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The different storm clouds passing over have given a beautiful view for all of us here in West Texas. Like the sunsets, you can see the whole horizon of clouds. No trees make for a nice view! May has brought wonderful rain – 3.4 inches of it! That brings our total rainfall for 2012 to 7.4 inches!
It has also brought wind which knocked out our wireless internet – Again!
But, even with the headaches that country living can bring sometimes, I would not change a thing! Our new cow palace, otherwise known as milking parlor, is almost finished. Milking is going to be exciting in the new surroundings! Using left over tin roofing, the sides are somewhat mismatched but only until there is another break in vineyard work, then it will be painted. As you look at it, try to visualize a pale yellow cow palace surrounded by a field of green grass.
Inside, the wiring is finished giving us three lights and three electrical sockets. Pouring the concrete floor will hopefully happen tomorrow. The doors have not yet been hung – one opening from the pasture for the cows to enter and one from the front giving us access to the milking area and feed. The cows were given their nightly feed in the new stanchion last night but only after some coaxing. In preparation for milking, we begin now (especially with Buttercup so close to calving) to get them in the habit of entering and eating in the stanchion. Once we begin milking, they eat their grain while we milk – it helps keep them occupied and calm. While they were both curious about the work going on, neither wanted to be first. Emme finally cooperated and had the privilege of being the first one to eat in the new cow palace.
As Emme ate, Buttercup began to get a bit antsy to have her turn. You can see her looking in the door impatiently.
Sometimes they can be so like children – not wanting the other to get more than they think they have! We’re Expecting! Calves that is! That’s right – Buttercup and Emme are both pregnant! Buttercup is due May 16, 2012 -less than 2 weeks away! She is sooo big – I almost feel sorry for her. She was bred to a neighbor’s Angus bull. Buttercup is 3/4 Jersey and 1/4 Holstein and this will be her third calf with us. When she freshens (her milk comes in after calving) it will be at 8 gallons a day. That makes for a lot of milk for cheesemaking and drinking!
Emme was confirmed pregnant by our local vet and is due the second week in September. Hardly any difference can be seen with her at this point. She is full Jersey and should make a wonderful family milk cow – this is her first calf.
When we moved to our basement, we set up a temporary milking parlor. It was not too long before Buttercup was dried off and we had no need for a milking parlor. Drying off a cow is is done to allow a rest period in preparation for calving – you stop milking her. This five month break from milking has been good for everyone. But, now we are all excited at the prospect of fresh milk once again. Our budget will also be glad to have the fresh dairy products again. It is amazing how much I save making our cheese, kefir, butter and still have left over fresh milk to drink! Having the cows on our own pasture also saves the expense of hay which makes our dairy products even less expensive! Now that Buttercup’s time for calving is so close, John and the boy’s are working on building a new milking parlor – we actually call it the cow palace. Taking a break from vineyard work, this week’s priority is to get the cow palace finished! So far, the cow palace is framed up. As you can see below, on the left side (where people are standing) is the milking stall for the cow to stand when being milked. The right side provides storage for pallets of feed. There will be two doors – one for us to enter the cow palace and the other for the cow to enter her milking stall. This will prevent either cow from having access to the feed storage area. The floor will be concrete and the sides will be metal.
Even Buttercup and Emme are interested in the work going on – they seem to know that it has something to do with them!
Emme especially keeps coming by to check out the progress. She appears to be trying to figure out what in world it is!
More pictures as the work progresses!
I hope you noticed the moon Saturday evening. It was not only a full moon but reached the part of its path which is closest to the earth called the perigee. Because of the variability of the moon’s orbit, this orbit was the closest of all the perigees this year – the result was a huge golden moon. Since there were no trees blocking our view here in West Texas, it was gorgeous! I love the springtime – even here in West Texas. Or, maybe I should say, especially here in West Texas! After such cold, brown winters (compared to lower Alabama), the green of spring is a welcome sight bringing with it hope and a new beginning. Once the vineyard begins to bud and grow, it seems as though everywhere I look, there is green.
The new grapevines (Petit Verdot and Moscato Giallo) which were planted a couple of weeks ago are in varying stages of budding.
In the field, even with the drought last year and only 4 inches of rain so far this year, we have wildflowers. My favorite are the daisies, yellow black eyed Susans.
In the garden the beans are coming up.
So are the peas.
And, don’t forget the asparagus we planted last week – the little crowns are peaking up through the soil waiting to be covered further. They actually look like miniature asparagus!
Everywhere I look, evidence of new growth and life are around. What an amazing Creator we have!
It happens to everyone. Not you? Just wait! My latest signal of the reality of aging is the shortening of my arms. Yep, I can no longer hold reading material far enough away to focus! The fact is, it is time for reading glasses. In fact, it has been for a while. Not that stylish, cute sophisticated reading glasses aren’t around. It is just the fact that I now need them! Armed with determination (and the girls at my side) to find some cute but sophisticated ones, we went shopping. I had images of Meranda from “The Devil Wears Prada” in mind. To my surprise, any style, any color is available. I am beginning to think that I have been overlooking an important fashion accessory! After trial and error – and a buy 1 get 1 free sale – I walked out with 2 pair. My favorite is hot pink trimmed with black and a close second choice is black with a circle design on the temples. The pink seems to be a hit with everyone. Even our 3 year old has decided it is much better to read with glasses on – and she does not even read yet!
