I posted last week on the progress made building our new cow palace (aka milking parlor). From framing to finishing, we have done the work ourselves. Besides saving money, it also gives the children a chance to learn additional skills and confidence to try new projects.
After pricing ready mix concrete, especially after there was a 3 yard minimum and we only need 1 1/2 yards, we purchased the ingredients and mixed it ourselves. Using Portland cement, we mixed it with sand and gravel purchased from a concrete supplier about 5 miles away. Mixing was done rather easily with a small cement mixer and then poured onto the floor.
It happened to be one of those rare rainy days here in West Texas so, as much mixing as possible was done inside the cow palace.
As usual, Emme was the most curious about the work being done.
For the finish, we have a brushed or rough surface so it will not be slippery when wet. We even added everyone’s hand prints - everyone still at home that is! They are in the middle of the cow palace floor so they will be seen and not covered up by feed and other stuff!
So, as you look at the finished milking parlor, complete with covered porch, remember that it will be nicely painted pale yellow – hopefully, in the not too distant future!
Now, if Buttercup would just have her calf, we are ready to milk!
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!
How many fermenting things can one kitchen hold? Since we have been on the GAPS diet and I have learned the probiotic benefits of lacto-fermentation, my kitchen is full of ferments! Does this show an addiction? I am saving money making them myself! But, after all, how many jars can one kitchen hold?
Under my dishes is my sauerkraut.
To the left of the kitchen sink are the fermenting carrots.
To the right of the stove are jars of fermenting water kefir. This so fa,r is my least favorite ferment. I have tried several recipes and have yet to find one that does not taste or smell like a garden hose! If you have a good recipe, please let me know. (The jar to the far left is actually tallow.)
Beside the coffee maker are the jars of fermenting milk kefir.
And, don’t forget the top of the refrigerator – that is where the 6 gallons of kombucha are fermenting.
I have read that a space of a few feet between ferments is good and I do have that. So far, there has not been a problem and all is working well.
Do you have anything fermenting in your kitchen? Leave a comment and let me know what – I’d love to hear that I am not the only woman with too many jars in her kitchen!
When we started the tomato, bell pepper and jalepeno pepper seedlings in egg cartons several weeks ago, I knew transplanting them would be necessary. The young seedlings would not stand a chance if planted directly in the garden with the West Texas wind. Transplanting them into small pots was not an option – I have no space for so many little pots! So, we decided to make a hoop house. If you are not familiar with a hoop house, it is a miniature green house. They may be purchased complete or as a kit. But, like most things, making it yourself is much more economical. Ours cost under $20!
We had selected a small 10 x 12 area of the garden and placed a black tarp over it to begin warming the soil. The soil in that area was hoed and compost added. Using a spoon, we carefully scooped the seedlings out of the egg cartons. Separating the seedling (very carefully), we planted them about 4 -6 inches apart.
As we transplanted, the seedlings were also well watered.
Pieces of 1 inch PVP pipe (scrap from a previous project), cut into 12 inch lengths, were sunk into the soil at the desired width of the hoop house. These provide stability and help anchor the hoop house down in the wind.
The frame of the hoop house is 4 pieces of 1/2 inch flexible electrical conduit pipe (cheaper than water pipe and UV stable) placed 3 feet apart. These pieces were bent the desired width and placed inside the 1 inch pipe. Another piece of scrap PVC pipe was zip tied to the top of the hoops the length of the house. Bottomless buckets were placed around the seedlings to provide a bit of shade.
Next, 3.5 ml plastic was put over the hoop frame. We started with each end and taped the plastic to the frame. Once the ends were secure, the top plastic was taped to either end of the frame. One long side was left unsecured for ventilation.
We learned however, that packing tape dries out to quickly and does not hold for long. So, John made clips from 1″ PVC by cutting a 1/6th section out which allowed it to snap over the plastic sheeting and frame.
The bottom edges were then buried under dirt to secure them.
I am watering through the side every 2 to 3 days.
So far, our little seedlings are growing very well!
One way our family has saved quite a bit of money is to have our own vegetable garden. Not only do we enjoy fresh vegetables throughout the summer but I also freeze vegetables to enjoy in the winter. I am very serious about putting vegetables up in the freezer - we have 3 chest freezers and by this time of year, they are almost empty! So, with the end of last year’s bounty almost gone and the very warm spring weather, I am planning the garden.
