Saponification Sunday...Suberb !

So first off, thanks to all of you who encouraged me last week to try my cinnamon coffee cake soap again, you know the one that was all dry and crumbly? Yeah that one. So I did. But I did something very different this time, at least for me.

The first coffee bar. Dry and crumbling
but with potential

I took my time.

I have a bad habit of always trying to do five, six, seven things at a time. Like right now, I have a load of laundry washing, another drying, Red Wattle fat melting on the stove (on low heat obviuosly) and I'm listening to ClareFM from Ireland, my favorite radio program to listen to while blogging. And oh yeah, I AM BLOGGING.

Coffe soap, just unmolded. I could've spent
more time making the top prettier.

So when I make soap I tend to do the same kind of thing. I will have a couple pots of oils melting, and another in the crock pot while measuring and mixing lye'. I do soap when all alone...but still I need to sloooooooow down, do one batch at a time and enjoy what I am doing. Besides it's safer that way.

Just your average mountain of soap

So this week, I followed my recipe exacty after double checking it with the lye calculator and I worked on this ONE BATCH only.  My recipe:

Babasuu Oil            10 oz
Coconut Oil              5 oz
Olive oil (pomace) 10 oz
Sunflower Oil           5 oz
Coffee Butter            2 oz

Lye                           4.34 oz
Cold Coffee              12 oz

Titanium Dioxide       1/2 teaspoon
Clove EO                    1 oz
Cassia EO                   1 oz

Coffe grounds (used)    1/2 teaspoon

After combining my lye/coffee with my oils I brought it to light trace, then added my EO's. I followed some of your advice about not mixing the EO's too much since clove EO can cause the whole thing to accelerate (see there? I am educata-ble) Then I poured out approximately 1/3 of the soap and mixed in the TD with hand mixer. I then hand stirred in the coffee grounds into the bigger portion of soap and poured that into my high tech diaper wipe mold.

After 4 days the bar was hard but not
crumbly and the bottom layer darkened well.

I then poured the lighter colored soap portion remaining, on top. Taking another even higher tech device, the small kitchen whisk, I plunged in into the soap about 8 times.

Popped the whole 2 pound batch into my frig. Left it for 2 days. Unmolded and let it sit at room temp for 2 days and then cut by hand with long knife. I get 8 bars from each loaf, each weighing about 5.5 oz each. This second attempt came out so much better and smells fantastic, that is if you like cinnamon !

The white streaks are cused by my knife.
Perchance a professional wire
cutter would be good?

I sell my soap primarily in our little farm store for $4 each, cheaper than most homemade bars I've seen in other stores but it covers my costs plus a fair enough profit. I also sell a few at two local antique stores.

I have no plans to expand my soap business...much...this next year, our farm requires too much of my time to do that, but maybe one day I'll open an online store. You can however, order a bar by emailing me at opies99@gmail.com. a $6 flat shiping fee in the Continental US for 1-5 bars. They'll be ready to use February 20.

Nothing to do with soap, just a good husband
spending time with one of our wonderful GK's

In the meantime I keep reading other soapers blogs and watching those those gracious and hardworking enough to make VIDEOS and I keep learning and learning and learning because my own particular learning curve is indeed quite WIDE.

Ankum

Welcome to my FarmHouse Fridays Post! All part of the fun at The Renegade Farmer, a fantastic web site for those who farm, who want to farm, who used to farm, who dream about farms, who buy from your local farm....you get the picture. Check them out at   http://www.therenegadefarmer.com/

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Years ago our youngest son  Kyle would always mix up the words "Thank You" and "You're Welcome," combining them into one word of his own 3 year old making, "Ankum."

If I told him he did a good job picking up his toys he would say, "Ankum." If he wanted a cookie he would say "ankum." You get the picture. I was reminded of the importance of saying "ankum" again yesterday.

My husband and I had a very busy day. Up at 6 AM we did all our morning chores (milking, feeding, watering, bedding) and then we pulled over 300 pounds of meat out of our freezers.  Packing it into coolers, and  then into the back of our pickup we drove 150 miles delivering to 3 of the Central Illinois grocery stores to whom we sell organic meat. On the way home we picked up another 400 pounds of meat at the locker and then filled up the holes in our freezers left by the AM deliveries.

The little farm store at South Pork Ranch

We were still putting away meat at 10PM.

When I finally got inside, convinced again that our life was too crazy, too busy, too HARD, I found this email waiting for me from one of our regular farm customers. I was gobsmacked. With his permission I am copying it here for you.

