Beulah Land Homestead - 2000 Gathering

[Gathering 2001]

[2000]




		Lots of pictures, be patient with loading!

The 2000 Homestead Gathering was May 6, 2000. We had a wonderful time with 9 people in attendance (and one visiting dog, Bitsy!).

Double Oak - Deb and Steven

Gober - Leslie and Dennis

Ft. Worth - Al and Sharry

Gainesville - Nancy and Bitsy

Bells - John and Debbie (us!!)

We had some last minute cancellations due to health and really missed meeting those who were not able to attend - but there's always next year!


	We started the day out meeting and greeting everyone and then went into a cheese making demo. We made mozzarella, cottage and ricotta from the mozzarella whey, all from goats milk - thank you, Rhinestone! Below are some of the cheese making pictures. Unfortunately, I forgot to call for the camera man (aka John) when we did the mozzarella stretching, which is the best part.

Above left -That's me (Debbie) with the recipe book (Goats Produce, Too! by Mary Toth) in hand, checking the temp and heat under the pan of milk. Steven (Deb's husband) is facing me, Deb in the sleeveless white top and Leslie in the beautiful blue vest.
Above right - Conference while the milk heats up! Sharry is in red to left of Deb, Dennis (Leslie's husband) is behind her, Al (Sharry's husband) is behind Steven.


	I blended the citric acid into cool water and Sharry stirred it into the pan of milk. The citric acid enables the mozzarella curds to stretch after heating.


	Next, Sharry stirred the dissolved rennet into the milk after it had reached the correct temperature. BTW, notice the wonderful (and free) stove my tack/feed man gave us. Our son installed the gas lines for our Christmas present. Below - More conferencing, notice the men are getting more involved now! (probably because the cheese is getting closer to being food!)


	The picture of Sharry cutting the curds on the cottage cheese and Deb breaking the curds of the mozzarella by hand are lost somewhere in cyberspace.....but here's one of me heating the curds after breaking/cutting them.


	We left the cheese making demo with the curds hanging in muslin cheese cloths to drain for a few hours while we did the important things, like eating! and visiting the animals. I really wish I had pictures of the stretching. That was the most fun.


	Nancy had joined the group by this time and Bitsy is on the end of the leash - sorry, but Bitsy was camera shy (just kidding) in the picture on the left, but can be seen between Nancy and Leslie in the picture on the right.


	The men investigated the pasture poultry.


	The gardens were not in the best shape due to a full week of rain so no one walked through the main garden. Above right is a shot of the raised beds in our yard. Notice the cold frame in middle right of the picture. Sharry is an herb lover, so she's looking over my neglected herb garden here. Below we're back in the house, finishing up our meal as Steven prepares to do the spinning demo.


	Steven started the spinning demo by carding some wool and explained about the quality of the different wools.




	Before the actual spinning could take place, Steven had to remove the yarn he had spun the night before. The tool he's using is a knibby-knobby that he carved himself. The knibby-knobby forms the yarn into a skein. Ask him where the saying "Pop goes the weasel" comes from!


	That's Deb hiding behind two skeins of yarn - the one on the right is the one Steven just pulled off the knibby-knobby above.Steven threaded the carded wool unto the spool.




	John gave the spinning a try! I did, too, but let's just say I'd better stick to goat milking and cheese making. I do think Steven missed his calling - he should be a teacher; he has a knack for instructing without making the student (me) feel like an idiot and has more patience than Job.


	Steven made John's day by bringing the hammered dulcimer. Steven hand made this beautiful instrument as building is his love; John had to play it as music making is his love.. He and John had a duet going later with Steven on the dulcimer and John on his harmonica. That picture's lost in space, too, but here's some more.




	Milking demo time!! Deb was the only one brave enough to try the milking AND she fell in love with Stormy, our youngest Dwarf Nigerian Milk Goat.



	Deb got milk to come out with the first squeeze. These goats are so short, it's hard to see what's going on under there!



	We did a little hoof trimming also and explained how the hoof bottom should line up parallel with the hoof line on the foot.

Unpictured was a demo on how to peel loofah gourds into sponges.

It's hard to put into words what a wonderful group of homesteaders that came to visit Beulah Land that day - meeting new friends face to face (now you're all part of the family, you know!), but John and I had such a good time we intend to do it all over again next year. The only "bad" thing about it was the day was too short.


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