Welcome Fall...

Fall is a beautiful time of the year. One of my favorite seasons. The temperatures are starting to cool down and colors are becoming more vibrant. Pumpkin spice is on the minds of many with warm lattes and hot chocolate or mugs of apple cider to tempt the senses. Apple season is gearing up and I am looking forward to some organic apples this year from a small orchard in NC. It is very rare to actually find any fruit orchard or patch that does not SPRAY something toxic on their products. So I do my best to support such brave souls to take up these endeavors to feed us good and nourishing food. I am thankful.

Lots still going here, cow is milking about 3 gallons of Jersey fresh 100% grass fed milk daily. Getting ready to artificially inseminate her and see what the Lord will bless our endeavors with next Summer. Lissa is having a difficult time rebounding back from nursing her calf for four months.The calf is fat and robust but her momma’s weight continues to concern us. We are taking extraordinary measures to ramp up her groceries and keep her healthy and happy. We are working diligently to cut her production and reduce her milking to once a day to reduce the stress on her body. It is happening slowly and we pray the transition will go well. Any time you leave milk in an udder can provide an environment for mastitis so we are watching her very closely.

Our goats on the other hand are doing well. It is breeding season here so we will see what we decide to do. One doe failed to breed last year so we will try one more time and if we fail again her future here will be short. Our other doe has produced four kids in two years, sadly three bucks and one doe. Hopefully if we breed this year we will finally get tow does. Time to change our buck here so we will be selling all the males. We have two buck kids, one yearling and one wether. As well as the “herdsire”. We did not register these goats with the ADGA but they come from “papered” stock. We do not show our animals and goats are not endangered to the point of counting every single one of this breed so I rather just go unpapered. According to The Livestock Conservancy they are recovering. Here is the link for your information on the breed. https://livestockconservancy.org/heritage-breeds/heritage-breeds-list/oberhasli-goat/

We have 23 baby chicks in the barn. We decided to try and raise some Black Australorpes. They are supposed to be one of the more productive breeds of chickens. Come Spring hopefully we will have some fresh eggs from these ladies. The rest of our “fowl” barely earn their organic feed so hopefully these ladies will pick up the slack. We have sold our breeding flock of turkeys and are taking a rest for the Winter. Not sure if I will pick up a new breed or not. But time will tell…

Our New Zealand rabbit doe gave birth to four healthy little bunnies. We had another doe and a buck but unfortunately they just could not manage the SC heat and both became ill and died. The one doe is strong and healthy so she is good stock and a keeper. New Zealand rabbits are a meat breed and we desire to add rabbit to some of our meat sources around here. We will sex the group soon and set aside any females and process the bucks at 12 weeks which will put us around Thanksgiving.

Our two Berkshire female pigs are getting huge. The plan is to process them in late Fall. These bubbas are drinking a gallon of milk per day along with their organic rations and we give them quite a few gallons of clabber per week. So nice healthy pigs we certainly have. Sadly our processor cannot do the processing to some time NEXT YEAR so we will be home butchering these ladies. It is getting harder and harder to feed yourself these days. But God ALWAYS provides a way. Learning the skills of humanely slaughtering your own animals is no more just for the “few”. If you care about your health and cannot trace your food then you have to sooner or later head this direction. We continue to strive to learn so we can prepare these future generations to fend for themselves.

Our have been roasting our own organic Peruvian coffee for some time now. I need to ramp up my production and start offering it from the Farm. It is quite delicious! To add to my lists of undertakings I also have been blending my own Proprietary blend of organic tea as well. I decided to start drinking White Peony tea, it is real tea from the Camellia sinensis L bush because of the wonderful therapeutic benefits and low caffeine. After much research I decided to begin the Art of Blending my own tea. So after some trial and some error I have worked out a blend that is pure deliciousness. So I start with organic whole leaf White Peony tea from Frontirer Co-OP, I add organic hibiscus, organic rose hips, organic rose petals, a touch of organic lavender, a touch of organic spearmint and a touch of chamomile. We add a teaspoon of raw local honey to our mugs and sip and enjoy our nightly blend after evening chores. It is so relaxing and I think I am going to try and offer this tea blend from Farm.

