Coyote Ridge FarmsWelcome To Our Rural Blog

The forecast suggested it would be a windy day today – perfect for drying hay.  As soon as the dew left the downed hay, I began to rake some of the road side windrows.  After an hour or so, the breeze that was available, disappeared.  It became calm.  Not wanting to ruin my hay by having it rained on.  I ceased my raking.  Hours later, I checked the hay that I had turned over.  The hay was still damp.  Without a drying wind, I knew it would not be dry enough to bale on Sunday… it’s suppose to rain on Monday (40%).  I’m glad I didn’t rake all of it.

If I can’t bale, I might as well do some fencing.  A couple days ago I started a small fencing project, allowing the cattle to access the Ritchie brand automatic waterer on the other side of the fence.  What I had done so far was create an eight foot opening in an already established fence line.  I had installed two 6″ cedar posts on each side of the waterer.  The problem was that when I stretched the barbed wire back onto the posts, the posts pulled in the direction of the wire.  If I wanted the fence to last, the newly installed posts needed to be supported with a brace.  Since discovering the New Zealand style support post design (a.k.a. Kiwi brace), I use it whenever I can.

This is the waterer I installed last year. The Kiwi brace assembly on each side was completed today.

I attached the diagonal brace to the main post by drilling a 3/8″x2½” hole in both and then installing a 5″ length of rebar into the main post, then slide the brace onto the rebar pin (some folks simply notch the main post, then nail the diagonal brace to it).  Where the diagonal brace touches the ground, I put a flat rock or cement paver.  This keeps the post from rotting and/or digging into the ground.  Also, at the base of the main post and the lower end of the diagonal, I loop high-tensile wire and tighten it with a fencing strainer.

Kiwi brace with 8'x4" diagonal, mounted 3' on main post
(click on image for details)

The rule-of-thumb for the Kiwi brace is this:  If you have an 8′ diagonal brace it should be secured 3′ from the ground on the main post and needs to be at least 4″ in diameter.  If you have a 10′ post, it needs to be 5″ in diameter and should be placed 4′ on the vertical post.

After installing the posts and braces, I took a 16′ cattle panel and “wrapped” it around the waterer and it’s 4′x5′ cement pad (see upper photo).  It fit perfectly and the farm’s Highlanders have not had a problem using it… even with their long horns.

The reason for doing this little project was simple.  The cattle [somehow] kept shutting off the hydrant that filled their stock tank… and I was getting tired of it.  Last night, when I mentioned to Farmer Mike what I was working on and why I was doing it, he asked me why I didn’t simply remove the handle of the hydrant.  I really didn’t have a reply… but I was thinking, “Duh!”

This info is also posted on the ‘Small Farm & Sustainability‘ Facebook group.

Carol and I are going out with friend and mentor, Farmer Mike and his wife Karen.  Their wedding anniversary was yesterday and ours is today.

25 years ago, this morning, Carol and I were married at The Chapel Of Love, in Las Vegas, Nevada.  At the time, both of us were students at the Willmar Area Vo-Tech.  Carol was studying to be a nurse and I was going to school for Parts & Merchandising.  Our classes had not yet started for the year when we took off for the City Of Lights – Las Vegas.

With a borrowed car secured just days before and $600 in my pocket that was loaned to me by my dad, Carol and I headed west, out of our town of Willmar, MN.  Thinking back to other road trips, the food and snacks that we brought was most likely a loaf of bread and a package of bologna, corn nuts, corn chips, a large bag of pretzel rods and of course pop/soda.  The car we were using was a green, 1975 Datsun B-210, hatchback.  It was powered by a little 4 cylinder that we later found out was not built for the mountains of Colorado.  It looked like the Datsun in the photo below.

This is nearly the identical car that brought Carol and I to Las Vegas, where we married.

The one and only major break-down was in the rain, outside of Vale, Colorado – the water pump went out.  After limping the car to a nearby town, we were towed to a Chevron station in Glenwood Springs, CO.  It was there where we spent 2½ days, waiting for a new water pump.  It seems one of the station attendants knew the part’s store owner and only after we paid him more than we should have, he gave his buddy a call and got the part.  Thinking Carol & I would run short on cash, I “rented” some tools from the station and installed the pump myself.  We slept in the car behind the station over the Labor Day weekend.

