To Make Goat Milk Yogurt at Home
Start with fresh, unpasteurized, goat milk that has been produced in a sanitary manner. Heat milk to 108 degrees Fahrenheit. As a starter culture (good bacteria), you can either use our Redwood Hill Farm plain yogurt or a freeze-dried culture purchased from a health or natural food store. In addition, use yogurt from a new cup and use a clean spoon to add it to the milk. Use l Tablespoon per quart of milk or if using a freeze-dried culture, follow package directions.
After the culture has been added, you must incubate the milk at 104-108 degrees. To do this, you can use a home yogurt maker or devise something on your own. Some people use a heating pad wrapped around a jar, put it in the oven on low, or a jar in a crock-pot. What ever you use, experiment with water and a thermometer before you actually make the yogurt to be sure you can hold the milk at the required temperature. Incubate for 6-8 hours depending on your taste. When done incubating, chill the yogurt before eating being careful not to agitate or move the yogurt much until it is well chilled.
Goat milk will not get as thick as cow milk yogurt. In addition many cow yogurts add powdered milk to thicken the yogurt. We use a small amount of tapioca (natural from the cassava root) in our Redwood Hill Farm yogurt. You can use whatever suits you to thicken the yogurt or enjoy a yogurt drink.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Natural tick repellent
My 12 year old shih-tzu just had a really bad reaction to a Frontline treatment my mom gave her a couple of days ago. She's been in pain, pacing, whining, yelping if anyone touches her, and panting. I google searched her symptoms, and on the first page of results was a page all about adverse reactions people's dogs had had to tick treatments. I found quite a few people who listed the exact same symptoms my dog had for Frontline - except they got a lot worse, including seizures, tumors, and sometimes death. So I immediately washed the Frontline off my dog, and she already feels better.
But there are still ticks out there, and I'd like her to have *some* blood left in her body by the end of summer. So what's a country girl to do?
Green Living says Rose Geranium oil is the best natural tick repellent there is. Dilute it in a carrier oil - 2 tbs nut or vegetable oil per 10-25 drops essential oil - and put 2 drops on the dog's collar.
The site where I found the info about Frontline also has a post (about 2/3 of the way down, if you're interested) that says that apple cider vinegar in their water (1 tsp/gallon) makes them taste bad to ticks.
My aunt once told me about garlic pills, and a couple of sites confirmed it, but who wants to get their face licked by a dog with garlic breath? I think I'm just going to stick with the Rose Geranium oil.
But there are still ticks out there, and I'd like her to have *some* blood left in her body by the end of summer. So what's a country girl to do?
Green Living says Rose Geranium oil is the best natural tick repellent there is. Dilute it in a carrier oil - 2 tbs nut or vegetable oil per 10-25 drops essential oil - and put 2 drops on the dog's collar.
The site where I found the info about Frontline also has a post (about 2/3 of the way down, if you're interested) that says that apple cider vinegar in their water (1 tsp/gallon) makes them taste bad to ticks.
My aunt once told me about garlic pills, and a couple of sites confirmed it, but who wants to get their face licked by a dog with garlic breath? I think I'm just going to stick with the Rose Geranium oil.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Religious cows?
This doesn't have much to do with country girl know-how, but it's about cows and Catholics so it counts, right?
http://holywhapping.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html#3295265637808101056
You have two cows...
Franciscan: You have two cows. Moved by the beauty of sister cow, you unleash them. Your ensuing lack of milk allows you to glory in the poverty of Christ.
Carmelite: By concession of Pope Innocent IV, you have two cows. You don’t eat them between Sept. 14 and Easter.
Discalced Carmelite: You have two cows. You feed them by arduously dragging hay to their tough, but then you deliver it by truck. Ultimately, abundant hay falls effortlessly from the sky.
Benedictine: You have two cows. You use one to preserve the art of animal husbandry for all time. You kill the other and make intricate, colored markings on its hide.
Dominican: You have two cows. You feel as if you should share one with the Franciscans, but can’t bring yourself to trust them with it.
Cistercian: You have a more extraordinary method of procuring milk.
Carthusian: You should have two cows, but they never made it to the Grand Chartreuse since they kept mixing up the difference between "Cistercian" and "Carthusian."
Trappist: You have two cows. You do not appreciate their mooing, yet require their milk to craft high quality fudge. You assign them to a novice.
Jesuit: Your institutions own thousands of animals in the bovine tradition, but you are rightly concerned that the poor have none.
Opus Dei: You have two donkeys, and tend to them very carefully. You never admit that you engage in this work, but are delighted to meet other covert donkey owners.
Communion and Liberation: You have two cows, and bring them to huge annual gatherings. You speak to them only in the present tense.
SSPX: You have two cows. You raise them precisely according to USDA standards, c. 1950. One cow denies that the USDA exists and runs off to take care of itself.
St. Egidio: You gather two cows together in a very old barn and reflect on Scripture. Other cows begin to come, too. You sell their milk for third world debt relief.
Augustinian: Posthumously, two cows claim you as their owner. One of them burns down the northern half of the barnyard.
