Help! I get help.......

One of the main attractions on our campsite is that you can help us on the farm. Milking the animals is a popular one... but milking is also one of my own favorite jobs. I love to be in the milking parlor with only me and the animals at five o'clock in the morning. So when the guests start to arrive more and more I have to open my kingdom to intruders. This starts in June. By the time it is July and August (high season) I am used to it.

I have to admit that it is also very nice to be able to share my love for the animals with others.

Helpers to get the flock to the milking parlor.

New animals on our farm

May is the month in which our camping season start. Mostly retired couples visit us in May and June but it are also the months in which we are preparing for the families with children arriving in June.

A new attraction will be this dragon.

 And more new animals to be... It ordered hatching eggs in the Netherlands which did actually really arrive.

 However a long power cut didn't help!

Milking again

 Milking 16 sheep,

 12 goats and making lots of cheese! Hopefully our guests will be eager to buy it.

O yes it is also time to get their coats out! Thanks to Zuzana (our neighbour) we managed to do this in a few days. And we had some beers :) after the job.

Lambing season and piglets comming home

We had a very successful and happy lambing season this year. 49 sheep lambs and goat kids were born, 49 were healthy and lived (happily hereafter?). We sold all sheep lambs after a good start of two months with their mothers and to our big surprise we also managed to sell all billy goats. 8 promising goat kids stayed on our farm.

 Two months old, just arrived....

A week later, going outside!

And meeting the other family members.

Pig Business

We have visited our friend Stefan because his sow Dorka had a new litter of piglets. We choose 2 piglets, still should decide on an appropriate name (suggestions welcome). We needed new piglets because our friend Stefan slaughtered our dear " Karbo & Naadje" - on our request though. This year we have decided to go for "ordianry" pigs. The big pink ones. We have tried the first year Mangalitca pigs. Beautifull animals, strong and healthy. Their fat is supposed to be "healthy". Though it is all about quantity. They were Very Very Fat even though we raised them largely on kitchen waste and roughage. Last year we had a cross of Mangalitca x Large White. Also very healthy and strong. Their meat is less fat, very tastefull. We are very curious what will bring the new piglets.

Goat's milk yoghurt

It has been a challenge for the past years; making yogurt from goat's milk. 

At our farm we make yogurt from sheep's milk. It gives an excellent yogurt, thick, creamy, tasty simply delicious. But you cannot beat nature. When the days start to shorten, milk yields go down and completely dry up in November - December. But we - and our clients - still want yogurt! Nice thick, creamy, tasty yogurt! We still milk some of our goats. But when we apply the standard receipt to their milk all we yield is a rather watery acid kind of nothing. So we started to experiment and we are proud to announce that our test team has approved our new improved goat's milk yogurt!

First we heat up the milk, a few seconds to 90C, without burning it. The milk is cooled down rapidly. Then the milk is heated to 42C and starter is applied. Making yogurt is finding a balance in good and bad bacteria. The good ones thrive in an acid environment. This is why we use some buttermilk together with a good quality yogurt as starter. This is left at 42C for 12 hours. Shorter will result in a more acid yogurt. This is just fine, it gives the yogurt just the fresh taste of acid. Then the water is drained through a cheesecloth for an approximately 5 hours. The solid parts are thoroughly mixed. Let the yogurt cool in the fridge. Our test-team-kid loves it!

Happy Newyear

Best wishes for all readers of this blog

and others!