Florence has twins

 

Florence, one of our nanny goats, gave birth to twins last week. We had been expecting triplets. Florence was enormous around the waist and she had previously had two sets of triplets. This time the babies were twins and they were enormous. Mother and babies are doing well.

More free goat food

 

One of my near neighbours trimmed the ivy on the back of his house recently. When he saw me in the street, he flagged me down and asked if I wanted the trimmings for the goats. Of course I did! 2 dumpy bags filled with fresh leaves - it took the goats two days to munch their way through them.

Stocking up

 

At last, the weather forecast is predicting rain. This coming Tuesday, storm Floris is expected to bring gales (not welcome) and rain (very welcome). Some rain is also expected tonight. After months of near drought conditions, hopefully we will get plenty of the wet stuff. It has meant however that I have been out to gather in a huge quantity of willowherb, which grows in abundance but which the goats love. I have no desire to get a soaking so best pick it before the rain arrives.

Triplets expected but when will they arrive?

 

Florence is looking enormous. Triplets are expected but she is not in a hurry to give birth. She surely can't hold on for much longer? 

Dandelion visits the Whinnies Wanderers

 

Another week and another visit to the Whinnies Wanderers Parent and Toddler group in Sunniside where I take along a goat to be petted by the children. Yesterday it was the turn of Dandelion to make an appearance. I will be back again next Wednesday.

Growing mushrooms

 

We had a go at growing mushrooms recently, with limited success to start with. When we moved them, suddenly they mushroomed overnight! I tried them out in an omelette. This worked well and also helped us to use a few of our vast supply of surplus eggs.

Stuffed marrows

 

A friend gave me 5 surplus marrows last week. Marrows are great stuffed with mincemeat (we used pigeon meat of which we have a large quantity). One marrow will feed both of us for three days of dinners. Not bad.

Blackcurrant ice cream

 

Another successful crop this year for us has been the blackcurrants. So far we've used them in fruit liqueurs and pies. We had lots of the pie filling left over so we turned it into ice cream.

First chutney of the year

 

This is the first chutney of the year. We have a good crop of rhubarb, some of which has already been made into jam and pies. Rhubarb chutney is easy to make and lasts well. Great on cheese.

Very pregnant Florence

 

Florence, our boss nanny goat, is very pregnant. She is carrying at least two, if not three kids. This would not be unusual for her. We didn't breed her last year but in 2023 she had three kids, as she did in 2022. She is a fantastic mother despite being a bit of a bully towards the other nannies. Two years ago, one of our other nannies rejected her two kids and Florence adopted them. With five mouths to feed, we had to help her out by bottle feeding the five kids, as well as letting them all suckle from her.

My expectation is that she will give birth on Friday. Her milk sacks and udders are bagging up but she's not quite there yet.

Using up eggs - blackcurrant meringue pie

 

Our egg glut continues so we made another meringue pie. Instead of lemons for the filling, we used blackcurrants. This is something else we have in large quantities. The pie was a success and we made a tiny inroad into our egg mountain.

New fan club for the kids

 

We took our two new goat kids to the Whinnies Wanderers today. It is a parent and toddler group based in the Whinnies Community Garden in Sunniside. The children loved them! The kids now have a new fan club.

How to make cherry brandy

 

I have started making preparations for the competitions at the Bowes Agricultural Show in September. First up - fruit liqueurs. I need 3 different liqueurs, one gin based, one vodka based and one other (we've gone for brandy). We picked some cherries in the local park recently so these have found their way into the brandy. The video shows how we make cherry brandy.

Beech trimmings

 

One of my near neighbours had their beech hedge cut back earlier this week. I fed the goats on the trimmings for two days.

Growing kids

 

One of the goat kids has taken a shine to one of the water troughs!

Using up eggs - French fried toast

 

Our egg mountain continues so in an attempt to use up some of them, we made French fried toast. This is very simple to make - slice of bread soaked in beaten egg and then fried. The ketchup was homemade as well.

Children and goats don't mix well!

 

I was asked recently by the Whinnies Wanderers, a toddler group based at the Whinnies Community Garden in Sunniside, to bring along one of our goats to their gathering on Thursday last week. I took Nettle and we settled down in the corner of the garden. Shortly afterwards I realised that the choice of a fully grown goat was not so good. Though some children were happy to stand next to Nettle and pet her, many of them kept their distance. It was hardly surprising looking back on it. Nettle is twice the height of some of the children! Next time I will take goat babies rather than goat adults.