Salesian: You have no cows, but work to improve the welfare of calves orphaned by factory farming. You inspire them to love Christ, and occasionally dream about their futures.
http://holywhapping.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html#3295265637808101056
You have two cows...
Franciscan: You have two cows. Moved by the beauty of sister cow, you unleash them. Your ensuing lack of milk allows you to glory in the poverty of Christ.
Carmelite: By concession of Pope Innocent IV, you have two cows. You don’t eat them between Sept. 14 and Easter.
Discalced Carmelite: You have two cows. You feed them by arduously dragging hay to their tough, but then you deliver it by truck. Ultimately, abundant hay falls effortlessly from the sky.
Benedictine: You have two cows. You use one to preserve the art of animal husbandry for all time. You kill the other and make intricate, colored markings on its hide.
Dominican: You have two cows. You feel as if you should share one with the Franciscans, but can’t bring yourself to trust them with it.
Cistercian: You have a more extraordinary method of procuring milk.
Carthusian: You should have two cows, but they never made it to the Grand Chartreuse since they kept mixing up the difference between "Cistercian" and "Carthusian."
Trappist: You have two cows. You do not appreciate their mooing, yet require their milk to craft high quality fudge. You assign them to a novice.
Jesuit: Your institutions own thousands of animals in the bovine tradition, but you are rightly concerned that the poor have none.
Opus Dei: You have two donkeys, and tend to them very carefully. You never admit that you engage in this work, but are delighted to meet other covert donkey owners.
Communion and Liberation: You have two cows, and bring them to huge annual gatherings. You speak to them only in the present tense.
SSPX: You have two cows. You raise them precisely according to USDA standards, c. 1950. One cow denies that the USDA exists and runs off to take care of itself.
St. Egidio: You gather two cows together in a very old barn and reflect on Scripture. Other cows begin to come, too. You sell their milk for third world debt relief.
Augustinian: Posthumously, two cows claim you as their owner. One of them burns down the northern half of the barnyard.
Salesian: You have no cows, but work to improve the welfare of calves orphaned by factory farming. You inspire them to love Christ, and occasionally dream about their futures.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Notes from 'Mineralizing your soil, your food and -- you!' by Joe Esposito
Gemma and I attended a 4 hour seminar in Peggs on the subject of remineralizing your soil. Very informative and a very relevent subject. Here are some of my notes:
Joe had a BRIX reader at the seminar. Using liquid from any plant, the device gives a reading of the minerals and sugars in the plant. On a normal BRIX reader 4 is poor and 10 is good. Typical grocery store veggies are '0.5' and a well mineralized garden vegetable can be up in the '30' range. I think of this reading as 'how much alive' is the plant *really low brix means a 'dead food' in my mind*
Read more on BRIX: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brix *Do a google search also if you want - lots there*
A mix of books from the seminar and randome notes:
Garlic - Heinrich P. Koeh *Garlic used to be used commonly as an antibiotic*When growing your own garlic be sure the soil has lots of nutrients and hummus since garlic is a natural source of lots of minerals.
Folk Medicine - D.C. Jarvis MD (A New England almanac of natural health care from a noted Vermont country doctor
Overcoming Parasites Naturally - Dr. James R. Overman ND
Alkalize or Die - Dr. Theodore A Baroody
Choose life or Death - Carey A Reams with Cliff Dudley *Reams and Einstein were friends*
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration - Weston A Price
*Most maple syrup harvesters use formaldicide to keep the sap holes open longer ...yuck!
*Liver has high amounts of vitamin A
The Makers Diet - Jordin S. Rubin
Flood your body with oxygen - Ed McCabe
*Mentions using food grade hyrodgen peroxide to oxygenate water*Hydrogen Peroxide Treatment is used in Europe. See : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_Peroxide#Therapeutic_use
Supposedly, according to Joe Esposito it did not rain before the great flood (the plants were 'watered' by a mist that came up through the ground *unkown to me*) and that there were no seasons (the earth must have had a completely veritcal axis). Any thoughts?
Essential fatty acids are important in bringing oxygen into the body's cells. The cultures who's people have a history of longevity had diets composed of highly mineralized soil and plant food with little carbohydrate food.
Dented Corn *looks dehydrated to me* is a sign of calcium deficiency. When making cornbread and such; popcorn and indian corn are healthier and of a higher quality with more minerals.
Insects can't eat plants high in sugar (highly mineralized plants are much sweeter) because they don't have livers and will leave these healthy plants alone. So you won't need all the insecticides.
The body does not store potassium and so it must be consumed every day (500 mg/day). Foods high in potassium - bananas, celery, molasses, sardines, etc. *you will never lose weight in there is a potassium deficiency*
Microbes are the 'digestion' for soil. Plants won't absorb the minerals without them.
Daily water consumption: 1/2 the body weight in oz.
