March 11, 2024

Book Review & Giveaway: Natural Small Batch Cheesemaking

Natural Small Batch Cheesemaking by Kate Downham

I am so pleased to tell you about this book! It's the small batch homesteader's dream. Not only does it tell you everything you ever wanted to know about cheesemaking (and then some), it's geared toward the homesteader who doesn't have large quantities of milk to work with. So many cheesemaking books call for two to five gallons of milk per batch of cheese. These same books use purchased commercial cultures. With Kate's book, I can make a large variety of cheeses with smaller amounts of milk and with natural, homemade cheese cultures. 

In her introduction, Kate calls her philosophy "a peasant approach to cheesemaking." This is homestead cheesemaking in its most natural form, focusing on seasonal conditions, smallhold farms and homesteads, and the busy homesteading lifestyle. This is the essence of everyday food producing; hearty wholesome foods produced and crafted on the land. I can't think of a better connection with nature than this.

One of the things I love about this book is that Kate manages to gear it toward both beginning and experienced cheesemakers. The first several chapters cover the concepts and fundamentals of making cheese. Don't miss these! Even if you've been making cheese for years and years, these chapters are loaded with many, many tidbits plus practical wisdom. I've been making cheese for the past decade, but I learned more useful information from Kate's book than I have anywhere else. 

The largest section of the book contains the cheese recipes. Some of these are regulars on our table, chèvre, for example. What I didn't realize, is that there are so many kinds of chèvre: cream cheese style, crottin, air-dried, aged with herbs or spices, ladled curd, leaf wrapped, or preserved in oil. Then it's on to a wonderful variety of other cheesemaking techniques: brined, washed curd, Alpine, bloomy white rind, blue, cheddar, even a Parmesan-style grating cheese. Also a couple of cheeses made from whey and other dairy products to make such as kefir, yoghurt, cultured butter, ghee, custard, and ice cream. 

The recipes are very well written; easy to understand and easy to follow. Once you're comfortable with the recipe, there are "quick-glance method for experienced cheesemakers" in the chapter margins. Very handy! The appendices include an extensive troubleshooting section and how to adapt ingredients to larger quantities of milk. 

I can honestly say this book is a "must have" for every homesteader who loves and wants to make cheese. AND! Between now and Friday, everyone can get a chance to win one of four copies being given away on permies.com. There are a few simple rules, which you can read about here:

Natural Small Batch Cheesemaking Giveaway at Permies.com

Can't wait? You can order a copy from either
 
© March 2024 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

March 5, 2024

"These Things Happen"

One of our favorite television shows is the original 1978 series of All Creatures Great and Small. A minor theme of the story that we especially appreciate, is the worldview and attitudes of the Yorkshire Dales people themselves; the smallhold farmers who were the clients of veterinarians James Herriot and Siegfried Farnon. Their individual personalities were as varied as anywhere else, of course, but it was the way they faced life and especially hardship that is notable. Typically hospitable and generous, when difficult circumstances came, they would take it in stride. "These things happen," they would say. And they would press on.

This has caused me to pay attention to my own reactions when something bad happens, because typical human reactions stand in a huge contrast when things go wrong: anger, frustration, complaining, and blaming are the norm. As "normal" as these may seem, I find it hard to admire someone who explodes when something unfortunate happens. I don't want to be that kind of person.

Of unfortunate circumstances, I would say there are two types. Some are the direct result of our actions, i.e. cause and effect at work. As Dr. Phil says, "When you choose the behavior, you choose the consequences." I see being able to admit mistakes and errors in judgement as a sign of maturity, something that is increasingly rare these days. 

Sometimes, there is no logical cause for what happens. Once upon a time, these were referred to as "acts of God," and pretty much covered most natural disasters. Another term to describe this is "bad luck." I have to add that dealing with livestock the way Dan and I do, I know from experience that bad things can happen even when we're doing our best. In our early days of homesteading, the tendency was to blame and berate ourselves, trying to figure out what we did wrong. We became discouraged. All of this, of course, is an emotional reaction, which never helps solve things.

I think there's been an unfortunate trend over the years which focuses on the importance of our feelings. We're told "follow your heart." I don't know about you, but I have found feelings to be exceedingly fickle. And very easy to manipulate. All of which means they are not a reliable indicator of reality. Feelings are an important part of our human experience, but I think they serve us better if they are under the reign of self-control. 

Hopefully, I'm never too old to learn. And that includes learning to accept circumstances and outcomes that I wish weren't, learning to accept things that are beyond my control, even learning useful lessons from the situation. Some people might consider this fatalistic and see "giving up" as defeat, but constantly fighting against the universe gets wearisome. Nobody like to be defeated, but I'm coming to understand that defeat is often only an emotional perception. Set that aside, and grace comes with acceptance. There's more strength in coming to terms with reality than in constantly trying to fight it. 

I suppose what I'm trying to realize here, is that we humans always have a choice. It may not be the ability to determine the outcomes, but I always have a choice in how I react. James Herriot portrayed the farming folk of Yorkshire as amazingly resilient because they somehow understood these things. It's a quality I admire and want to make my own. 

February 28, 2024

Garden Notes: February 2024

February is daffodil month

Rainfall

  • 10th: 0.19"
  • 11th: 0.29"
  • 12th: 2.9"
  • 23rd: 0.67"
  • 27th: 0.1"
  • 28th: 0.15"
  • Total: 4.3 inches
Temperature
  • range of nighttime lows: 27 to 55°F (-3 to 13°C)
  • range of daytime highs: 57 to 72°F (14 to 22°C)
Weather Notes
  • We had some lovely outside days this month.
  • We also had days with warm thermometer readings, but the wind was strong and relentlessly cold.
  • Warm temps came with rain.
  • Cooler temps came with clear skies.

Greenhouse Notes

My cool weather vegetable growing experiments have done well, even with no supplementary heat.

Broccoli. I only planted a few plants and the heads didn't get very
big, but it was enough for a steamed vegetable for dinner one night.

Kale

Lettuce. Could have used more of this!
Note the lettuce starter tray on the left.

Potatoes, thriving after their tops froze last month

Volunteer chickweed is growing in quite a few of my pots

Harvested:

  • lettuce
  • broccoli
  • kale
  • chicory greens
  • Jerusalem artichokes
  • chickweed
  • turnips
  • dandelion greens

Planted
  • snow peas
  • daikon radishes
  • kale

Transplanted
  • lettuce starts
  • rugosa roses
  • echinacea
  • daffodils
  • strawberries

Garden Notes
  • Still working on weeding and mulching aisles with wood chips
  • Weeded and mulched the asparagus bed
  • On warm days I have to resist the temptation to plant frost sensitive veggies. Our last frost is said to be mid-April, and the past two years we've had killing frosts after that date. Better to be patient than sorry!

Snow peas and newly transplanted lettuce.

To plant my lettuce, I used Daisy's (Maple Hill 101) Winter Sowing Method and can tell you it worked a treat. I loved that the tiny sprouts and seedlings didn't dry out, nor did they need to be hardened off. A keeper of a method.

And here's a surprise.

Surviving Swiss chard (and daffodils)

One of last summer's Swiss chard plants amazingly survived last month's frigid temps, which were the coldest we've experienced since we've been here. It's started growing again, which is most welcome!

Parting Shot

1st homegrown salad of the year! Greens: kale, chicory, wild lettuce, cultivated
lettuce, dandelion, turnip, chickweed; hardboiled egg, feta goat cheese, and cherry
tomatoes preserved in olive oil and vinegar
(which also serves as the dressing)

Your turn. What's happening in your gardening world? Anything?