French Alpine Goats

One of the wonderful benefits of being a small producer is getting to choose a heritage breed animal or a rare heirloom vegetable and not having to worry about the "general public" wanting run of the mill products. Because of this, we weren't pressured into getting a cow in order to delve into dairy products. Instead, we could go with our family's much loved ruminant, the goat! After much research and even more time spent looking for good stock, we settled on a herd of French Alpine Goats.

Goats are one of the oldest domesticated animals, with archeological evidence that they have been tended by humans for 10,000 years. Goats quickly found their way to the New World as well. A 1630 census of Jamestown lists goats as their most valuable asset. It was during this time that Swiss breeds were brought to the US. So they are true pilgrims! It wasn't until the 1920s that the first official "French Alpines" were imported to the US and these form the core of the gene pool that was mixed with the existing Swiss breeds and has now created the pure bred herds we see today.

More people worldwide consume goat milk than the milk from any other animal. The milk is different from cow's milk but in subtle ways. Goat milk lacks beta carotene which means it is perfectly white. For instance, butter has the typical yellow color from beta carotene found in cow's milk - goat milk butter is pure white. Additionally, goat milk is naturally homogenized. This means that very little, if any, cream will rise to the top of the milk. The fat stays in solution. And probably the most pronounced difference is the presence of capric, caprylic and caproic acid. These acids are what gives "goaty" products their flavor. If handled delicately and properly, goat milk does not have any different flavor, but once it has been heated, stirred and aged into cheeses, the acids break up and the product acquires that flavor that people either love or hate!

We are quite happy with our ever-expanding herd of Alpines. They provide endless entertainment and wonderful dairy products. They truly are a precious asset to the farm!

Maxie takes a look around after being let out of the barn in the morning before anyone else steps outside. Herd Queen is a rough job you know!

New Milk Regulations

*grumble* Well, I was going to get my act together for the 2010 milking season and get a food manufacturers license so we could legally sell aged raw milk cheeses. Mom has been a good trooper tasting all of my experiments and even thought the last one tasted good! I've been practicing and trying new cheeses for months and really felt I was well on my way to adding a new aspect of the farm business.

That's until I spoke to the Texas Department of State Health Services again today. Sigh.

I just wanted to make sure we had all my ducks in a row for applying for the license. I knew we had to get our well water tested and just wanted to make sure we were using an approved lab. The very helpful man asked what I would be producing. When I told him about the cheese, he immediately warned me that things were about to get "a whole lot stricter!". Huh!??!

Turns out, the state is changing lots of milk rules. I knew this was coming but for some reason figured I would be exempt from any new hassle (yeah, right!). So I was transferred to the Milk Group. Again, the person on the phone was quite helpful. Unfortunately, he helpfully explained that my dreams of Sand Holler Farmstead Cheeses might be a little far fetched. Not entirely impossible, but probably not entirely practical right now. A simple food manufacturing license is $100 a year. The new dairy product manufacturing license will be $800 for 2 years, plus an annual fee based on production, plus inspection fees every 3 months. That's just for aged cheese. If I want to sell pasteurized soft cheeses, it's another license and ANOTHER $800. If I want to sell sour cream, it's ANOTHER $800. If I decide to go into the ice cream business, ANOTHER $800. And I'm told that I'd have to follow FDA guidelines on raw cheese recipes (pasteurized are exempt...but I need a license for that), which means no fun improvising on adding things like jalapenos, garlic, etc. Bah!

Sooo....looks like I will keep 'playing' with cheese making for some time to come. I don't want to start a money losing venture just to allow more people to try the cheeses we have made. We'll always still be happy to share with anyone that comes to that farm and wants a sample to taste...though I think even that is officially illegal!

I really understand why even in the state of Texas, which does allow legal raw milk sales, many dairies still use the herd share program. Seems almost like the government is legislating themselves out of job by sending everyone underground!

Enjoy farmstead cheeses everyone...hopefully this doesn't put a dent in anyone's established business!

Garden Update

We continue to work on the garden to get it in tiptop shape for the start of the vegetable season. Things are going wonderfully now that Dale is here working so hard! Much of the fenced garden has never been planted but we plan to remedy that in the near future.



