As I mentioned yesterday, Bob walks (or runs) with us to the vineyard each morning – the whole 1/6 mile distance. I have been taking sand toys to occupy our youngest children throughout the morning. Bob, being the intelligent corgi that he is, also decided to take toys to the vineyard. Being obsessed with fetch, his toys revolve around his favorite game.
A chunk of wood makes a great fetch toy, but it is hard to get your mouth around!
Then there is always a tennis ball -they are easy to find in the vineyard!
Even a boring old stick!
Actually, a stick is not so boring – you can also play tug-a-war!
Whatever the toy of the day is, he waits just beyond it, crouching down on his front paws until you pick it up. He seems to beg or maybe dare you to get it and throw it – smiling all the while!
He is always a source of entertainment – tearing off through the rows to fetch whatever you have thrown for him!
And, like the cows, he must stop periodically for a drink of water from the barrel. That is, until someone distracts him with something that might make a great fetch toy!
You can always tell when Bob is getting tired – his tongue hangs out!
Bob’s tongue does not just hang out, it flops out the side of his mouth! Have you ever seen such a long tongue?
Our daily routine is just that, pretty routine. Each morning after breakfast, we all walk to the vineyard to prune. I say “we” loosely, because this “we” also includes our two cows and Bob.
Each morning Buttercup (our black family milk cow) and Emme (short for Emmentaler cheese) wait for us by the hot wire fence to take them to the vineyard. Emme is a jersey heifer purchased with the anticipation of more milk but we have had problems breeding her. Hopefully, we will find out this week if she is pregnant or not. If not, she will probably be sold.  She is such a nice cow but a 700+ lb pet is a bit large to keep when she essentially brings no benefit through milk production.
With winter here there is not much green anything for them to graze. But, in the vineyard, we have rye planted between the rows to stop the dirt from blowing. It is beautiful and green and there are also plenty of weeds for them to eat – they love both! Allowing them to graze at the vineyard has really saved on our feed bill. Since the vines have not yet budded, there is nothing for them to hurt – it is a win-win situation.
The boys lead them over to the vineyard with a lasso around their necks (the cows’ necks, that is). They lead very easily and since each is wearing a cow bell, they ding-a-ling as they go.
As you can see from the picture below, a snack is needed for the journey! 1/6 of a mile is a long way!
Once at the vineyard, both cows go up and down the rows as if trying to find the most delicious mouthfuls. It brings back wonderful memories of our 4 years in Switzerland as they walk with their bells ringing. We used to hear both cows and sheep grazing on the hillsides with their bells ringing. Once the wind stops blowing so much (it might be awhile here in west Texas!), I would like to post a video so you can hear them too!
As always, the grass (or weeds in this case) is always greener on the other side of the vine row.
When their first course is complete, the wander up to the center of the vineyard where we have a barrel of water for them.
So goes the day – first, second, third, fourth and I honestly don’t know how many courses they actually have in their menu, until they are led home at evening!
Driving home from Georgia after attending my father-in-law’s funeral, I read aloud the GAPS book. It is such an interesting book and made so much sense, as far as, our overall health being related to our intestinal health. I had posted earlier about my experience with GAPS and the amazing relief I have found from my arthritis pain, as well as, beginning to eat meat for the first time in 30 years. So, even though we felt that our children were healthy,we decided to begin the Introduction Diet as a family. After all, I cook most of our meals from scratch, make our bread and overall have a healthy lifestyle. Since no one has health problems which stand out, we decided to take a couple of days per phase, just to make sure everyone’s intestinal bacteria is balanced and healthy.
We started last week in Phase 1 which basically consists of eating soups made from bone broth, the boiled meat cooked during the process of making the homemade broth, probiotic juice from homemade sauerkraut and kefir (since dairy is tolerated by all). I made beef (from our own grass fed steer) and chicken broth. Using the GAPS compatible cookbook, Internal Bliss, I tried new recipes which included, Creamy Garlic Soup, Carrot Soup, Slow Cooked Chicken Soup, Butternut Squash Soup and Cowboy Stew.
To our amazement, the children, especially the three younger ones (ages 3, 6, 9) had detoxification or die off symptoms. These are symptoms caused by the toxins released as the ”bad” bacteria die in the gut. Symptoms included nausea, headache, irritability and lethargy. Thankfully, by the end of the week, the symptoms were almost gone.
In Phase 2 we added eggs, as well as, casseroles made with meat and vegetables.
Everyone perked up with the addition of eggs but they sure missed the biscuits and jelly!
In Phase 3 we added avocados, sauerkraut, more cooked vegetables and muffins made with almond flour.
There were varying responses to the avocados. While we have had guacamole, we have never eaten plain avocados.
To begin with, I sliced 2 between the 9 of us in an effort to introduce new foods slowly. Instead of mashing them in our soup, I served the slices plain with eggs at breakfast. I think the texture was the main problem, especially for our 9 year old.
The big hit of the new phase, were the muffins. While they were not biscuits, they were delicious to souls starved for any type of bread product or even something resembling bread!