It was very early in the morning when we rolled into Vegas on Sept. 2nd.  Not knowing where to go or where to stay, at 3 am we rang the door bell of a small motel.  A short, older gentleman unlocked the door and checked us in.  He was kind enough to take interest in us and asked why we were in town.  We told him we were here to get married and gave him the short version of our trip’s follies.  He told us that he would take care of everything.  He simply asked what time we wanted to get married and what time we wanted to wake up… that was it.

Sometime after our wake-up call we received another call from the front office.  The limo service had a car waiting for us.  When we walked around to the motel office, there waiting for us was a white, stretched limo.  The driver was in the lobby waiting for us.  From that point forward, neither Carol nor myself touched another door until we were back again at the motel.  Our driver brought us to the marriage license bureau where he held the door for us, sat us down, and sought and retrieved all the paperwork we need to get hitched.  When everything was in order, he wisked us off to get married.  The drive to the wedding chapel was where we got to know our driver better.  He asked us where we were from.  We told him we hailed from a small town in Minnesota.  He then asked what town.  When we told him “Willmar,” he stated he too was originally from the Land of 10,000 lakes.  In fact, he once was an Old Dutch Potato Chip truck driver out of the Metro… and Willmar was his main stop.  We chatted a bit more, mentioning the rotten luck we experience on the road.  He must have felt sorry for us as he gave us some money-saving advice when it came to the chapel where we were to get married.

Carol & I got married here at the Chapel Of Love in 1985

At the Chapel Of Love, we chose the basic, no frills, wedding package.  Our limo driver was our witness.  After the short ceremony, we were handed an envelope with a large dollar amount written on the outside of it.  Our driver told us about this envelope… it was for us to tip the minister guy.  We put a $5 bill into it and walked to the car with our newly signed marriage certificate in hand.

On our way back to the motel, I asked our driver [and witness] how he makes money driving limo.  He stated he owned his car and he made his living on tips only.  Since he saved us $$$ with the advice he gave us about the goings-on of the chapel, I asked him what his normal tip was.  He would not tell us and would not take our money.  He just told us that he wanted to give us our first wedding present and the use of his limo service was it.  We thanked him as he dropped us off back at the hotel.

Shortly there after, Carol and I headed back home, via Hoover Dam.  We visited the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone Park before arriving back home.  We got home late, but in time for a few hours of sleep, just to head to our first day of class at the Vo-Tech the next day.  To say the least, our friends and classmates were surprised to hear we were married just a few day before.

Carol graduated from the LPN program and I graduated from the program I was enrolled in.  Carol is still in the medical field.  I on the other hand went to college and graduated.  From that point on I have several vocations.  I became a counselor for an are boys group home, became a DJ for an AM country music radio station.  I striped parking lots and later cleaned restaurant vent hoods.  I also owned a cleaning company and if you consider race care driving a job, I did that too.  All the while, Carol retained her nursing license through the years.  Even now, while we both embark on our farming endeavor, Carol remains a medical professional. I on the other hand am just a farmer.

I guess if you’ve read this post to the end… just be thankful this is the short version. 

Yesterday was Madison’s show day for her bunny at the Minnesota State Fair.  Carol and I left the farm early in the morning to get to the show ring early enough to watch her.  As it turns out, Madison’s class of rabbits (mini-lops) were the last class of rabbits shown that day.  They finally got to the show ring at 11:00 am or so – 3 hrs later than we thought.

Afraid of disease or her top rabbits becoming ill from being potentially exposed to 100′s or 1000′s of other bunnies from around the state, Madison didn’t bring her 1st choice rabbit… or even her 2nd best rabbit… she brought her 3rd choice.  The bunny she brought didn’t even have a name yet.  The animal she took was so far down the county fair line up, Madison had mentally prepared herself for a poor showing at the state fair level… after all, it was what we all considered a ‘scrub’ – nothing more than an “OK” rabbit… good enough for the first-timer being at the fair.

