Sprouted Grains animals....

I know I know you wanted this part yesterday but I had to have you want to come back didn't I? Ok here it goes....

Sprouting for animals so far is about the same as I explained how to do it yesterday just on a much larger scale. And it tends to sour a lot faster no matter the temp and would probably mold faster to.

I use 5 gallon buckets one we have drilled holes in the bottom. Again sorry no pixs, but here are some links to where I learned what to do.

To Sing With Goats

DIY Sprouted Fodder

Sprouted Fodder System

And there are various videos on youtube I found useful. The main article that got me thinking is one from the Dairy Goat Journal the article is not online but in the magazine so sorry I can link to it.

The difference in fodder and just sprouting is the fodder is like growing grass you want to grain to grain and inch or two and the root system is thick and matty. Sprouting is soaking it for the 12 hours let it sit drained for 12 hours and either feeding it then or rinsing and draining again for another 12 hours but not letting it grow like the fodder.

Both ways are started the same your just letting the fodder get established more. Right now I soak my wheat, oats, and barley for 12 hours, let drain and sit for 12 hours and feed. I tried soaking for 24 and it soured every one ate it but didn't like it as much. Then I tried soaking 12, draining setting 12, rinse drain 12 but that too soured. Again they ate but didn't like it as much. The way we do it now works fine and it is still beneficial but I want more of a sprout on the grain but not fodder without the sour.

I know the more I do this the more I will learn and the more I will refine the way I do it. The cost is cheaper than what we were doing, the animals like it especially the cows, and the chickens have all started laying again without extra light. Usually in the winter they molt and slow down on laying since chickens need 14 hours of light a day to lay but we are finding eggs again daily.

I did try fermented grains for the chickens and guineas, they didn't like it as much as the sprouted grains which is really right now just soaked grains. So I soak enough for everyone cows, bucks, does, chickens, guineas, the puppy since he likes them too. The rabbits still get pellets are now at least.

I have also switched the goats to Real Salt instead of the livestock salt, they get baking soda free choice, kelp, ACV in their water which the cows love, probiotics sprinkled on their feed along with herbs I think they might need as well and alfalfa pellets and hay. Every one has there own bowl they eat out of so the feed to measured out for them. Everyone's coats are shiny and heathly looking and they all act the same.

One buck foundered when he was young at his previous owner's place so he gets MSM and a supplement on his feed to help keep his system in balance since founder is caused by an over acidity in the body. Though I do know there are different opinions on this from my research and what we've done with him he is not crippled and breeds and walks around just fine. He actually is the dominate male and bigger than our other buck. They too love the grain but not as much when it has soured.

Now soured and moldy are different so that is why they still eat it. If it was moldy I would toss it outside there pasture to sprout and grow since those grains will grow here in winter. Soured is more like fermented.

As we progress on this I will update you...

Sprouting Grains cont.

Ok, I don't have any pictures of this and it is 4am I've been up since 2 this whole can't sleep thing is a little bit of a pain. :0) But while I can't sleep I at least can update you on this little experiment.

As I posted not long ago we sprout grains for us to eat and now are doing it for the animals. For us I have sprouting jars and I sprout seeds like alfalfa to eat but also our wheat I will sprout and then dehydrate and grind for our flour. Usually I will sprout it for a couple of days this depends on the temps etc. I don't let them get as big as our alfalfa because I don't want long sprouts just enough to change the nutrition. Sometimes I will let them get sunlight the last day to build up the chlorophyll like I do the alfalfa.

 

This is the jar I use I have three of them and I like them, click on the picture to read more about the jar. There are several other ways you can do it and what works for me might not work for you. I like the ease of use on this with the wire mesh in the lid.

 

I will start in the the morning or at night fill the jar with the desired amount of grain with wheat usually 3 cups of grain is good this way the grain is loose still once it expands and none of it gets compacted. Alfalfa usually 1 tablespoon and that, once they sprout, will fill the jar.

 

I then fill the jar with water just over the grain swirl it around make sure all the wheat is loose and moving freely and then fill the jar the rest of the way, a few inches above the grain. Or just fill the jar up depending on how full it is and the grain. I let this sit for 8 to 12 hours, longer is better I have found.

