The cold wet weather continues. We had a teaser day of Spring on Monday, but got slammed again on Tuesday. It’s Ohio…. what can we expect?
One of the dairy cows is getting ready to deliver a calf. She has been showing signs of imminent delivery – full udder, puffy bottom, soft hip tendons, grumpy – you know, pregnant. We check on her several times throughout the day and even once or twice at night. Once she delivers we will leave the calf on her for a week or more to give it a good start. It will also settle her down a little. She has calved before and knows the ropes, which is good because first time mama’s can be a pain. We do have an older, more experienced cow with her for company and advice.
For the last month, we have been bringing both dairy cattle into the feeding area for grain and high-quality hay. They have free choice hay in their barn/laying area, but we want to supplement that with the grain to keep them fat and sassy. Plus, it creates the habit of visiting the milking parlor twice a day. We handle the cows, brushing them, checking udders, getting them used to us being around.
Once we start milking, we will be making simple cheeses, yoghurt, sour cream, butter, whipped sweet cream, and ice cream, as well as fresh milk. Yum. We share milking chores with our daughter and her family. Bob and I don’t need 3-5 gallons of milk every day and sharing the work makes it much less burdensome, because, once you start milking, it is an everyday, no matter what, kind of thing.
A dairy cow can be the foundation for your entire homestead. It provides a calf for beef each year, milk and dairy products – a source of protein – for your family, food for farm animals - especially chickens and hogs, manure for your garden, and is an important part of the multi-species grazing program for your pastures.
Yes, there is a commitment, but isn’t that the point of having a homestead? To have a place that is truly your home, a place of sustenance and comfort while you are growing food and raising a family. Our children are grown but we have learned that the homestead is also the best place to nurture and love grandchildren. They help us with the heavy work, enjoy the fruits of the garden and barns, share the fields and woods with their friends, learn to make things from what we have available, and have fun in the lake. They have camp-outs, catch lightening bugs (fireflies), fish, ride ATV’s, cut firewood, build cabins, and play in the creek. It’s a homestead for our entire family.
a few of the crazy kids. :-)
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I’m sure you have heard about the coronavirus that has become a worldwide news story. As a nurse, I am concerned about any medical threat to my family’s health so when it became evident that the virus was not going to be contained in China, I decided to use the situation as motivation to review my medical preps. (I do that a lot. For example, when we lose electricity due to a storm, I check on our stock of flashlights, batteries, solar lanterns, and water. I use an inconvenience as a challenge to become better prepared for a disaster.)
Anyway, I decided to beef up my preps of our PPE. That stands for Personal Protective Equipment. I ordered some N95 masks and a box of surgical masks from Amazon. I also went to the local Dollar Tree and bought masks, nitrile gloves, hand sanitizer, Lysol disinfecting concentrate and some spray bottles. I picked up a few other cleaning supplies, too. I packed everything up in a box and labeled it. It is being stored in clean, dry place. (I double sealed all liquids so they won’t leak and ruin the masks and gloves.)
I also checked on my stock of elderberry syrup. I have some, but not very much. Bob and I had decided to buy additional elderberry plants for cultivation but then I remembered that my Master Gardener class had information about plant propagation and I did some research. It turns out you can actually propagate elderberries very easily and without any special equipment.
note the little bumps along the stem
First, I needed to identify the elderberry plant from the stem alone. Good news – it’s easy to identify. There are little bumps all along the stem and there is pith (a soft squishy center) inside the stem.
I then cut branches from a willow tree that was growing nearby. Willow contains a compound known as indolebutyric acid (IBA), a plant hormone that stimulates root growth. It is present in high concentrations in the growing tips of willow branches. By using the actively growing parts of a willow branch, cutting them, and soaking them in water, you can get significant quantities of IBA to leach out into the water. If you don’t have access to a willow tree, you can purchase rooting hormone powder in most gardening sections of hardware and big box stores.
I cut up the willow into 3 -4” pieces and placed them into water for about 24 hours before I placed the elderberry cuttings into the water. I soaked the elderberry cuttings an additional 24 hours before planting.
willow pieces soaking in water to extract the IBA
The cuttings were placed into pots with potting soil and kept moist. (I used up the rest of the willow water for this.) And then I waited, keeping the soil moist, but not soaking wet. I don’t want the newly formed root hairs to dry out but also didn’t want to drown them. Bob and I took cuttings from 4 different plants in 4 different areas because it turns out that you need 2 types of elderberries to get the best pollination. By using different location we hope we have increased the likelihood we will get 2 varieties. I labeled the stems according to the location they were harvested.
Each pot is labeled with location where stems were harvested
I rotated the containers around to ensure all were getting equal sun. Some authors recommend keeping the cuttings in a cool, dark place to encourage root growth. I am using a cool sun room and am having good results so far.
buds have formed and leaves have appeared on the many of stems
I am very encouraged. Burpee’s sells 2 elderberry plants for about $26. I have approximately 50 plants started. I’m sure not all of them will set buds, but if even half of them do, I’m way ahead of the game.
I use the elder berry to make syrup and then preserve the syrup. It is a process similar to making a jelly but without the pectin.
Last summer, I harvested berries and rinsed them and picked out larger stems and leaf debris. Then I place the berries in my steam extracting juicer. It uses heat to soften berries and catches the juice as it is steamed out of the berries. {It was our large homestead purchase last year. We plan one of these purchases each year. So far, we have a new pressure cooker, small greenhouse, electric butter churn, Kitchenaid mixer, air compressor, chainsaw, and nail gun. These are things that make our work much easier and we will have them for years.}.
My steamer-juicer to extract liquid from soft fruits
After harvesting the juice, I add sugar (you can use honey, just follow your recipe) and a small amount of lemon juice, to make a heavy syrup and bring it to a gentle simmer, being careful not to scorch it. I sterilize ½ pint jars and fill with the hot syrup. I leave ¼” head space and seal. Then I process it in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes. I use the small jars because this is medicine, not for putting on ice cream. The dose is 1 tablespoon of syrup 4 times a day when you have a cold or flu. It is effective against virus-caused infections, especially if taken at the first signs of illness.
Elderberries contain high levels of antioxidents, anthocyans, and vitamins. Research has shown that cold/flu symptoms have been shortened by 50% or more when people take elderberry. You can also make a tincture from the elder flower – there have been good results with this as well.
You can buy elderberry syrup over the counter, too. It is good to have some on hand.
By the way, I am not worried about the danger from coronavirus until more information is available. In the meantime, take the same precautions you use during flu season. Treatments are generally aimed at treating symptoms, just like most viral infections. Fluids, rest, anti-fever medications and prevention of transmitting the virus. The people who have become critically ill are reported to have underlying serious medical conditions, like heart disease, diabetes, COPD, and renal failure. I am keeping an eye on the spread of the virus across the world - it is a real study of how a truly infectious and deadly disease will travel from country to country. Use this disease as an opportunity to educate yourself about epidemiology - the study of diseases and how they spread throughout the globe. That will scare the bejesus out of you.
Stay well and wash your hands.
Polly
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