April on the Farm (for me) has been all about milking goats and processing the dairy into yogurt, cheese, and kefir. My husband has spent time doing some other things. You can read last month’s update HERE.

I have been milking Bossy twice a day and Besty once a day. Besty kidded twin bucks (now wethers) that are healthy.

Bossy has turned out to be the sweetest and best goat who lets me milk her nicely. I am getting about 1 pint from her morning and evening. Remember, these are Nigerian Dwarf goats, so they do not give as much milk as a Nubian or larger goat breed would. I am happy with her production so far.

Betsy is stubborn. This is her 5th or 6th kidding, but she had never been milked before now. She is a great mama but kicks when I try to milk her. She has calmed down enough over the last few weeks to let me get about 1 cup from her each morning. It isn’t much, but I am determined to continue training her to let me milk.

I started by focusing on making “cream” cheese, then added in making yogurt and kefir. My husband loves the cheese, I love the kefir, and my children love it all ways (as plain milk best, though).

It has been so nice to have this raw dairy since we weren’t able to afford to buy all of the raw dairy products from the store. Any type of kefir was a rare treat before, but now I get to have it every day – that is enough reward for my commitment to milking these goats! 🙂

April on the Farm | Garden Update

The rhubarb is doing awesome. I made one dessert from it, but I need to harvest and freeze it for future use.
The garlic is growing nicely for a late summer/autumn harvest.
We started tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers that are growing big in the enclosed porch. We hope to transplant them outdoors in May.
We put peas, radishes, onions, spinach, kale, and lettuce in the ground.
We transplanted a wild rose into our Abigail Rose Garden that we dug up from my grandparent’s property last year and had growing in a pot until an appropriate time to transplant.
We also sprinkled wildflower seeds all over Abigail’s Garden.

We have sweet potato slips arriving at the end of May. We will plant those – and everything else – in the big garden over Memorial Day Weekend.

My number one gardening tip: plant Borage ASAP in the spring to attract pollinators!

Other Happenings

My husband culled 5 young roosters that were getting mean and fighting each other constantly. So we have those in the freezer. It’s always nice to add homegrown food to our menu when it’s available!

Those are all of the highlights from April on the Farm. If you enjoy farm updates, please comment and let me know! 🙂