 

At the end of the time I drain all the water and make all the grain is loose again. Then I set this on the counter for 8 to 12 hours sometimes like in the heat of the summer I will let the jar set upside down in the sink to let as much as possible grain out to prevent mold. At that time I fill the jar up with water to rinse the grains, drain the water off, and let sit on the counter again. I keep the jar out of direct sunlight at this point. You do this twice a day for however long you want depending again on the grain and what your using it for.

 

Wheat usually I will let it go till you barely see a sprout and then I do a final rinse and drain and put it in my dehydrator. I don't want to kill the goodness in the grain so I only set the temp at 145 and since we have so much humidty this time it takes depends on the season etc. But sometimes it takes 12 to 24 hours but no longer.

 

I prefer this over sour doughing it for things since I haven't figured out sour dough bread and my family only likes sour dough pancakes or crackers. Though my sour dough starter Herman is a very happy camper when he is awake, right now he's sleeping the fridge. the sprouted grain flour makes wonderful breads, biscuits, pizza dough, etc I use it just like any other flour.

 

Come back tomorrow for the sprouting for animals portion.

 

 

Weddings

 

 

Weddings are always a fun affair and we recently went to a reception for one that was small but lovely. They used the season's colors as their backdrop and her love for the country and antiques for the decorations.

 

They had their reception the night before they were to be sealed in the temple and at first I thought weird but it work out so perfect. It was like a party for the last day they would be single and the next day was the start of their life together. The mood was festive and light and the food was delicious.

 

I hope they have a wonderful life together and all their dreams come true.

 

 

Bunnies

 

 

Meet Caeser!

 

Meet our newest addition, Caeser is our livestock guardian dog in training since he is only 15 weeks old....

 

He is a smart little booger and VERY stubborn already. But we are having fun with him and teaching him what we want and don't want, like chasing the chickens and barn cats.

 

We are hoping when it comes times this spring and summer to raise our meat chickens that his presence will deter the fox and other predators that think our place is the local fast food restaurant.

 

 

Pancakes

I love them and always have blueberry, chocolate chip, banana, plain, wheat, buckwheat, white flour, oat flour, sour dough, the list goes on. I love them with maple syrup, honey, butter, agave, peanut butter not so much, but strawberry syrup, elderberry, blueberry...You get the picture.

 

If you never tried buckwheat then your missing a treat. Since I do love them I like to try different ones and even though I do love them I don't eat them every single day....I know you thought that didn't you?

Buckwheat is a tasty grain that I have come to love, its not wheat like the name suggests and so it your gluten intolerant you can eat it. It makes a thick dough that makes fluffy pancakes I made then plain the first time but I'm thinking blueberrys or something next time.

 

Try some you will be glad you did.

 

BuckWheat Pancakes

 

• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 2 Tbsp melted butter or margarine

 

Mix dry ingredients together; add egg, milk and butter or margarine, beating well after each addition.Pour 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto hot griddle. Cook 1 to 1½ minutes, turning when edges look cooked and bubbles begin to break on the surface. Continue to cook 1 to 1½ minutes or until golden brown. 

Sprouting for people and livestock

 

I sprout wheat for us to eat and now I am sprouting grains for our animals. We just started doing it and hope to transfer all our livestock from commercial feeds to organic sprouted grains. As we journey through this I will keep you posted on what we do and how its going.

Dare Mighty Things

 

I  love this quote I heard it today and I wanted to share it with you. My daughter has always had a hard time in life...learning has always come at a great struggle for her. Public school wanted to classify her but we knew there was so much more to her than a label. She looks at the world from the opposite direction as the rest of the world, being left handed she comes at a problem from a different direction, and she sees people...truly sees them and still KNOWS they are a child of God.

