What's Happening at Patchwork Acres?

Our last pregnant goat finally gave birth yesterday to twins!  Seems like the poor thing was pregnant forever.  Mama and babies are doing well and we'll start bottle-feeding in a couple more days.  

It's been so rainy, cold and chilly this last week!  Last Saturday my family and I left the Saturday morning farmers' market early because of the cold.  There were only 5 vendors and about that many customers.  Three more weeks to go and the markets will be over until we start going to the once-a-month winter market in St. Louis, which we are looking forward to.

I do have Christmas shows that will be starting soon, so I have lots of goat milk soaps to make and wrap.  In fact, next week I'm attending a planning meeting for one of my Christmas shows.  I have a new scent, Magnolia Magnifique, to add to my list.  If you like florals, you'll probably like this one.  I have shaving soap in the molds that I will take out once I finish blogging and checking email. 

Speaking of blogging, I attended an Agritourism Celebration this week and one of the speakers talked about using social media for advertising.  She said that blogs are supposed to be updated 2 or 3 times a week.  I guess that means I'm a bad blogger because I don't update my blog that often.    Anyway, about 95%  of the meal was locally grown foods and the chef did a wonderful job preparing them!  Delicious!!!!  Go local foods!

I have a new passion!  I bought a mountain dulcimer yesterday from a local man.  His price is so reasonable.  Better than buying on the internet and again it was from someone local, who I'd rather support any day.  It was the last one he had in stock.  So now he'll have to make more for the next customer(s) who want one or two.  Oh, it is so gorgeous! It's made of sycamore wood, which is a light, multi-colored wood.   I could hardly wait until after supper so I could sit down to start learning how to play.  It is so easy and so much fun!!!!  I used an electronic tuner to make sure it was in tune.  Let me tell you, that was so easy to do.  Traditionally, mountain dulcimers, or lap dulcimers, are played with a quill.  Since my son has a stash of feathers from one of our farmers' market vendors, I asked him for one.   It works as well as a plastic guitar pick, which my daughter is loaning me until I get back to the music store to buy some picks for myself.  I'm eyeing several (5 or 6) dulcimer music books on internet, so once I buy them, I should be set on PLENTY of music to play.  The only thing else I could really use is a music stand so my music can be directly in front of my at about the same height as my dulcimer on my lap.  This will make it easy to look back and forth between the music and the dulcimer.   Hhmmm, will have to add that on the list next to the guitar picks.  

My daughter and I have also joined the local Cat Ranch Art guild.  I know some of the members and 2 in particular have been trying for while to get us to join.  We attended their Cat Ranch Round-up two weekends ago, where we sold soaps and I demonstrated spinning on my Babe production spinning wheel.  People were amazed that I was spinning wool on a wheel made of PVC pipes and a wheel chair wheel.  So since my daughter and I are both artist, creative types, and we "caved"  haha! and joined the guild last week.  The folks we have met so far are really nice and very encouraging of everyone's talents.  And the Guild is already planning on next year's Cat Ranch Round-Up.  It's going to be bigger than ever, with lots of activities and music, and most important, the members artistic creations will be on display and for sale.  Stayed tuned for more info!

I have to go now and wash dishes and then I'm going to make mozzerella cheese because I have lots of goat milk now.  I made mild feta cheese for my husband and yesterday it was ready to eat.  However, he likes marinated feta, so I put in several jars with Italian dressing.  Once it sets for several more days, it will be ready to eat.  As long as it stays covered with the oil, it will keep indefinitely.  As least that's what my recipe book says.  Marinated feta never lasts long enough around here to know for sure how long it will keep!  

Until next time.

No Time for Slacking!

Well, one farmers' market will soon be over...one more market day until late next spring.  There will be a market "finale" next week.  I'm taking along my spinning wheel and will demonstrate spinning wool into yarn.  There will be face painting and pumpkin decorating for the kids, an apple pie contest, and strolling musicians.  Should be fun.  My other two markets will continue for another month or until the produce is gone.  

But, that doesn't mean I can slack off.  No way!  Christmas is only months away and I have craft shows/events still to come after the markets close for the winter.   I joined a once-a-month winter farmer's last year and it will be starting soon.   My family and I are looking forward to attending again.   My soaps continue to sell, which means my inventory is quite low right now and I have to keep at it...making and wrapping soaps.