Well Farm followers thank you for listening to my updates and ramblings. I do appreciate your time. I know we all have limited amounts of it and we are commanded to redeem it so thank you for stopping by! Please if you get on Social Media I do have a Facebook Farm page and a Group on there called Einkorn Lovers Group. Feel free to stop by and look at what we are doing in that realm. Happy Fall!

Einkorn Pineapple Upside Down Cake

INGREDIENTS

• 1 ½ cup (180 g) All-Purpose Einkorn Flouror 1 cup (96 g) Einkorn Wheat Berriesground to whole wheat flour

• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

• ¼ teaspoon baking soda

• ⅛ teaspoon salt

• 8 tablespoons (113 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan

• ¾ cup (150 g) sugar

• 2 large eggs

• ½ cup (122 g) whole milk yogurt

• 14 ounce of fresh or canned pineapple chunks

• 1/4 cup pineapple juice from pineapples

• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch square pan. Cut a piece of parchment paper 7-inches wide and place in the pan, creasing at the bottom of the pan and allowing the rest to hang over the edges. Lightly butter the parchment paper. Arrange the 14 ounces of pineapple chunks on the bottom of buttered parchment, sprinkle with the brown sugar.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. In a bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium-low speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Add ¾ cup (150 g) of sugar and mix on medium-low for 1 minute, until the butter is whipped. Add the eggs and mix until just combined, scraping down the sides and the bottom of the bowl. Detach the bowl from the mixer.

4. Fold half of the flour mixture into the egg mixtures. Fold in half of the yogurt, then add the remaining flour and finish with the yogurt until just combined. Add in the pineapple juice yo thin batter down a but and give a burst if pineapple flavor.

5. Pour the batter into the baking pan covering the brown sugar and pineapple chunks.

6. Bake for 37 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

7. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then invert the cake on a serving dish. Carefully remove the parchment paper and serve.

8. Store in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Recipe adapted from Carla Bartolucci’s book Einkorn upside down blueberry cake.

Classic Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake ingredients:

3/4c (150 g) EVOO, plus more for greasing the pan

1 1/2 c (180 g) Einkorn All purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 c (80 g) raisins

2 cups (256 g) packed , grated carrots (from 3-4 large carrots)

2 large eggs

3/4 c (155 g) (packed) brown sugar

1/2 cup (60 g) slivered almonds

Cream Cheese frosting

8 ounces (225 g) cream cheese, room temperature

6 tablespoons (90 g) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar

Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a round or square 9” cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together the einkorn flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger.

In a blender, combine the oil, raisins, and 1 cup of the carrots. Puree’ for 1 minute until carrots and raisins are chopped.

In a bowl of a stand mixer, add eggs and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the brown sugar and increase the speed to high. Beat for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Using a spatula, fold half of the flour mixture into the sugar mixture and when it is almost completely absorbed, fold in half of the oil mixture. Repeat. Fold in remaining 1 cup carrots and slivered almonds, then pour into prepared pan.

Bake the cake for 55 - 60 minutes until the tip of a toothpick comes out entirely dry and the cake has started to pull away from the side of the pan. Place pan on a cooling rack to cool for 30 minutes, then invert cake on a rack to cool completely.

Make the frosting:

Add the cream cheese to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add butter and beat for an additional 1-2 minutes until smooth and creamy. Sift powdered sugar and add it to the bowl. Beat for 1 minute. You can cover the frosting tightly and refrigerate for up to two days ahead. Let soften to room temperature before using.

Assemble the cake:

Place cake on a 10” cake plate. Spread 3/4 to a cup of the frosting on top of cake. Spread the remaining frosting on the sides and serve immediately. The cake be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and serve chilled.

Recipe courtesy of Einkorn by Carla Bartolucci

Summer slowly winding down...

