Meet Teddy!

Teddy the morning after his birth.

Teddy at 1 week old.

Yes, I am incredibly late with our big announcement; meet the first Big Buck Ranch baby! Teddy.  Teddy was born in a mud puddle on October 2, despite the fact that I had thoroughly cleaned both shelters.  My darling hubby named him after Teddy Bridgewater, since he was born the night the Green Bay Packer massacred the Minnesota Vikings.  

Teddy comes from an amazing gene pool.  His mom is BOHICA ACRES WebiGayle and dad is 5280 Farms Eli.  Mom may be golden, but dad is a pretty black and white.  I plan on registering the cute little guy as Big Buck Ranch Zeus.  The birth went smoothly, and Webi did a fabulous job.  She is being awful to milk, but Webi is a great mama!

Anxiously Waiting!!

Webi earlier this summer.

The first Big Buck Ranch Nigi babies are arriving any day.  My beautiful blue-eyed blonde doe, WebiGayle, is due Monday.  I am on birth watch!  I keep peaking out the windows at the goat pen, looking for any changes in my girl.  This will be her third kidding, so I'm confident in her birthing abilities, not so confident in my ability to help.  I'm sure I'll have an update soon!

Random Thoughts of a Stressed Mommy

Lately life has been a tumultuous series of ups and downs, chapters ending and chapters beginning.  The month of August was a blur, I'm not sure if September will be much better.  There have been events that bring me great joy, great sadness, and great frustration.  For every blessing there is a battle that ensues.  I'm exhausted, and still feel the effects of the cold that hit me three weeks ago.  I need to keep pushing forward, looking for the good in every situation, relying on the amazing people in my life that keep me grounded.

Palisade Peach Time

Mmmm, it's that time of year in the great state of Colorado that Palisade peaches are ripe for the pickin'.  There is really nothing better than biting into a ripe peach, juice running down your chin and arms.  Yum!!!!

Today, I decided to puree some peaches that I had frozen, so I could make jam with them.  I was antsy and only thawed them long enough to easily get the skin off.   Taking the peach pits out, I put the frozen peaches into my food processor and let it go to work.  I ended up with a delicious thick, frozen treat!!  My kiddos and I were thrilled with the yummy, cold sorbet.  A perfect healthy snack on a hot afternoon!

Simple Sugar Free Peach Sorbet

A New Journey

At the moment I'm going through a great awakening, a period of self discovery.  It may sound selfish and self serving, and yes I am a very selfish person.  That said, it is time to break free from the shackles of the past a reemerge as a kinder, gentler soul.  I have lived my life in the past, hiding behind false ideas, false images, false personas.  I do NOT have to the person the world wants me to be, I am my own person.  I love critters big and small.  I love being outside, getting dirty, working hard.  I love being creative and testing limits.  

I want to be present in this life; not a spectator, which may mean life isn't always easy, it isn't always fun.  I need to accept  challenges as part of life.  We live in a world so tuned into being happy all the time, no bad should come, full of fast food get it now pleasures.  There will in struggles, tears are okay, frustration is okay.  It's time to sit back and enjoy the journey.

The Goats of Big Buck Ranch

All of my Nigerian Dwarf Goats are registered through either the American Goat Society or the American Dairy Goat Association.  They come from excellent milking lines including Heaven's Hollow, 5280 Farms, Wyojem, and Velvet Acres to name a few.  BOHICA ACRES Dauntless (1 year old doe) and BOHICA ACRES Valentine (4 month old buckling) are not pictured.  The 2 little rascals wouldn't stand still long enough for me to get a photo.  Enjoy!!

BOHICA ACRES WebiGayle
Bred-due the end of September

BOHICA ACRES Sweet Candy
Bred-due the end of October

BOHICA ACRES Erudite

Oven Drying Fresh Herbs

Fresh Lemongrass and Wild Chamomile drying in the kitchen.

I have been selling herb infused salts and herbal vinegars at the Pine Junction Farmer's Market.  I use fresh, locally grown herbs for both.  The vinegars are easy, I just add the fresh herbs to heated vinegar and let them steep for a few weeks.  When I make salt, I dry the fresh herbs.  Normally I like to air dry them near the kitchen window.  If I'm in a hurry to make salt, I'm finding the oven method is fantastic.

I wash my fresh herbs, pat them dry, and put them on cookie sheets.  As I'm prepping everything I preheat the oven to 175 degrees.   Once I've put the fresh herbs in the oven, I leave the door cracked a little to let moisture escape.  The drying time varies from herb to herb; thyme dries within an hour while sage can take 3-4 hours to dry.  I just keep checking them periodically to see how they're doing, and pull them once they're dry.  After a brief cooling, I strip the herbs from the stems.  Some herbs are easier than others; thyme gets tricky because the leaves are so small and the stems break easily, while sage goes quickly due to the size of the leaves.  

I leave the herbs on the cookie sheet, it makes crushing and bottling so much easier.  Once all of the herbs have been stripped from their stems, I cover them with parchment paper and crush them with a rolling pin.  My kids have a small rolling pin left over from a Strawberry Shortcake baking set, it's the perfect size for the pan I use.  

After the herbs are crushed I pour them into a mason jar to use in making salts or in cooking.  The herbs have such a punch of flavor compared to store bought dried herbs.  The process may seem long, but it's something I can pick up and put down throughout the day depending on my schedule.  All in all it's worth it.