Madison at the judging table with her mini-lop rabbit

Here you can see Madison in the middle, watching the judge.  The class she participated in was the Mini-lop Jr Buck.  Carol and I were somewhat surprised when the judge explained that all the animals on the table were good quality rabbits and most of them would do fine at any ARBA sanctioned rabbit show.  Yeah, yeah… blah, blah.  Then when he announced that Madison and the gal in red would receive a purple ribbon AND that they should come back for the Best of Breed competition,  Carol and I couldn’t believe it.  This little rabbit, with no name prior to the fair, was a champion grade, Mini-lop Jr buck. This was not a purchased rabbit.  It was a rabbit that was born and bred on the farm.  In fact, this Jr Buck rabbit is a 3rd generation animal, coming from a breeding program that Madison is mostly in-charge of.  Simply put – Madison knows her rabbits.

Madison with her champion Mini-lop Jr Buck.

It turned out that Madison was the only rabbit exhibitor from our county that received a purple ribbon.  When Madison competed in Best of Breed, we thought she might have trophied.  Every time the judge handled her rabbit, he looked back at the other top rabbits as if trying to decide if this was the top rabbit or 2nd or 3rd.  As it turned out, Madison did not win champion or reserve champion.  But of all the rabbits up on the table to be judged Best of Breed, you could tell her’s was one of those that stood out as having the right to be there.

You could see it on Madison’s face that she was a happy camper… and why shouldn’t she be?  This was the first time competing at the Minnesota State Fair level and her 3rd string rabbit was one of the best there.  Now we wonder how well would she have done if she would have brought one of her better animals.  Oh well… maybe next year.

Madison participating in showmanship, after winning a purple ribbon just a few minute earlier.

BTW:  The rabbit’s name is now Chip.  Chip’s sire, Moses, was a Best Of Breed winner at a State rabbit show this past spring.  (see Carol’s blog entry: Sherburne Rabbit Show)

As most of us Minnesotans know, the State Fair is a big deal, attracting nearly 2 million folks each year.  I guess that’s why the call it the “Great Minnesota Get-together.”  It’s one of the few fairs that does not allow guests from other states to enter the gate… (I’m kidding of course).  For those of you who have never been to our fair, I took this pic.

Let me explain the photo.  This was taken of a side-street… not a main traffic area.  The arch you see at the end of the street is not a gate that is used by the general public, it is merely an arch with a few dorms in it for the exhibitors.  It also doubles as a shaded staging area for the livestock exhibitors waiting to enter to show their animals.  The building to the left is the livestock show arena.  Out of view, to the right of the show area, is the dairy barn. Our State Fair is 12 days long, with 4 days dedicated to each type of livestock exhibitor – 4-H, FFA & open-class.  Carol and I attended the fair to watch Madison show her rabbit… more about that in another post.

Today is the day we send our 4H’er off to the Minnesota State Fair for 4 days.  At the County Fair level daughter Madison won several State Fair trips.

This morning she will start her first trip with a bus ride, with other 4H’ers, to the Metro.  She will be showing her mini lop bunny on 8am, Saturday… as well as giving her State Fair quality demonstration on Friday.  She will hanging with other kids that will also be showing rabbits.  There is quite a little group going.

Madison waiting for the state fair charter bus

Carol and I will be heading out to the fair on Sat. to watch the rabbit show.  After Sunday, Madison will have a few days off before going back to the State Fair for her 3rd project – an information display on how to make Mozzarella cheese from raw milk.

This morning, after dropping Madison off at the County Fairgrounds, Carol and I had an appointment with the loan officer at the Concord Bank, in Willmar.  We’re trying to secure a loan, in order to purchase a used house for the farm.  After speaking with the Farm Management Program instructor from the Willmar Community College, we were told that the Concord is a small, independently owned bank that is farmer friendly… more so than the larger area banks.  Carol and I have spoken with 2 other banks, but because the farm is in a non-revocable trust, it’s been tough going.  We’re hoping Concord is not afraid of the trust.  The other banks mentioned that since the farm is in the trust that it is in, nobody really owns the farm – thus… technically, no “person” is responsible for the loan.

