Upcoming HOMESTEAD PRODUCT REVIEWS and FUN PROJECTS! - Milk, Mushrooms and GOLD!
Here at An American Homestead we are constantly trying new things and learning through experience. The last couple weeks have really been taxing because of the amount of the milk we have been getting from our neighbor. She has 2 cows in milk and just one of them is giving out over 6 gallons PER DAY!
That is an insane amount of milk and its being shared and sold with anyone they can find who will use it. In fact, it's not so much about selling it anymore as it is about sharing it so it gets used and not thrown away. This is one of the biggest reasons we bought a mini-Jersey as it will only produce about 1.5 gallons a day. This is a perfect amount for a family and will still allow us to make milk products with little waste.
So Jaimie is in the kitchen and doing more dishes than normal as she uses the milk to make cheeses, yogurt, sour cream, whipped cream, butter and anything else she can think up. Last night on our salads, she topped it with fried farmers cheese made from this milk surplus. Sorry, I forgot to get a picture but it was really good!
Upcoming Milk Review
You are kinda limited to the cheeses you can make from raw milk unless you are using a rennet and cheese cultures in the process. At that point, a whole new world opens up to you. Jaimie told me to order some more cheese cloth online. The stuff they sell at Walmart is crap and does not hold together. So I went online at Midwest Brewing Supplies which has an entire cheese making section at their store. Their cheese cloth is excellent. While I was there I decided to order the cheese making kit they have available. The reviews were pretty good and this kit would allow us to make mozzarella and hard cheddar with our raw milk.
For our first attempt, we will buy the rennet. But you can make your own with young lambs or calves by taking their fourth stomach and processing it into a solution for cheese making. The enzymes in the stomach will separate the curds from the whey and allow the cheese maker to make a variety of different cheeses. We do have sheep and cattle here on the homestead but we will save that process for a different time. Baby steps.
MUSHROOMS!
I have always loved the idea of growing mushrooms. It's an easy low maintenance produce product that your farm can grow if you research the different methods. And you can even produce your own mycelium as well to keep the mushroom cycle growing.
This past week, we ordered an Oyster mushroom table top farm block from Field and Forest. We will do a review on this block and see how the fruiting goes. Then we will do a giveaway and order one of the blocks for one of our Crockett patrons over at Patreon.com/AnAmericanHomestead
Now the really cool part is that when your block is finished fruiting, you can use the hardwood chips inside that is covered with the mycelium and use it to inoculate a new batch of clean substrate. Substrate is simply the food for the mushrooms to grow on. It can be wheat, sawdust, wood chips, straw and other items. I will probably use a mixture of barley, rice hulls and wood chips because that is what I have free access to around here. The spent block should allow me to inoculate about 10 1 gallon zip lock bags full of substrate and then of course produce more mushrooms.
I have talked to LOTS of homesteaders that are exploring small business opportunities to make their homestead viable. Mushroom farming is an excellent choice for this.
- Restaurants love home grown or naturally grown mushrooms
- There are many videos online teaching how it's done.
- Homesteads in more rural areas will have great access to cheap substrate options in their area. Hay, saw dust, etc.
- It's a business that will allow you to work from home.
When the block gets here, we will do a post on it for Steemit and a video for Patreon.
THERE IS GOLD ON THAT HOMESTEAD!
Well not really. We don't live in an area of the country where you can pan for gold. If you follow my sons Steemit page @thehomeschoolkid you know that he recently posted about his rock collection. He has for the last few weeks been really interested in studying geology and finding different rocks and identifying them. He has a few rock identification books checked out from the library and is really enjoying learning all he can about the different samples he has collected.
Recently I discovered a whole genre of videos online that I never knew existed. Pay Dirt Reviews! WHAT?! Yeah, there are people who sell and review pay dirt from gold mines. It's just dirt that may or may not contain gold. Well, most of these companies add a limited amount of pickers or gold flakes to the dirt they sell so that you at least get something out of the purchase. The catch is that YOU have to pan and work for the gold they are sending you!
My son would never be able to find gold for his collection around here. So I thought a fun activity for him and his brother would be to pan for some gold to add to his collection. Of course, dad will help. Panning for gold takes practice it seems so I will oversee the process and post a review of what is found back on Steemit.
I checked out the best reviewed pay dirt stores online and by far the one with the best reviews was Lynch Mining. I ordered a pan and a 5 pound bag of pay dirt which will probably take us forever to go through. You want to go slow and most online panners will only pan about a table spoon at a time. The downside to Lynch Mining is the shipping takes forever. They are well known for their slow shipping but also for their rich gold results. The dirt should be here by this weekend making the time for shipping at over 2 weeks! But we are patient. What a great activity for kids! If my boys enjoy this, they also have gemstone panning bags you can order. And that would also be a great way to add to his rock and mineral collection.
Oh, @thehomeschoolkid doesn't know yet that this is coming. Keep it a secret! Just a couple more days and it will be here. :)
So that is what we are up to right now as far as upcoming projects this winter. I still have some garden work to get done and spring planting season is quickly approaching. I'm patiently waiting for my truck to get out of the transmission shop.
Every day is an adventure!
As far as reviews go, here is a recent Table Top Review on the Smael Tactical Watch from Amazon! It's an amazing Mudmaster close that you can get for less than $20! Amazing and I love it!
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SOUNDS delicious! Even with no picture I am imagining the heavenly sight... and taste!
It was really good! Loved it. Will get a picture next time.
What a loaded blog! Mushrooms,cheese and gold! Sharing...
THANKS!
she uses the milk to make cheeses, yogurt, sour cream, whipped cream, butter and anything else she can think up.
Good plan. I understand the state (some of them) take a dim view of raw milk...dunno if they've set their sights on cheese or butter yet. I suppose it's just a matter of time. Make hay while the sun shines..
Over six gallons a day. Not everything that glitters is gold, I think your neighbor has some pretty glittery cows.
That’s a lot of milk.
More than one family can drink in a day. Think of the cheese, ice cream and other dairy you could make with excess.
Much nutrition from a practical source. I love dairy products!
Best of luck with the fungi. We ordered spawn from F and F last year and we're pleased with the results... except when critters are the wax from the logs we plugged.
MM MMm I Love Wild Mushrooms I Find Them Out In The Woods. You Can Turn Them Over For A Handsome Profit!
Great article.
Have you looked into chickens for your homestead. I have found that my chickens produce almost twice as many eggs as the cost of the feed. I don't sell my eggs (I choose to give them away) but if I did, I would turn a profit.
About the milk. I used to live next to a dairy farm. We fed excess milk to our pigs. They do very well on it.
Oh we have lots of chickens. Turkeys too. No pigs.
My son loves rocks too. He collects all kinds of different ones and got some gems from some store at a cave we went to. I will definitely have to look into the panning. I think the boys would love it.
You can use your dirt for your garden, you may grow golden potatoes or golden sun chokes!
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