And pumpkins for cows. Now that people are throwing out the pumpkins that they have had on their doorsteps for Halloween, Daisy gets to eat them. Queenie too if Daisy does not get there first.
Now that the alfalfa has stopped growing, and finished storing all the goodies into its roots for the spring growth, we are making the last cut. This one will take a good week to dry, so I have been instructed by the hay man to be patient. That’s fine.
I am patient. Especially when it comes to making hay or pastrami. Though I do not have a smoker like my sons yet. When the time comes we will use some Kiwi ingenuity and come up with something.
This piece of brisket is presently sitting in a beautiful brine for a week.
Yesterday Our John had the day off so he planted the fire hydrants,
While I worked on the fences.
Closely followed by Sheila. Who closely follows everything, chatting the entire time in her gentle pig voice.
Today I will be mucking out early as we have visitors coming from the city and the farmy needs to put its best foot forward. Which means I have to clean the verandah – you can imagine the state of it after a few rainy days with three dogs!
Oh and, thank goodness, my soap did not fail. It cut nicely and is laid out to cure. It is not the prettiest soap I have made but the next batch will be excellent! I have decided that cold process soap though it needs longer to cure, seems to work better for me.
Have a lovely day.
your friend on the farmy
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
61 responses to “Last cut of hay for the season.”
Greetings from windy cape town! I love your blog, and I am reading it(backwards) I am currently at mid August. Loving every moment of it. You are an inspiration.
Welcome anne, and thank you for reading, sometimes i do this myself! enjoy, let me know if you have any questions.. c
Oooh my worm farm would be so envious of those pumpkins! My Grandmother had a kettle just like that on continual boil on her Aga stove! 🙂 I too have guests coming to stay, so have spent the last 3 days washing and rehanging curtains …. Laura
spring is the perfect time to clean the curtains, though have to admit i don’t have one curtain in this whole house! I hope you have a lovely time with your visitors.. c
Pumpkins are also very good for sheep (and goats). The seeds help with parasite control. Blessings!
Good because I chop them up with an axe and feed them to all the animals, the sheep like the pieces small.. c
No pumpkins for Piggy? Awwww….
Enjoy your company, Miss C!
Sheila loves pumpkin too, I could do with a truck load! c
Happy visiting with your guests Celi.
🙂 Mandy xo
We had a wonderful morning and now it is time to get back to work.. morning Mandy c
Hooray for Hay…and soap…and pretty fire hydrants. The sun has been shining all day today, so I went for a walk with my sticks. Children were playing football against the school walls. Jock had to be up at 5.00 (yes, I know that’s not early for you, but it is for him) to fetch a friend from Caen. He was spark out in a chair for 2 hours before lunch, and retired to lie on the bed immediately after, where he is quietly snoring. I shall wake him gently at teatime.
Enjoy your day and your guests. Love, ViVx
Oh I bet you loved getting outside for a walk, how long will you be needing the sticks?.. c
Forever! vertebra so fragile now that the slightest slip could break another one.
It’s good to get visitors every now and then, makes us really look at the state of the place and clean up! If no one ever came to visit my place, it would be a tip all year round I am sure.
Having a ‘me’ day today. Colour hair, cut nails, scrub feet – you know the type of day you never get time for in the warmer months. Time to scrub off all the dirt from the garden and see if there is any of me under there LOL
Ah, a home spa!! I really, really should follow your example.. that sounds like a good idea.. c
Wish I could share my display pumpkins that have frozen with you! 🙂 Will take them out to the shelter belts for the deer. They are really delicious! Deer and pumpkins! 😀
I love pastrami and corned beef! I never made pastrami…I sure would like to try! I have a smoker! Oh if you only lived close by! The trouble we could get into! The boys would say…”Now what are they up to?” LOL
If we don’t get a deer this week, we won’t be able to make deer sausage! Fingers and toes crossed!
Cold process soap. Thanks! I will be a beginner and hate to waste supplies! I am developing a fondness for your Sheila! How nice to have her chatter in the morning! That is when I am high energy and would love to have her follow me around! LOL How is Marmalade doing? Boo out of the dog house as they say? 😉
We now only have alfalfa in our CRP for the wildlife. They need a place too, or no pheasants etc…this is one of the favorite stalking grounds for the kitties. I have never seen them come home with a pheasant though! 😉
Will have to look into this pastrami project! I sure would love to have your recipe if you have the time in your busy day!
