NAIS and The Nation

Yesterday, The Nation, posted an article on NAIS, USDA Bets the Farm an Animal ID Program.

It is a very well written and thought out article. And finally a media source talks about the extinction of some of our heritage livestock if NAIS is implemented.

But NAIS might destroy far more than farmers' markets. In the past fifty years, industrial agriculture has promoted a handful of high-performance breeds so aggressively that the genetic diversity of livestock has been decimated in developed economies and is rapidly accelerating in developing countries, according to a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization.

Since 2000, at least one livestock breed has disappeared every month, and roughly 20 percent of the world's livestock breeds are at risk of extinction, according to the report. Perhaps the cruelest irony of NAIS is that by hastening the demise of genetic diversity it may ultimately expose the food supply to catastrophic and irreversible risks.

Like I said, you want to save an animal, you eat it.

Donkey, his breed is on the "watch" list.

Marina, he is now approaching me without a bribe of food. He wants to be nuzzled like I do the goats.

Of course Donkey isn't the only one, cottage cattle are on the decline as well as many of the chickens. My husband and I are trying our hardest to buy only those that are on the list. It is difficult because they can be very pricey, but these animals need our help, all of us. My new chicken order consists of only endangered birds. Some of them are ugly, but that isn't the point. I don't want the GM birds, I want the heritage birds.

Side note: Does anyone have a standard Jenny that they wish to sell me? Or know of someone that has one? Firefly needs a breeding mate. There is a limit on the amount of money I can afford, and please, untagged.

Tools Used for Keeping Goats

This is Part 8 of the Tools Series.


Keeping goats as pets are easy. Butchering and milking is another story, one I have yet to get into to.

Goats need feed, water and some brush love. Keep an eye out on their hooves to make sure they do not get overgrown or cracked. Plenty of things for them to play on, and very good fencing (they tend to rub on the fence and can tear them, the fencing, up)

How not to bring the Goats home.

One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Bread!

The other day I was rummaging through all my recipes, felt like doing some old school baking, when I came across a recipe from the 1900's for Potato bread. I love potato bread, yet have never actually made it.

It took two days to make, but turned out wonderfully. The recipe I have make 4 loaves, I made two and took the second loaf over to my good neighbor. The boys in my house have declared that they will no longer have normal sandwich bread, instead POTATO BREAD FOR ALL!

Starting at noon, make your potato ball;
4-5 medium potatoes, peeled
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 packages of dry yeast

Boil the potatoes until tender, then drain very well and mash. Allow them to cool to a luke warm ( I almost messed it up here, I thought it was luke warm until a started to knead it. Felt like it was still a little too warm. Luckily it wasn't) Add the sugar, salt and yeast. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface a knead just enough to form a ball. Place into a medium sized bowl, cover with a clean towel, and let rise in a warm place until after dinner. The ball will be light a spongy feeling.

After dinner, start the sponge;
1 quart milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 rounded tablespoon salt
4 cups all purpose flour

Heat the milk to a scald, add sugar, butter, and the salt. Remove from the heat and allow the butter to melt and allow the entire mixture to cool lukewarm. In a large bowl combine the milk mix with only half the potato ball and the flour. Stir until blended well. Cover with a dry towel and set aside over night.

Make bread before breakfast:
6 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup melted butter to brush tops after baking.

The sponge should be a pancake batter constancy, and bubbly. Preheat your oven to 435F, and stir in enough flour into your sponge to make a soft dough, not sticky and yields easily when kneaded. Turn out onto a floured surface (only enough flour so it doesn't stick) knead until firm and elastic not stiff (the biggest problem that people have when it comes to homemade bread, is that they add too much flour or knead it to long) Divide the dough into two, and place into 2 9x5 bread pans that have been greased. cover with a dry towel and allow to double in bulk, about 2 hours. Bake at the 435F for 15-20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F and bake for another 40 minutes at most. The crust should be brown and went you rap on it with your knuckles there should be a hollow sound. Cool twen minutes on the pans side, remove and cool on a rack. While bread is still warm, brush the tops with butter.

The other half of you potato ball should be stored away until a later baking. When ready to use it, allow it to set out to reactivate the yeast. This ball will still be active up to one month. Start the recipe with the sponge instructions.

I also made saucepan fudgies, honey cookies, peanut butter cookies, lemon and walnut bread, and molasses cookies.

Is it a dog? Crab? Daddy on a bad hair day?

Last night we did lose electricity, for several hours. It isn't an easy feat to keep a mobile home, an older mobile home sans a fireplace, warm. We lucked out, and there was little wind, that helped and we did not have to leave.