To further the savings, we try to start many plants from seeds. Right now we have tomato, bell pepper, jalapeno pepper and eggplant seeds started.
Starting your own plants from seeds is much more economical that buying plants. It is also alot of fun to watch them grow! It really is very easy. We use egg cartons, plastic ones that will not dry out so quickly. Simply fill the egg cups with potting soil, sow your seeds and lightly cover with soil. Don’t forget to mark the carton with the type of seed you planted!
We put our cartons in front of a sunny window and keep them watered. I must confess, though, we had 3 more cartons to begin with than we do now. They were all planted and resting comfortably on a table outside. The days were warm so we would open the tops to allow the sun in. At night the cartons were closed to protect the seeds. Unfortunately, a west Texas wind storm came up and blew 3 cartons away – never to be found – and two others were turned upside down! But, our quick thinking 12 year old merely flipped them back over and brought them inside. They are now healthy bell pepper and jalepeno plants! I have ordered more seeds to replace those “gone with the wind”.
Seeds are available in many local stores. There also are several online companies from which you can order seeds. I have purchased tomato seeds from both Tomato Growers and Territorial Seed. I really like the San Marzano and Principe Borghese varieties from Tomato Growers. San Marzano is great for making tomato sauce and very tasty just to eat. Principe Borghese is a good grape/cherry tomato which also dries very nicely. I use Territorial Seed for most other seeds. With shipping, both are comparibly priced to the seeds available locally and I think they yield more produce. Territorial Seed has also sent replacement seeds for some pumpkins that never germinated!
Soon, we will be transplanting the seedlings to a larger area for further growth before subjecting them to this west Texas wind.
If all goes well, by the time they must fend for themselves, they will be much larger.
*I am in no way affiliated with either Tomato Growers or Territorial Seed – I am just a satisfied customer and wanted to share my experience.
Being on the GAPS diet, I have been making quite a bit of homemade sauerkraut. While quality sauerkrauts containing beneficial probiotics are available, they are expensive. Making your own is economical, as well as, satisfying. The following recipe is easy to make and tastes great!
Sauerkraut Recipe
1 medium cabbage
1 Tbsp dill (seed or weed)
1 Tbsp salt
4 Tbsp whey (I use kefir but you could also use yogurt with active cultures)
Using a food processor, shred the cabbage and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle salt over the cabbage and stir. Using a spoon or a wooden pounder, stir and mash the salted cabbage for 10 – 15 min. This allows the juice to be released from the cabbage.
Place the cabbage in a wide mouth mason jar. At this point, mix the whey (kefir) into 1 cup of water and pour over the cabbage. Mix and press the cabbage down firmly until the juice comes to the top of the cabbage. You may add more water if necessary. The top of the cabbage should be at least 1 inch from the top of the jar. Cover tightly.
I multiply this recipe until I have enough to fill a 1 gallon glass container. I then place a small glass bowl on top of the cabbage to weight it down and keep it submerged in the juice.
Finally, I place the lid on the jar and leave it at room temperature for about 1 week. You will see bubbles rising as it ferments. The sauerkraut may be eaten immediately or kept in the refrigerator for several weeks. It actually mellows in taste as it ages.
*Recipe adapted from “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon
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.
As I posted last week in Redecorating – Paint It!, painting furniture is an easy and economical way to add pizzazz to a room. An alternative to painting is refinishing the furniture. Of course, practice makes perfect and the more pieces of furniture you refinish the seemingly easier it becomes. If you have never refinished furniture, give it a try. It is surprisingly, not difficult and the results can be beautiful. Whether it is an antique, a yard sale find or just a piece needing a face-lift, refinishing it yourself could be the solution to your problem.
I chose to refinish a dresser and two nightstands that had been in storage. They are part of a bedroom suite which belonged to my parents. The furniture itself is very good quality but the finish was worn and cracked.
While there are many chemicals on the market to dissolve and remove the finish, I have had good results with scraping the finish off. I use a stiff putty knife held perpendicular to the surface.
With even pressure, I pull ithe putty knife toward me scraping the finish off.
Even pressure is very important. Without it, ripples can be made in the wood. Normally, the ripples can be sanded out, but it is much easier if they are avoided.
Once the finish is removed, sand the surface using fine sandpaper. Fine steel wool may also be used. Once the surface is smooth, clean and dust it to remove any residual dust.
