the daydream fund challenge thread

Poosmate

lostinrates wrote: »

I love goats cheeses of all sorts, though am not a fan of the milk for drinking. Cheesemaking is becoming more and more interesting to me. I'm planning to have a go at making mozzarella sometime soon. we have a cheese room here, but its destined to be my kitchen one day.:D

Isn't mozzarella made from buffalo's milk? Do you have buffalo too?

Talking of goats, I love those little falling down goats from America:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we9_CdNPuJg&feature=related

This is quite sad but so funny - it's like watching a child bite into a lemon for the first time, you know they're gonna hate it but you just have to let them do it because you know it'll be funny! I have such a cruel streak!

Poo

lostinrates

Poosmate wrote: »

Isn't mozzarella made from buffalo's milk? Do you have buffalo too?

Talking of goats, I love those little falling down goats from America:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we9_CdNPuJg&feature=related

This is quite sad but so funny - it's like watching a child bite into a lemon for the first time, you know they're gonna hate it but you just have to let them do it because you know it'll be funny! I have such a cruel streak!

Poo

No!...but I'd cheatily buy the milk. In fact, you can make it with any high fat percentage milk I believe, i was going to try with some jersey milk. Properly cows' milk mozzarella is called fiordilatte

RAS

fuddle wrote: »

Going to read this thread page by page. (oh, thinking of an egloo or omlet, eeeeek I've not a lot of room in't garden, think it might be cruel. Will look into it)

Can't find the daylight piccie of the rhiwfield chicken duplex, so you have put up with the illuminating one.

rhiwfield wrote: »

And at this gloomy time of year, a ray of light............

Blacktail Illuminations

rhiwfield

Lotus-Eater, maybe I didnt like the Giles & Sue show because they were making fun of something I believe in, even the library dig got my goat

Poo, I know that they can make mozzarella out of buffalo milk. Apparently it is THE mozzarella for Neapolitan pizza LINK. I thought I'd read somewhere that the water buffalo used in the Teifi marshes are used to produce mozzarella but maybe I got that one wrong. Still, I think buffalo mozzarella is one of Newcastle Emlyn's biggest employers

Fuddle, you may only have a rented concrete patch but you can hone your skills on container and vertical gardening. Right now you could be sowing garlic and broad beans (aquadulce claudia). Just go for it!

Lir, with only 3 hens we normally dont have that many surplus eggs, especially when GD3 comes for boiled egg and soldiers + cupcake baking sessions! Decided not to continue with evening lights as they seemed a bit confused but give them extra hour's light in the morning. Laying holding up pretty well (13 eggs in 5 days).

All good things come to an end . Picked the last toms and 2 cucumbers from the greenhouse given that air frosts are imminent and I dont want to spend a fortune on greenhouse heating. With the toms now ripening, the summer salad season (characterised by rocket, spring onion, tomato and cucumber lunchtime sarnies) is about to end. Except for the rocket and land cress in the greenhouse

And back to TV, see that Edwardian Farm starts tomorrow. I like that trio, they live the life for a year at a time.

lostinrates

rhiwfield wrote: »

Poo, I know that they can make mozzarella out of buffalo milk. Apparently it is THE mozzarella for Neapolitan pizza LINK. I thought I'd read somewhere that the water buffalo used in the Teifi marshes are used to produce mozzarella but maybe I got that one wrong. Still, I think buffalo mozzarella is one of Newcastle Emlyn's biggest employers

I only really ''got'' mozzerella love when I ate my first whole buffalo mozzerella from a slowfood shop in Milan. Until then I didn't really get why odes are written to this cheese. Now I love it, whether its a buffalo mozzerella or a good fiordilatte..so long as its good, verging on set in the middle ...its incredibly sensual like oysters IMO.

Lir, with only 3 hens we normally dont have that many surplus eggs, especially when GD3 comes for boiled egg and soldiers + cupcake baking sessions! Decided not to continue with evening lights as they seemed a bit confused but give them extra hour's light in the morning. Laying holding up pretty well (13 eggs in 5 days).

Oh, its a shame the evening lights weren't a success, but IME morning lighting works well. Good luck. I'm not lighting yet..holding out for a bit longer. I'll light when we go down to two eggs a day I think. We need to reglaze the window in the dairy parlour-chicken house this weekend.

On the plus side we've settled our surveyor issue...the one we had we developed doubts in, and we didn't want to continue with him but were finding it hard to find anyone else, particularly anyone who we could afford. well, I feel pretty shabby but I've called in a favour owed to me , DH met the results of that today and the result is we're having an architect and a structural engineer instead of a surveyor, and they are going to try very hard to keep costs down for us and understand we can't do it all overnight. They are the kind of people we could never normally afford and if we ever need to sell there will be some kudos for their names being attached, but all we care is that they are the right people to help us and we can do right by the house and afford it!

