Hey everyone! I'm trying a new thing: a live Zoom chat for subscribers to my newsletter. I'm still writing just a bit about the farm life, so if you try it out and it's not quite the right fit, please unsubscribe with no offense taken by me! My first live chat (let's talk cheese, goats, … Continue reading Want to Talk Live?
Author: Gianaclis Caldwell
Changes
A quick post to let you all know that with changes at our farm, in our personal lives (still happily married, but now caregiving for three 80-pushing-90 year old parents), and my switch to writing fiction (yes, you heard it here) I am unlikely to be doing many new blog posts on farmy-cheesy topics. But … Continue reading Changes
Wild Dairy Fermentation
Excerpt from my article for Fermentation Magazine, access the full article here. One of the raw milk cheese I used to make for Pholia Farm. A Romano style goat, aged 1 year. Long before packets of freeze-dried cultures for milk existed, there were dairy ferments. Cheese, yogurt, and kefir are probably second only to beer … Continue reading Wild Dairy Fermentation
Training a Rat Terrier to Hunt: A novice’s approach that worked
Nifty's first rat in 2016 (not my usual hunting attire!) If you have a rodent problem you’ve probably tried every trap made – and then some (Google it, and you’ll find some interesting homemade contraptions) and then watched as after a few mortalities, the rats quickly learned to avoid or even disable the traps. (After … Continue reading Training a Rat Terrier to Hunt: A novice’s approach that worked
DIY – Goat Decks
How to Build Sectional Raised, Slatted Flooring for Goats Lounging on the deck Hands down, raised, slatted flooring for goat housing wins the prize for ease of maintenance, cost over time, and, best of all, goats love it! I call this type of flooring “goat decks”. Goat decks allow the manure to fall through the … Continue reading DIY – Goat Decks
Luau Style Pit Goat Roast
As some of you know, I'm on a mission to elevate the goat in many ways, including as a culinary staple and delight. With that in mind, I've wanted to try roasting a goat in a luau style pit for some time. As with many things, I've found if you commit to it publicly or … Continue reading Luau Style Pit Goat Roast
Encounters with Enterotoxemia
You never learn a lesson quite so well as when personal experience is involved. My goat keep giving me these learning opportunities, whether I want them or not. A few weeks ago I had my first up close experience with the disease process called enterotoxemia. Vaccine for two types of Enterotoxemia and tetanusWhat is Enterotoxemia? … Continue reading Encounters with Enterotoxemia
Philosophy of a Vegetarian Butcher
I’m a vegetarian. Lacto-ovo. For almost a quarter century. I also harvest (as it’s so appealingly called these days) meat for my omnivore family. In addition I’ve found it gratifying to teach others how to respectfully take the life of a gentle beast and convert its life into sources of life for others. I don’t … Continue reading Philosophy of a Vegetarian Butcher
The FDA’s Food Safety Plan Builder – Cheesemaker’s Perspective
Perhaps you’ve heard of the free software being provided by the FDA to help food producers develop an in depth food safety plan, called Food Safety Plan Builder, or FSPB for short. I had been eagerly awaiting its release, which happened in August 2017. This article will share my experience of working with the software … Continue reading The FDA’s Food Safety Plan Builder – Cheesemaker’s Perspective
Goat Midwifery – an Excerpt from “Holistic Goat Care”
To Pre-order Holistic Goat Care (out early June 2017) visit the book's listing at Chelsea Green Publishing or Amazon The Assisted Delivery Over the years I have become quite good at sorting out kids tangled up inside the womb and successfully delivering them. There’s no way to develop competence at assisting during difficult deliveries, though, without having … Continue reading Goat Midwifery – an Excerpt from “Holistic Goat Care”
Gianaclis Caldwell 