Baby Rabbits

The babies bunnies are a week old today! Their eyes should open in three days and they'll probably start venturing out of the nest box in about a week. They are an American Blue/Champagne D'Argent cross.

Farm Additions

The last couple of months have been very busy and have resulted in several new faces around the farm.

the count currently stands at:

 

7 rabbits

9 ducks

5 guinea fowl

9 chickens

and our newest mouths to feed

Meet Wilbur and Charlotte the potbelly pigs 

and the four pygmy goats

Caesar

Pixie 

 

Toffee

Expresso

The pygmy goats are definitely some of the most fun animals on the farm. Toffee and Expresso were both bottle fed and follow me all over the yard as I tend to all the other animals. 

Sometimes they play king of the hill on Wilbur's back. 

Expresso is always getting into trouble.

Caesar and Pixie Hang out together

 

Apollo thinks Wilbur is an awfully funny looking dog

We also had baby rabbits born yesterday morning! I don't have any pictures because I don't want to keep bothering them in the cold weather. From what I was able to see there are at least four babies!

Homemade Soap Recipe

In my last post I talked briefly about making homemade soap. Let me just tell you that this project has already gotten a little out of hand. Since that post not only have I made several different types/scents of soap, I've also experimented with making lotion bars, lip balm, and dead sea salt body soaks. I think this may be Ashley's favorite project I have gotten caught up in since she gets to test all the products. In addition to the previously listed products I've produced over the last couple of weeks, I have several pages of handwritten notes and speculations about recipes for even more types of soap, body oil, effervescent shower disks, massage oils, clay masks, bath soaks, shampoo bars, milk baths, linen sprays, body butters, and sugar scrubs. Like I said, just a little out of hand.

 

Keeping all this in mind, we have decided to open an etsy store to sell the excess products that we don't use. If you're interested here's the link. Right now the only product we have posted is the lip balm. As we get more things packaged and labeled we will continue to add to the shop.

The original batch of soap I made turned out better than I expected. Other than the odd shape of the bars, it lathers well and most importantly smells good.

For the recipe I am giving you today, I wanted to make sure it had three specific qualities.

easy good lather made from readily available oils

There are several different ways to make homemade soap and each one has its own set of positive and negative attributes. However, the method we will use with the recipe is called the cold process (many times in soap blogs and forums you will see it referred to as cp). This process will allow you greater control over what goes into your soap, and also demonstrates exactly how the oils saponify.

Here are the ingredients you will need:

3.95oz Lye - also known as sodium hydroxide (this is marketed as drain cleaner at lowes and ace hardware. Just make sure you get a product with 100% sodium hydroxide).

10oz Distilled water

12oz Canola oil

8oz Olive oil

8oz Coconut oil

Optional: Essential or fragrance oil. (tea tree oil is easy to find at most drug stores)

Supplies:

Kitchen scale

Large microwaveable bowl

Heat resistant spatula

Heat resistant measuring cup

Food grade thermometer

PPE (chemical resistant pvc gloves and safety glasses)

Stick blender

Mold for your soap (an easy and cheap option is to use a pringles can that has been rinsed out)

***Measure each ingredient by weight with an electronic scale. They need to be as precise as possible for a successful batch of soap***

Before you get started be aware that lye when combined with water is very caustic and WILL burn your skin if you spill it on yourself or splash it into your eyes. Therefore it is very important to wear your PPE and if you do somehow get spill it on yourself keep some white vinegar nearby to neutralize the lye. Even though lye is caustic, it is completely neutralized during the saponification process and as long as your oil/lye ratio is correct you will end up with a completely neutralized bar of soap. If you want to check the ratio yourself, I like to use the lye calculator at thesage.com

The first step will be to combine the distilled water and the lye. ALWAYS add the lye slowly to the water. NEVER add the water to the lye. This can cause the lye mixture to bubble up and out of your container causing a chemical spill that you don't want to deal with. Remember that the lye mixture will burn you and makes for a not so fun soapmaking experience. I always mix the lye in the sink just in case of a spill to make for a less dangerous clean up. The lye mixture will quickly heat up and will give off some pretty noxious fumes. I usually set the mixture somewhere safely away from  my work area so I don't have to worry about breathing any of the fumes.