Unfortunately, we will not be having the nut muffins for a few days. Everyone seemed to react poorly. Intestinal gas was noticed by all.
In an effort to make the almonds as easily digestible as possible, I had soaked them in salt water overnight. This reduces and helps breakdown the phytic acid in the almonds. After soaking, I dehydrated them in the oven. Once dehydrated, I ground them in the food processor to make almond flour. Even with all this prep work, it was obvious that our gut was not ready for them. So, I will wait for several days and try them again.
Overall, the week has been very encouraging as I see the progress of the children. The presence of die off symptoms confirmed the fact that perhaps we are not such a healthy family after all and benefits will be reaped from this diet.
I have been on the GAPS diet since early November. In addition to the relief from my arthritis and being able to eat meat again, I have also noticed my hair and nails are growing once more. I had assumed they stopped growing as a result of a change in hormones related to menopause. Evidently, I was wrong and it was actually a nutrient absorption issue.
This is truly an eye opening and life changing experience for us as a family! While the GAPS diet is not difficult to follow, it does require commitment. Planning and preparation are also vital for success. To make it easier, I planned the weeks worth of meals at the beginning of the week. With the menu plan posted on the refrigerator, I was able to prepare everything as needed, even with the pruning in the vineyard!
Even with work in the vineyard picking up, time is taken for family fun!
We made pizza before pruning started and even our 3 year old got in on the action! She loves to help in the kitchen and even has her own rolling pin!
Yesterday I explained what the prepruner was and how it works. After the prepruner is finished, hand pruning is done to further prepare the vineyard for fruit production. We (the children and I) are now hand pruning the rows which have been prepruned.
Below, you can see what a vine looks like after the prepruner. The cuts are rough and jagged.
As with any job, it seems getting started is the hardest and most time consuming part of it. To get us started, John gives instructions on how many spurs and buds are to be left. The spurs are the wood coming up from the cordon (the horizontal trunk of the vine). The buds are the bulges which contain new growth on the spurs.
Even after John returns to prepruning, there is much discussion and questioning among ourselves.
Finally, a picture of a finished vine – pruned and ready for spring.
Our goal is to prune an acre a day. We are close to that goal and as we go we do get faster! That means, we should be finished in a little over 20 days!
It is that time of year – time to prune the vineyard. For us this year, we will be using a mechanical prepruner.
What, you might ask is a mechanical prepruner and why do we want to use it? It is a hydraulically controlled machine, pulled behind a tractor with computer assisted cutting blades. The spinning blades are actually stacks of blades which can be easily moved about the vine cordon and the bottom blades cut the spurs to the desired length. The rest of the blade stack shreds the old vine structure leaving behind twigs and sticks which will easily decompose over the summer. This saves quite a bit of time and is well worth the rental.
Here is a close up of the blade stack. If you zoom in, you might make out the warning label about not loosing fingers and hands!
As the tractor pulls the prepruner down the row at 1.4 miles per hour, the two sets of opposing blades do their work on two vine rows at a time. Someone (our oldest son in this case) sits on the prepruner watching and adjusting as it goes. For our vineyard, we want to leave about 4 inches of spurs coming out from the cordon.
From the rear, the operator has a good view of the vines. There are seats for two people – one to operate each arm. Two people are needed when a vineyard is not uniform in growth or the ground is uneven.
Since our son competently controls both arms, the second seat is vacant. But not for long, since there is a long line of eager children ready to help watch.
While we have little boys that love to pretend to be cowboys, we have never actually been up close to a real live one – until, that is, this weekend.
It all started when I listed a heifer on Craigslist to sell. She is a 2 1/2 yrs old jersey heifer and is 7 months bred (pregnant) by a jersey bull. I bought her when she was 3 mths old thinking that by the time she was ready to calve, we would be ready for a second milk cow. But, we are not. She has been skittish since she was young, so, she would really make a better nurse cow than a family milk cow. Then again, once she calves she may become more personable. Anyway…
Someone was interested in buying her (for a nurse cow) so we needed to catch her and put a halter on her. That is where the fun began!
It would have been easy had we had a corral for her and not just an open pasture. Life is never easy is it?
This heifer knows a rope and she knows a rope means loss of freedom for her. She would let you close enough to stroke her, unless you had a rope in your hand! John is good at slipping a lasso around a cows neck when he can get close enough but that was impossible with her. We chased and herded and 4 wheeled around her most of the morning. And then, we gave up!
The next step was to call the vet to see if any tranquilizer would be safe for the calf. Using a tranquilizer gun, we were sure we could get her. No go! It would be unsafe for the calf.
After a phone call, the cowboy pulled up with his horse in a trailer, saddled and ready to go! He even had spurs!
He rode the horse around the field for a few turns and then began to rope our heifer. They seemed to circle each other as if sizing up the opponent.
He made it look so easy! Only a couple of misses and she was lassoed! It was almost like watching a John Wayne movie in real like!
The cowboy then led her to where we wanted her tethered and showed the boys how to hold her down so John could put a halter on her. Mission accomplished!
