I must admit that today I was a little nervous... I knew you all were special. I've heard all the amazing stories about your infectious and deep characters, your strong spirits, intelligence and maturity. I saw many of you at Jon Young's talk at the Monge Family home a few months back, I heard your stories about your Sespie adventure, and I've interacted with most of your parents. I have greatly admired each of you before having met you, and I wanted to make sure that I was worthy of your work and efforts on my land. I wanted you to feel welcomed and free.
And then you all got here! Miles on his bike and everyone else caravanning up my driveway! Excitement! And then I was greeted with your amazing smiles. I instantly felt normal again and at ease. How great you all are. So full of youth and life, and bursting with energy and will. I said it at our closing circle and I meant it with all my heart. The homestead felt fully alive today. Thank you for bringing that energy to this place.
So our day begun! I was able to greet you with the exciting news that our Mama Cat had given birth in the wee hours of the morning, and so we went on a kitten hunt! There was no fruit from our labors other than the deduction that Mama Cat had her brood stashed deep beneath my house. But still so fun!
Following that was goat introductions! You all got to meet Miko, Terra, Lady, Ivy, and the babies, Honor, Opal, Timber and Darryl. I loved seeing that you all had gravitated to the spot where our beloved Daisy was buried. It was so sweet to sit around her little tree that her babies have relentlessly nibbled, and talk about all the benefits and beauty of raw goats milk. She is the one that taught it all to me, so it was a perfect spot to pass on some of that knowledge. I know she loved it. : ) We talked about holistic approaches to raising these amazing creatures, about different types of cheeses and how they are made.
And then we dined! It was such a pleasure to prepare food for you all! I hope that through my food, you felt my deep appreciation for each of your lives and for your presence here with me. I made you two flavors of fresh goat cheese: rosemary with garlic and honey with sea salt. I also made a couple loaves of french bread, and a frittata. Here is the frittata recipe if anyone is curious:
2 sweet potatoes (cut into 1/2" cubes)
1 leek (sliced white part only!)
1 cup cooked black beans
3 stalks of asparagus (chopped into small slices)
10 eggs (beaten with a splash of milk)
coconut oil
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Melt the oil in an oven safe pan. Add the sweet potatoes and fry until tender. Add in the leek and cook for a minute. Add in beans and asparagus and cook for 2-3 minutes. At this point season the dish as you would like. I added nutmeg, oregano, sea salt, just a little garlic powder and black pepper. Stir to mix spices in then add in the egg mixture. Cook in the pan for a minute to set the outer edges of the egg and then put into the oven for 10-12 minutes. Don't let it brown too much on the top or else it will be dry. You want to be just done. Enjoy!
I loved that Doran reminded me to discuss hazards! The most important of those was to be mindful of nails or screws that may be on the ground in the project zones, and to keep your eyes out for snakes!
Then you guys said something amazing... You wanted to do my chores... Whoa... lol! So I showed you all our grain mix recipe that gets fed to the goats and pig, and several of you participated in mixing the grains for me. Made me so happy! Here is the recipe we followed:
16% protein ration:
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Ingredient
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Amount
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Whole Peas
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3#
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Whole Barley
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3#
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Whole Oats
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2#
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Black Oil Sunflower Seeds
|
1#
|
In the blink of an eye our day was at it's end. We said our goodbye's, looking forward to next week's milking lessons, herbal medicine making and getting started on the bathtub herb garden project you guys wanted to work on. I sent a link to a fun goat video for you all to watch in preparation for next week. Here it is:
Blessings friends!
In gratitude,
Shayna
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