New Pictures

Above is Blossom at exactly two weeks old. And below is Petals, just shy of four weeks old.

Both doelings are growing well and thriving. Blossom, the younger, is a sturdy little thing and loves to jump and play. Petals is more reserved, and is long and lanky. She feels more like a cat than a goat. She's not as coordinated or as adventurous as Blossom.

They have a large fenced grassy area in our back yard to call their own. They have an insulated dog box for a shelter, a plastic picnic table, a large plastic playset with ramps and a sliding board, a little shade shelter that has a flat black roof they enjoy sunning themselves on, and their own food, grain, and hay.

The girls actually do play on the playset and go down the slide! It is laugh out loud funny to watch. Blossom is better at it than Petals, but Petals does get up there and enjoy herself.

Sweet Garden Blossom

Una kidded Friday evening, April 2, with triplets: two bucklings and one doeling. We are keeping this doeling, in addition to Petals, so, announcing the arrival of Sweet Garden Blossom!

Blossom was butt first and had some difficulty arriving in the world. I had to reach in and get her rear legs to pull her out. I'd never done that before. Una's entire delivery was very much a learning experience with many, many phone calls to my friend and mentor for all things goat. Thank you again Jane! I was very ably assisted in the delivery by my outstanding husband Eddie, friend Kathleen, and cousin Carrie. Thanks so much to all of you. It was quite a night.

Blossom was smaller on arrival than Petals, and so is considerably smaller now than her big sister who is twelve days older. She's steady on her legs and will be chasing Petals soon. She's nursing very well. In fact, she learned faster than any of the kids I've bottle fed.

Looks like we're set for now. The plan is to have four does in milk next Spring. I should finally have enough to make all the cheese Eddie and I need, or anyway, that's the plan... Stay tuned!

Sweet Garden Petals

Tigger kidded a text-book perfect quad delivery on Sunday morning, three bucklings and one doeling. She did a great job and I'm so proud of her. I plan to keep the doeling, so, ladies and gentlemen, presenting "Sweet Garden Petals."

Petals was the smallest and the last to be born, so she was pretty stressed afterwards. She couldn't stand and it was difficult to get her to nurse at all.

After some expert advice, I gave her some extra selenium, a shot of nutri-drench, and started feeding 1 oz. every two hours. By the last feeding last night she was sucking down 2.5 oz. Today she has gotten increasingly strong, now able to walk around and is nursing very well from the bottle.

Petals will join Tigger and Una as a milk doe for me next year about this time if all goes well. It's certainly hard to imagine the sweet little thing actually giving birth like Tigger did on Sunday!

I was getting pretty concerned about her yesterday morning, but she is really thriving now!

Welcome to the world Miss Petals!

I love Turnips -- Who knew?

Eddie's uncle plants a large patch of turnips in the field behind our house every year. Since we built the root cellar last year, we decided we should really store up some turnips for the winter. So, my dad, Eddie's cousin Carrie, and I picked more than enough turnips to last us all through the winter and stored them in our root cellar.

I tried a simple saute with them, OK, but nothing great. Then I tried a turnip and apple saute, better. Next I found two other recipes, Turnip Supreme (turnips and cheese), and Glazed Turnips and Carrots... WOW! So good! The recipes both start the same way, then at the end you add either brown sugar or sour cream and cheese. Here's how it works:

Turnips Supreme or Glazed Turnips and Carrots
2 T butter
2-3 turnips, cut into small cubes
salt to taste
pepper to taste
3/4 c. chicken broth (bouillion works fine)

For Glazed Recipe: 1-2 carrots, thinly sliced, and 1-2 T brown sugar
For Supreme: 2 T sour cream or yogurt, and 1/2 - 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Melt butter in large skillet over medium low heat, pour in turnips (and carrots if making the glazed recipe). Stir until covered with butter, then let cook for 4 minutes without stirring. Stir, then let cook for another 4 minutes. Add chicken broth, cover and simmer for 8 minutes. Take off lid, turn up heat, and let water cook off. When mostly dry:

For Turnips Supreme: Stir in about 2 tablespoons sour cream and 1/2 to 1 cup of cheddar cheese. Let cheese melt and serve. YUM!

For Glazed Turnips and Carrots: Stir in 1-2 T of brown sugar. Let melt and serve. YUM!

Eddie and I found that we did not like the leftovers from these recipes. The turnip flavor was way too strong in the leftovers. So, clean it all up at the first sitting!!

Little Tomme -- Vegetables

I cut into the little Tomme this past Friday night. I'm very pleased with it. It is just a mild little cheese. I thought it would be a little softer, but it's nice and firm with a nice rind as you can see in the picture. It never developed any mold at all, so I never put vinegar on it or oil. It simply sat on my kitchen counter for three weeks. I've wrapped it in wax paper and put it in the fridge now to keep it from aging any more.

To the left see the assortment of vegetables grown right here that I used for our main meal today. The turnips I picked in the field behind our house. Eddie's uncle actually grew those. They've been in the root cellar with the carrots. The green, red, and purple sweet peppers are from the freezer. It's kind of like having a grocery store right here at the house!

Today's Menu:
Breakast: Quiche, Sage Sausage, Yogurt (yes, yogurt -- I've run out of frozen gogurt) with blueberries
Main Meal: Chicken Fajitas, Glazed Turnips and Carrots
Evening Snack: Beef Brisket with homemade mayonaise, apple with peanut butter, dark chocolate, and wine

Ingredients from Sweet Garden Farm: eggs, cheese, and milk in quiche, peppers and cheese in chicken fajitas, turnips (see note above), carrots, and eggs in mayonaise