I have to admit, it is nice to be able to see the small print again. But, I now have a new problem – where did I put them? Maybe, I should see if the buy 1 get 1 free sale is still on
Our asparagus beds now have asparagus crowns in them! Yes, three 40 ft asparagus rows are now growing. If you remember, we had dug and prepared the beds with manure. We received the asparagus crowns the same day as the Petit Verdot and Moscato Giallo vines. So, after the new grape vines were planted, complete with underground drip irrigation, John also laid the drip tape in the asparagus beds. When I opened the box, I wondered what I has bought – they looked like a ball of roots or maybe spaghetti gone bad!
Upon closer inspection, however, there were indeed individual crowns among the mass. I sure was relieved!
We dug 18″ deep holes. I use “we” loosely here. I did not dig a single hole but John, our 12 and 14 year old sons did! Then we made a small mound in the center of the hole – I, along with our 16 and 19 year old did this step. Once the crown was placed on the mound, we spread out the roots as evenly as possible. They looked like miniature octopuses!
Two inches of dirt was then used to cover the crowns (and roots), they were watered well and left to grow. Except for watering and watching for sprouts which are to be covered with a couple more inches of dirt – we wait. One or two years is a long time but I can already taste the asparagus. It is amazing how many yummy sounding asparagus recipes are available – I can’t wait!
As you can see from the picture, the vines are very vigorous in their growth. Not only is the canopy (the green along the vertical cordon wire) growing well but the vine is sending out plenty of growth along the trunk. While this extra growth is a good sign of the health and output of the vine, we want the vine to focus its energy on canopy growth, fruit production and fruit ripening. To do this, we debud each vine. Each person takes a row and walks down the length of it. Stopping as necessary, we pop off the extra growth buds and shoots along each trunk.
You might wonder what becomes of all the discarded greenery – we bring piles of it home for Buttercup and Emme to eat. They love grape vines!
It is so funny to see it hanging out of their mouths and slowly taken in by their BIG tongues while continuing to chew!
Normally, Buttercup is the one with manners and she mooooos a thank you!
What a life! Learning about the fats which are good for you has revolutionized my cooking! Did you know that one hundred years ago, vegetable oil was not around? People cooked with lard, tallow and butter. The difference between the three is the source. Lard is rendered pig fat, tallow is rendered beef or sheep fat and butter is made from cream. Lard and tallow from grass fed animals are full of fat soluble vitamins and actually good for you. Both have a high smoke point so they are very stable and great for frying. The reason many people today render their own tallow or lard is to avoid the added hydrogenated fat. That is right – the commercial lard available contains hydrogenated lard. A couple of good articles which give more information on the health benefits and history of oils used are “The Oiling of America” and “Good Fats, Bad Fats” both on the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) website. I can not stress enough how easy it is to render your own tallow. Just remember, it does get very hot so precautions should be taken to keep it away from little hands! Rendering Tallow Having purchased a 10lb bag of grass fed beef fat* (before we butchered our own grass fed steer), I began by placing the thawed fat chunks into a 22 qt. roaster. A crock pot works well for smaller quantities. It cooks faster if you cut the large chunks into smaller pieces before beginning.
Turn the crock pot on low and let it cook – It takes from 18 – 24 hours for 10 lbs. I have read that one pound requires a couple of hours. You will know it is done when mostly liquid remains and chunks of hard stuff float to the surface. Turn the crock pot off. Strain the fat through a fine metal strainer into a mason jar – be very careful as it is extremely hot! I dipped it out with a 2 cup glass measuring cup and poured it through the strainer. The liquid will appear golden brown. As it cools, it turns a creamy white.
From 10 lbs of fat, we bottled 5 quarts of tallow. * Go here to find sources of grass fed fat and other nutrient dense foods in your local area.
If you have been reading Dimes2Vines for awhile, you know that we began construction on our home overlooking the vineyard in August 2010. We decided to use the Rewards Insulated Concrete Forms mainly because of their insulation value. We completed what will eventually be our basement and moved in the weekend after Thanksgiving, 2011. We have been very pleased with our ICF home except for one thing – something no one warned us about – chickens like it. Not only do our chickens like it, they LOVE it. Love to eat it that is! You read it right – our chickens love to peck and eat the styrofoam off the house! They have left holes along the lower edge exposing the supports which are built into the ICF blocks. The concrete which fills the ICF blocks is visible in several areas! We had temporarily painted the house yellow. Our plan is to put a stone facade on the walk-out basement wall. This will be after the upstairs is finished and dirt is pushed around to cover three sides of the basement making it a true basement. It might seem logical to shoot some chickens. But, we value their eggs! They lay their eggs in the morning and normally, we let them out of their pen in the afternoon to free range. We could not believe it when we first saw it happening. And, you would not believe the sense of satisfaction gained by running and shooing those chickens away from our house! I am sure we looked like people gone crazy. We are now taking precautions to keep them away from the house using barriers. As for the holes, John has filled them with Great Stuff – spray foam which expands. It looks unsightly but does offer protection from water seeping in the holes and flowing into the house. And, yes, that has happened
Hopefully, one day in the not too distant future, it will all be covered by dirt or stone. For now, it is one of those funny (yet humbling) things you would not believe unless you saw it! |
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God has amazingly blessed me, Dina-Marie, with a wonderful husband and 10 beautiful children. Moving from our "secure" life in Alabama to the "exciting" life of starting a vineyard in west Texas has been challenging to say the least. I have had the opportunity to take a crash course in frugal living and become a real farm girl - complete with milk cow and chickens. I have learned the importance of health from the inside out, "traditional" cooking and cod liver oil! I hope to encourage you to make the most of where you are and what you have. 
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