Pen Party!

 

We did this.

The old pen was the most rickety, piecemeal affair.  It had about five different kinds of hardware cloth and a gate that had to be tied shut with a leash and various hook clasps and bits of wire.  It was a big pain because various parts would constantly shift.  It could never be closed exactly the same way twice. 

Did you know...

...chickens like watermelon?  They really do!

The morning after this video was taken, cleanup from the previous night of debauchery was undertaken.  A big messy bowl of berries was on the table.  Nicky dumped the pile into the chicken pen.

Tip of the week: cutting fresh mozzarella

I got frustrated with cutting up fresh mozzarella.  It's so soft.  Cutting it with a knife is sloppy, inconsistent, and time consuming.  I tried using a grater, which obviously did very poorly.  What to do?  Egg slicer to the rescue!

The typical 8 oz. ball should be cut in quarters.

Goat Week

It's Goat Week at the Garfield Park Conservatory! This provides an educational experience for conservatory visitors, free food for the goats, and free mowing for the conservatory.

Mowing the lawn

Tallulah, Pomegranate, Apple, and Walter got to take a trip to munch on a friend's lawn down the street.   They took down some of the grass.  But one by one, they all discovered that the fence was covered with dried up vines.  And that those are tastier than grass.  Oh well.  At least we had a nice laugh.

When it was time for them to return home, we were a little short on staff.  All four could not be led back at the same time, so Talullah was left alone for just a few minutes.  Her crying was horrific!  Goats are social animals.  If you decide to raise goats, make sure to have more than one.

goat cheese ravioli!!!

we made goat cheese from the milk we got from the goats.

after eating some with crackers,

we decided to do something more complicated.

we made sheets of pasta.

we put dollops of our goat cheese on the pasta,

and another sheet of pasta on top of the cheese.

then we pressed and cut out the ravioli.

we fried it in oil [ yum!]

and ate it with sauce, fresh bread, and salad. mmmm.

dylan, 11

You Made A What?

A Milking Stanchion!!!

I had a minor panic that one of our goats was going to give birth about immediately... I was totally wrong but it did make me realize that we had a few loose ends to tie up before the kids came.  So it became stanchion day.  I toyed with the idea of ordering one but am very glad I gave it a shot first.  We would have paid about $325 for a store bought stand.  This one cost about $1.25.  Can't beat that. 

My rockin neighbor Paul was on his way to the dump with a load of "junk" lumber.  The timing was perfect.  Here is how it all went together.  Mind the herd dog mindfully doing his job in the background.

By the way, a milking stanchion is a table where the goat stands and snacks on grain while you milk her.  The two cross bars in the center pivot to hold her head in place if she gets squirmy.  Lots of folks said I'd be better off buying a store bought stanchion.  I'm glad I gave it a whirl first.  This will last us many years!!

Meanwhile, back at the sugar shack...

We decided to do what most people on the West Side of Chicago do.  (ha, ha.)  Tap our local Maple trees and make syrup.  This cockamamie one was actually Erick's.  Even so, this is one project I have enjoyed above all.  It has been fantastic in every way.  From repurposing most of the supplies, to having an impromptu syrup making seminar on the street for the Jehovah's, this one has surpassed my expectations.  A hard thing to do. 
     We began with an order of spiles from ebay.  Tapping is inexplicably exciting.  It's like a mini treasure hunt mixed with grown up trick or treating.  These were the first taps;

 

We used pretty basic equipment.  Eventually, we bailed on the old drill and got out the cordless! 

Here is most of what we needed.

The weather was perfect and sap was running beautifully!

  

We collected 45 gallons over 7 days by tapping 15 trees on two blocks.  

Now it was time to boil!

Filter first.  We used plain cheese cloth.

We boiled over a fire stocked with Ash wood.  It gives a lot of smoke and flavor!

It was freezing!  This is Sharron minding the fire!

Eventually we realized we had meat and fire... 

36 hours later all 45 gallons had reduced down into one pot and it was time to do the finishing.  This is best done in a very controlled heat so we did this inside.  All the windows in the kitchen had to be left open for the steam to get out.  We've read about folks who boiled inside and their paint peeled!

This was an in progress sample.

After another million hours of boiling, we reached the 7.1 degrees above boiling (which was 210 that day.)  Now we did the final filter and presto... West Side City Syrup!  Next year We'll do 300 trees!   Famers markets look out!  West Side City Syrup will be available (Mother Nature willing) in 2014!

Going back in time...

Some time in August I decided to make a table.  More accurately, the table created itself. We needed a table.  Not a Home Depot special but one that would seat 20 people and be unique.  I was at McGuire Lumber getting something to fix some broken thing and I saw wood.  Stunning, warm planks of thick long pine that you wanted to rub your face on.  Marilyn Monroe wood.  Or Erik Estrada.  Wood with a 12 pack.  I loaded it in Truck (the name for my husband Erick's Ford F-250) and brought it home.  Here's the adventure of table making by a non woodworker.

The planks are 18X8X3.  They were raw cut and
needed a ton of sanding!

This is joining with an awesome tool called a biscuit cutter.  Thanks ever so much to me neighbor Tom Latimer for lending it to me and above all, teaching me all about it!

The magic wood shop

See... It is the Erik Estrada of wood!

Here are the grooves for the bench legs.

Child labor.  Nice work Zoe!

The final product is a 15 foot table with six benches.  Let the feasts begin!