After the bank meeting, Carol and I walked away from it with a less than optimistic feeling.  It seems that the bank has never given a loan to a trust… I think it is fair to mention, the bank president also stated that the bank had never had the opportunity to do such.  With that said, one might preclude from saying that there is no chance that we can get a loan from this bank.  I just don’t get the feeling our chances are much better than with the other banks.    I guess we’ll see.

It was a pretty nice day for baling.  Although we had some light rain last night, by noon things were drying up nicely.  After lunch I did some raking, hoping to speed the drying process for the straw.  After a couple of hours, Austin got to sit in the driver’s seat while did some baling.  He looked a little anxious as he had never done this type of work before.  He’s a townie and darn proud of it.  Secretly, I think he likes doing the farm thing when nothing goes wrong.

Austin raking straw with the Farmall H

Austin raked about 15 acres of straw.  It was a big help.

Or is it?

After baling for Farmer Mike on some rented land he controls, it was time to do a little baling here on this farm. We have about 3 straw bales remaining for the goats and then we’re out… completely.  The straw we have been using for bedding has been from the stockpile we set aside 2 years ago (2008).  It’s a wonder it’s lasted this long.

A few days ago, Farmer Mike offered his John Deere, small square baler for us to use.  Well, I thought we should take him up on his kind offer.  We have approx. 300+ bales to bale and rain has been in the forecast for days now.  Normally, I would use the the neighbor’s JD 24T baler, but with time being a luxury we did not have, I needed to get our season straw baling done ASAP.

After driving the tractor to Mike’s, I hooked up to his baler, with hay basket behind that.  The drive, on a tractor, takes some time.  All the while I was thinking I should just use the neighbor’s baler… it would have be quicker.  Well, well, well, I couldn’t have been more wrong.  Mike’s baler is a little bigger than the neighbor’s and has more teeth on the pickup.  I was able to bale in 2nd gear, with no problems.  Before picking the baler up I had raked 2 windrows straw into one larger on.  Needless to say. I was glad I went the extra mile for this more modern baler.  And with the hay basket catching the bales as I bale, was a true time saver.  This device is wonderful.  One can easily bale about 70-75 bales and haul them with you.  There is no going back to get the bales, putting them on rack and bringing them back to the place.

Here I am using a bale basket while baling our wheat straw.

The first day, we had nearly all the straw bales baled.  Not put away, but baled.  The bales we did get put away, Madison helped with.  The next day, we put most of the baled oats straw in the loft. When Carol was busy with Chas, Madison would be in the loft, helping me pile bales until I could get in the loft to stack them.  We had a few issues with the bale conveyor,  but after some minor repairs, we were back in business.  Later, I went out to the field and made a few rounds in the wheat field for 70-80 bales of wheat straw.  It was smooth going. I really liked Mike’s baler.  Gotta get me one of those.

As I was finishing up with the baling of the wheat straw, it started to drizzle.  No biggy, I was headed home anyway.  Oh crap! We need to put this stuff away.  After pulling into the yard, I helped Carol stack the rest of the load of oat straw (on the ground) into the barn.  When we got done with those bales, we still had the hay basket still full of bales.  I was quick to drop the load off near the barn – that’s when the work really started. Austin (just back from work), Carol and myself high-tailed the wheat straw into the barn.  We already had some straw in the loft, but we like putting bales along the outer walls of the barn.  By doing this it helps hold the heat of the animals during the cold winter months.  It makes a huge difference.

The last couple of days reminded me of when I was growing up, helping my dad and grandpa do the baling, in the 1970′s.  It seemed we always baled straw on some of the hottest, most miserably days of the year.  It was just the way it was done back then I guess.  Today, we started the day with temps in the 90′s°F with high humidity.  Later in the day, Carol mentioned to me that our weather station alarm went off – I had it set to sound off at 95°F.

Again, using Farmer Mike’s baling equipment was a Godsend.  I’m sure grateful for his help and so glad I never p*ssed him off when was younger.  I don’t think we could be doing nearly as well as we are without his help and guidance.