Greetings Farm Followers,

Summers in SC can be exhausting! We have lived here for over nine years now and between the high temperatures and awful humidity it can become quite a struggle. Now I have lived for several years in Florida, ten years in northern Alabama so I am no stranger to southern weather, but this year it has been very challenging for sure. Between the rain and relentless humidity I can say cooler climates have their appeal.:-) Enough complaining! Let’s get some updates!

Lissa our Jersey milk cow has done really excellent in learning how to be a milk cow. I am completely comfortable with her (not less aware) of the dangers of any large animal. This is her first lactation so we are not seeing extremely large volumes of milk, the calf has been weaned so her output on a 100% grass based diet is about 3 gallons per day. Her creamline has greatly improved and from all reports her milk tastes great. Her udder is maintaining good health. My one concern is her weight, she is too thin and my concerns are that since she came from a “grass-based” dairy which grains heifers and cows at the stanchion she is not fully thriving on 100% grass forages and supplements. The Vet will give her a checkup and we will make sure no health issues have appeared like worms or parasites of any sort. Then we will give it some time and make a decision as to how to proceed. If she needs a grain supplement we will seek other pastures for her. Right now she receives supplemental grass hay, fermented alfalfa, soaked timothy grass pellets and all the minerals she needs ala-cart. I am not a fan of beet pulp products. Jersey are notorious for “milking off their back” so we are watching her carefully. She is happy and healthy enjoying her days grazing and sunning chewing her cud otherwise.

Our flock of rare breed chickens seem to think that laying eggs whenever they feel like it is acceptable. Of course extreme heat and humidity affects all life but they are surely “milking it”. I will be bringing a more dependable egg layer into the flock this Fall.

Our cross breed turkey poults are growing nicely. Looking forward to how they will turn out come Thanksgiving. The adult Narri hens think they need to brood everything. We put golf balls in our coop to keep the snakes from eating our eggs and they will sit on those golf balls for days on end. I have to down right escort them out of the coop just to get some food and exercise. They surely are some great brooders!

Our Oberhasli goats are doing well. Our one doe who had two little bucks in May is getting ready to wean them. They will shift pastures in September and join the others. I will be selling off all of the males in the next few month. So if anyone is looking for an Oberhasli buck let me know. Message the farm. They are not registered, but come from registered stock. The two little bucks are horned but the two other bucks are not. (Well the scurs fall off periodically) Disbudding bucks has always been a difficult job. Our sweet Vet in Alabama worked so hard with our goat herd but nevertheless for the most part scurs developed. So I decided not to disbud the new bucks. If they get too rambunctious we can always glue Kongs on them.

Our two Bershire gilts are growing nice and fat from their organic feed and Jersey milk. They drink on an average about 1-1/2 gallons of milk per day. Hopefully we can send them to the processor in late Fall.

Our New Zealand doe gave birth to four baby rabbits yesterday. She is a first time mom and so far she seems to be doing a good job. We pasture our rabbits so they are in movable pens with nesting boxes built in. Once the babies are weaned we will move them to a grow out pen. Lord willing, they will all survive and provide some good protein here on the farm.

And for one last update I have decided to offer organic fresh roasted Peruvian coffee and organic tea blends for sale. I have been roasting my own coffee for a few years now but this is an area that I see a need of locally. There are quite a few coffee roasters but rarely are they truly organic. Same with tea so I am determined to do the best job I can selling these niche items from farm to those of like mind. Check the Farm Store page for update.

Thanks for reading my Blog post. I do appreciate the encouragement and the contributions.

New turkey babies!

Greetings farm followers! Our Beltsville Small White hen decided to set some eggs. We raise two breeds of turkeys here on the farm. The Beltsville Small White and the Narragansett. We do not separate our turkeys so I am sure the little turkey poults are crosses. Nevertheless the poults are here! So far we have seven that have survived. The hen is still setting a few more and we have placed three in our incubator. We have separated them from momma hen and will raise them in chicken tractors. We really do not have a safe place for baby turkeys or chicks so the nursery in the barn works best. When they are old enough we will put them outside and raise some for Thanksgiving and perhaps part with a few. Here are the adult birds below.