OK sometimes common sense just has to kick in! We salted the hides and my darling Husband says the articles I have read says to stack them on top of each other. I say if you stack them on top of each other they won't dry. He says Cathy that is what it says can we follow instructions? ....
So the next day we are placing them on a piece of fence and putting that on top of the clothes line with him saying that is what it said to do, but it is not drying. I say You can't stack a bunch of wet towles and expect them to dry! LOL So now that we have that figured out, they are on the clothes line (litteral on top) and they are almost completely dry! YEA! then on to the next step. I will keep you informed.
On to other news, we planted a LOT of tomatoes for the fall garden today. We also planted some Bell Peppers. The fall garden is shapping up and so is the existing garden. Purple Hull peas are rippining up and looking great! The Egg Plant decided it like the irrigation being fixed and it is doing awesome too! So lots of good things happening at the farm.
Eggs, Eggs, Eggs..... soon we will have tons of eggs approx. 3 dozen a day! So if you want to get on our waiting list of receiving eggs each week give us a call! We already have approx. 8 dozen a week spoken for so hurry up and get your orders in!
I guess that is all for today. Check back with us and I'll see ya on the farm! Remember all this good food is for your family from ours with love!
Friday, July 22, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tanning Hides & Enjoying the fruits of our labors!
We raise grass feed beef on the farm and have had several steers processed. Although we have enjoyed the meat, we have also wanted to tan a hide from one of the cows. Not sure what we would get from this process. We are hoping that the process will be a fun learning experience. In the past we have had a lot of new things going on and one more thing just seemed too much, but we took the first step today!
When having the steers processed we requested the hides back and they said we would have to pick it up today before closing, so we did.
We have enjoyed raising the cows in a happy environment with their mothers milk and grass being the main diet. We did not have a problem with bring them to the processor and eating the beef. Everyone asks how can we pet and love an animal and then kill it for consumption and I give them the same answer that I give my (3 yo the first time we did this) 7 year old. If God wanted us to keep the animal he would have given us a girl so we could milk her and let her raise babies. God gave us a boy so that we could nurture our bodies. She is OK with this and understands the process, so it works well for us.
We have always been sad to seem them go, but understanding this is how a farm works. I did not expect to run through a sadden state when we started working with the hide. Seeing their colors and rubbing the salt on the hide was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. We started the process today and I decided that it should be a topic of the blog so that everyone can see the process and finished product! I don't know how much detail I will go into on the blog, but if you desire more detail please feel free to give us a call.
So how do you start? Well, my husband really wanted to do this project so he scan cyberspace until he found several articles about tanning. He compared them and studied the techniques and concepts. This is where we started, before we ever brought the cow in. Sometimes you try to be prepared, but sometimes things don't quite happen like you think they will. I will share the experiences and applications that we will use in this process with you as we go through it!
We are working on 2 at once, which maybe a good thing and may not we will see. The first step is to cure and dry the hide/skin. We had to find a location where the animals domestic (cats and dogs) as well as wild life would not get to the hides and tear them up. So we decided to use the old barn, that is basically storage for now. We cleared a spot and placed a sheet of plywood up off the ground on boxes. Then we laid the first hide flat on the plywood. After ensuring that the skin is flat and doesn't hang off anywhere or buckle around the corners, we placed salt all over the hide and rubbed it in. This will dry out the skin and create a firm/brittle skin with no moisture. We are unsure how long this will take, but the articles that we have read said anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks, one even said 2 months. So we will watch the progress and apply more salt where needed.
The excitement has begun and then the thoughts flood through your mind, and Alice's, what do you do with it when you are done? Alice figured out that Cow hide = leather and leather=BOOTS! Don't know if boots will be the end result, but we will see. Maybe just a very lovingly made pair of moccasins. I would like to make a wall hanging or rug out of one, so maybe the fact that it is two will be a good thing. Wish us luck and keep posted for progress!
When having the steers processed we requested the hides back and they said we would have to pick it up today before closing, so we did.
We have enjoyed raising the cows in a happy environment with their mothers milk and grass being the main diet. We did not have a problem with bring them to the processor and eating the beef. Everyone asks how can we pet and love an animal and then kill it for consumption and I give them the same answer that I give my (3 yo the first time we did this) 7 year old. If God wanted us to keep the animal he would have given us a girl so we could milk her and let her raise babies. God gave us a boy so that we could nurture our bodies. She is OK with this and understands the process, so it works well for us.
We have always been sad to seem them go, but understanding this is how a farm works. I did not expect to run through a sadden state when we started working with the hide. Seeing their colors and rubbing the salt on the hide was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. We started the process today and I decided that it should be a topic of the blog so that everyone can see the process and finished product! I don't know how much detail I will go into on the blog, but if you desire more detail please feel free to give us a call.
So how do you start? Well, my husband really wanted to do this project so he scan cyberspace until he found several articles about tanning. He compared them and studied the techniques and concepts. This is where we started, before we ever brought the cow in. Sometimes you try to be prepared, but sometimes things don't quite happen like you think they will. I will share the experiences and applications that we will use in this process with you as we go through it!