 

But that doesn't help with learning since schools like to put everyone in the same box when some learn from another box. She is mildly dyslexic, but is a voracious reader she loves Shakepeare, Jane Austen, and anything that is medival. She has a wedding dress picked out that is a Regency style dress like they wore in Pride and Prejudice. She loves the scriptures, is extremely shy, when she gets mad she cries, she doesn't raise her voice, loves animals especially her goats, is a romantic at heart and any boy who wants to capture her heart has  very high standards they must reach. She wants her first kiss to be the boy she will marry and she wants a boy who is her best friend.

 

But then things have always been so hard struggles with learning, fitting in with others, and being painfully shy. We have a saying in our home "What is Normal!" when she was little people would tell me she wasn't normal as they got older my son and daughter would get mad at that statement and decided that normal is boring and what is it anyway who sets that standard? What people didn't understand is that at 4 1/2 she witnessed her parents struggle with the death of her baby brother, us finding he had died in his crib early one morning and trying to perform CPR and seeing her parents fall apart as paramedics took him away. That is devastating to parents but to her who couldn't understand it was a major trauma.

 

This quote reminds me of her struggles and that her struggles will and have made her strong. She is an inspiration to me she doesn't judge people she loves them and how she will fall and stumble and them pick herself up dust herself off and try again and again till she succeeds.

 

  It is not the critic who counts; nor the one who points out how the strong person stumbled, or where the doer of a deed could have done better.
 The credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually strive to do deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends oneself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he or she fails, at least fails while daring greatly.
 Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those timid spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt26^th President of the U.S. and
winner of 1906 Nobel Peace Prize

Pinto Beans

 

Why is it this time of year we crave thick hearty stews comfort foods? The foods we eat this time of year don't go well any other time of the year they just don't taste as good. Well I have been craving beans lately meatless stuff or at least small amounts of meat.

 

Hubby isn't the happiest with this but oh well I am doing to cooking and I make sure there is some meat.

 

I looked for something to do with pinto beans besides refried beans and I came across this recipe

 

And since I had soaked beans the night before with a little apple cider vinegar to help us digest all the goodness in them I decided this sounded good and easy. I through it all inthe crockpot and went to work.

Seasonings for the kids to add before I came home.

 

Cornbread I made before I left.

 

And it was yummy with a green salad very yummy indeed and warm on the tummy.

Header Collage....Pic Monkey

Ok, I am kinda cheap not on everything I will admit since hubby is probably reading this. But I live by "things come to those who wait" and if I can find it cheaper or free I would rather have that.

 

When I started this blog I ran across another blog that I can't remember now but they suggested

Pic Monkey for making a collage header. I wanted something not set in stone something I could move and change as I wanted. I also like to have a clean blog no thrills etc. I seem to lean towards a white background with pictures.

 

 

It is an easy site to maneuver around and the finished product is saved to your computer in a jpeg image. I just upload that image to where I want it. Easy and free that I love and my pictures aren't stored online somewhere I like that too.

 

I have also made a collage for a post and that worked wonderful.

In the Kitchen

Last week were in the kitchen whipping up some rich chocolate cupcakes and buttercream frosting.

 

They made monster cupcakes for a fall harvest we went to. It was yummy but way to sweet since I don't buy white sugar it was a treat for them to make.

 

Buttercream Frosting

From Wilton site

 

• 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
• 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract......we used regular vanilla
• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)   
• 2 tablespoons milk

Step 1

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

Step 2

For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

Step 3

For thin (spreading) consistency icing, add 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk.

Step 4

For Pure White Icing (stiff consistency), omit butter; substitute an additional 1/2 cup shortening for butter and add 1/2 teaspoon No-Color Butter Flavor. Add up to 4 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk to thin for icing cakes.

Autumn Chores

Autumn seems to be the time of year to burn brush piles that need to be taken care of. I'ts cool and the crispness of the weather seems to smell so good add some woodsmoke and it is like digging in the garden in the spring...earthy, primal, instinctive.

So we've been burning some piles in the pasture where our barn is at since hubby cut some trees down and we let the does eat the leaves off of them. The trunks I want to cut up for logs but the branches are burning nice since they are dry.

 

We have one goat who loves the smoke, Silk's previous owners smoked and they said she loved cigarette smoke. Well I think she loves any kind of smoke.