Once tethered, she calms down and you can get close enough to stroke her and feed her. The man from the craigslist ad did end up buying her after seeing how ornery she can be. Hopefully she will make a good milk cow for him.
Guess what our boys did the rest of the afternoon? They practiced lassoing with a rope. They practices on each other, on toys, on their sisters. They actually got quite good!
Cheepo is the name or our parakeet.
That is ChEEpo – not to be confused with ChEApo!
He was a Christmas present from our oldest daughter and her husband to the four youngest boys.
Why would someone call their bird Cheepo? Because he cheeped. Very softly in the beginning. But now, he lets loose and rivals the children in volume!
Cheepo is bright green with a yellow head and lives in a white cage. Having never had a bird before, I think he is a cute and very fascinating to watch. He is so content to sit or flutter around his cage. He watches you, turning his head, as you pass by. Sometimes he even cheeps in response to your cheep.
So far he has learned to step on a finger but not without taking a nibble at it first! It has been a lot of fun to see all the boys trying to train him.
Cheepo’s next trick to learn is a wolf-whistle – you know, the type of whistle a guy lets go when he sees an attractive girl. Everyone is doing it! Even our 3 yr old tries! Cheepo is bound to catch on sooner or later. I sure hope it is sooner. I rarely mind the noise around our house, but this whistling … well, let’s just say that it can get a bit ear piercing!
As I write this, we are preparing to travel to Georgia for my father-in-law’s funeral. While his death was not totally unexpected, it is still an emotional time. I will not be posting for the few days of our trip but we would appreciate your prayers for our family, as well as, all the other family members who will be travelling.
I say his death was not unexpected because he was in his 80′s and in poor health.
Still, it does cause reflection on the brevity of life. Whether we live 20, 40 or 90 years, we will all die. We will all face the God who made us.
Are you prepared?
We will all have to give an account for why we have fallen short of His plans for us.
Do you have any idea of what is to be done?
God loves us beyond measure and requires our obedience without the least slip-up.
Have you obeyed Him by doing only what is right and your whole life rejected everything wrong? (You know in your heart. No one has to point anything out to you.)
There is a price for disobedience. Are you ready to pay it? Obedience yields eternal life with God, while transgression results in eternal separation from God – death, hell.
But God, being loving beyond our dreams, provided forgiveness for us by somehow taking our place in that judgment. All we have to do is penitently ask for His forgiveness – you and God alone know your own heart.
While some people know their life is coming to an end, others have no idea that their time is about to be up.
Have you humbled yourself and asked?
Having butchered our first steer a week ago, we needed a grinder to grind the “leftover” meat and fat to make ground beef. Knowing that we intended to continue raising our own cattle, we wanted a grinder that would be able to perform for the long term.
We were in the Austin area for a Texas Wine and Grape Growers conference and had the opportunity to stop by the Cabela’s store in Buda, Texas. Knowing that butchering was in the plans, we looked at the grinders. We were impressed with the quality of the commercial grinders they offered. So, last week I called and ordered the commercial grade 1 horse power grinder. Including shipping, the grinder and attachments cost about $600. This may seem to be a lot for a little used “kitchen appliance” but it is actually less than the fees Lubbock area butchers charges for processing a single cow.
It was in our kitchen in 3 days and boy is it heavy!
The commercial grade models have stainless steel meat trays, necks, screws, plates and blades. One reason we decided on the 1 HP grinder was because it has a reverse gear. From my reading, this can be important when dealing with large quantities of meat. With the ability to process 10 – 12 pounds of meat per minute, the meat could not be pushed through too fast for the machine. It could process much faster than we could!
We had frozen several bags of meat to be ground, so, we thawed it (ideally the meat should be 32-34F) and got to work. The meat had to be cut into chunks small enough to be pushed through the grinder plate. As you can see in the picture below, Bob was sitting by the feet closest to the action lest a piece of meat fall!
First, the meat was ground through the medium grinding plate (7mm). The meat was definitely ground up but still coarse.
After all the meat was processed through the medium plate, it was mixed together and ground once more through the fine grinding plate (4.5mm) to yield a better fat distribution. Now, it looked like ground beef!
You might think that clean up would be time consuming, but it was actually rather quick. The grinder comes apart very easily and all parts are accessible for cleaning. While some parts are dishwasher safe, we washed it all by hand.
After all was said and ground, we had about 58 lbs of ground beef. Hamburgers were the menu of the evening! I must say, after being on the GAPS diet and now beginning to eat meat after 30 years of being a vegetarian, they were absolutely delicious!
PS. My husband and sons in their spare time are going to try to make a pasta die to fit the grinder. Cabela’s customer service did not see a problem with our trying to extrude pasta dough.
I am in no way affiliated with Cabela’s nor receive any compensation from them. I merely want to share my personal experience with a quality product.
|
Grab My Dime! 
<a href="http://dimes2vines.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac339/dimes2vines/newbutton.jpg"/></a>
|
About Me 
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. |