We are working on 2 at once, which maybe a good thing and may not we will see. The first step is to cure and dry the hide/skin. We had to find a location where the animals domestic (cats and dogs) as well as wild life would not get to the hides and tear them up. So we decided to use the old barn, that is basically storage for now. We cleared a spot and placed a sheet of plywood up off the ground on boxes. Then we laid the first hide flat on the plywood. After ensuring that the skin is flat and doesn't hang off anywhere or buckle around the corners, we placed salt all over the hide and rubbed it in. This will dry out the skin and create a firm/brittle skin with no moisture. We are unsure how long this will take, but the articles that we have read said anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks, one even said 2 months. So we will watch the progress and apply more salt where needed.
The excitement has begun and then the thoughts flood through your mind, and Alice's, what do you do with it when you are done? Alice figured out that Cow hide = leather and leather=BOOTS! Don't know if boots will be the end result, but we will see. Maybe just a very lovingly made pair of moccasins. I would like to make a wall hanging or rug out of one, so maybe the fact that it is two will be a good thing. Wish us luck and keep posted for progress!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Moving through the Hot Summer Months
July is starting with a BANG! In Brazos Valley we are in a burn ban so there were no fireworks, but Texas A & M and George Bush Library had a great Laser Show so that the celebration can go on! God Bless America.
Thank God for a wonderful country in which we can live the lives we are lead to live. We choose to live on the farm and produce good wholesome food! We are glad that our friends can be a part of the farm as well as enjoy the wonderful Nutritional food.
Well enough about my gratitude, now on to the information you have all been waiting for:
Garden:
The garden is growing and growing, we have black-eyed peas, purple hull peas, okra, and squash growing along with egg plant, tomatoes, and banana peppers that are producing. We have been offering baskets (1/2 bushel) for $10. Currently we are sold out for the baskets, but as new items are coming on-line we will add more shares to become available. All of our vegetables are $2.00 a pound, unless you belong to the CSA receiving a basket each week then it is $1.50 a pound. If you want to get on the waiting list to be the next to receive a basket give us a call or e-mail me!
Cows:
The cows are about to have calves! We have one due is July, this month, and another due in September. So if you want to come and see the new babies, keep posted for the birth announcements! Once born you can place a deposit for any bull calves that were born for future grass feed beef. The two steers that are currently spoken for are going to the butcher on July 19th.
We have a new cow that will be breed in August, so she can join the ranks of the other milkers. We are excited as this is the first cow that was actually born on the farm!
Chickens:
We have new laying hens that should start laying, YEA! This will allow us to keep up with the demand for eggs. We are excited about getting the new girls on-line.
We have also been raising chickens for our friends and ourselves. We are excited about how big the chickens are getting. The are looking so good. We are getting ramped up for processing day. We will have a day, September 17th, with all our friends to process our chickens that will allow everyone to have chickens in the freezer for the next 4 months. We will be looking at raising the next group starting in September, so if you would like farm fresh chickens please contact us by e-mail or phone.
WOW we have been busy and enjoying every minute. If you get an itch to stick your hands in dirt or plants some seeds, give us a call and we would be happy for you to come out and help on the farm! There is lots to do and it is always more fun with friends! We like to teach, guide, and work along side our friends. This is a community/family farm and we would like everyone to feel apart!
I am sorry it took me so long to update the blog, I will try to do better in the future, but as you can tell we stay pretty busy on the farm.
Thank God for a wonderful country in which we can live the lives we are lead to live. We choose to live on the farm and produce good wholesome food! We are glad that our friends can be a part of the farm as well as enjoy the wonderful Nutritional food.
Well enough about my gratitude, now on to the information you have all been waiting for:
Garden:
The garden is growing and growing, we have black-eyed peas, purple hull peas, okra, and squash growing along with egg plant, tomatoes, and banana peppers that are producing. We have been offering baskets (1/2 bushel) for $10. Currently we are sold out for the baskets, but as new items are coming on-line we will add more shares to become available. All of our vegetables are $2.00 a pound, unless you belong to the CSA receiving a basket each week then it is $1.50 a pound. If you want to get on the waiting list to be the next to receive a basket give us a call or e-mail me!
Cows:
The cows are about to have calves! We have one due is July, this month, and another due in September. So if you want to come and see the new babies, keep posted for the birth announcements! Once born you can place a deposit for any bull calves that were born for future grass feed beef. The two steers that are currently spoken for are going to the butcher on July 19th.
We have a new cow that will be breed in August, so she can join the ranks of the other milkers. We are excited as this is the first cow that was actually born on the farm!
Chickens:
We have new laying hens that should start laying, YEA! This will allow us to keep up with the demand for eggs. We are excited about getting the new girls on-line.
We have also been raising chickens for our friends and ourselves. We are excited about how big the chickens are getting. The are looking so good. We are getting ramped up for processing day. We will have a day, September 17th, with all our friends to process our chickens that will allow everyone to have chickens in the freezer for the next 4 months. We will be looking at raising the next group starting in September, so if you would like farm fresh chickens please contact us by e-mail or phone.
WOW we have been busy and enjoying every minute. If you get an itch to stick your hands in dirt or plants some seeds, give us a call and we would be happy for you to come out and help on the farm! There is lots to do and it is always more fun with friends! We like to teach, guide, and work along side our friends. This is a community/family farm and we would like everyone to feel apart!
I am sorry it took me so long to update the blog, I will try to do better in the future, but as you can tell we stay pretty busy on the farm.
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