Lettuce, Peas, Pancakes and Cows

This is supposed to be our last hot day.  Tomorrow back to the normal 60's.  Good!


Milking

I have been following Chickens in the Road Blog.  Suzanne has a new milk cow.  I t has made me stop and really think about having a cow and what that means.

First, I had the barn for one.  Second, I had owned some before Willow so I knew how to milk. and most of all, we had a small commercial dairy for 15 or more years.  I feel  like I pretty much know and understand milk cows, a real asset!
For me now, it is a very smooth routine and only requires maybe 30 minutes of my morning.
I do not pasteurize the milk.  I believe the raw milk is the most nutritious.  We drink it whole; I do not skim the cream.
I suspect the milk is around 3.5% butterfat.  If I want some for coffee,  I can skim a little. 
I just get about 5 quarts at the morning milking.  I let her calf have the rest in the evenings and when I don't want or need to milk.

Gardening

I finally planted three varieties of lettuce and two of radishes all from seed.  The seedling lettuces I planted several days ago are finally looking good.

I also did a 15-foot row of Sugar Snap peas.  The ground is so dry I filled the pea trench with water before covering.  I also watered in the lettuce seed.  I will try to sprinkle it daily to keep it moist.  I have been thinking a roll of horticultural burlap would be a good thing to have to cover seeds to keep the hot sun off and keep the soil moist.  I t would also keep the sprinkler from washing out the seeds.  I need to check into that.

I trimmed the front west side ditch  (west of driveway).  They are working on our county road, redoing the ditches and covering it with some kind of cement looking gravel, very fine.  The gravel trucks kept zipping back and forth, so I decided to finish another time!  I like what they are doing and want to see how they will do it in front of the house and how it will affect mowing, trimming, etc.


Food

DH had requested pancakes, so I made our new favorite.  We tell ourselves they are healthy because they are made from oatmeal and whole wheat flour.  I like that it is a perfect size for just two people.

I found the original recipe on allrecipes.com.  It was called Oatmeal Pancakes II submitted by mom2hhh.

I change it somewhat so will list what I now use:

Healthy Oatmeal, Whole Wheat Pancakes for Two

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup quick oats (I just food process regular for a little to chop them up finer)
1 Tablespoon raw sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder (alum. free)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 to l cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional, I don't use)
2 Tablespoon oil
1 egg

I mix up all the dry ingredients, toss in egg and buttermilk.  Stir vigorously until smooth.  I use a 1//4 cup measure and scoop and pour onto hot oiled griddle.  It makes six medium sized pancakes.



Random Pictures

I took a picture of the heifers a couple of days ago.  This one came right to the  fence watching me watching her.

and this is Willow's (milk cow) 2008 baby.  She is now in the breeding heifer group.  I think she is going to be bigger than her mother.  She is a full-blood Milking Shorthorn out of a very good bull.  We love her coloring.