Goats and Clean Up At Home
Goats are the best weed-eaters! Some small ways to utilize this attribute is to prune or pull weeds and throw them in the pen. Or turn the goats into what's left of the garden in fall to clean up for next season. More ideas for home "green" use include:
- Have dairy goats clean up sections of mixed pasture, weeds, and forest undergrowth. Goats love such nuisance and invasive plants such as poison ivy, wild grapevine, willow, and honey suckle. Of course they also love cultivated grapevines, fruit trees, herbs, and ornamentals.... That's where the portable fences come in; particularly those fences that are easily handled by one person.
- Purchase a portable electric fence, or choose from several plastic construction fence options. Even snow fences are easy to handle and can work if they are secured to metal posts. Four or more cattle panels can be secured with cable ties to form foraging areas; but they can be a bit heavy and unwieldy to handle alone.
- Dairy goats make great stump grinders! Storms, blight and regular yearly pruning can leave the excessive wood and brush far beyond home heating needs. Huge stump sections can go into the goat pen for "king of the mountain" games. Goats also chew bark for extra fiber and health needs. Over time the goats will make those stumps disappear. Even the sawdust from cutting the stumps can be shoveled up and placed in goat housing to be utilized as compost on the garden at a later date.
Quick and Easy Buttermilk Cheese
Yield: Approximately 2 cups
2 quarts of buttermilk
(You can buy it from the store, or better yet, use your own if you have buttermilk left after making butter.)
Put the 2 quarts of buttermilk in a large covered ovenproof casserole. Place in a preheated 305ºF oven for 15 to 20 minutes. It will separate into curds and whey.
Pour the warm liquid into a cheesecloth-lined colander. Tie ends of cheesecloth and let drain for several hours over the faucet of the sink with a bowl underneath to catch the whey. Or, put a colander on top of a tall bowl or pot, with a plate or bowl on top of the knot-tied cheese.
Save the whey, which can be used to replace sour milk, buttermilk, and sometimes water or milk in baking. For a firmer cheese, squeeze out most of the liquid.
Wrap well in cloth and refrigerate, keeping in mind that the fridge will dry this cheese a little every day. You can use that to control the texture that you want.
This cheese can be used for blintzes, in any recipe calling for cottage cheese, or spread it on a bagel for a lower fat alternative to cream cheese.
Goat Milk Hard Cheese
Heat sweet, whole goat milk in a pan to 86-88ºF.
Add 10% by volume, otherwise one part to 10 parts, of yogurt or buttermilk with live cultures. Make sure the yogurt or buttermilk ingredients list active or live cultures which will act as the "starter." Stir for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add rennet at the rate of 25 drops to each gallon of milk, by first diluting the rennet in 1/2 cup of clean tap water, or distilled water.
Stir the mixture into the 86-88ºF milk, and then allow the curd to set for about 30 minutes.
Curd is ready when it breaks clean over a finger inserted into the curd at an angle and lifted slowly.
Cut curd into 1-inch vertical squares. The curd is then cut into cubes by cutting horizontally with a stiff bent wire or long knife. Curd particles should be uniformly cube-shaped to allow for even heating.
Slowly raise the curd temperature to 98-100ºF in about an hour. Stir the curd gently and slowly with a spatula to keep the curd from breaking. During the entire heating period, stir the curd frequently enough to maintain an even temperature and to prevent scorching.
When the curd is firm enough, it has a tendency to stick together. At this time, pour the curd into a muslin cloth or bag and form it into a ball. Allow the ball to hang until all free whey has dripped away-about two to three hours. After draining, remove the cloth from the curd ball, and place the ball on a cheesecloth folded over three or four times.
Fold a long cloth, about the size of a dish-towel, into a bandage about three inches wide and wrap it tightly around the ball of curd. Pin the band in place. Work the top of the ball with your hands until it is perfectly smooth with no cracks.
Lay a piece of wet cloth over the top of the cheese; place a flat plate over the cloth and weight the plate with a flat iron or a brick. If the weight falls to one side, the cheese will be uneven. To avoid this, make a simple cheese press by sandwiching the cheese between two pieces of clean board or metal pans. The round wheels of cheese should not be more than six inches in diameter. Otherwise there will be a tendency for the cheese to dry too quickly. At night turn the cheese over and replace the weight. Allow the cheese to press until the morning.
Remove cloths from the cheese and place in a cool place, turning twice daily for three days or until a rind forms.
Rub a tablespoon of salt on the rind once a day for two days. After salting, rub the cheese with a small amount of olive oil for two days, or daily until the rind is very firm. After this, it should be necessary to rub the cheese only about twice a week to prevent drying and restrict mold growth. The cheese should be ready to eat in about eight weeks.
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