Iron Oak Farm's Eggs Grace the Pages of Detroit Hour Magazine!

For those of you familiar with Hour Detroit Magazine, I am proud to announce that Iron Oak Farm's own farm fresh eggs will be gracing the pages of the April 2012 issue. Photographs of our eggs are featured on pages 14 (the Contents page), and pages 41 and 43 of the Food and Drink section. We have a small mentioning in the lower left corner of page 41!

Hour found our farm on Local Harvest, and asked if they could come out and see our farm, gather some eggs for the photo shoot, and meet the chickens that laid them. I happily agreed! I had a nice afternoon with one of their advertising reps, drinking coffee and talking chicken, (two of my favorite things!) 

The eggs look beautiful, and the article is a great read on raising and eating local eggs.  

The New Garden

These simple raised beds symbolize the main reason we moved here. This day has been a long time coming, and it's hard to believe that it's finally here. This open field, turned over dirt, and most of all, the sunshine, are what get me through those homesick moments when I miss the woods. A part of my soul will always be nestled under the shade of those ancient oak trees of my childhood home, but all my life I have had a yearning to grow things.

And while those shade trees provided a sublime place to grow up, filled with nature, learning and adventure, something equally important has taken hold of my heart. I'm starting a new phase in my life where Zach and I create a lifestyle together. This lifestyle will include growing our own food, and honoring a simple life.

And while this idea of a "simple life" seems distantly buried in one of the busiest years I've ever experienced, what with fencing to put up and coops to build, and stalls to construct,...etc. I know that there is a fundamental honesty about what were trying to accomplish.

At the end of the day, my muscles ache, my freckles are showing from the sun, I am dirty and smell of three different types of manure, I have straw in my ponytail, and my upper lip tastes salty with sweat, but it is good.

So very, very good.

Spring Shearing

The goats are sheared for the summer. Three full garbage bags of mohair makes for a good harvest. They look all fresh and clean and relieved to be rid of all that heavy wool. We trimmed everyone's hooves and washed the girl's udders.

This was our first year shearing Josiah and Sulley. Josiah I did by myself, and he is a strong goat, let me tell you. I laid him on his side and the first half went really smooth. Then it was time to do the other side and he wouldn't have it. I finished him standing which seemed to be more to his liking. He is a large goat, strong willed, but slow and steady. He doesn't spook or fuss, just moves forward like a steam shovel.

Sulley our buck, is young and uppity, but was such a good boy during shearing. His locks are tight and satiny and I can't wait to see the babies that he and Knit produce.

Speaking of babies, Knit and Purl are forming their udders, and while shearing Purl, we felt a baby goat kick. It was hard and sort of pointy, so I'm thinking a hoof, maybe?

We got our birthing kit together and by the door, ready for action. Iodine, surgical gloves, lubricant, towels, and a bunch of other stuff that we probably won't use, but being paranoid first timers, we thought it would be better to be over prepared.

This weekend we plan on constructing the birthing pens. Getting things nice and clean and cozy for the expecting mamma's and their new babies.

To purchase some of Iron Oak Farm's mohair roving or yarn visit our Etsy Store!  

Special thanks to our friend Shannon for taking the photographs and for helping to trim hooves! Check out her new blog at A Housewife By Trade! 

Raising Ducks...Again

Check out my latest Community Chicken's Post, to read the story of how I started with ducks. Raising Ducks...Again!

Brandy Vanilla and Maple Creme Brulee

Check out my latest Community Chickens post for this delicious recipe!!! Brandy Vanilla and Maple Creme Brulee

Finishing the Maple Syrup

We finished the first 20 gallons of maple syrup last night. It reduced down to 12 eight oz. jars perfectly, which works out to 3/4 of a gallon, so we were a little sweeter than the average 40 to 1 ratio.