Our vegetable garden is a 100 ft x 150 ft plot - that's about a 1/3 of an acre. We plant in "wide rows" - meaning it's not like many fields you see with just a single row of corn or cotton that runs the whole length. Instead, our beds are 3 ft wide and 20 ft long. The garden is divided into 6 sections, each one for a different type of plant - the tomato family, the squash family, legumes, roots, the cabbage family and finally corn and watermelon grow together. Every year the garden plots will rotate so the plant families are growing in new soil. This helps build up the health of the soil by not depleting nutrients that a particular plant uses as well as prevents the proliferation of diseases. Currently, we have 3 of these sections complete...but the other three are coming along quickly!

We strive to grow a wide range of vegetables as well as growing varieties that you might not see in every grocery store. We've been having fun growing all sorts of lettuces this winter and are hoping to be able to extend the lettuce season nearly year round with some tips we have picked up. I think it's unheard of to harvest lettuce in July, but apparently it's possible - and we would love to be able to provide our community with this beautiful vegetable throughout most of the year!



But of course, we also would like to provide some of the staples. While we will never be able to grow all the onions and potatoes that our community needs, we want to get some of these fresh to you. We have red, white and yellow onions planted and they have done marvelously in this cool weather. Now if it will only not get too hot too fast, we will have some nice sized bulbs!



As the gardening season progresses, I'd like to bring you up to speed on how various vegetables are grown to help everyone really connect with the food they eat. We sometimes really take for granted being able to just pick up carrots, tomatoes or celery at the grocery store. But we don't always realize what really goes into growing that food. Stay tuned for more in depth discussions of the exciting world of vegetable growing!

Move over Ace!

Ace is no longer the cutest thing on the block. Well, to be fair, they are both absurdly adorable but new babies always seem to win out!

Sunday seems to be lambing day at Sand Holler. Woke up this morning to do the chores as usual...and there was a new farm member! Cat decided she didn't like all the attention Maggie received during birthing, so she went for the middle of the night routine. I think the births fit Cat and Maggie's personality quite well - Maggie is loud and demanding, Cat is quiet and shy.

So no fun birthing story, we just know the little guy was born just a few hours before dawn and everybody made it through just fine. He still doesn't have a name as nothing has quite stuck yet. Any suggestions...remember that they all are named for trees!

Turnip Slaw

Last year we received a few requests from CSA members for turnip recipes. They aren't the most common Texas vegetable out there but I truly think they are delicious. I've even converted Chad to them and he's a hard customer to sell on "weird vegetables"! So I figured I would post another delicious turnip recipe I have come across - and the first recipe I have ever used raw turnips in!



Turnip Slaw (serves 4-6)

1/2 cup mayonnaise (homemade recipe follows!)
3 tbsp sour cream
2 tsp flavored vinegar (tarragon is good)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp sugar
1 dash salt
1/4 tsp celery seed
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp chopped fresh dill or 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
1 lb turnip, peeled (if tough) and shredded (about 4 cups)

In a large bowl, stir all the dressing ingredients together until well mixed. Add the shredded turnip and mix. Allow to chill for 6 hours to meld flavors...or just dig in immediately like we did!

Homemade Mayonnaise (makes about a cup)

Nothing beats homemade mayo with fresh eggs. You will never want to go back to the weird fake white stuff from the grocery store!

1 egg
1 tbsp whole grain mustard
3/4 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar


NOTE: There are many different oils you can use and I recommend experimenting with them. I have learned that while I love extra virgin olive oil, its flavor is WAY too strong for mayo even though I frequently see it used in recipes. I can't even use the light olive oils. I've tried canola, soy and peanut as well. I think peanut is my favorite.

Combine egg, mustard, salt, and lemon juice in a blender. Run the blender at low speed and add the oil very slowly in a thin stream. Slow is the key!

I like to taste it at this point and add the vinegar to taste. I didn't have balsamic on hand last time and just dumped a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in the mix. WOW, that stuff took the enamel off my teeth!

Wee wittle baby birdies

Well, the spring babies are really rolling in. Last week we received several shipments of poultry. It's amazing that you can pick up a box of peeping babies at the post office having arrived from cross country. Unfortunately, things sometimes don't work out so well and the chicks don't make it for one reason or another. We've never seen as many casualties as we did this year, but we have plenty of babies to take care of and have found a local feed store to make up for our losses.