While you're waiting for the lye to cool, mix your carrier oils together in  the large bowl. Depending on the temperature in your house, the coconut oil may be solid. This isn't an issue because once all your oils are in the bowl, microwave them 20 seconds at a time until the oils are all melted and the mixture is between 100 and 120 degrees.

Many sources I have read say that both the oils and the lye need to be between 100 and 120 degrees when you mix them together. I usually just mix them when the oils are ready even is the lye hasn't cooled down as much. I have never had any issues doing this, however, you may find that this isn't the case for you.

Pour the lye mixture into the bowl with the oils and begin blending everything together with your stick blender. Be careful not to splash any of the mixture onto your skin or your clothes as this can cause painful chemical burns.

The mixture has begun to saponify at this point, and the lye has begin to be neutralized, however, this process doesn't complete until up to several days after the soap has been poured into the mold so still use cation when it comes to letting the soap contact your skin.

Continue mixing the soap until you reach trace. Trace is when the mixture is so thick that when you take the blender out, the mixture hold it's form instead of falling down to make a flat surface.

At trace, mix in the fragrance if you chose to add one according to the calculator at thesage.com.

Pour the soap mixture into the mold. Make sure to tap the molds against the table to make sure there are no air pockets.

After 24 hours you can take your soap out of the molds and cut it into bars

.

Your freshly made soap will need to air dry for at least four weeks to harden enough to use in the shower without disintegrating.

(If you're so excited that you can't wait the four weeks then it will be safe to use after two or three weeks. Just know that the bars won't last as long)

Soap

It's been a bit hectic these last few days. My better half left last week to work in Georgia for 6 weeks so I've been learning how to feed myself and do my own laundry in her absence. Haha I'm only kidding

The two eggs that my guinea hen has been sitting on hatched! One of the babies was trampled by mom as she thoroughly freaked out anytime one of the ducks even looked in her direction so I took it upon myself to "rescue" the other one. He is now living quite comfortably in a large plastic bin with a heat lamp on the kitchen table. Good thing I have the house to myself for another couple of weeks. I think I frazzle Ashley's nerves a bit with all the animals I keep allowing to live inside.

This is Godfrey. He spends most of his time running around like a crazy person and pecking at his reflection. The dogs think it sounds like someone knocking on the door and they've been going crazy non-stop!

I shouldn't be left home by myself for extended periods. I always end up finding some new project to work on or some harebrained experiment I want to try.  My newest project has been to venture into making homemade soap. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on about the subject and earlier tonight I decided to jump in feet first.

Looks almost like a delicious custard huh? I don't recommend eating it.

If it turns out well I plan on posting more on the subject later.

Bacon Fat

Wait! Don't throw out those bacon drippings!

If you're not using bacon grease in your cooking, you're missing out on good 'ole southern flavor. Most people seem almost disgusted when they hear me talk about cooking with bacon grease. What they don't realize is that back before everyone lived within 5 miles of a grocery store, people had to be resourceful. It was unacceptable to waste anything that could be reused or re-purposed.

So why save bacon grease?

For one thing it's very thrifty. Bacon grease can be used for almost anything you would use butter for when you want that smoky bacon-y flavor. If you cook a lot, butter is relatively expensive and if you're like me, anything you can save on your grocery bill is helpful.

Bacon grease is also a healthy fat. Don't believe me? Ask Google. You will probably be surprised at what you'll find.

Bacon makes everything better. That's just one of the simple truths in life. 

Here are my favorite ways to use bacon grease:

• Greasing a pan
• Cooking green beans
• Sauteing vegetables
• Scrambling eggs
• Making cornbread
• Making pancakes
• Cooking rice
• Adding to mashed potatoes (cut out some of the butter to make the proportions correct)

What are your favorite uses for bacon grease?

Seasoning Cast Iron

 

So you've decided you want to start cooking with cast iron. Great! You're on your way to beginning an exciting love affair with one of the absolute best ways to grill, sear, saute, blacken, bake, and even fry your food.

Cast iron cookware has been used for centuries for its versatility as well as durability. If you take care of your cast iron it will take care of you in ways that modern cookware just can't compete with. In addition to trace amounts of iron (a nutritional requirement for good health) being added to every dish prepared in it, cast iron can be moved from the stove top to the oven and back seamlessly which allows for a myriad of new techniques to be used when preparing steak, chicken, and desserts just to name a few.

