The Rustic Rooster

Year of the male goat!

2011-04-03T09:35:00.001-04:00

Butterscotch had twin boys. Two cute camera shy kids.

Pete and Delmar

my favorite organic gardening book

2011-03-02T11:49:00.003-05:00

I added an amazon widget with my favorite gardening book today. I wanted to share this book with you. In the spring of 2008 I checked this book out from my local library, I continued to re check it out via the Internet until they would not allow me to check it out any more. I liked this book so much I finally bought it from amazon the following year(I love getting things in the mail especially when I get free shipping). I was reading about planting potatoes, when I read in this book that recent research suggest that you plant your potato cuttings within a few hours of cutting your tubers. This is how I intend to plant the rest. When all is said and done I will post on which method worked the best for me. If you you do not buy this book I suggest you check it out from your local library, it is so helpful.

planting potatoes and a new baby goat

2011-02-28T11:17:00.004-05:00

In the above photos you can see the trenches that I planted my potatoes in. In the first 2 rows to the right I planted the little whole potatoes. They are already covered by an inch of dirt. In the first picture you can see the potato pieces that cured over night, I placed them about 2' apart and then covered them with about an inch over top. I plan on continuing to cover them up as they grow.

The other picture is a picture of our new Nigerian Dwarf goat. He is about 12 hours old in this picture. He was born late last night. I think he is colored up beautiful.

south carolina potatoes

2011-02-27T10:45:00.003-05:00

Today I am plannting a potato bed. I am hoping for an early spring(the ground hog said so). I will take pictures and post them this week. I do not know anyone who has planted potatoes. I will live and learn. I planted a few potatoes last year that had sprouted in my pantry, it got hot and dry and because of where I planted them I was not able to water them. I did get some small potatoes from this planting, I saved them and they have now sprouted, I will plant these today. I also have some russet potatoes that have sprouted in my pantry this year. I have cut these up leaving at least 2 eyes on each piece. I will let these cure for a few days before I plant them. I planted some seed potatoes several years ago that I purchased at a farm store. I did not get a single potato from them, I do not know why.

siberian husky puppy

2009-08-26T08:41:00.003-04:00

My daughter bought a Siberian husky puppy. My daughter decided she was allergic to her so Ellie Mae(the puppy) now lives with us. She is as sweet as can be. She only wants to be outside in the morning and evening hours because it is too hot for her during the day. This breed of dog probably does not belong in the south.

She has beautiful blue eyes!

summer flowers

2009-08-08T09:46:00.008-04:00

Oh so pretty!

cactus flower

mammoth sunflower

I planted the sunflowers in with the corn.
They soon towered above the corn:

This is not actually a flower, but the corn silks were so pretty!

wild floweryellow squash blossom

spring flowers

2009-06-25T09:06:00.004-04:00

white peonies:

roses and clematis:

All the rain this spring(and the bunny manure) made the flowers grow abundantly. The bunnies got buckets full of roses to chow down on the entire month of May. The roses have slowed down now, but everything else is growing well.

It's a girl! new baby angora goat

2009-04-25T09:36:00.005-04:00

This is Maddyson(pronounced madison) the female angora goat that I recently purchased in North Carolina . She was bred. She had a sweet little girl on April 22nd. Maddyson is a very good mama.

These are pictures of her baby Felicity at 2 days old:

poke salad recipe with wild onions

2009-04-11T16:31:00.007-04:00

I have been making poke salad the same way for 20 years(previous post), I decided to try something different today, my husband and son enjoyed and I did as well.

Poke Salad with Wild Onions

2 oz. wild onions(after trimming)
2 Tbls. olive oil(4 total)
4 oz. washed tender poke leaves(1 to 3 inches long)
2 Tbls. olive oil(4 total)
3 oz. cheddar cheese(I used sharp because that is what I prefer)
4 Tbls. butter(the real stuff)
6 farm fresh eggs
salt and pepper to taste(I add a splash of Franks hot sauce)

Cover the poke with hot water and bring to a boil, boil gently for 5 minutes, drain and cover 1 more time with fresh hot water, bring to a boil again and boil gently for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with running warm water for 30 seconds.

Trim the wild onions leaving some of the green, peel off the outer skin, and wash.

Slice the onions thin(about 1/8 of an inch).

Heat 2 tbls. of olive oil(I used extra virgin), add onions and stir fry over medium heat until crispy and light brown, do not stop stirring and do not use too high of a heat(they will burn quick). Remove onions and set aside, do not cover(they will get soft).
Put 2 tbls. of olive oil in the same pot and add poke leaves back to pot(you can cut the leaves up smaller if you prefer). Stir fry for 5 minutes, stir in 4 tbls. of butter and season to taste(spread evenly over bottom of pot). Whisk the eggs and pour over poke leaves, cover with tight fitting lid and cook until eggs set(it takes 8 minutes on medium on my electric stove(if eggs are not completely set in center, just poke mixture and eggs will cook up).
Turn off the heat and cover with thin sliced cheese.
Cheese will melt.

I cut mine in 6 pie or pizza shaped slices(this made it easy to remove from pot). I made this to serve 3 people as a main course(2 slices each). Sprinkle crispy fried onions on top just before serving. I served this with peaches I had canned in light syrup, they complimented each other well.

poke salad

2009-04-10T09:44:00.004-04:00

Yummy Goodness!

