Friday, June 5, 2009

Cheese and guineas

While my sister was visiting we made goat cheese. It was a simple vinegar cheese but we added tarragon and sage from the garden. It was really good, although a bit crumbly. I have enough milk in the freezer for another batch of cheese. What should I make? We've made ice cream 3 times now, it sure it good. Having a milk goat is pretty cool.

We got some guinea keets today. I've been looking for them for months on Craigslist. I didn't want to order them since most places have a 25 minimum on keets. I finally found some and met a nice woman. Aren't they pretty?

23 comments:

TxFarmhouse said...

Your goats are so sweet. I'm still contemplating getting a milk goat. I know it'a a lot of work..my sister has an Alpine.

Perri said...

Hi Christy,

Good luck with your guineas. They have less common sense than chickens. A lot less. Take care when introducing them to the outside. In my experience, they tend to panic and take off never to be seen again.

Perri

Joanna@BooneDocksWilcox said...

Christy, you and I quite often are on the same wavelink. I tried making goat cheese (vinegar) for the first time this week. I wasn't successful at the curd stage so need to try again. Guess I didn't allow it to cool long enough. Also, I've had guinea's on the brain, want to add just a few to the flock. Yours look very nice.

Zachary and Jennifer said...

I'll be watching your guinea progress. I am also intrigued by them. My Dad has been lobbying for me to get some since I got the laying hens. Very cute. Your cheese looks fantastic!

Jennifer

Darcel said...

They are so cute!

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Make Yogurt, with fresh fruit. Yummy!
Weren't you planning on having bees ones day, too?
How wonderful it will be when you can make some Greek style Goatmilk Yogurt and pour some of your own golden honey over it. Yummo!

With your new Guineas your farm will be bug free :)

~Lisa

crowson2000 said...

man that goat cheese looks good! tried queso or rotel with chips yet?

Gail said...

Your farm animals are growing by leaps and bounds.

Dreams do come true! You have a true Dream Farm now.

linda m said...

The goat cheese looks so yummy. I like Lisa's idea of yogurt. The guineas sure look cute.

Christy said...

Perri - I've heard they can be hard. I'm going to keep them in the house for a few weeks, then move them outside in a big dog cage in the run in, from there they will be released in the run in. The process has worked well with the chicks, I hope it will work with the keets.

Joanna - we do seem to be following the same path! I'm sorry your cheese didn't work. Did it not set up at all? Mine was crumbly but it did harden.

Lisa - I do need to make yogurt soon. I guess it can be done in a thermos, I don't have a yogurt maker. Bees will be next year probably. But homemade yogurt with our own honey sounds amazing!

Amy said...

The keets are so cute! Are the lighter ones lavender? That's my favorite color for guineas. Have fun with them. I've heard they're great for insect control.

Jennifer said...

The cheese looks delicious. The goat cheese you buy in the store is crumbly so I always figured that was the way it was supposed to be. :-) Love the new guineas, they are so pretty!

Liebe Lebenskunst said...

Hi Christy,

what pretty nice birds you have! :o)
I have a question...beginning of this year I was drawn to receive on of your handmade ladybugs/chicks, but til this day have not received anything. I was just wondering if you ever sent it out or if they maybe got lost in the mail. I was so hopping to add your precious little work to our nature table.

Thanks for your response and happy farming!

Angela

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the cheese! And those keets are adorable!!! Sheesh girl, look at you...I still marvel at how far you've come in such a short time!! :)

JLB said...

the guineas are adorable Christy! Mine have been living outside in a cage for awhile now and I just opened the cage door and they hopped out and haven't panicked or anything so it should work to do it that way :)

Good luck.

(yogurt sounds good...have you tried kefir? It's along the same line but a tad tarter)

Carla said...

You brave woman---guineas are soooo noisy.
Goat's milk ice cream?? Oh well, homemade ice cream is yummy no matter what.

Christy said...

Amy - I think they are lavender. They are pretty.

Jennifer - I've never had goat's cheese from the store. I may have to try some just to see what it is supposed to be like. Or maybe not, mine was pretty good.

Angela - Things just got so busy here. I've got them done, I'll have to try to get them in the mail sometime. Between milking, gardening, taking care of chicks, sheep, goats ..... I've been a little busy.

CeeCee - considering our goat's milk tastes better than cow's milk (it is sweeter) the ice cream is wonderful. No one believes me how good our milk is until they try it. It is sweet and creamy with no after taste at all! Much better than most cow's milk from the store.

Anonymous said...

Christy - Have you tested the Goat Cheese to see if it has any effect on the immune response elicited by Rotavirus infection? I think a series of ELISAs are in order.

Mary Humphrey said...

I am craving chevre...or mozzerella. Moz can be made in the microwave. It takes a lot of milk to make just a small amount of cheese though. I need to get busy and make some cheese. I always seem to wait until it is too hot and humid (this old house is not air conditioned). LOVE your blog!

Christy said...

I sure miss doing ELISAa! And collecting mouse poop, what fun those days were. Love the comment! It made me laugh.

Unknown said...

Good luck with the guineas! I too have some baby guineas that I hatched out in my incubator. They are sooooooo cute as babies and I love them when they get big too. These are the first ones I have ever had though.

tipper said...

Congrats on the new keets! The goat cheese looks so yummy!

Linda Foley said...

My gosh Christy! You are getting a regular farm there. I think that is cool!