I washed sheep wool yesterday.  The fall brings along several events where I spin wool into yarn.  I haven't bought commercially prepared roving in quite a while since I was given 4 HUGE  bags of wool.  But I have to make time to pick it out and wash it so it's ready when I need/want to spin.  Sometimes I'll card the wool with my drum carder, but lately I've been using my hand cards.  People like to see that, as well as the spinning.

And I need to somehow find time to work in the garden, plant some fall veggies I bought, pick peppers and make pepper jelly.  Not enough hours in the day!  Maybe I should give up sleeping.  LOL!

It's been a mostly dreary, humid, sometimes rainy week.  I washed laundry this morning, but had to use the electric clothes dryer instead of my "solar dryer".  It rained this morning and it's so humid the clothes wouldn't dry anyway.   The humidity hasn't allowed me to wrap any soaps this week either.  It doesn't affect the soaps that are already wrapped, but the ones that not wrapped yet are damp.  That's a good thing in that it tells me my soaps are doing what they're supposed to do....be moisturizing.   Once the humidity level goes down, I'll be able to package the soaps.  Or I could wipe them off with a paper towel and wrap them anyway.  I did that earlier this summer and it seemed to work okay.

This coming weekend I have two events to attend.  Saturday is Marquand's Pioneer Days and Saturday & Sunday is the Cat Ranch Art Guild's Art Show.  I'll be there on Sunday.   At both events, I'll bring along my spinning wheel and sheep wool to demonstrate spinning and my family will sell my soaps.  I hope someone has funnel cakes for sale.  They are one of my favorite treats!

Better go for now.  Have to fix supper early as the kids have their 4-H meeting this evening.

Canning, Soap Making, Baking Bread, and Knitting

Had a busy week last week.  I've started baking bread to sell at the farmers' markets along with my goat milk soaps.  So I spent last Tuesday baking until it was time to leave for the market.  Wednesday morning was another market.  Afterwards I drove to my parents' farm and picked up 3 boxes full of green beans that Daddy had picked earlier in the day.  I put in them in the freezer and finished that job around midnight.  

I spent 5 hours Thursday at the shop where repairs were made on my Durango.  To pass the time, I finished a pair of hand knit socks for #2 daughter and started on another pair.  I have lots of wool socks now, so I thought I'd knit a pair to sell at one of my craft shows this fall.  While at the Saturday morning farmers' market I was telling an acquaintance of mine about this pair of socks and she wants to buy them.  She doesn't care what color or pattern I make them; she just wants a pair of socks that I knitted.

I canned a double batch of spaghetti sauce, as well as a double batch of salsa last Friday.  I didn't have enough spaghetti sauce to fill the last jar, so I made spaghetti and meatballs for supper tonight, along with 2 baguette shaped loaves of artisan herb bread.  The French chevre goat cheese, seasoned with Ranch seasoning, that I made was delicious on this bread.    I ate some on my sandwich at lunchtime, too.  

We're getting lots of goat milk right now, and I have another batch of French chevre sitting until the morning, when I'll drain it and put it in the freezer.  Hubby is patiently waiting for me to make feta cheese.  He really likes the marinated feta.  Timewise, I won't be able to make that particular cheese until later in the week.  I think we need to seriously consider buying an ice cream maker to make home-made ice cream with all the milk we're getting now.  The goatie girls are really producing!!!  Hubby is milking three right now, and we're still waiting for one of the does to give birth anytime.

Tomorrow is Market Day.  I have a batch of artisan herb bread dough in the fridge and will bake it tomorrow.  I have an order for 2 loaves of that bread.  I mixed up another batch of sourdough refrigerator rolls and they are in the fridge until tomorrow morning.  I plan to bake a double-batch of the garlic dinner rolls since they sell out quickly, just ahead of the sourdough rolls....which are wonderful with another vendor's honey spread on top!

