2 pounds of cheese. Flopsy has been producing well too. She tips the scale at a little over 10 pounds per day, or a gallon and a half, but boasts a magnificent 7% butterfat content. Mimzy and Coco Puff will reach their highest numbers in a another month, and Betty gives just one quart of her mystery milk, but at nice 5% butterfat content.

We couldn't resist taking Jelly's picture after all her hard work! What a good goatie!