Flopsy's Big Surprise!

After a false alarm a month early, Flopsy finally had her babies. Surprise! She had three!

They are all girls. One looks just like Flopsy, one looks just like their dad, and one is black and white. How did that one get in there? It's been a challenge so make sure they all get milk, because there are only two places to drink at Flopsy's Cafe!

Luckily, a very nice family that loves dairy goats took all three sisters, so they can grow up together. Two red velvet cupcakes and an oreo surprise.

Planting Strawberries

Last year in my 4-h garden, I planted strawberries, blackberries, and tomatoes. The weather was cool and rainy all last summer, so the tomatoes didn't do very well, but the berries did great. I even won blue ribbons at the county fair for my blackberries and strawberries.
I've been having fun building boxes to display my soap, so I thought it would be fun to build planter boxes for my strawberries. I would have built planter boxes for the blackberries, but in Oregon you really can't tell blackberries what to do! I decided to make hanging planters to discourage bugs.

The planters were fast to make, using two 1x6 boards attached at a right angle with wood screws. The end is just a square with a hole drilled near the top to hang. I painted the ends like strawberries for a fun look.

Making Goat's Milk Soap

My goats give a lot of milk, so I am always looking for new ways to make good use of all their hard work. I recently found out how to make goat milk soap. It was fun and came out really nice

The only ingredients I used were my goat's milk, olive oil, and lye. I had to start with the goat milk frozen, so it wouldn't be damaged by the heat the lye produces. I had to buy the lye online. There are lots of different oils to use, but many make my skin itch, so I stayed with olive oil.
I started by putting the frozen goat milk into a large bowl and added the lye crystals. I stirred very carefully so it wouldn't splash. Once the lye had dissolved, I added the olive oil and started mixing with an immersion blender. After about five minutes the oil and lye saponify, which means it chemically changes into soap, and thickens into what looks like thin pudding. This is called a medium trace. It was then I could add fun ingredients. In the picture, I'm stirring in coffee grinds for a scrubby soap.

I carefully poured the soap into a mold. I use a PVC pipe lined with freezer paper. It will set up overnight, and I can slice it into fun round shapes. Since this is called the cold process method, the soap will need to cure for at least four weeks or more. It becomes more gentle the longer it ages. I'm excited to be selling my soap now in these cute little bags at a local farmer's market.

The Waiting Game

First, a goatie haiku:

Flopsy is pretty,
but she's as big as a house!
Kids are coming soon.


We are playing the usual early spring waiting game. Some of the goats have stopped giving milk, and some are still giving a little. Goats can give milk for 10 months of the year, but stop the last two months before they have babies again.

We had trouble this year getting everyone bred for spring babies. While some breeding sessions looked convincing, and all the best conditions were met, it seemed like nothing was working. We could have ordered expensive tests to know for sure, or just wait and see. So, we're waiting.

Coco Puff bit her date on the tail, so we're pretty sure there will be no babies from her. Jelly went to see a nice Toggenburg buck twice, but since she's giving more milk, not less, she's probably not bred either.

Ol' Mimzy waited until the last minute of breeding season to show any interest, and saw both a Nubian buck and a Boer buck. She's giving less milk, so that's a good sign, but we won't know more for another month.

Flopsy is simply huge! And, huge early. She went to visit a Nubian buck in October, then insisted she needed to go again in late November. She stopped giving milk as if the earlier session was a success. Maybe she just wanted to say "Hi" on the second visit. When Flopsy is this huge, she is resistant to getting up for anything, and sits under the feeder. The other goats know this and use her as a step stool or pillow.

Betty was our surprise this year. After two years of a cystic condition and no success with bucks, she seems to have gotten better, and had a successful breeding with a very nice Toggenburg buck. She stopped giving her mystery milk, and her sides are starting to show signs of life.

We think Flopsy's babies should arrive in March, followed by Betty's in April, and Mimzy in May. All this waiting and rubbing round tummies.

Chicken Pot Pie

We had some leftover chicken, so my mom taught me how to make a chicken pot pie. We used bread dough as the crust. It takes a little effort, but the result is awesome!


Bread Crust
3 cups flour
1 package quick-rise yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups hot water (about 120 degrees)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey

Filling
2 cups cooked chicken, cut in half-inch cubes
2 cups frozen peas and carrots mix
2 cup frozen potatoes O'Brien

Gravy
2 cups cold water
2 chicken-flavored bouillon cubes
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 tablespoon onion salt

Method
Prepare crust by mixing all ingredients together in a big bowl. Once well mixed, kneed with your hands 5 minutes, adding flour as necessary until you have a smooth ball of dough. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean towel and let it rise 45 minutes in a warm place.

Meanwhile, assemble filling ingredients and set aside. Prepare the gravy by placing all the gravy ingredients in a small pot. Heat on medium high stirring briskly with a whisk until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Once gravy has thickened, remove from heat and pour over filling ingredients. Stir to mix well and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.Once the crust has roughly doubled in size turn out on a well-floured bread board or counter. Divide into two parts, one about 2/3 of the dough and the other 1/3. set the smaller piece aside. Using a rolling pin, roll the larger piece out to a 12 inch circle and place in an un-greased, 10-inch glass pie dish. One inch of excess dough will hang over the edge. Add the filling. Roll out the smaller piece of dough to an approximate 10 inch circle and place over filling. Roll the excess dough back over the edge, twisting slightly to form a decorative edge. If desired, brush the top with a mixture of 1 tablespoon honey and 1 tablespoon hot water for a crisp brown top and bake for 30 minutes, until heated through. Allow to sit 15 minutes before serving. Serves 4 to 8 people.

Ideas Sprouting!

We had a great first meeting for this years 4H Young Entrepreneurs' club. I had to think of a new idea. Last year, I had do-it-yourself kits to make bubble gum, hand-milled soap, and artisan cheese. I like do-it-yourself kits, so I'm working on a d-i-y sprout kit and possibly sprouts already grown.

I found out that you can get as much nutrition in one ounce of sprouts as you would in three pounds of the full grown vegetable. I like that I would only have to eat an ounce of broccoli sprouts, instead of three pounds! I ordered some packages of seeds meant just for sprouting. I got alfalfa, and a salad mix of alfalfa, broccoli, and radish. My goats eat alfalfa because it's high in protein, and it helps them make tons of milk. Some sprouts like radish are spicy, and sprouts like broccoli have anti-cancer properties.


I followed some instructions on the internet of how to grow sprouts. They said to soak them in a jar overnight, drain out the water, and just wait. It mostly worked. After six days, my sprouts looked like their sprouts. but definitely not like the ones I see in the store. I found out from another site that they were overcrowded, and probably too cold.

I'm trying another batch now with just half the amount of seeds, and placing them where they will be warmer. I'm also looking for an edible fertilizer that I can add to the soaking water. Hopefully that would help the sprouts look tall and green! I will report back with my results!

Looking Forward to Fun in 4H in 2011

Even though it's just January, thing are starting to get going in 4H. It always seems like a lot of work to plan out a speech for Presentations, and new recipe for the Home Economics contest, and something new to sell for the Young Entrepreneurs table at Sunday Market.

I did try to do a bit of everything last year, which 4H seemed to like, and gave me an award for being an 'Outstanding First Year Member'. Wow! I got a medal for having fun! I like 4H!