Hi Donna and Keith,

Sometimes it must be hard to realize what your family farm means to others, but I just thought I would let you know how it touches ours and say...Thank You!!!

Milk
yogurt
sour cream
butter
buttermilk
Mozzerella
Ricotta
Honey buttermilk waffles...which are becoming famous with family, friends and wife's coworker's
Flour from wheat berries
Hard cheese
Muffins
Rolls
Breads
pork chops
ribs
roasts
burgers
sphagetti
Home made egg noodles
Soup
Turkey dinner
Ham
Bacon
Side pork
Sausage
Steaks
Clean showers
Clean clothes
eggs, scrambled, over medium, boiled
egg salad
and corned beef if I can find a recipe on how to turn a briskit into corned beef
lastly an always enjoyable road trip.

Take Care,
Doug

Yeah, just when I had decided no one cares, no one really NOTICES the amount of work it takes to run a farm, to produce good food, to raise animals humanely and sanely, to keep them all warm and dry in the winter winds, We get an email like this. Well, all I have to say now is...

Ankum Doug, Ankum.

Goin' Downtown to Chinatown

We've been invaded. Rooster Haven for sure. We just lost control. One minute we have a cute nest full of fuzzy itsy bitsy chicks and the next we have Roosterzilla and all his hoodlum friends terrorizing the female Chickie's of the farm. Over run with uppity male birds.

What are going to do?

Roostbusters. We called them. Seems there is quite a demand for good farm raised chicken and especially roosters in the Chicago Chinatown Restaurant arena. A friend of a friend knew another friend who knew this here guy who came to the farm and checked out our rooster goods yesterday.

He was also making eyes at our Drakes, the male ducks that have also grown well here on all the free feed a bird can get.

So, a deal was struck and hands were shaked...er....shaken?...shook?  (This is why my novel isn't finished) and then tonight, when the sun went down and the roosters were asleep on their perches, the guy showed up with his...uh...board. Yes, his board. Seems if you back a long thick board up to the back of a rooster he'll step backwards onto it. From there you slowly lower it to the ground where your poultry partner just picks the rooster up off the board. Cool huh?

33 roosters were selected for this honor along with 9 drakes. All will travel to Chinatown in Chicago where they will be highly sought after by many oriental chefs.

Yes. Money was exchanged. It seems only fair. Those birds have had the run of the place, Free room and board, warm shelter (often on the back of a huge Red Wattle with an internal temp of 103 degrees.) and no responsibilities. Nada. Wait. There was one. They did eat a lot of bugs, but as insect control...they can be replaced quite easily by all the hens we are keeping.

So next time you eat a big dish of Bang Bang Chicken or General Tso's Chicken or even Szechuan Hot Chicken Salad you can rest easier knowing it might very well have been raised humanely, free range-ly, on a small organic farm in Central Illinois.

More rice wine please.  Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra 

Raw Milk News and Views

It's time for another raw milk update from we rebels who sell the wonderful stuff. If you are new to my blog be sure to check out my other Raw Milk posts (via this blogs search engine in the right hand column) so you'll be as brilliant as the rest of my followers.

Here's a good post to start http://midlifefarmwife.blogspot.com/2011/10/take-raw-milk-stand.html

So, to date, no word from any of the representatives I have emailed or spoken to concerning the rumored law that it is illegal to advertise, the sale of raw milk. Remember, in Illinois it is legal to sell it as long as the consumer comes to the farm with their own container. The farmer has been told he cannot legally transport it. But, on that note many folks are tired of that law and doing their best to make changes regarding transportation of such. Read about those fine folk here. http://rawmilkfreedomriders.wordpress.com/

Back to Illinois, where another law states this:

(505 ILCS 70/1) (from Ch. 5, par. 91)
Sec. 1. Every farmer, fruit and vine grower, and gardener, shall have an undisputed right to sell the produce of his farm, orchard, vineyard and garden in any place or market where such articles are usually sold, and in any quantity he may think proper, without paying any state, county or city tax, or license, for doing so, any law, city or town ordinance to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided, that the corporate authorities of any such city, town or village may prohibit the obstruction of its streets, alleys and public places for any such purpose: And, provided further, that nothing in this Act shall be so construed as to authorize the sale of spirituous, vinous or malt liquors, contrary to laws which now are or hereafter may be in force prohibiting the sale thereof.
(Source: P.A. 84‑1308.)

See how confusing this all gets ?  The above law says a farmer has the right to sell the produce of his farm. Therefore it would seem logical that to sell it I must be able to advertise it.