We had refrigerated the reduced sap from the out door fire (see yesterday's post Old Fashioned Maple Kettle Syrup) and brought it in to finish it on our stove so we could regulate the temperature a bit better in the final stages.

We brought it up to a simmer so that it would pour thinner and be easier to strain.

We strained it through 2 cotton towels in a colander.

This was the gunk that was left. Mostly bits of ash and soot.

Once clear and deeply golden, we returned it to the clean pot and let it boil again.

It took 2 additional hours on the stove to boil down and come up to temperature. 219 degrees on a candy thermometer, or seven degrees above boiling means the sugar content is at syrup level.

We double checked with a taste test and checked for tracing on the back of a large spoon. Tracing is when the syrup no longer drips like water, but holds together and runs like a sheet.

While the syrup was reducing, we processed our canning jars by washing them in hot soapy water and then boiling the jars and lids for ten minutes to sterilize.

When the syrup was done we immediately poured the boiling liquid into the jars and topped with the canning lids. While they cooled, the lids popped that familiar "pop" that always makes me smile.

To see more about Maple Syruping from Iron Oak Farm click here, or visit our Facebook page.

There are possible promo codes available to save money on all the supplies you need for making maple syrup.

Old Fashined Maple Kettle Syrup

Zach and I had a wonderful weekend. We spent the majority of Sunday outdoors in the welcomed spring sunshine, enjoying the sounds of Sandhill Cranes, Canada Geese and other migratory birds as they find their way back from the long trip south to their thawing northern homes.

If you've been following my Facebook updates, Zach and I have collected 41 gallons of Sugar Maple sap, with 3 more gallons on the tree right now, almost ready for me to empty them. Our goal was 40 gallons, and then we'd start boiling. 40, because maple syrup boils down at approximately a 40 to 1 ratio. So 40 gallons of sap would give us 1 gallon of syrup.

This year we tapped 3 trees. One is a gigantic old maple which could support 2 to 4 taps. We drilled the holes under a main branch, or a large root and gently tapped the spiles into the hole, a quick taste test, as the cool liquid starting dripping immediately, revealed a subtle woodsy sweetness.

We used recycled water jugs to collect this year. It worked great because it helped us to keep count as to how many gallons we have, and it made for a close fit around the spile so bugs and debris had less of a chance of finding its way into our sap.

Last year we used the rocks around our bon fire pit to act as a support system for our pots of boiling sap. This year we had a stack of cinder blocks left in our barn, that we constructed into a make-shift chimney/outdoor grill. We created a rectangle with the brick two layers high. Then Zach put strips of flat steel across the span of the bricks to act like the grates on a grill. We continued the bricks up another layer and a half. This helped the ash and fire to move upward, and kept the wind from blowing things into the sap. We started our fire, placed our pans on top and poured in the sap.

The afternoon was spent splitting wood, kindling the fire and topping off the pans of sap whenever they reduced down.

We sipped homemade strawberry lemonade (thanks Stacey!) and watched the chickens scratch around the yard.

Oliver spent the day exploring, digging in the mud, carrying around sticks

and got his first good look at the goats.

Syrup made in this manner, is called Kettle Syrup. It tends to be a darker golden color because of the carmelization that takes place over the uneven flame, as opposed to a temperature controlled evaporator. It also lends an interesting smoky note, as the bits of ash and smoke marinate and color the sweet syrup giving it a wild complex flavor.

On Sunday we reduced 20 gallons to about 2 gallons. We will then finish it on the stove, strain it and bottle it. (Future blog to come)

We thanked the beautiful trees that blessed us with this day of simple, enjoyable work. The maple that fell last Autumn that we used as fire woods. And the live maples that awoke this Spring, and so generously shared their sweet life blood.

It was a beautiful day.

Be sure to check out some of our other Maple Syruping Posts!
and our Facebook Page for more Maple Syrup fun!

