Progress on an Alaskan Homestead
I can’t believe the year is almost over with. Its Mid-November, the ground is fully covered with snow (finally), and we’re just about done for the season.
This year seemed to be more about protein farming than our garden really; when I sit and ponder it. Slowly but surely our property is becoming more and more productive. In July I posted that it seemed as if our meat rabbit production was not doing as well but suddenly come September that all changed. We had two surprise litters and we had a friend drop off some of her grow outs as she was getting out of rabbits for a while. This pushed our meat harvested massively up. That definitely helps counter the cost of raising the rabbits. While I love my breeder rabbits (Bones, Pepper, Dorothy, Cadbury, Butterfinger, Granny Cookie) they are not simply pets. As any protein farmer knows, these are also my livestock. I get to know each and every one. Their likes and dislikes, who enjoys what kind of food, and who tends to be more ornery or more cuddly and lovable.
Within the next couple of weeks, we will be deboning a good portion of the rabbits harvested which will then go into several different types of sausage. Last year we made an apple sage and also an Andouille rabbit sausage that was tasty but rather dry. This year we will be using more pork fat to increase the fat and moisture levels some to rectify that. I now have about 70 tanned rabbit furs that I am working with on a blanket for my son. I have promised him he could have a blanket as well as maybe a pillow with rabbit fur. Any extra tidbits of fur will be used to line hand-knitted mittens and hats which, I think, will look really stylish up here in the Interior of Alaska.
Our egg layers are doing great! We have had some sad moments this past autumn. Ellie, which was Tess’s best friend, passed away from the same virus as Kara at the end of August.
In mid-October two of our others died, due to a dog attack. Our flock has been attacked by the neighbor’s dogs repeatedly so now we constantly trim feathers to ensure they cannot get outside of the fenced area that keeps them safe from the dogs. Unfortunately, the owners of the dogs are still allowing their dog’s free-range which irritates us and the ladies to no end. With all that said, we’ve gotten a total of 148 eggs so far since we Tess started laying this summer. Tess is definitely the most reliable out of the bunch and she is also certain that she needs to be a house chicken. I advise her quite frequently this is not the case however she still follows behind me like a loyal puppy, always begging me for yet another treat. As of yesterday, we are getting 7 eggs a day so now my project will be using up as many eggs a day as I can or selling them. Whichever one comes first. I have looked at freezing the extra eggs, which is not my favorite idea as I am rapidly running out of freezer space unless I drag out my coolers and start using those outdoors again (something we do each year here in Fairbanks/North Pole). I am also going to try dehydrating eggs but I have heard some not so great reviews on this idea. I have read that sometimes dehydrating eggs and then grinding them into a powder makes them gritty once reconstituted. My last idea might be to preserve the egg yolks in a salt/sugar combination. I have seen this on social media and it looks amazing. The preserved eggs can then be grated and sprinkled on top of pasta, rice, or toast to add an umami taste to the dish. As my son so succinctly said it to me recently “Mom now is the time to start trying out all those recipes that use up egg yolks that you were afraid to try before”. Yes, I guess he’s right. I guess I’ll be writing on the egg use up project and the rabbit sausage project here really soon!
This upcoming year, believe it or not, we have no huge projects other than clearing trees. We hope to prepare for a greenhouse within the next two years but in order to do that, we have to remove some trees. I feel that the break-in between projects will be good as we will be able to concentrate on the garden now and get it up to being fully productive. The soil is better, but as I’ve said in the past, it’s still nowhere where it needs to be. The past two years have been in a word, crazy. It has been insanely busy, with too little rest as we kept up with a very busy schedule. Between the woodshed build, the rabbit hutches, then increasing the number of rabbit hutches, then building the chicken coop and run. Add in all the other garden projects, our budding orchard and we have had very little time to just sit back and watch the garden and analyze the progress or lack thereof.
I intend to try a couple of new plants in the garden. Amaranth, Sea Buckthorn berry, and potentially Quinoa. I have heard grains like Amaranth or Quinoa are a hit or miss here (with more misses than hits). Unfortunately, due to our very short growing season, here many can grow Amaranth or Quinoa however getting it to fully mature to seed production, which of course is used as the grain, is challenging. From what I have found from many sites visited, Quinoa actually does do better here however than Amaranth as Amaranth loves the heat, Quinoa does not. Both Amaranth and Quinoa technically are not a grain, however, their seeds can be used as a non-gluten grain replacement. I can definitely vouch for the fact that they are both delicious.
I have heard recently from a friend that varieties of Siberian Sea Buckthorn berry grows very well here.
There are amazing
health benefits of Sea Buckthorn berry as reported by the NIH (National Institute of Health).
Per WebMD, Sea Buckthorn berry can be used for slowing the decline of thinking skills with age, treating stomach and intestinal diseases, treating night blindness and dry eye and it is very high in Vitamin C and also contains vitamins A, E as well as beta-carotene.
I take a small amount of Sea Buckthorn berry oil each day internally and I even use it in small amounts topically.
If you use it topically, be careful however as it will turn your skin a funny shade of orange.
I have noticed a big difference in overall skin tone and texture since I have been using it.
We will also be expanding our orchard some next year. Hopefully, we will be adding more honeyberries, more currants, strawberries, and hopefully some Siberian Plums. When the snow melts and the ground thaws we will also have fencing to put up to help guard against the depredations of the moose that love to come to visit our buffet garden.
When written down, it does not seem like a lot but I know we will end up being very busy, as usual, this next summer. I am sure also that come mid-January we will discover even more things that we feel should be done and so of course, will be added to the list.
That is us though, always busy, always moving, always striving towards a more self-sustainable lifestyle.
America’s Test Kitchen simplifies salt-cured egg yolks. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2018, from https://www.splendidtable.org/story/americas-test-kitchen-simplifies-salt-cured-egg-yolks
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5438513/
Sea Buckthorn: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Dosage, and Warning. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2018, from https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-765/sea-buckthorn