Goat feed windfall

 

A strong wind recently stripped lots of apples from local apple trees. This windfall bounty consisted of small fruit that had a few weeks to go before it would otherwise be ready for picking. The goats loved them.

And then there were 2

 

Penny was proudly lying down this morning with a baby next to her when I arrived this morning to feed the goats. She was chewing the cud but got up to have her feed. I assumed she was just having one kid. Though I was very happy she had had a baby, there was a hint of disappointment. The baby was a billy.

But when I came back at lunchtime, another baby had been born and it was a girl. Penny is our best milker and I was wanting her to produce a nanny to add to the milking herd. So well done Penny, great result!

Lemon marmalade

 

We don't grow lemons - hardly a suitable crop for the weather in North East England - but we do use lemon waste to make marmalade. The peel is used to make marmalade. Nothing wasted.

How to make ginger tea

 

We are into the jam making season. One of the jams we've made is rhubarb, apple and ginger. We use fresh ginger which needs to be peeled. We waste nothing so the peel is used to make ginger tea.

Guest chicks

 

Whinnies Wanderers are a group of parents and pre-school children based at the Whinnies Community Garden in Sunniside. Earlier this week, they invited me to bring some of our recently hatched chicks for the children to see. The good news is that they want me back next week. I will be bringing a goat instead!

First jam of the season

 

We are now entering the jam making season. First off the blocks was rhubarb, apple and ginger jam. This is one of my favourites and is easy to make: same weight of apple and rhubarb with a bit of fresh ginger to taste. Boil and then simmer. Once the fruit is pulped, add sugar - same weight as the rhubarb and apple combined. Bring to the boil and keep on a rolling boil until setting point is reached.

Lovage and potato soup

 

We have quite an abundance of herbs at the moment. Given the large amount of lovage, an the problem that it never lasts long, we made some lovage and potato soup to which we also added fennel, oregano, thyme and sage. The problem we have now is that the store of potatoes is very low. We probably won't have any beyond the end of June and the new crop is struggling to grow, given the almost complete lack of rain during the spring.

Meringues

 

Our egg mountain continues so we recently used some egg whites to make meringues. The yolks had been used to make ice cream. The meringues were a first attempt for us. I was rather pleased with them.

2nd batch of chicks

 

The second batch of chicks this year hatched over the weekend. The hatch rate was lower than the first batch a few weeks ago. Then we had 13 out of 17 hatched and survived. This time it was only 8 out of 16. Nevertheless, the chicks now had a foster mum, a broody hen which has been sitting on fake plastic eggs for the past few weeks. Mother and chicks will be moved shortly to the chick run.

Spanish omelette or Tortilla Española

 

Spanish omelette or Tortilla Española - yet another attempt to use up some of our egg mountain. We also added bacon to the basic ingredients.

From eggs to ice cream

 

The egg mountain continues but we found a useful recipe to turn egg yolks into ice cream. It went rather well with apple pie.

Rhubarb pie

 

Despite the lack of rain, we have a bumper rhubarb crop. Time for a rhubarb pie.

Egg and bacon flan

 

We still have a big egg mountain so here's another egg based meal - egg and bacon flan with roast potatoes. Alas, though our egg mountain continues, we are about to run out of last year's potato crop.

Two month dry period ends with a shower

 

We had no rain from 22nd March to 22nd May. Admittedly there were 5 moments of slight drizzle during those 2 months but that didn't even dampen the dust. Since 23rd May, the weather has been a bit more unsettled. So we have had enough to spot the damp on the ground and to soak my deck shoes (see photo below). 

You can see in the photo above, taken of the allotment car park, the rain has been enough to dampen the ground. It may be enough to percolate into the ground but don't count on it. We are due a bit more rain over the coming week. We certainly need it to get the grass growing for the hay crop. We also have a potato crop that needs rain as well. Perhaps I need to do another rain dance!

Wool sacks

 

The byproduct of shaving the sheep earlier in May was a big pile of wool. We have no use for it. We typically give some of it away to allotment keepers and gardeners but we always have plenty left over. Recently we posted on local Facebook pages that we were giving the wool away. We discovered that local stables use wool and they took the lot! Problem solved.

Another egg recipe

 

Our egg glut continues so we've made custard to use up some of them. It goes well with apple crumble.