I was finally able to make soap today!  Yeah!  I made Smokey Patchouli goat milk soap...not my favorite; and a new scented soap....Magnolia Magnifique.  I wasn't sure what to expect other than it was a floral, but it smells really nice so far.   Have more soap making to go as I'm out of Lavender, Frankincense & Myrrh, plain lye soap, and low on other scents.

Well, it's my bedtime, so I'd better get off of this computer.  I have a busy day tomorrow baking breads and rolls. 

Time is Flying!

Well, here it is September and I haven't posted for over a month!   Hubby and I took #1 Daughter to airport 3 weeks ago and she is now living across the country in the Desert Southwest.  

I've canned lots of pepper jelly, a few tomatoes, and a batch of spaghetti sauce.  Not much else is doing really well in my garden except for the jalapenos.  Speaking of which, it's time to pick them again, and then make more jelly.

My 2 younger kids started a new school year 3 weeks ago.  And  since this coming Monday is Labor Day, they'll have a day off and so will Hubby.  We were thinking of visiting Elephant Rock State Park for the day, but I guess we'll wait and see.  May just grill or smoke something here and enjoy the day at home.

I had a tour at our small farm this past Monday morning.  It was fun!  Four moms and their 2 year olds came out to see the baby goats.  I had the babies' milk bottles ready so the tots could feed them.  First off though, the goats were in the woods and all came to the barn when I called, except that they left the youngest baby goat in the woods by himself.  So I hurried out to find him and he followed me back to the barn.  He was the most playful and the 3 little girls and 1 little boy could hug and pet him; and he followed them all around the barn and the field.   The moms took lots of pictures.

I'm trying something new for two of my three farmers' markets.  In addition to selling my soaps, I made home-made breads and dinner rolls this last week.  I sold everything but 2 breads at the Tuesday market.  Of those two,  I gave one away and the other one sold at my Wednesday morning market first thing before I even finished setting up.  That night I searched the internet and found some sources for bread bags and bought 2 cases.  Guess that means I have to bake breads now so the bags don't go to waste.  Ha, ha!  I recently bought a new Artisan bread book and it has lots of great recipe ideas.  In fact, I made couple of the breads in this book and sold them at the farmers' market.  I have some Deli Rye Bread rising right now and will bake it later to go with our supper.

I've been so busy lately that I haven't been able to spend much time knitting.  However, I had to take my vehicle into the shop this morning and I did finish a dishcloth.  Something mindless to work on while waiting.   

I haven't been able to make soap lately, but I finally made a batch of Black Raspberry-Vanilla.  It seems to be the "It" fragrance this summer.  It will be ready to sell before the market season is over.

The kids are home from school now, so I should go and get their snacks ready.

Dog Days are Coming

The dog days of summer are soon to be upon us.  After a cooler than usual July, the weatherman says it's finally going to be our normal hot and sticky Southeast Missouri summertime weather.

I made 5 half-pints of Jalapeno Pepper Jelly last Friday.  There was 1 large red pepper and it was hot enough that I'll have to label this batch of pepper jelly "Medium hot".  I was able to eat it, but I don't think I'd like it to be much hotter.  I don't like to cry when I'm eating or for my mouth to be numb.

Yesterday my family and I picked almost 2 bushels of sweet corn from my parents' garden and I put 11 quarts in the freezer.  That will be yummy later this fall/winter.  We also picked cucumbers, tomatoes, and eggplants.  Now it's time for me to can tomatoes, salsa, and spaghetti sauce.  I have a recipe in my canning book for Red Tomato Jam that I'd like to try.  I'm curious as to what it tastes like and it would be something different from "normal" jams.  Will post about that later. For now, I'd better start the smoker.  I'm making smoked pork steaks for supper and then I have to pick tomatoes in my garden and get busy canning.

July is Almost Over!

I can't believe that July is almost over and my kids will be going back to school is 2 weeks!  Since I last posted, Daughter #1 graduated from college and will soon be moving across the country to Arizona.  Daughter #2 spent a week in North Carolina with our church's youth group on a Servant Event.  The next week Hubby had to have an emergency appendectomy.  And the week after that the kids spent with their grandparents who live 3 hours away from us.  They really had a great time with them and with all their cousins, who also spent most of the week with Grandma and Gramps.  

