The garden is coming on nicely. We've been harvesting cucumbers, potatoes, zucchini and straight neck squash so far. It feels pretty good to know that the freezers are getting filled again. Tomorrow should be the first pickling day of the season. We've been eating the cucumbers as fast as we can pick them and now are getting too many.  I am actually looking forward to the canning, just not the dragging everything upstairs to pile in the kitchen.
Over the weekend, Dewayne suggested we turn our back patio in to an outdoor kitchen. I am totally and completely on board with that idea! I'm actually very excited about that. It may take a few years to be a reality though. Darn!

We had such an amazing supper tonight, if I do say so myself. Baked rabbit, mashed taters with chive blossoms, cucumber chunks--all from the garden of course, and green beans (canned from last year). To bad we don't have ripe tomatoes yet. The only thing that could have made it better would have been some gravy; made from goat milk.

We brought home the final member of the goat herd today. Abe is a very nice looking Nubian buck. He will be kept busy this fall with having five girlfriends.

You know, I really enjoy the farm life. Most days, I find the critters funny with all the little things they do. This past week though....I NEED A VACATION!! They seem to be driving me a bit crazy. The goats trying to run me over, beating each other up (getting their pecking order) and acting like they have not had a meal for a month....not so funny right now! I guess it's just like anything you do in life, you need to get away from it all to really put things in perspective and get back on track.

Just made some drawing salve. Hubby has a thorn or something stuck in his elbow. Time he finally gets it out:)

Infusing Olive Oil with Plantain and Calendula

I harvested some plantain yesterday. My darling hubby left a patch by the house that nobody walks in. I took some pictures to show how I infuse olive oil to make my salves.

As I picked the leaves, I cleaned each one, making sure to brush off any dirt that may have gotten on them the night before when we got a downpour.

Next, I put them in the crock pot and added some Calendula that we grew last year.

Then I covered them with olive oil.

I set the crock pot on low heat for a little while (maybe an hour?) We had to leave yesterday afternoon and I didn't want to leave the crock pot on, so I just shut it off and left it covered.

When we got home, I strained the plantain and Calendula out and this is what's left.

You can see the difference in the oil on the right and what has the infused oil on the left.

I plan to make several salves with this little bit of oil.

GOATS:
We started working with our new girls today, Zoe and Lilly. They are getting used to their collars and are leading on a leash real nice. They are still a bit scared but are settling in pretty quickly.

RABBITS:
We have a few new litters in the last couple of days. The mothers are still on watch, cause I'm not impressed with their mothering skills so far. Two of them will be culled if this litter doesn't work out.

We also have 23 less mouths to feed. Our freezer is empty and so is the pantry shelf. These will be a good start to filling both. I plan to freeze several for fryers and pressure can the rest.