Some of you know that Carol grew up as a ‘Townie‘.  With that said, more folks know her as a farm gal.  But being on the farm for only 2 years, there are many experiences left to explore.

The last 2 days, Carol has found herself outside the ring of a couple local-ish livestock auctions, looking for goats & chickens.  It seems we are selling more livestock and poultry directly to our customers than we think we can replace sustainably.  It’s a good position to be in [business-wise] but we want all of our customers (present and future) to be able to buy the meat they want and still have a good selection in which to do so.  So, Carol has been looking primarily for more meat goats as well as a dairy goat or two… the last few weekends, we have been selling-out of raw goat milk too.

Well, today, Carol found a few things at one of the auctions she attended.  She did find some goats, but only dairy goats.  These goats will help improve her herd as she intends to cull some of her lesser quality milkers.  She also purchased a few more layer hens – yep… we have been selling out of eggs as well.  We have standing orders for 6-8 dozen and we haven’t been able to meet the demand.  My question to Carol, after she got home, was how does she know if she got hens that were actually going to lay for us.  It seems that when the hens lay eggs on the way home from the auction, chances are the hens are in good working order.  We’re both happy.  BTW:  You can buy our fresh eggs in Kerkhoven from Kristine at Inspiring Path Alternatives.

Another thing she bought was this little tool.   Or maybe I should say “little tools”.  She bought 2 cases of them.

Tote-N-Cut bale handling/feeding device

She may have paid too much for them… who knows.  But, we have one down in the barn, awaiting to be used.  It looks like it would be a handy thing to have around, but I guess the proof is in the pudding.  If you want one, contact Carol.  She’s selling them for only $2/each.  I tried to find some information about them on the Internet, but came-up empty.  As you can see, they are/were locally made… the question is “When?”

Carol also bought a Home Health brand home milk/juice pasteurizer, if for no other reason than to give folks a chance to experience or taste our farm-fresh dairy products without the worry of things made from raw milk as seeming weird.  Believe it or not, but some folks still think milk comes from a carton and not a cow or goat.  The pasteurizer Carol bought is a low temp unit.  Instead of heating the milk to 165°F for 15 seconds, it heats it to 145°F for 30 minutes.  The lower heat process does not kill all the helpful/healthful micro-organisms, like the beneficial pro-biotics… just the bad (if the milk were not handled properly).  The price of this handy-dandy appliance was 50¢, minus the 25¢ worth of puzzles she sold [that came with the pasteurizer].  Once home, we tested the Home Health pasteurizer and it seems to work perfectly.  If you would like to taste some pasteurized goat milk or goat milk cheese, let Carol know before heading out to the farm.  Of course, our goat milk soap does not need pasteurized milk – soap is soap (even if it is weird).

Carol, the girls and I headed south to the Granite Falls, MN area.  Our mission was to look at a Scottish Highlander bull that we’re interested in leasing for the summer.  We heard of this bull (name Curly) from Farmer Mike, who called me last week.  He asked if we’d found a sire for our four cows.  When I regretfully told him no, he mentioned he had gotten a phone call from a fellow farmer and among other things, this farmer asked if we had gotten a bull for the summer.  It seems the guy’s aunt had a Highlander that she may be willing to lease… and that’s how we got to this point.

The ranch we visited belonged to a gal named Terry (of Red Tail Valley Beef), who raises grass fed Angus/Highlander beef for direct marketing to [I believe] restaurants in the Metro area.  She was a lovely human being with a real passion for what she was doing on her ranch.  Her small spread was nestled in a river valley, with grass as far as the eye could see.  It was a wonderful site… like a mini version of the ranch on the old TV show Bonanza.  As we drove onto the place, Carol mentioned to me that she recognized Terry from an Organic Seminar we attended a year or two ago.  Anyway, after some light chit-chat, she escorted us to the pasture to “meet” Curly.  We first walked past some of her beef cows… a few with calves and then there was Curly.  WOW!  What a handsome little bull.  Immediately, we could tell how he came upon his name.  His forelocks were more curls than long hair.  He was dun in color.  I say he was a “little bull” only because when one thinks of bulls, we think of massive, almost monstrous creatures, but Curly was not that.  He’s a Highlander and as Highlanders should be… he was smaller in size, especially compared to Terry’s cows.

