Winter Break

Winter is still here but we are beginning to plan the new season crops and activities.  Since our Breakfast with Santa event, we have been trying to take it easy as much as possible.  The animals have been cared for, but we have been able to focus our energy on the house and spending time with our family.  The winter months are a time for us to recharge and focus on preparing for the busy season ahead. 

We pulled the pig fat out of the freezer and rendered it down to lard.  We use the lard in any of our cooking that would call for butter.  Lard gets a bad name for being unhealthy, but it actually has much less saturated fats and cholesterol then butter.  It also has a higher smoking point so its better for sautéing food in. 

Since the goats will be kidding in the next couple of months, we will also be emptying our freezer of whatever goat milk is left and making our soaps and shampoos for the year as well. After that we will be making our detergents and cleaning supplies.  Its nice to have a store of that for the summer. 

Since we are making a lot of soups during the cold weather, we have had a lot of chicken beef and pork bones left over.  All of that has been going to making bone broth and chicken stock.  Canning this now so my shelves are full keeps that work off my plate for the harvest season. 

With this stuff out of the way we can focus the spring and summer on farming and fun activities. This week I started schedule some of our homeschool classes, kids farm classes and an Easter Bunny event!  There are some exciting new updates to Haxton Homestead, and I can’t wait to share it all with you as it unfolds.