Bunnies

Our son has had rabbits for a few years. He started out with dwarfs but we had an unfortunate event happen with a neighbor's dog and he lost his two females.

He bought two more that were bigger and then something happened and we ended with only one and then this one turned out to be male instead of the intended female.

Well last March we helped a friend by slaughtering her rabbits in exchange we kept one for payment of the service. And we kept a female they were young and young ones are hard to sex plus I am extremely allergic to rabbits making it a little harder so after some research I was confident that I chose a female. She was the only one out of the batch. Now fast forward 8 months and she is a female and has bunnies.

Friends

There's not much to say about this picture except it was Halloween and we were doing our bimonthly volunteering at our church's Bishop's Storehouse.

 

We try to do something fun for the holidays and wearing funny hats is one of those fun things.

 

Her and I met while volunteering here and we've gone on road trips together this summer we went to Nauvoo for a week such fun to do fun things with friends.

 

 

Whole Wheat Carrot Rolls

Sprouted Wheat

Ground sprouted wheat

 

Yummy recipe from a inexpensive bread book hubby bought me last year. So far this is my favorite recipe out of this book. So I thought I'd share it with you today.

 

What I love about them most is they have no sugar.

 

Ingredients

1 3/4 c white bread flour plus extra for dusting

1 3/4 whole-wheat bread flour plus extra for sprinkling.

(I used all sprouted whole wheat flour for the both flours)

1 envelope or 2 T of active dry yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 lukewarm water

2 T olive oil

3 carrots shredded about 1 1/2 c

oil for brushing.

 

I also add chia seeds, flax, and hemp heart combo I get from NOW. I have added chopped pecans, pumpkin seeds, or walnuts.

 

1. sift white flour in a bowl, add whole wheat flour sift in the yeast and salt. Make a well in the center and add the water, olive oil, and carrots mixing to a soft dough.

 

2. Invert the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth. Place the dough in a bowl, cover, and let resst for 5 minutes.

 

3. brush a baking sheet with oil. Invert the dough and lightly knead again until smooth. Divide into eight pieces, shape each piece into a ball, and arrange on the prepared baking sheet, allowing room for spreading.

 

4. Cover and let rest in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size. Meanwhile, preheat the over to 425.

 

5. Sprinkle the rolls with a little while-wheat flour and bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

 

Enjoy

 

Warmth

I love a good bonfire, not the big ones that are to big to really enjoy but a small cozy one. The ones you can cook food on, roast a marshmellow or two, warm your fingers and toes on a cool night. Or just sit around and enjy each other company.

 

I can't sit around them all night I do get a tad bored after awhile but the building, the working of it, and the joy of the warmth it gives area all things I enjoy.

 

 

Cool Crisp Air

Have you noticed how autumn weather just makes you feel refreshed? I love it and our cats do as well. 

 

He was enjoying the lovely weather Saturday as much as we were, even at 12 years old he can still run and play like a kitten when the mood hits him.

 

 

 

Interesting Reads

I like to read I don't read as much as I used to since sitting down to do it takes times which I seem to not have much of.

 

But while I was reading the other morning on Down to Earth I found a couple of blog posts that I wanted to share.

 

I think being educated isn't just going to school and getting a degree in some field though now that I think of it, that might make you narrow minded in just your field. I think truly educating yourself is filling your mild from many fields learning from everything, reading and soaking up from all walks of life.

 

I like to do that though I don't do as well as I have in the past I've gotten lazy I hope to remedy that soon.

 

At Provenance Growers I saw a glimpse into what I want to do with pigs and hope to this winter but probably won't be till this spring. This is a topic I want to learn more about before I just jump, pasture raising pigs. We've only raised them in a pen they were fun but tasty but I want them healthy, happy, and work for me while their here. I can raise pigs but now I want to cultivate pigs take it to the next level.

 

And at this one, Homegrown.org I learned that certain kinds of poop can be used for the best affect on your garden. I just throw it all in but this organized more and taught me a few thinks I didn't know.

 

Enjoy

 

 

Random

Here is some randomness from around the place...

The big boys and the little boys, the little boys are growing to be bigger than the big boys.