And yes, those movies you watch with the white trash trailer parks and the blankets covering their windows is exactly what we did. Heavy winter blankets draped over our windows, and the entrance to the hallway, so that the heat would stay in the living room and kitchen area. Two of our 4 burners were light, and I kept watch over the many candles that lit pathways. The youngest had fallen asleep before lights out, and the other two boys played shadow puppets, until it was bedtime.

I remained awake until the power came back on, around 1 am, so that I could set the alarm and we could be off on our day in time. I mis-set the alarm. oops.

Yesterday the Farm Bill was brought back up to the Senate. I did not yell at the tv, instead I fought from drowning in C-Span2 coma. It was hard. I missed some of it, but what I heard, no one brought up NAIS, or the amendment it is attached to. No worries though, it will be back in Senate today. I did learn the The Senator of Tennessee is concerned that you Urban people will put up a 12 foot wind generator in your front yards if one amendment is passed. NH Senator likes asparagus, but doesn't think their should be a special commodity for them, a female senator (suddenly forgot where she was from) informed the Senate why there should be a special commodity for asparagus growers (Peru gets to send their over here duty free, American growers are unable to compete) and Senator Mike Crappo wants to save the legumes. And they all want to be off the pipeline. I wonder what dirty little secrets I will find out today.

Oh The Weather Outside is Frightful

But the oven fire is so delightful. Doesn't really work, does it?

We are in the middle of an ice storm, one that will last for 24 hours, then comes the snow to cover up all that nice ice.

In 2005 we had a a similar storm. Our homestead lost power for 3 days. We tried to tough it out, but after a while, the oven would no longer keep that burning cold away, and we ended up moving in with my mother. Hopefully this year, we can keep our power.

It is times like these that we really talk about living off the grid. We talk about it at other times, but not so much when we have instances that remind us that we are at the mercy of our electric co-op. We do have plans, but it is time and sometimes money that stops us from completion. We are forced to buy/acquire things slowly. I need a sponsor.

The Tools series will be back up. I thought it might be better to do it once a week, instead of having a very long 2 week or so straight commentary on tools.

Question

Because you guys are great with answers.

If you missed it, The Modern Homestead is back up and running. One of the members has 2 questions that no one seems able to answer. I was hoping you would know the answer(s)

1. Any one got advice on using a foster does to raise up bum calves?

2. Kardosh and Wishard turkeys, What's their differences? What sets the two strains apart?

I tried to do some research on the 2nd question, and their seems to be very little info on them.

Scroll down for todays regular post.

Preparing for Chirstmas

'Tis the season that my oven never goes off. Unfortunately this year that same oven is being temperamental. Undercooked or burnt seems to be all it knows. Luckily, cracking open the broiler seems to work. Great, yet another thing that needs to be fixed.

The men that work in the shop with my husband will get their yearly Christmas goodies. People tend to forget about these guys, as being a mechanic doesn't hold the same respect as other jobs. Yet they can help save those other guys jobs. A nice big platter of cookies and breads homemade, from scratch will arrive later this week.

Homemade play dough, and baked Christmas ornaments are being made. Along with (the kittens in a minute is they don't stop attacking my bare feet) people's favorite goodies, in pre-made, yet homemade, instant "boxes". What that means, because I lost myself there, is that I make people's favorite desert or baked goods, except for the baking. (and without yeast) If you love chocolate cake, I combine all the ingredients (except the wet stuff unless I am making a cake in a jar) in a canning jar, and pass it on. It is simple, you don't really have to be a great cook, just a good instruction follower, and it's personal.

We are also having a no batteries Christmas for our boys. We decided this and nonchalantly told our parents, now they have taken up the cause as well. Looks like the boys will have to suffer an old fashion Christmas from all sides this year. Slinkies and those punching balloons are big hits around here. Of course My husband and I have to try them out first to make sure they work. Those boys of mine can get pretty upset when you nail them with one of those balloons. Yet get real brave when they are the ones welding it.

Another new aspect to Christmas this year will be the addition of a guest. 15 years ago I met this boy...ok a friend of a friend brought this guy over and he never left. That was typical of my house back in the day. We took in a lot of different. . .boys. It was always boys, an no, no relationship beyond friendship. Well this boy, whom I simply adored, one of the few that I still think about, woke up one morning and decided to go to Colorado. Fast forward 15 years later, many stories to my husband about said boy, and he shows up as a work buddy of my husband's. Even after he showed up here to get his bike worked on we didn't recognize each other. It took a few days, and he realized it first. It was a pleasant reunion. And he has no family here. He will be joining us on Christmas day, and maybe Christmas Eve at my mother's. My boys love him, and have plans about what they are making him for presents.

Christmas this year, might just work out.

Now if we can survive this ice storm that is looming over us. Hope all my friends in MO and OK are fairing well.