Young tender poke salad plant:

It's poke salad time of the year. Yes I do eat poke salad, about 3 messes(as my mother in law would say), each spring. I only pick the small tender leaves, about 1/2 of a brown grocery sack full. I wash them and boil them,about 15 mins. Then I drain the liquid and cover with water again and boil one more time and drain again. I put 1/4 cup olive oil in a skillet, add 1 medium onion , diced and cook until translucent. I add the drained poke salad greens and season with salt and pepper and cook for about 15 minutes over medium high heat. I whisk 4 eggs(farm fresh of course) in a bowl, push the greens to one side of skillet, drop a couple tbls. of butter on open side and scramble eggs until almost done, them mix it altogether and cook for about 5 more minutes. Enjoy! They say poke salad is poisonous, so eat at your own risk. My mother in law said you had to boil it 3 times to get the poison out, I only boil twice and never have a problem(but I only pick the very small tender leaves). She also said never eat it after it starts to make poke berries.

angora goats

2009-03-13T10:27:00.003-04:00

Sasha and Missy

Missy and Sasha

I went to North Carolina this past Sunday to pick up 3 angora does. Missy and Sasha are 2 small yearlings. I also purchased a 3 year old doe(whom I named Maddyson, Maddy for short) for breeding with my nigerian dwarf buck. I will get a pic of Maddy up soon. They are 3 sweet girls.

our first snow this year

2009-03-07T10:07:00.005-05:00

Our first snow this year was this past Sunday, It hung around for a couple of days.

Today it will be in the 70's. I will finish the new fence I started putting up before our beautiful snow fall. Got to get it done today, because I'm getting 3 angora goats tomorrow.

Last night I tried to get a picture of a rooster going to roost at sunset, I didn't get much of the sunset but I got a nice silhouette of the rooster in the tree:

the rustic rooster farm

2009-02-25T12:56:00.002-05:00

Farm living is the life for me! I love being outdoors. I love gathering fresh eggs. I love fresh vegetables that I grow organic. I love being able to open a jar of canned garden goodies and know where they came from, how they were grown, and knowing that it reduces my carbon foot print on the earth.

wool preparation

2009-02-20T09:53:00.004-05:00

I love every thing about fiber. I love the animals. I especially love preparing the wool for spinning. This is a picture of merino and angora rolags(behind bowl of angora fiber), the merino(on the right) was dyed with natural plant dye from the farm. I blended the merino with the angora(natural fawn)on my hand cards(cotton hand cards). I spun a 2 ply yarn with it. It is so soft. I will take a picture of it to post.

vegan

2009-02-19T23:56:00.003-05:00

You might wonder why I have a vegan blog on my blog list, since I obviously raise chickens and dairy goats.

I am a vegatarian, I am not a vegan. I added a link to a vegan site because my daughter is trying to be vegan. I eat eggs and dairy, but I also like to try vegan recipes(alot of them are great vegatarian recipes).

angora goats

2009-02-18T23:51:00.003-05:00

I will be adding 3 angora goats to my farm soon. I am getting 2 small does that I will keep for their fiber, they are too small to breed. I am also getting 1 doe that is hopefully bred. I will also breed her to my nigerian dwarf buck goat in the future. I will drive up to North Carolina to get my angoras the end of this month. I couldn't find any in South Carolina. My daughter and grandaughter will go with me, they love the North Carolina mountains.

nigerian dwarf goat

2009-01-11T19:43:00.004-05:00

This is Mocha, my blue eyed Nigerian dwarf goat. She was bottle fed and is a real sweetheart. She has 4 daughters. I am keeping all of my girls. I hope to get an angora goat(buck) this spring to breed with all the girls to produce fiber goats that will still produce good goat milk.

oyster mushroom stir fry

2009-01-08T11:10:00.003-05:00

I picked some small oyster mushroom yesterday and made this.
The mushrooms were about 2-3 inches across. I used a half of a cup of cleaned sliced mushrooms. I sauteed them in 1 tbsp. of butter. I then added a half of a cup of leftover brown rice, pushed all this to the side and scrambled an egg in 1 tbsp. of butter and mixed it all together. At first the mushrooms were a little strong for my taste, but then I added a tbsp. of soy sauce, which balanced it out. I would make this again. In a few days I think I will make an oyster mushroom cream sauce and top some pasta with it.

oyster mushrooms

2009-01-07T00:05:00.006-05:00

On Sunday I walked around our small farm(about 6 acres) looking for some dye mushrooms. I came across these:

They are oyster mushrooms. I have read that they are a good edible mushroom. I have also read that they can be used to dye wool. I have picked about a bushel. I cut them up and they are now drying(for future dyeing experiments). I will pick more in a couple of days and try cooking them. It will be the first time that I have tried wild mushrooms.

angora rabbits

2009-01-05T10:29:00.007-05:00

I have started another blog. I will post all my bunny pics and info there. check it out at:

http://www.wooliebunny.blogspot.com/

My first blog

2009-01-03T12:07:00.002-05:00

Hi,
My name is Ilene and I live in South Carolina. I have enjoyed reading blogs that interest me. I have learned alot about fiber animals from reading blogs. I have been trying to get a small fiber farm going for some time now. It started when I purchased some laying hens and roosters. I loved watching the baby chicks grow. I raise them for their delicious and healthy eggs. I also have a love for animals, especially furry ones. Next came the pair of nigerian dwarf goats. They now have 4 daughters that share the farm with them. I plan to get an angora goat to breed with the girls to produce some fiber/milk goats. Then came 3 sheep. I loved my sheep but after a few years of shearing them I realized they were too much for me to handle. I decided I needed something smaller and softer. Then came the angora rabbits. I have french angora rabbits that I have just started breeding. I have 2 english angora does that I hope to soon get a buck for. I also have a pair of german angora crossed rabbits that I will soon breed.