Sunrise over the house and the trees.

 

Hope you have a wonderful day

Sour Dough

 

I like to make sour dough foods, bread I have not mastered but biscuits, crackers, even a chocolate cake are all things that I make. I haven't been able to really cook in awhile with being so busy but now things are slowing down and I have been able to make sour dough pancakes and the other day I made a batch of crackers and biscuits.

I used my smallest biscuit cutter to make the crackers usually I roll the dough out flat and cut into squares with a pizza cutter but I wanted round ones this time. I added a triple seed combo from NOW that we sell at work it has chia seeds, flax seeds, and hemp hearts. I love putting it in smoothies but it worked just as good in the crackers.

 

And biscuits they were yummy toasted with butter. Eating homemade food is always a treat so many people have forgotten what real food is and opt for the boxed stuff and cooking is an art that is being lost by the average person.

Worms....

My husband and I are looking at making a worm composting bin soon and I found this video a year or so ago that got the idea rolling in the first place.

 

I'll keep you posted on our progress with it.

 

Enjoy

Keets

And not I'm not meaning the poet I am meaning baby guineas. I love having guineas they can be loud and they can be aggressive when they are protecting a nest or babies. But they let you know when there is a stranger in their midst and they have such personalities!

These are from the third nest our adults tried to hatch this summer. The first predators decimated all the babies over night, the second one the predator got into the eggs, the third she kept hidden in the garden and we rounded all of them up after they hatched and are raising them ourselves. Five survived out of nine but we are happy with that.

They are in the pigeon pen right now with our lone pigeon, Fred he was the only one to survive a predator raid a month or so ago. Yes we have a predator problem right now we are looking into getting a livestock guardian dog.

And here is our lone chick it cannot fly up to the perch with its friends so it peeps as loud as it can till they come gilding back.

Down the Beaten Path

When we are born we are automatically set upon a path, a new path, our own path one that has no footstep or mark in the pristine way that is before us. As we grow we start looking down paths that shoot off from ours going in all directions with no end in sight as to where they will end up if we take them.

taking the goats on a Sunday afternoon walk

 

Every once in a while we break a new path stepping off the one we were on to start something new. Some follow us and learn and grow from the ground breaking experiences we have. We grow and learn together and later more come and learn as they walk down the beaten path we have made.

 

Many paths we take are downtrodden worn by many who have come before us, we learn from them and the experiences they had before us.

 

These beaten paths can be interesting with many pitfalls and many things we would rather not do or see. Some though are filled with pure knowledge that we absorb and use in our daily lives to grow and become more of what we see as we walk the path.

My daughter's little buck, Pan,  he found a stump to be king of the herd

 

I for one am thankful for the beaten paths I find that help me grow and learn. I have and will start down paths that are not what I need to be on and I will hopefully be able to turn around and start all over before I loose my way.

 

I love to learn so many things and have walked many beaten paths as I have learned about homesteading, preparedness, living simply, and on many topics and I hope I will continue to learn so I can be the person I envision. I have learned so many things from the people who have walked before me as I know they have from those who have walked before them. I look forward to walking and learning in this life and hope to make many more friends who journey with me as we beat down this well worn path of homesteading, self reliance, and simple living.

 

I am not the first nor the last but I am grateful for those who took that step and started this beaten path.

 

Thank You for all those who contribute, write, ask, and journey down the beaten path....

 

Modern Homesteader's 

Homesteader's Hop

 

 

Around and About

 

It has been breeding season around here and our bucks have been happy to do their jobs. Our two holstein calves are growing and act like big dogs one loves to rub on you like a cat and he's getting to big to do it anymore.

 

We've picked corn, traveled many miles on the roads to various things that need to be completed before kiddos start college. Our guineas hatched eggs and we were able to save five of them as well as one egg hatching in the incubator giving one new chick. Predators have devastated our chicken flock this year so we haven't raised any meat birds, well we did have 50 and all were eaten and not by us.

 

Late blooming flowers are in abundance and they are such beautiful sites as we travel the roads. I love that such beauty is provided at all times of the year for us to visually feast upon.