Pages

Thursday, September 3, 2015

There is always a bright spot (or three)!

Linden, the sweetest sheep on Earth.
When he isn't busting gates and fences.

Juno, my little Good 'n Plenty.

Stormin' Norman
Sometimes you have to look a little harder for a bright spot in dark times, but sometimes they are right there in front of you.  The flies are bad this week - hot and humid, with no rain or relief in sight.  As I feed the sheep and llama their apples and pears, I take the opportunity to daub on SWAT - the only thing I have found that keeps the flies from their eyes.  I missed getting a photo of Apria - let's just say she looks like a member of a woosie tribe - three little streaks of pink.  Pears or not, she does not like anyone touching her face. 

Another bright spot is that finally - FINALLY - the little hens are going in their coop at night.  It only took THREE FREAKIN WEEKS.  I have never had such a time getting pullets to head for home at night.  They finally 'saw the light', as it were, and now go right in as soon as I turn the light on.  I now have to get them to the point where they don't need a light - that should only take a month or two - and then I have to transition them into the big coop.  Heaven only knows if I can get that achieved before the snow falls.

And another bright spot - I had read an article about Einkorn wheat, that it was an un-hybridized, natural, ancient wheat that had a very simple gluten that seemed to be tolerated by people who could not tolerate today's adulterated wheat gluten.  So, I took a deep breath and baked up a loaf.  The smell of baking, yeasty bread almost brought me to tears.  I had a tomato sandwich and waited.  Four days later, there have been no ill-effects.  This is wonderful news, although I won't be baking a lot of it - I don't want to tax my system and it is difficult to find and expensive.  But, still, the occasional loaf is now in my future.

I continue to make small headway into my processing - another batch of tomato sauce is in the slow cooker - but I better ramp up my efforts.  I have a pile of grapefruit-sized tomatoes teetering on the edge of over-ripe-ness!

9 comments:

jaz@octoberfarm said...

it is so nice to gaze upon the tomatoes in the jars. but i have an ever growing pile on the counter. i'm thinking pizza sauce next.

Fiona said...

The smell of bread.......so good to find the old strain of wheat so you can treat yourself. Further proof what we have done to foods is not a good thing!
God Bless your farm and you!

Sandy Livesay said...

Susan,

The smell of bread baking in the oven just drives me crazy. I'm happy to hear you've found wheat you can use in making bread. Sending prayers your body has no reactions.

Tomato sauce......wow, I wish I had a large group of red tomatoes to make sauce. I have tomatoes, not enough though. Keep us the good work in processing your tomato sauce :-)

Sue said...

I'm glad you found something you can tolerate, though you are correct--don't overdo!
I can do wheat once a week--more than that and I'm up all night with terrible gut issues. I'll NEVER give up bread or pizza completely, but all things in moderation.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Sounds like your garden was very productive this year. That is great about the wheat. Good news for you. I love the smell of fresh baked bread.

Mama Pea said...

I was going to send you an e-mail today about the einkorn wheat! We've been using it for a couple of weeks now and LOVE it. Although we don't have any allergies or problems with gluten, we're always on the outlook for foods that are nutritionally sound and haven't been changed into something nearly indigestible by the human body (as is almost all wheat available these days -- ugh). Just this noon for lunch I made the first eggplant from the garden . . . slices dipped in a beaten egg, then in seasoned einkorn flour and fried in coconut oil. OHMYGOSH! Was it wonderful! And I know it was because of the einkorn flour which has such a great flavor . . . but nothing that overpowers the food you use it with. And it does make the best bread!

Really enjoyed seeing the pictures of your critters. Colorful make-up they've taken to wearing. ;o)

Casa Mariposa said...

Your sheep look like furry punk rockers. I like it. :o)

Unknown said...

Cute guys! Interesting about the wheat. I'm about 80% off wheat mostly to lose weight, it's helped!!!

Leigh said...

Einkorn wheat. Susan it's so interesting you should post this because I've been looking at heirloom wheats, recently, in hopes of planting some myself. Baker Creek sells Emmer wheat, which is an old variety. They also sell what they call Egyptian wheat, which I bought and turned out to be a type of sudan grass rather than a wheat (but the goats still love it mixed in with their hay). I also read in Acres U.S.A. that part of the problem with modern wheat is the chemicals they use on the seeds. Anyway I'd not heard of einkorn so yours and Mama Pea's comments about it really perked my interest.

I was very sorry to read that your dad is doing so poorly. Hugs to you.