You are now ready to apply stain, if desired. I am using Early American stain by Minwax. Dipping a small rag into the stain, cover the raw wood evenly. According to the can directions, leave the stain on the desired amount of time. The longer the excess stain is left on, the more is absorbed into the wood and the darker the finished piece will be. I left the stain on about 10 minutes and then wiped off the excess. You may reapply to darken if you desire. Allow to dry for 24 hours before applying a protective finish.
I use polyurethane in a satin finish as my topcoat. It is durable and adds a richness to the appearance of the piece. The method of application is similar to staining. Using a small rag that can be thrown away, dip into the polyurethane and apply a very thin coat evenly to the surface. One coat is usually sufficient but if you desire another coat, allow it to dry 24 hours. Once dry, use a piece of steel wool and very lightly rub over the entire surface. This is to knock off any bumps that may occur due to dust or other foreign debris. Once smooth, brush off and vacuum to remove the residual steel wool. You may now reapply polyurethane as desired. Since these pieces will be in the girls’ room, I only applied one coat.
Both stain and polyurethane must be cleaned up with mineral spirits.
“Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without!”
—— My husband
At the end of 2009, I posted “My Top 40 Frugal Living Tips.” Now, 2 years later, it is encouraging to review it. If you have been reading Dimes2Vines for a while, you know the last 4 years have been challenging, to say the least! Starting a 20 acre vineyard from scratch is a lot of hard work. Hard work without an accompanying paycheck!
With a large family, frugal living has always been a part of our lifestyle but became significantly more important. Now after our first successful harvest, we are continuing our frugal lifestyle. Why? To be good stewards. I am not talking about a miserly lifestyle. Rather, we are continuing to work together for our common family goals.
These goals include expanding the vineyard – we are planting another 2 1/3 acres of grapes this year – and finishing our house which overlooks the vineyard. Hopefully, we will continue the Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) upward after this year’s havest in Oct. 2012.
Many items on my top 40 list seem to be common sense things but they are also easy to forget about, such as, #16 adjust your thermostat, #17 turn off lights and #18 turn off ceiling fans when leaving a room.
In fact, as I review the list, we are still practicing them all – from tithing (#1),to writing down all expenses in my budget book (#2) to using VoIP as our phone rather than cell phones (#40).
Don’t underestimate the power of the “little things”. The little things can quickly add up! Each of the 40 tips alone may seem insignificant, but, together they can amount to great savings.
Redecorating can easily mean spending lots of money, but, it does not have to. With phase one of our home completed, I felt it time for some sprucing up in the interior design area. One very budget friendly way to add pizzazz is to start with pieces of furntiure you already have or a yard sale find and paint it!
You can see the difference in an old dresser before:
After painting it is ready to hold our 6 year old son’s clothes:
There are a few things to be aware of before you begin.
1. There are 2 types of paint commonly used on furniture, latex and oil based. If the piece of furniture is already painted, you need to know what type of paint is on it. To do this, take a cotton ball wet (but not dripping) with nail polish remover. Gently rub the painted surface in an inconspicuous spot. If the paint is latex, a small amount of color will show on the cotton ball. If the paint is oil based, the cotton ball will be clean.
Why is this important? If you use a latex paint over an oil based paint – it will peel. The pink trunk below was the toy box from my childhood. It was painted with an oil based paint.
This does not mean you must use an oil based paint which seems to take forever to dry and smells terribly. But, the surface must be primed. I use a primer product made by Kilz for oil based paint. It is available in a spray, a paint can, and either of these are available in a regular or an odorless version. The same pink trunk now primed with Kilz primer for oil based paint. I also taped old newspaper to the inside to protect the surface not to be painted.
Finally, the “new” blue trunk painted with latex paint is better suited for the boys’ room.
I personally prefer using latex paint because there is very little odor, drying time is much faster and clean up is with soap and water rather than mineral spirits.
2. The surface should be clean and smooth. Gently sand the piece with fine sandpaper to roughen it up. This allows the new paint to adhere better.
3. Work in a well ventilated area. The wind here in west Texas makes painting outside many days almost impossible. I painted the furniture pictured in the middle of the kitchen with the windows open. I did use the spray primer on the toy box so the priming was done outside.
4. Protect your work surface. I always spread newspaper or plastic on the floor.
5. You will need a paint brush and an old rag to wipe up any drips.
6. Read the back of the paint can for specifics about drying time and time needed between paint applications.
7. Clean up your brush with soap and water if using latex paint and mineral spirits if using oil based paint.
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Grab My Dime! 
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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. |