All good things come to an end . Picked the last toms and 2 cucumbers from the greenhouse given that air frosts are imminent and I dont want to spend a fortune on greenhouse heating. With the toms now ripening, the summer salad season (characterised by rocket, spring onion, tomato and cucumber lunchtime sarnies) is about to end. Except for the rocket and land cress in the greenhouse
.

The foraging is lean too. We've got loads of fungi I can't ID and so can't eat even though they look good:o

alfie_1

fuddle wrote: »

I am planning to watch it on iplayer later on. The whole concept is new to me and while i'm eager to learn and provide for my family I have to be realistic that I only have a concrete/patch grass back yard, and in private rented.

I'm wondering if I could cope with an allotment for now. I was eyeing them up this morning, they're right next to my daughters school. Straight away I'm thingking 'waiting lists will be horrendous!' but thats the defeatist attitute isn't it. I will enquire, untill then i'll just have to plan my garden pots.

do you have a neighbour with a large garden that you could share the "growing" ? obviously you will have to be wary that they dont do the dirty on you and take the produce for themselves... perhaps an older couple who did but cant manage it all now?? [bearing in mind thier health...god forbid they depart before the veg!! in the nicest way] a lot of elderly loved thier gardens but cant manage. try taking a walk round by you and just knocking the door, offer references and explain what you want to do.it could well enhance thier life as much as yours to see it . if its elderly always chat to thier family to reassure them too [if they hav any] just a suggestion to get you on the ladder, you can still apply for an allotment but theres usually a wait.
good luck

alfie_1

OH JOY.. i am now the proud owner of a new filly! piebald, 6 months old, cobby, make 14.2-15hh . nobody here to talk me out of it and what the hell...shes lovely!! ride and drive will be her destiny. shes arriving next week so have a stable to get ready!
3 mini shets arriving friday for the winter [fostering] so busy week ahead. i love it.....
LIR.. i think you would do well in a recuperation yard! sounds like you would just enjoy getting good results. just have to be carefull the owners dont use it as an excuse to abandon them tho ?
i know what you mean about reselling. iv never in all my years been able to do that. i worry too much as to thier fate...
i was horrendous when i had my 11 labrador pups to home. i was like the gestappo with potential owners!! only the brave persevered to get one. i found amazing homes for them all thankfully.....

Lotus-eater

fuddle wrote: »

I'm watching Giles and Sue online right now and for a new person allowing this way of life into her thoughts I'm a little disappointed.

I think I prefer real life experiences or at least two people living this life solidly for a period of time. I feel it's mocking, not least the breadmaking, something which I do daily, easily.

It was mocking, maybe I don't notice anymore, as I get mocked on a weekly basis from just about anyone. And, of course being able to laugh at yourself is always good.

But it had times when even the idea got through to the bloke, he was sitting eating a tomato and said as though he had just realised "so, self sufficiency isn't really about slumming it at all, it's about eating great stuff" (or something like that)........ and I thought, that's exactly what it is, you get the satisfaction of eating something that tastes fantastic and even better you were the one that grew/made it.
And that feeling is plenty to keep the old feelings from getting hurt when someone has a dig at me for grinding my own flour, or devoting my front garden to alliums.

RAS

You just reminded me of a classic session with (ex) colleagues.

"RAS, why don't you just go to the supermarket like a normal person?"

A few days later I had a surfeit of courgettes (all four made it and I was hoping for two plants). I took them into work and gave them away.

The next day two of the colleagues came in and exclaimed over these wonderful vegetables which were so much tastier than anything they had ever eaten. I explained it had nothing to do with my growing skills and everything to do with the fact that the courgettes had gone from plant to mouth in a little over 12 hours.

I had no problem getting rid of future surpluses.

choille

I think that this is a great scheme that is running & hopefully will be expanded next year.

http://croftingconnections.com/#url

I haven't seen the programme you are all talking about - the new good life, but it sounds missable.

Tomorrow I have my fencer coming to advise on chicken runs & fencing the bit that hasn't been deer fenced at the shore. My OH did some work for him so it's let's do a deal time. We have cobbled up some mesh runs for most of the new hens but they are a temp measure. I don't really like penning hens but it's obviously sensible. God these Orpingtons are gorgeous. I can see why people rave about them. The big ones in the big pen come stomping towards me when I go down with scraps - you can hear the thump, thump on the ground from their huge feet.
It's been a cold day but turned out nice this afternoon for some bramble root hoiking down the bottom. The soil down there is beautiful loam & the smell of it is delicious, just lovely.
It's supposed to be good tomorrow so I hope to take photies & just be outside again.
What gales they were through the night - a lot of the green building paper on the house build is raggedy & a big bit of wood has come down - surprised that that is all that's come off.