~~Luella the Cow~~

It's official, we are dairy farmers. 

We bought a cow this year that was ready to calf, we thought this was a great idea because we wouldn't have to bottle feed a calf, or endure the expenses of buying formula for a calf. Little did we know, this mama calf tandem nursed the last time she had a baby, therefore she produces way to much milk for one little calf to keep up with. In order for mama to avoid getting mastitis, we would have to milk her. 

So, we reluctantly stepped into the world of milking a cow.

To back tract a minute, we were given this book a few years ago by my sister-in-law. The kids LOVE this book. It's all about milking a cow named Luella. The cow we bought looks just like Luella in the story, so that is what we named her. 

 Dusty milking Luella.

We are getting about 2 gallons of milk a day.

She is very tame and calm. She is use to being milked. 

We did have to buy a special bar just to make sure she doesn't kick. 

Austin's turn!

Baby is never far away from her mama. 

A family affair.

The guys just milk the back teats, leaving the front ones for the baby calf.

 Dusty and our neighbor assisted in the birth of the calf. 

Maybe assisted is an understatement, they had to pull her out! 

Luella was struggling and needed some help. 

 Dusty and Grandpa Fitz milking in the rain.

We bought Luella with Grandma and Grandpa so it's a joint effort 

in milking and raising these two girls. This is our first joint livestock adventure. 

~~36 Weeks~~

The big day is getting closer and closer. We can't wait to meet this little baby girl. 

The kids are just as excited as Dusty and I. At bedtime each night at least 2, if not 3 of the kids, ask if they can kiss the baby good night. They come up to my belly and say good night Daisygrace, I love you, and then kiss my belly. It's really adorable, such sweet, loving hearts.
We were immensely blessed with 2 baby showers this last month and we are feeling much more prepared for her arrival. I'm planning on this baby going the full 40 weeks, we've never had an early arrival, and I don't think that will change with this baby.

As spring approaches, we continue to make plans for the growing season. We are planning on doing a little less this year with the new baby coming and all, our plate will be full enough. We are currently in the market for a new Angus calf & 2 pigs. We've ordered a few more chicks for the year, turkeys have been ordered as well, but only 5.
The kids are making plans as to what each child wants to plant in the garden. We are going to add 5 more trees to the wood lot and a few more fruit trees. The trees are a one day project so that's not to bad, and the reduced number of livestock will be a nice break. This should free up a little more time to work on finishing the Cob structure.  

~~2nd ANNUAL PIG HARVEST PARTY~~

 We raised 7 pigs this year! 2 for us and the rest for friends.

The pigs had about an acre of land to graze on grass. The pigs were purchased by friends and taken to our house at 8 weeks old. We raised them until they were 6 months old.

 We got an early start on harvest day, and it was cold. Dusty and the kids built a fire outside to keep warm while last minute preparations were made and while we waited for the sun to rise. Our goal was to harvest 4 pigs by the end of the day. That means everything is done right down to the cuts, individually wrapped and put in the freezer. A pretty ambitious goal.

 We feed the pigs some grain and got the guns ready.

 Yep, it's dead.

 Where are the kids you ask?

The ones that wanted to be a part of it watched while I explained to them what was going on and how great it was that we had pigs that lived a good life, free from hormones, vaccinations and concrete slaps. We also talked about knowing where your food comes from.

 We killed 2 pigs at a time.

The next step is to hoist them up on the tractor and take them to the butchering area.

 All hoisted up and ready for transportation.

 Austin was the driver.

 Here's the butchering location.

Next is to hose them off and start butchering.

Ready, set, go!

We had to work fast in order to get 4 pigs done in a day. We need to get these pigs quartered and on ice before we start with the next 2 pigs.

We kept the fire going since it was still pretty cold.

Here's Dusty skinning.

Quartering.

Then on ice while the guys go get the next two pigs.

After the pigs are chilled we start making the cuts, package and freezing.

We had stations.

2 butchering stations, sausage making station, packaging station and labeling station.