Starting Seeds Indoors with Grow Lights

Last week Zach and I set up a system in our sun-room to start many of our vegetable plants. For years I've started seeds in a sunny window, only to have them stem out, pale and leggy, straining for sun light before they even get their second set of leaves. Even if these plants do make it until the frost free date, they often die as they get older because the weight of the mature plant is too much for the leggy beginning to support. Because of this, I've resorted to buying already started plants at nurseries, or planted the seeds that I could, directly in the garden. The problem with this, is that you are limited to grow the varieties that the Nursery decides to sell that year.

This year, we decided that we really wanted to grow some heirloom varieties, in particular tomatoes! Unfortunately, when purchasing nursery started plants you get the basics. Early Girl, Celebrity, and Beefsteak. Occasionally I'll find an heirloom variety or two. Last year I found a Black Cherry Tomato and some Cherokee Purple, but pickings are far and few between, and with our Michigan growing season being what it is, tomatoes are one of those that you really need to start indoors.

So we looked into green houses, and unfortunately, even the inexpensive models were way out of our price range right now. SO the next step was indoor grow lights.

Hydroponic stores are sprouting up all over the place these day. (Ha! No pun intended, ok, maybe it was a little intended) You can get some really cool systems with lights that revolve on a pulley-like track. There are fancy stands and growing medium that make this seem like a gardener's dream! However, once again was the price tag. For the amount of plants that we wanted to start, a full set up would have cost hundreds of dollars! It was so much that it approached the price of some of the inexpensive greenhouses I'd looked into, and I'd rather have a green house.

We came up with this system and it only cost us $60. Much of that price is due to the fact that we had a lot of the materials already. But I think with some creativity, this system could be adapted into a much cheaper solution.

We used two metal shelving units that we had down our basement to hold Christmas stuff, and set them up side by side. This gives us 3 shelves with 3 flats of plants fitting across each shelf, so a total of 9 flats of plants to grow under the lights. We could do more if we were diligent about rotating. We had some fluorescent light fixtures in the barn from my dad's garage, and they span the width of the two shelve unit. We wired the fixtures to the bottom of the shelves, so they would hang over the flats of plants we started. The $60 comes in the price of the grow light bulbs. We found them for $19 each at Bordines Nursery, (Which I think is a Michigan company) and we bought 3. Each fixture has one grow light tube, and one regular fluorescent bulb, which will also emit light, favorable to plants. The brand is Agro Sun, they're cheaper here on Amazon, but I had a gift certificate to Bordines, so it worked out better for us. 

It's working great so far. Our newly planted seeds haven't sprouted yet, but I had some radishes started in a pot months ago and they were so leggy that the area where the radish is supposed to grow (at the dirt line) was more of a long red tube than a plumb bulb. Since we've placed them under the lights the plants have bushed out and are lush green and healthier. Same goes with some herbs I had growing in the kitchen. I'll keep you posted when our heirlooms start sprouting.

Has anyone ever tried those heat pads that are supposed to encourage germination? We've been trying to squeeze out the last drops of propane for the year, and save on our energy bills by keeping the house cool. I think that might be why the seeds are a little slow to start. Let me know if you've tried them and if they've worked well.


(even less if you have any Amazon promo codes)

Community Chickens Series on Incubating

Hi everyone! Sorry about my lack of blogging on the Iron Oak Farm page, but I've been working on a series of incubating posts for Community Chickens. Hopefully this helps provide some information as chick season is upon us! To read the 4 post series click the links below. I've also added a link to my post on raising chicks!

Part 1: Incubating Advantages
Part 2: Choosing Birds to Breed
Part 3: Choosing an Incubator, Set Up and Collecting Eggs
Part 4: The Long Wait, Candling, and Hatching Day
Raising Chicks


Do you have a favorite incubator, or hatching story? I'd love to hear about it! Feel free to leave comments or photos on Iron Oak Farm's Facebook Page or Blog and I'll do a Reader's Response after the series has posted, celebrating all our new babies from Spring 2012!