one of my goats, calendula, is close to freshening. she is due march 19. i have watched her bag up and am very hopeful. she is a first time freshener so i don't know what to expect from her. i have high hopes though. she comes from good milking lines and is part la mancha.
i'm dreaming of being able to shave our grocery bill further when she freshens:
milk
mozzarella (i have never tasted anything so good as homemade)
yogurt
ice cream
possibly cream too but i doubt there will be enough to make butter in the quantities i use it in. i'm hoping to locate the person in the area who purchased a milk cow from my aunt's brother last year. if i can, i'd like to start buying cream from them.
as the season progresses, other things will be able to fall off as well:
fruit - we'll have all we can eat of cherries, apples, blackberries, mulberries, plums, elderberries, peaches, possibly grapes
vegetables - we'll be growing all the veggies we eat and what we don't i can usually trade goat's milk for at the farmer's market
honey
so that leaves meat mostly. all the bulk staples i buy through a coop (flour, sugar, beans, etc). andcoffee and chocolate. :) i also plan to make more mead this year. elderberry comes to mind.
it would be great to get our grocery bill down to $100/month for this summer (including the coop bills). in theory it's doable. we'll see how reality plays out.
2 comments:
i, too, am excited about getting our grocery bills lower and lower as the season progresses. i can't wait actually! i want to try and make elderberry wine- maybe i can pick your brain/compare notes as the time comes. what an exciting time of year. i actually feel much more prepared this year- instead of the usual scramble. thinking of you in your garden!
I've been working on ours as well. We are living about 60% off our own grown food, another 30% we buy in bulk and the last 10% is where we still have room for improvement (although switching to major shopping quarterly seems to be helping some).
I hope to grow more of our veggies this year (I still had to buy carrots and potatoes this past year) and increase the overall size.
Maggie and Baby (the dexters) are due in a few weeks so I hope to have milk (that is now in the 10% part of the equation above). I am selling the goats and may switch to a LaMancha or Nubian (standard). What I really hope to raise in the near future is Scottish Highland cattle (for meat adn fiber). I can breed a SH bull to my dexters (which means Ryan will probably be going for hamburger soon)to keep them freshened and the calves can then be raised for meat.
It's all tentative right now though as I find my time shrinking and shrinking (hopefully soon we'll have that house sold-we are so close) adn then I'll have less on my plate...well, more homegrown on my plate, less outside work, LOL!)
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