The size of Curly impressed me.  As most folks, who know me, know that I’m not a real big fan of large animals.  Big cattle are less efficient, harder to maintain if things get tough and they don’t dress-out as well as smaller cattle.  Large cattle have a higher ratio of bone and gut (waste) to meat than do smaller creatures.  Personally, I believe it’s easier to sell a small amount of beef than it is to sell lots.  If you want a half of beef, I think one can find room in the deep freeze for 300 lbs of meat much easier than 450 lbs.  Smaller is better. And Curly was small… just right for our cows.

After leaving the pasture, we talked about what she wanted from us for leasing her bull.  I asked if she still thought $25/cow was enough.  She thought it was fair… but after a few seconds of thought, she changed her mind.  She asked if we raised turkey… we said we did.  She mentioned how she would be interested in one of our free-range, heritage turkeys for Thanksgiving (instead of a store-bought bird).  She also thought some lamb-chops would be good too.  It seems as though $$$ is over-rated, but we all need food.  Score another point for team barter.  One could say we are trading beef for turkey and lamb.

After we got back from or little road trip, I headed north of the creek to do a few more hours of fencing.  I know have the wires on the east side of the paddock up… not all the insulators are on the posts yet, but the wires are there.  I also had time to finish all my H-post assemblies on the north side of the paddock.  I have more work to do on this side… like measure and mark the positions of the T-posts, install the insulators and then run my wires.  It sure is exciting to see this phase of fencing draw nearer to the end.  Once the perimeter is fenced in, I think I will let the cattle start grazing this area as I subdivide it into 3 smaller paddocks.  The grass right now is quite tall.  A little grazing over the entire pasture will do it some good.

The girls, with friends, went to an annual rabbit show in Hutchinson, MN. on Saturday.  No biggy, right?  Right.  But, on their way back home (I think) they stopped-in on some garage sales.  This is what they found.

Carol Found This Book At A Garage Sale

Who says you can’t get anything for a quarter these days?  Carol bought this little gem for only 25¢.

When we first started making soap at home, this was one of the books Carol checked-out from our local library.  In our area, this publication can’t found in book stores.  I think Amazon has it for $13-14.  Needless to say, it was quite the unexpected find.

Much of the day was spent cutting hay with the farm’s old swather.  I first started cutting some of the ditch grass alongside the state highway that passes by the farm.  It was dry, sunny and a little breezy – perfect for drying… and very comfortable to be working in.  After swathing the grass in some of the ditches, I headed north of the creek.  We have a 10+ acre field of organically grown grass/alfalfa hay.  We will use this hay during the winter for the dairy goats and for all the goats and sheep, just before kidding/lambing season.

One thing I’m doing different this year, with regards to the hay cutting, is I’m starting to swath in the center of the field and working out.  According to the local National Resource & Conservation Service (NRCS) office, this pattern is encouraged.  Supposedly, it promotes the ‘flushing’ of wildlife.  It is said to chase the birds and small animals to the outside of the field.  Normally, folks start cutting hay from the outside, working in.  This practice traps critters, often mutilating them with the cutting blades of the cutting equipment.  An alternative [approved] hay cutting pattern is to start swathing on one end or side of the field and moving across, flushing wildlife across the field.

Swathing First Crop Hay

The hay was thick.  The warm, moist spring seemed to be what the fields needed this year.  Even the grass and clover in the ditches are coming in quite dense.

Hey folks, the grade-schoolers in our area have helped published a cookbook.  It’s a fund raiser to help buy white-boards for their classrooms.

The cookbook contains hundreds of recipes from some of this areas best home cooks, Carol being one of them.  I think daughter Madison was able to get nearly ½ dozen of her mother’s recipes published… including Coyote Ridge Farms Cream Chicken Soup (page 22).

As many of you know, this farm is considered a Pasture-based farm and to Carol’s credit, she submitted a recipe that ended up appearing on page 73.  One of the ingredients in the recipe is a ‘boneless, grass-fed chuck-roast‘.  We really do our best to promote what we believe in.  We believe in grass feeding.