While the kids were visiting their grandparents, I picked some wild blackberries to make a cobbler for our son after he and his sister were back home.  He loves blackberry cobbler and blueberry pie!  He enjoyed every bite.

In between all of that, I finally finished making the soap I needed to fill a large customer order.  And my goat milk guest soaps are now being carried by Eggers and Co. Bed and Breakfast near Perryville, MO.  They also have some of my regular-sized soaps in their General Store.  Here's their website:  http://www.eggersandcompany.com/   Now I need to replenish my own soap stock, as I am out of 2 of my more popular soaps.  

We finally received some much needed rain last week and again last night.  Several days ago we picked green beans and put them in the freezer and probably need to pick them again.  Tomatoes are finally coming on and after I go pick them, I should have enough to can a large batch.  Tomatoes seem to be ripening slowly in this part of the country.  At the farmers' market that I manage, one of our regular tomato vendors came to the market for the first time this year last Saturday.  It may be time to pick jalapenos again and make more pepper jelly.  I've almost sold out of what I made for the farmers' markets.  If you've never tried jalapeno pepper jelly, it's really good!  I wasn't sure if I'd like it, but a friend gave us a jar last year and the whole family enjoys it.

The 4 goat kids are growing fast!  They've had their vaccinations and have had their horn buds burned off.  We don't mind the goats having horns, but most people don't want horns on their goats.  Two more does should be kidding in another month or so.  Yeah!  Goat milk to drink and to make cheese, yogurt, buttermilk!

On a knitting note, I bought 2 books from Interweave Press' "Hurt Book" Sales.  I couldn't really see any damage on my books, but I got a great deal on them.  One book is about how to plan and knit a gansey sweater.  There are lots of stitch patters to choose from.  That's on my "next project" list; but first I have to finish the socks, which are almost completed, and the lacy, red, cotton cardigan for Daughter #2 before I start another project.  I usually have a couple of projects in the works, but I don't like having too many going on at the same time.   The other book is about Estonian knitting.  Very interesting with patterns, history, and ideas for knitting projects.  

Well, I'd better hang out my load of laundry and then take a walk through the garden and see what needs to be picked.  Until next time!

Goat babies, pepper jelly, soap, knitting

My son's goat gave birth 3 weeks ago to beautiful twins!  Another buck and doe set of goat babies.  They were born sometime in the early morning hours as they were already clean and dry by the time we made it to the barn for morning chores.  

I picked a gallon of jalapeno peppers yesterday morning and I made a double batch of Jalapeno Jelly.  I made another double batch this morning making a total of 23 half-pint jars.  Mmmm, it tastes delicious on cream cheese and crackers!  Most of the recipes I looked at called for a combination of red and green sweet peppers with a few hot peppers.  I wanted to use all jalapenos.  So in order to do that, I had to use liquid pectin, which I've never used before.  It's a bit more costly than the powered pectin and my canning books said the two were not interchangeable.  Anyway, the recipe was really simple:  jalapenos, sugar, cider vinegar, and liquid pectin.  And if my pepper plants keep doing so well, I'll be making a lot more pepper jelly and selling it at my farmers' markets.

Several weeks ago, my hubby, son and I put together a portable garage for our new hay shed.   It seems to be much better than the cheap blue tarp we used last year to cover the hay.  Hubby decided to put metal screws in at all the joins to make absolutely sure it stays together.  Now it's time to fill it up with hay.

I made a batch of Green Irish Tweed (type) goat milk soap today.  It's one of the scents to fill a customer order.  I have 3 more batches to go and this order will be filled.  One batch of soap for the B&B is ready and the other will be ready tomorrow.

I've been so busy lately that I haven't had much time to knit.  I took the time this weekend to start a red cotton lace cardigan for my younger daughter.  It's going to be beautiful when finished, hopefully in time for school this fall when the weather starts cooling down.  I'm also knitting her a pair of socks made from a wool, bamboo, & nylon yarn.  The Scottish lace shawl that I knitted for most of a year for my older daughter is finished except for sewing a small border seam together, washing, and blocking it.  Hopefully I will complete it before she leaves for AZ.

Hmmm, guess I'd better bake a dessert and get supper started because Hubby will be home before too long.