Followed by runners placing the meats in the freezer.

Josiah makes sausage!

Austin does some labeling and running to the freezer.

One of the families figured out the approx price per pound to raise these pigs ourselves.

They figured that it came to about $1.70 per pound, that includes every cut, so hams, bacon, sausage, roasts, pork chops, steaks etc. 

In the recent past we've purchased roasts from Costco for $1.99 per pound and it wasn't organic or anything special, just plain ole Kirkland pork roasts.

So, in our opinion it's cost effective to raise our own.

(I believe we shared with you in an older post that we didn't think raising our own chickens was cost effective for our family, but pork is!)

The End.

This time of year is always sooo busy. Keepin' it short and giving you some pictures. :)

Wood for winter. Dusty, Austin, Noah & Josiah have been busy chopping & stacking.

 Dusty had to "add on" to the wood structure this year. This is holding about 6 cords of wood. The addition was done with supplies we had around the property, it didn't cost us a penny.

He loves his wood pile. :)

 We've been canning...big shocker. :)

We've got about 30 gallons of grape juice, 4 gallons of dehydrated cinnamon apple rings, raspberry jam, strawberry jam, apple sauce, peaches, tomatoes and plum jam. We are still working on canning more but here is a picture so far.

 Davis Baby #6...first photo.

Taken 3 days ago.

We wanted to see if the baby was a boy or girl but the very active, breech baby decided it didn't want to share that information with us. Could these feet be any closer together?? LOL.

~~August 2011~~

Okay, we promise this isn't turning into a pregnancy blog. With that said, one more week and we can kiss the 1st trimester good-bye. Seriously, where did the time go?
We've been a little busy in August to say the least, here's what we've been up to:

 My brother, Brandon & 3 month old puppy, Stitch came to visit. Brandon is puppy sister for our sister Trish while she is traveling in Europe and everywhere else.

 With the hot Idaho weather we spent a lot of time down at the creek.

 All the kiddos and Uncle Brandon. (and Stitch)

 Uncle Brandon heading up north to see family and Stitch is staying with us. So now we are puppy sitting until December. The kids are really enjoying having a puppy around. (Don't tell anyone but I'm kinda enjoying it to.)

Then we bought a *new to us* van after a couple months of looking. It's a 15 passenger, 1 ton so we can pull a trailer or haul firewood. Now we need to sell the Toyota Sienna mini-van. (It's weird to think that we will soon outgrown the mini-van)

 Then my cousin got married and Alanah was the flower girl. It was a 2-day event up at Bogus Basin here in Idaho. These pictures are just from the rehearsal, not the actual wedding.

                                                                          Emily & Justin

Next was Family Camp in McCall, Id. with our church. This is an annual event and our 2nd year attending.

 Miss Kaianah on the beach. She had so much fun playing with all her friends in the sand and water.

                                                                      Kids got buried.
                                               This is Riley on the left and Alanah on the right.

 I've gotta say, it was reallllly nice for me when kids were buried. I didn't have to keep looking around to make sure that everyone was okay and not getting to far into the water. :) It was like a mommy break! LOL

 The highlight of the trip!

Noah got baptised. He had told us that he wanted to a few weeks before the trip. We asked him lots of questions to make sure that he was ready. He was ready!

 Dusty is on the left and Kelly Miller on the right.

 Austin & Stitch at the campsite.

And again around the camp fire in the early morning hours. 

 Lots of kids at Family Camp, this is only a small part of them.

This was "The Big Race" as Noah described it to me.

 1st Place Winner!!

Josiah Davis

 2nd Place Winner!!

Noah Davis

 A random picture from the drive home.

Our first potato harvest.

Other things that took place in August was Dusty got the roof planted for the cob structure. So, now we have a living roof coming in. Pics to follow later. We are still raising 7 pigs, 52 chickens & 1 cow. Plus some garden items such as melons, tomatoes, berries, fruit trees, basil, rosemary, potatoes & peppers.