Sinus infection is getting better. Headache is pretty much gone. Uffda…that was a real misery.
Have a great day Celi! (((hugs))) From my farmy to your farmy! Muah on the cheek! Chatterbox Mere
My brine recipe is under review, I will share it when I see what this one tastes like.. We are lucky that we have long wild grass along the creek that is a ditch, there are piles of pheasants in there that fly ahead of me as i walk the dogs, which i must get out and do shortly, it is a beautiful day here.. c
I hope it is a keeper! I am excited! So glad your weather is beautiful…ours is gloomy again…sigh…where’s the sunshine! November has few sunshiny days here. They surprise you when the fly up! LOL I’ll bet the dogs love it!!! 😀
Always so much to do! Does it ever stop?
Pleased that soap turned out ok, so now into full production on the scale of Proctor & Gamble
One of my visitors asked me if i sold the soap today.. maybe i will when I have taught myself the basics.. c
I love finding out things like that cows are crazy for pumpkins. 🙂 I’ve got such a city brain…you know, cow = straw and grass. If I had cows I’d grow a pumpkin field just for them. sounds like such a wholesome addition to their diet. I can imagine what the porch looks like. You should see the state of the window sill here with two cats.
Actually in many countries pumpkins are grown purely as winter cow feed, we would strip graze them across the pumpkin paddock with an electric fence . It is such good food.. I keep meaning to make a sign at the local store and let people know to give me their old pumpkins.. c
Very healthy for people too!!! 🙂
It looks like a beautiful day – same here for a change. I bought some guinea fowl eggs in the farmers market today – they told me they are rich and creamy 😉
OO, I look forward to seeing how those eggs are, I am sure my last three are all one gender, never any eggs, or sitting or anything.. c
What a shame.
I’m so glad the soap turned out!
So am I, especially the frangrance free one.. it is for two of my children for christmas! c
No wonder your animals look so healthy with all that gourmet food. We grew with corned beef (brined) and cabbage in Dublin, it did not seem to be available in the rest of the country. Mammy loved the brisket rolled, but the rest of us preferred the leaner cut. I never thought of brining it myself. I might just give it a try!
Hmm, The brisket is the one to use for pastrami they say, Mum bought corned brisket and boiled it with the spices, i guess it had already been brined, i never really thought about it… hmm.. c
Our butcher said it took four days to brine the corned beef, but there were days when he whispered “Not this week!” Mammy soon learned that he was not so happy with the brining, or perhaps how another member of staff did the job.
I wonder what your butchers brine recipe was.. there are so many.. ok 4 days.. i shall do that! Thank you.. c
I don’t think he ever shared the recipe with mammy.
Yes! It is already brined! I made that mistake last year! So disappointed it! But my in-laws ate it and said it was good! It wasn’t…I love them! LOL
You are right, cold process soap takes longer than hot process because with hot process the saponification process is finished when you take it out of the pot. It just needs to harden up, Cold process gets milder and harder over time as saponification continues for days and days. As the moisture evaporates the bars shrink and cure to wonderfulness. Figure on 6 weeks or so.
We had the brisket from our steer made into corned beef by the mobile slaughter people. Maybe next time I will try it myself.
Your farm looks so tidy and clean. No stuff layng around. Just love that Sheila! I guess I am more of a recluse than you cause I don’t have company over. And occasionally when I do, they get to see the place the way it looks everyday. Except for our sheep shearers who come from New Zealand. It is always a special occasion when they come with their stories and great company. They are like the minstrals of olden days as we know many of the sheep people they see far and wide and let us know how everybody is.
Oh the shearers. i remember those days. We did nothing but cook and cook In all my life i have never made so much food so fast and in such quantities and all fresh. They were always such scrawny fella’s too but man could they pack away cakes.. and pots and pots of tea. And the shearers quarters.. wonderful. How lovely to have real shearers every year. Maybe one day when i am home I will find a gang of shearers and do some shots. c
Yeah, this couple is scrawny, too. And they can sure eat a ton of food, lol. They especially love homemade pie and ice cream and beer.
Not that is a back breaking job! God Bless them!
I would love to hear about your brining method! We are cutting open our Halloween pumpkin today and roasting the seeds. It would be nice if we had a piggy around to eat the shell.
She would be glad to help out!! Roasted pumpkin seeds are SO good! c