Maintain a healthy body PH. http://www.alkalizeforhealth.net/salivaphtest.htm
Joe had a BRIX reader at the seminar. Using liquid from any plant, the device gives a reading of the minerals and sugars in the plant. On a normal BRIX reader 4 is poor and 10 is good. Typical grocery store veggies are '0.5' and a well mineralized garden vegetable can be up in the '30' range. I think of this reading as 'how much alive' is the plant *really low brix means a 'dead food' in my mind*
Read more on BRIX: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brix *Do a google search also if you want - lots there*
A mix of books from the seminar and randome notes:
Garlic - Heinrich P. Koeh *Garlic used to be used commonly as an antibiotic*When growing your own garlic be sure the soil has lots of nutrients and hummus since garlic is a natural source of lots of minerals.
Folk Medicine - D.C. Jarvis MD (A New England almanac of natural health care from a noted Vermont country doctor
Overcoming Parasites Naturally - Dr. James R. Overman ND
Alkalize or Die - Dr. Theodore A Baroody
Choose life or Death - Carey A Reams with Cliff Dudley *Reams and Einstein were friends*
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration - Weston A Price
*Most maple syrup harvesters use formaldicide to keep the sap holes open longer ...yuck!
*Liver has high amounts of vitamin A
The Makers Diet - Jordin S. Rubin
Flood your body with oxygen - Ed McCabe
*Mentions using food grade hyrodgen peroxide to oxygenate water*Hydrogen Peroxide Treatment is used in Europe. See : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_Peroxide#Therapeutic_use
Supposedly, according to Joe Esposito it did not rain before the great flood (the plants were 'watered' by a mist that came up through the ground *unkown to me*) and that there were no seasons (the earth must have had a completely veritcal axis). Any thoughts?
Essential fatty acids are important in bringing oxygen into the body's cells. The cultures who's people have a history of longevity had diets composed of highly mineralized soil and plant food with little carbohydrate food.
Dented Corn *looks dehydrated to me* is a sign of calcium deficiency. When making cornbread and such; popcorn and indian corn are healthier and of a higher quality with more minerals.
Insects can't eat plants high in sugar (highly mineralized plants are much sweeter) because they don't have livers and will leave these healthy plants alone. So you won't need all the insecticides.
The body does not store potassium and so it must be consumed every day (500 mg/day). Foods high in potassium - bananas, celery, molasses, sardines, etc. *you will never lose weight in there is a potassium deficiency*
Microbes are the 'digestion' for soil. Plants won't absorb the minerals without them.
Daily water consumption: 1/2 the body weight in oz.
Maintain a healthy body PH. http://www.alkalizeforhealth.net/salivaphtest.htm
Friday, March 7, 2008
A few of my favorite things...
Just a couple of links I use sometimes
www.hennaforhair.com
www.mountainroseherbs.com
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Welcome!
I just wanted to say welcome to the newest blog member - MaryCatherine! I should have started the tradition ealier of welcoming each member as they came on board ... well better late than never (lol)
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Throw out the chemicals and use more economic and safe solution
Saving Money & Wasting Less Lesson 4: Around the house
I really enjoyed this article since it brings together simply the many uses of everday household products for cleaning, etc.
Introduction to the article:
In this lesson we will look at how to save money on the common products used in the home. The products suggested are not just cheap, they are natural and not toxic chemicals and so will help save the environment as well as money.
How toxic is your house anyway?
We are encouraged constantly by advertising to make our houses toxic by spraying chemicals around them. We use surface sprays that last for months to kill insects we're often not even sure we have, we 'bomb' our houses to get the chemicals into every nook and cranny in the house. They also get into every nook and cranny of our lungs, and on our skin.
We use chemical cleaners, deodorants, air fresheners and carpet cleaners, and we reach for chemicals in the form of pills every time we have the slightest ache or pain. Is the toxicity of our environment the reason so many people suffer these days from allergies.
We will also look at how clutter in your home can cost you money, and look at how to save money and time on housework.
Some of the household products used in the article:
Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda, bicarb, bicarb soda)
Washing soda (sodium carbonate)
Vinegar
Cloudy ammonia
Lemons
Borax
Salt
Beer
I really enjoyed this article since it brings together simply the many uses of everday household products for cleaning, etc.
Introduction to the article:
In this lesson we will look at how to save money on the common products used in the home. The products suggested are not just cheap, they are natural and not toxic chemicals and so will help save the environment as well as money.
How toxic is your house anyway?
We are encouraged constantly by advertising to make our houses toxic by spraying chemicals around them. We use surface sprays that last for months to kill insects we're often not even sure we have, we 'bomb' our houses to get the chemicals into every nook and cranny in the house. They also get into every nook and cranny of our lungs, and on our skin.
We use chemical cleaners, deodorants, air fresheners and carpet cleaners, and we reach for chemicals in the form of pills every time we have the slightest ache or pain. Is the toxicity of our environment the reason so many people suffer these days from allergies.
We will also look at how clutter in your home can cost you money, and look at how to save money and time on housework.
Some of the household products used in the article:
Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda, bicarb, bicarb soda)
Washing soda (sodium carbonate)
Vinegar
Cloudy ammonia
Lemons
Borax
Salt
Beer
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