So without clear input from those I sought for guidance, (Really, the words "guidance" and "government" are counter-productive , don't you think?  Well, I do)  we have no choice but to move ahead on our own, specifically, if we are going to make a living selling our products, we will need to TELL people about our products, since the majority of our future customers, although bright in their own ways, are not psychic.

Thus, last fall, we did the unspeakable. We advertised our raw milk, in Book of Face, Twitter, this Blog, and blatantly in our own little farm store. We even wrote signs in ink ! We waited for the G-men to come forth.

Nothing.

We moved forward a little more with a print ad in local newspapers just before Christmas; The Pantograph (Bloomington) and  The Daily Journal ( Kankakee.) We waited for Big Brother to come for coffee.

Nothing.

I approached number one son and webmaster , last week to list raw milk availability under "Products". So now even our web site is advertising our raw milk sales, something we have never done in the 5 years we've had a web site     http://www.south-pork-ranch.com/products.html     And we waited for Men in Black to arrest our cows.

Nothing.

This week we pulled the net in closer to home. So many local folks don't even know we exist here in our own community. Well, who's to blame for that ? That would be me, VP of Bacon.  So for the first time in the 18 years we have been on this farm, we ran an ad in our local small town newspapers. See below. And we waited for the phone calls.  We got a few...new customers ! But that's what advertising is all about isn't it?

Saponification Sunday...Sad State of Soap

So not to be copying Jen http://jenorasoaps.blogspot.com/ but seems I got carried away with water discounting as well. But before I go further, let me say how much I appreciate when soap folks who d share mistakes as well as earth shattering accomplishments. It takes a special soaper like Jen to say "Hey...DON"T do this! "  Of course I ignored her advice being of the dull witted variety, but still I appreciate that she tried to warn me.  Maybe you will be smarter than I

So I made a beautiful smelling soap  all full of clove and cassia essential oils.  Wafting with the aroma of freshly baked coffee cake and hot brewed Java, it also looked wonderful as I colored with real Folgers, none of that ridiculous what-is-the-point decaffeinated junk, and some coffee butter which is a deep rich brown.  Just before pouring in the mold I stitrred in  a brief teaspoon of the coffee grounds themselves and it all looked heavenly after sitting in the frig for 24 hrs.

Yeah, it looked wonderful until  I began cutting it into bars...It all came apart at the seams it seems. At first slice it went well but as I got closer to the bottom, the bottom lost it, crumbling to the floor.  DANG IT !

So I got a thinner knife which helped some but a few hours later obnoxious fissures started showing up throughout the bar. Right about the same time the bottom half was darkening into a rich brown, which made me see the potential and grieve its loss even more.

I really liked the way my swirls worked after stabbing the soap with a small whisk a few times. But alas it will not work for resale. So, I will grate it and rebatch it, another lesson learned.

ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK THE RECIPE AGAINST THE LYE CALCULATOR

The bowl? Got it for 99cents at my favorite thrift shop, Frugality, in Fairbury, Illinois. On the bottom it says FRANKOMA. Name of potter? Who knows. Still a cool bowl

To Tour or Not to Tour; That is The Question (and the risk)

As seen in todays issue of http://www.therenegadefarmer.com/



When folks call us to ask about our farm, its products, location, etc...they invariably ask the toughest question of all, "Do you give tours?"

The answer is indubitably Yes, unless of course it is No, not really. Why so wishy-washy? I'll have to refer you to our insurance carrier, who gets nervous about tours. Where we see opportunity to educate city dwellers, share techniques with other farmers and provide children with the means of touching a real live animal, she sees it as a lawsuit waiting to take root and spread faster than a pack of Morning Glory Seeds.

School children love the opportunity to visit farms and help with chores
Make sure the parents come along to help.

Her advice to us is to avoid labeling it a "Tour" and whatever you do, don't charge for it. Instead, she suggests, call it a "Walk-a-Bout" and inform people they can leave a donation if they so desire. If we do decide to give real tours it could cause our liability insurance to double. She also strongly recommends we have all farm visitors sign a waiver, something like this;

Thanks for visiting us. Farms are highly dangerous and could kill you. A cow might gore you in the abdomen, a boar might bite off your arm, a chicken might peck your eyes out and our milk could curdle in your stomach before you get back down the driveway. We are not responsible for anything. Have a great day.