Coyote Ridge Farms Cream Chicken Soup

This ‘little’ cookbook is packed with 160+ page of recipes and dozens and dozens of other cooking, caloric and general information.  Carol had the cookbook in her hands for just a few hours before she tried a recipe from of the book.  Notes are already being written in the pages.

Get yours before they are sold out.  The price is only $12/copy.

Last week, daughter Madison took some corn out of the farm’s 4 row planter.  She then put them into a baggy, containing a moist paper towel.  Within days she had healthy little corn plants sprouting, then growing their way out of the baggy and into a small container.  We then talked about planting some of the kernels from an ear of pod-corn we had on the wall (for decoration).  A few days ago, she planted 6 kernels – 3 with the pods and 3 without.

As of today, the pod-corn has not germinated.

An ear of pod corn.

Pod-corn is the oldest corn variety known, with one ancestor… that being a grass.

With effort to live more naturally and to make things for ourselves, Carol started the conversion of some of our milk kefir to water kefir.  The first question you may have is: “Why do we need water kefir?”  Water kefir is used to naturally carbonate fruit juices and to make fresh homemade soft drinks.  You can buy water kefir, but we are choosing to make it.  The recipe Carol is using to convert milk kefir grains to water kefir is located here.

Kefir, raisins, raw sugar, water & lemon

In this photo, you can see all the ingredients.  It’s simple and good for you.  Normally, it would be done fermenting in 24-72 hours.  But since this is the first batch for this kefir, we may need to do it twice.  Then someone needs to taste it.  To be honest, the main reason Carol chose this recipe is for the conversion… not to drink.  The recipe came from yourkefirsource.com.

Once you have your water kefir grains fully transitioned to water, use this recipe to have a constant supply of of kefir water.  Mix it with your soda syrups for home made soft drinks or add it to your favorite juices to make a fun naturally carbonated drink.  It costs pennies to make.

WOW!  What a long day -  nearly 400 miles round-trip.

My first of two stops was in NW Iowa to pick-up an old 14′ Minneapolis Moline grain drill.  Although the drill was in less than ideal condition, I felt for the money, it was still a good deal.  I believe I can use an old drill that is in our grove for parts… so, I’m hoping for a few $$$ I can have a grain drill to use on the farm for planting oats, wheat and pasture/hay ground.

My 2nd stop was SW Minnesota near the town of Ruthton.  A gentleman had contacted me on one of my ads for a small acreage crop sprayer.   After meeting him, he explained to me the history of the sprayer and how his family used it.  We got it loaded on the trailer behind the drill.  After tying it down, he also gave me a bucket of filters, screens and sprayer tips.  Again, this piece of equipment is not in ‘like-new’ condition.  It needs hoses, brackets and over-all TLC, but for $150, we both agreed it was a win-win business deal for each of us.  Best of all, this small sprayer can easily be pulled by a Farmall H.

I plan to use the sprayer for spraying a milk-water solution on some of the fields and pastures/paddocks of the farm.  Studies have shown that spraying this type of solution on fields, with low fertility, does wonders for grass type plants (i.e. oats, wheat, pasture, etc…).  One of a few articles can be found on Facebook’s ‘Small Farm & Sustainability Group.’  The study was conducted by Nebraska extension agent Terry Gompert and dairyman David Wetzel and is referred to as the The Raw Milk Strategy.  So what’s going on?  Gompert and Wetzel are both convinced what they have here is microbial action. “When raw milk is applied to land that has been abused, it feeds what is left of the microbes, plus it introduces microbes to the soil,” Wetzel explained.  It repels some insects

We plan on using a solution of 3 gal raw milk to 17 gal water per acre.  According to Gompert and Wetzel, there no difference between using 3, 5 10 or 20 gals of milk per acre.  At this time, milk is cheap and even if paying a neighbor twice the market price of fresh milk, it is way less expensive than conventional chemical fertilizers.  Since our farm is in transition to becoming Certified Organic this raw milk strategy is a perfect fit us.