Flea markets and Craigslist are great resources to find cast iron cookware at a discount. The majority of the cast iron I've purchased this way has been covered with so many layers of old seasoning that it looks corroded beyond repair. Fortunately, thanks to the durability of cast iron, I have yet to find one that cannot be cleaned up to look almost brand new. I even have one small 6-inch skillet I purchased that was made in the early 40's that I was able to restore to nearly new condition! 

There are several ways that you can restore and season cast iron cookware. I know of several people who have had it sand blasted to remove all the old seasoning and rust although I have never tried it for myself. It is also possible to take a copper scouring pad and, with enough elbow grease, scrub all the old seasoning. However, I have found this to be a tedious and exhausting process. The most efficient and thorough way I have found to remove old layers of caked on seasoning is soaking the cookware in lye. 

The process itself is very simple. First, though, you will want to have a couple of items on hand before you begin this process:

• Lye (can be found at Lowe's marketed as a drain cleaner)
•  Plastic container - I used a 3-gallon Rubbermaid tote with a lid 
• Heavy duty rubber gloves rated for use with chemicals 
•  Copper coated scouring pads 

Fill your plastic container with 2 gallons of water
Add the cast iron you're going to reseason
Add the entire 18 oz. of lye to the water 

The pieces I restored had spent the last couple of decades building a pretty thick layer of crud so I let them soak for 4 days. 

On the fifth day, I took the container to the kitchen sink and using the rubber gloves took the skillets out one at a time and thoroughly rinsed them out. Most of the grime rinsed right off but I still scoured everything with the copper pads and dish soap just to make sure i got off all the lye.

After everything was cleaned off I could actually see the manufacturer marks stamped unto the iron. Three of the skillets were older Wagner Ware pieces!

 

Once they were all rinsed, I dried them off and coated them with vegetable shortening. Next, I put them upside down in the oven and baked them at 400 degrees for an hour. When you turn off the oven leave the cookware inside overnight to cool. This puts the first layer of seasoning on your cast iron. You can use just about any form of cooking oil you want, however, most people I know use either vegetable shortening or some kind of rendered animal fat. 

 

The first thing I like to do with a newly seasoned cast iron skillet is to cook bacon. There are three main reasons for this.

1. I love bacon
2. Bacon drippings create a second layer of seasoning
3. Bacon grease can be saved to cook with later

Now that you have your very own newly seasoned cast iron skillet what are you going to cook first?

First Fall Garden

I am attempting my first fall garden this year. I have never done this before as I always thought of gardening as being a spring and summer activity. As it turns out, practically every vegetable that will grow well in the spring will also grow well in the fall! I live in the Piedmont region of South Carolina so the recommended planting dates for my area may be different than yours. If you want to get the best planting dates for your area refer to your local extension office website. They are a wealth of knowledge about everything from how to deal with garden pests to preserving your harvest.

For the fall garden, I am planting beans, cucumbers, spinach, radishes, collards, and kale. I am using the square foot gardening method for the first time and so far it is awesome! the square foot gardening method works off the premise that instead of planting in rows, smaller spaces can be more productive by planting each crop in a one square foot plot of a raised bed garden. I mixed a special blend of gardening soil to use according to the recommendation of Mel Bartholomew the creator of square foot gardening. The soil mix consists of 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 compost, and 1/3 vermiculite. This creates an ideal growing medium that retains plenty of water while maintaining good drainage. The vermiculite and peat moss help keep the soil loose and retain water while the compost provides all the nutrients.

Here are the beans sprouting five days after being planted

Here they are again after nine days

If you are also in the Piedmont region of South Carolina, here are the recommended planting dates for the vegetables I'm growing for the fall:

• Cucumbers - July 1-15
• Collards - July 1-August 30
• Pole Beans - July 15-25
• Kale - August 15-September 15
• Radishes - September 1-30
• Spinach - September 15-30

When planting the spinach and radishes, it is possible to extend the harvest season by planting at intervals during the suggested dates. If you are also using the square foot gardening method, here is the recommended spacing per square foot:

• Cucumbers - 2
• Collards - 4
• Pole Beans - 8
• Kale - 2
• Radishes - 16
• Spinach - 9

What's your favorite fall crop?