Or something similar to that. We understand her concern, farms can be dangerous, but then again so is life in general. We hate to assume the worst of people, that they might sue us if our turkey pecks at their open-toed sandal (and WHY would you wear those to the farm?) and we love teaching them about the benefits of free range eggs and pastured meat. We really love seeing a child pet the soft warm nose of a newborn calf.

We're just strange that way.

Stranger than many of our own farmer friends who don't allow visitors for fear of disease that might be brought onto their farm from outside sources. I've been on a few farms like that where visitors wore more masks, booties and gloves than a medical team did prior to open heart surgery.

Allowing Graduate students and journalists to visit your
farm can be a real asset, unless you see it as a risk

How did farms and folks get so leery and untrustworthy of each other? How will we ever foster the love of farming in our youth, enough so that they might want to own or at least work on a farm of their own, if we don't allow them to touch the farms livestock or taste its produce before giving full disclaimers and 10 page liability waivers?

What do you do at your farm? Do you give tours? Do you charge a fee for them? Do you have visitors sign waivers? Do you carry extra insurance against injury claims?

Or do you just put up a huge NO TRESPASSING sign at the end of your driveway, and be done with it? I'd love to hear what you are doing about this on your farm and why. You can comment publicly here or send me an email at opies99@gmail.com.

Bye Bye Bossy

This post is part of Farm House Fridays at The Renegade Farmer. When done be sure and check them out. It's a fantastic site for all farmers, famer want-to-be, farm stalkers, whatever. http://certifiedorganicfarm.blogspot.com/


Eight months ago we did the unthinkable. We listed our farm for sale, the simple reason being :business was too good and it was killing us.  Read all about the sale here
http://certifiedorganicfarm.blogspot.com/

When our four children left home and decided farm ownership was not their preference, (what can I say? They are very bright children) we had two choices, or so we thought. Hire staff and continue growing our organic dairy, beef and pork farm OR sell the whole thing down to the last ground burger pattie in our farm store, and start all over on a tiny homestead growing just enough for the two of us; living off the grid was what we wanted, a long time dream.

Home on the range, our pastured cows enjoy
the outdoors even at end November

But, with only one serious looker (who never called back so don't know why I referred to her as "serious") it appears that many folks love the IDEA of running their own farm but due to lack of time/money/ initiative they would rather we continue the work part while they continue the purchasing part.

We understand. I like driving our new (used) Ford F-150 but I don't want to start manufacturing them.

So, after some time, we discover...option three; downsizing right here. It may be awhile until the right buyer finds South Pork Ranch and wishes to make it their dream, so while we work to make that connection we begin to say Sayonara to some of the most work intensive/costly parts of the farm. We're not sure if and how it can be done here. The house is big and inefficient, the animals are many, and the debt is high as is sadly common with most farm operations. So how do we downsize to a manageable work load while bringing in enough income for mortgage/feed/land rental etc.? Which should come first. the chicken or the egg?

We say the cow.

Our dairy is the most costly part of our farm. We do not grow our own hay or grain and must purchase it and then pay to have it hauled to us. Certified organic hay, grain and now straw, is not cheap. Keith milks 18 cows and we raise their offspring for replacement cows and beef sales, abput 60 head of cattle all told.  That's a lot of hay.

Our first goal: to reduce the milking herd from 18 to 5 by June. Five cows will give us enough milk to continue our raw milk sales, even allowing for a few new customers, which average about $1500 per month, and provide us with all the milk we need personally. It will also provide us with enough to continue feeding our hogs which are more profitable than our dairy.

A Farmer and his Girls

But here comes the tough part. How to decide which cow goes and when? Should we require each Bossy to reapply for her own job or just rely on the good old background check?  Perhaps a "Cow-Cam" placed strategically in the free stall area of the barn will highlight the worst behaved cows and make our decision to ship them, easier.  A few will be available for sale as family milk cows. Gentle and kind, used to daily human contact they are great backyard cows, but  the majority will go to the locker a few at a time to be made into nutritious organic burger .

With each cow gone there will be less manure to scrape and spread, less hay to feed, less repairs in the barn, less fencing to fix, less cleanup in the milk parlor, less flies in the hot sticky summer.

There will also be less of those kind creatures who helped us build our farm, and teach our children about the benefits of hard work, (we taught them so well they said "No Thanks!") Less to show to customers children who visit, less of the bloodlines we worked hard to expand and improve upon.
Less sweet calves with the big brown eyes.

But all dreams come at a cost, and you can't very well downsize without making changes. We just hope we are making the right ones.




PS. About that snow. Yeah we got a couple inches, lots of wind and a cold night but nothing to cry about. Damn Midwest Alarmists