We have about 30 chicks of various breeds. These will be providing us with a good number of eggs come the latter part of summer. We've got breeds that lay all sorts of eggs - from blue to white to deep chocolate brown! Mixed in with the chicks right now are 6 keets - that's baby guineas. Have you ever seen a guinea? Let me tell you, they are not the prettiest critters around. But keets sure are cute - they have ugly duckling syndrome in reverse!

(one of the keets is the stripey headed baby on the left of the photo)


And a first for the farm...DUCKLINGS! Oh my gosh, they are seriously the cutest little mess makers I've seen. Dale convinced us to get Khaki Campbells - they are supposed to be superb egg layers. I have always been in love with Indian runners - they 'waddle' almost completely upright and always look like they are in an absurd hurry. So we got a few of those too.



And if you've never had a duck egg...well, you might actually be disappointed. Dale was kind enough to give us some eggs to try from the Campbells he's raised at his parent's house. With some trepidation, I tried my first duck egg - just fried with a little salt so that I could discern any "grossness". Well, turns out, they taste almost exactly like chicken eggs! Maybe a teensy bit richer and creamier. So be sure to look for them amongst the farm products late this summer - they certainly are bigger than chicken eggs which is just an excuse to have more for breakfast!

March came in like a lamb...

Er, is that supposed to be lion? Anyway, I'm glad it wasn't REALLY a lion. Ahem, let me explain.

Sunday started out just like any other day on the farm. Up in the cold morning to take care of the animals. Of course, it got much colder than expected (you'd think that in this day and age they could predict the weather to within 10 degrees!) and water lines were frozen. I didn't discover this until I had already dumped over the sheep trough to clean it and refill it. Doh! So I made the mental note to come back in a hour or so once things warmed up and the pipes got moving. Thank goodness it wasn't like the REALLY cold days of winter when I hauled buckets of hot water all over the farm!

It turns out that the frozen pipes were a bit serendipitous. They forced me to go back to the sheep pasture much earlier than I might have that day. When I got there, Maggie was pawing the ground. Sounds pretty innocuous huh? Ah, that's because you must not know that is one of the first signs of labor!!! We didn't have any due dates on the sheep (we let the ram run with them instead of doing planned breeding) and I thought I had at least 2 more weeks. Obviously, Maggie had other plans. I bustled around the farm collecting the strewn birthing supplies and set up camp in the Mootel (the sheep barn is a pre-fabricated hutch for calfs!) with Maggie and locked the 'peanut gallery' on the other side to give us some privacy.

Shortly after 10:00, Maggie began pushing in earnest. I was really excited. Maggie, probably not so much. I'm currently attended Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth classes. Dr. Bradley based his method on observations of farm animals growing up and was sure that women could also have peaceful, natural, non-distressful, unassisted births just like animals on the farm. If Dr. Bradley had witnessed Maggie laboring, it might be called the Bradley Method of Completely Medicated Childbirth. She was not a happy camper. Every bellow rattled me to the bones and made me cringe.

A full hour into hard pushing and Maggie had not made much progress. That doesn't sound so bad but one thing Dr. Bradley did get right was that livestock typically have much shorter labors. If sheep have not progressed in 30 minutes, it's wise to intervene. I was reluctant to jump in too quickly as she was making small progress, but I also noticed that her efforts were lessening. I knew that if I needed to help her, I also needed her to be able to help me. It needed to be teamwork.

On her next contraction, I grabbed hold of the tiny hooves that protruded and pulled gently. Wow, I was going to have to pull harder than I thought! It took me about 5 contractions to finally pull hard enough to make any progress. Together, we finally got the head out! It was nerve-wracking and I was so glad it was all over. I figured the head must have been the difficult part so I would let her finish the labor. Well, I was wrong. Turns out, it's typically the shoulders that are stuck. So after a few more contractions that got her no where, I jumped in again. A few more good pushes and pulls and out came the lamb! I'm not usually terribly sentimental, but I will admit to tearing up just a tad at that moment.

I cleared the lamb's mouth as Maggie was quite exhausted at this point. Made sure he was breathing and then this time I was able to step back and let Maggie take over with mothering. She did wonderfully! Got him all cleaned up and on his feet with in a short period of time. Boy, is he just the cutest thing you've ever seen! Here's the 13 pounder, Ace!