Eating her greens

 

Crystal, the lamb we are having to hand raise, has started eating solids, mainly weeds and grass. This is good news as we are able to start reducing the amount of milk we give her. She was on 6 bottles a day but is now on 5. Once she is weened, we will take her back to the farm and put her in with the rest oft he flock.

13 chicks

 

Two of our Buff Orpington hens went broody a few weeks ago so we collected up 17 white leghorn fertile eggs and put them into the incubator. Three weeks later, 15 chicks hatched though one died in the incubator. The chicks were introduced to the two broody hens to be foster mothers. This went well except one of the chicks died. The brood is now well established in our former quail house and the chicks are growing rapidly. 

Meanwhile we have another two Buff Orpingtons gone broody. The are currently sitting on fake eggs while 16 Rhode Island Red eggs are in the incubator. Hopefully lots more chicks hatch in just over a couple of weeks.

Bottle feeding

 

We were hoping to repeat last year's success in lambing by not having to bottle feed any of this year's lambs. Alas, it was not to be. This lamb - named Crystal - by some local children, was rejected by her mother so we are having to bottle feed her. She gets 3 feeds a day, polishing off 2 bottles each time. Fortunately she has started to eat grass and leaves, though it is early days at the moment.

Eating the trimmings

 

One of the local residential homes cut back their hawthorn hedge recently and phoned me to ask if I wanted the branches and trimmings for the goats. I'm not one to give up an opportunity for free fresh food. The goats enjoyed the feast.

Egg curry

 

The egg glut continues. Egg curry was a useful way of using up some of the surplus. In this meal we went further. We had egg fried rice as well!

Sheep shearing

 

In previous years we have sheared our sheep ourselves. It has normally taken us a week to get the job done. This year we decided to buy in the service. A friend (who is also a professional sheep shearer) offered to to the shearing at a competitive price.

So, on Friday evening we rounded up the sheep into the goat paddock (see video above) and this morning we set up a pen and got the sheep into it in time for the arrival of the sheep shearing equipment. It took less than 45 minutes to do the shearing. With the current dry, hot weather, the sheep no doubt were pleased to be relieved of their coats.

Sheep shearing video below.

Chicken liberation day

 

Today the avian flu restrictions that required birds to be caged came to an end. At last the chickens can go free range. I filmed this video this morning. Notice how some of the birds headed straight for the compost heap, rich in bugs and worms!

The egg battle continues

 

Our hens are continuing to lay eggs at a rate faster than we can use them or give them away. So we have continued to have egg based meals. We've also trawled through cookery books looking for interesting recipes. Anyway here are three more egg dinners we've had recently. Above - scrambled eggs on toast.

Yorkshire pudding with baked vegetables.

Egg curry with egg fried rice.

Tractor envy!

 

We have been using a rotovator recently to plough up the top of field one so we can plant a potato crop. It is a long and arduous task. Imagine the envy we felt when we looked over the hedge to the next farm where a giant tractor was ploughing up in seconds what was taking us hours to do! Here's the video!

Creating a market garden

 

We have put aside about an acre of our farm to create a market garden to grow fruit and vegetables. The grass here has not been ploughed in living memory so getting the rotovator to bite into the earth was something of a challenge.

Egg recipes

 

Our hens started laying late this year. Normally they start around New Year. This time they started around the end of February. They are however making up for lost time. We now have an egg mountain which seems to get bigger by the day. We are trying every egg recipe going. Above is that old trusty dish - an omelette.

Above is a savoury bread and butter pudding which conveniently used up some of our goat cheese and breadcrumbs.

Flan with chips (made from our own potatoes.

There will be plenty more egg recipes coming up!

First lambs of the year

 

We have our first lambs of the year, 2 girls.

Plum brandy

 

We made this plum brandy last year and left it to mature over the winter. Very pleasant. The plums will be stoned and then go into the sweet mince we will make in the autumn.

Grass

 

The grass is growing. That means lots of free food for the goats. All I have to do is pick it. I gathered 2 sacks today. They loved it.

In the wrong field

 

One of the fences on our farm had fallen over. Result: some of our sheep wandered into the field belonging to the neighbouring stables. It was time to check out what repairs were needed.

Pan Haggerty

 

Another of the meals we had recently gave us the opportunity to use some of last year's surpluses. Pan haggerty is made from potatoes, onions and cheese, all of which we have in abundance.