Bryant Family Farm:
Home
Beef
Poultry
Turkey
Milk Products
Herbs
Contact Us
About Us
Links
For Bryant Family Blog
Archives, click here.
New to the Bryant Family Blog? Don't worry. We are too! We are in the process of building our family business website, so please bear with us as we get our pages written and linked!
|
06.27.08 | Company
Our friends, who are keeping our cow, came over today so we could demostrate how to make mozzarella cheese. We also had a great time playing our violins, piano, harps, working outside, building legos, and talking...
We are thankful for their visit!
__________________________________________
06.23.08 | A Buck
We bought a buck from Screamin' Oaks farm. He's regeristered Alpine, and should greatly improve next year's line of kids.
Our Murray Grey cow had her calf this week--he's so cute! He is our first Murray Grey calf, a good start for our herd. Murray Gray cows are great for our grass-finished beef business.
Some neighbors gave us four roosters to butcher. Today we butchered two. It's slow going since we're skinning them instead of plucking. The boys generously offered to let me help with their job of skinning, but did not want any part of helping me to gut them. Jonathan did a good job with the part no one wanted--killing.
~Sarah, for the
__________________________________________
06.16.08 | Father's Day
Happy Father's Day, Dad!! Thank you for being our dedicated and Godly father.
In Appreciation...
We attempted milking Season again. We have concluded that we cannot milk her and may have to return her!
Nathan and Jonathan milking our friends' cow. She is much more cooperative than Season, the Jersery cow we recently purchased.
Sarah, once again, trying to milk Season. It takes at least three people to handle her--one to milk and hold the pail and duck her kicks, one to hold her tail, and another to brush and soothe her. We even tried singing to her, she seemed to like it, although it did not make milking her any easier.
Our friends' four boys always have some new invention going...today it was their "calf-cart." They hook Mr. Holstein to their wagon, hop on, and hang on for the ride! They were thrown off right away, but the calf kept going, and stopped somewhere down 'yonder. The wagon flapped behind for a while, then broke. It was hilarious!!
~Sarah, for the
__________________________________________
06.15.08 | Dam Repair Progress
Travis, the fourth excavation guy we have met with since last fall, was able to start working on the dam this week. We were in for a surprise though--the pond is filled with silt and only three feet deep! He said in his 13 years of working in this field of work, he hasn't seen anything like this! This means he will have to entirely clean out the pond which will cost more. We're praying this will work out...
Our guys have been building the milking stanchion and tomorrow we try to milk Season again at our friends' house. If we are successful, we will be able to bring her home.
Jono working on the stanchion
Today we met with a builder that constructs a house/barn structure like we want to build. He gave us an estimate, and we'll also have to get some prices for the rest of the finishing work since he only does the metal structure.
On the way from getting the house estimate, we stopped by our property and saw the dam progress. What a mess!! The children started climbing on the huge pile of "soup"-- silt from the pond. I decided that if they could run across it, I could too. I wanted to get to the other side to take a picture of the pond. So, Samuel generously offerred to lead me across the heap; what I didn't think of was the big difference in our weight. A few steps later, I found myself knee-deep in this mucky, stinking mud, trying to get out without dropping my camera, or ruining my dress. Nathan managed to rescue my camera from me; my family was very eager to take my picture. I am not sure how they managed to take any with all the laughter and pointing at me. I had to crawl all the way out to solid ground... So, I got an up close first-hand feel of what the dirt was like--gooey, sticky, stinky, muddy, slimy, and simply gross. The thought that I couldn't just go inside an "clean up" was a challenge. It dried on me by the time we got home an hour and half later. None of the others got mud on them and they were climbing all over it! Oh well...the lessons we learn!
..that's me out there!
~Sarah, for the
__________________________________________
06.09.08 | Jersey Adventure, Part 2
Tonight we went to our friends' home again to try to milk Season. We were not successful with her, and it's not looking too good for us to be able to milk her. Her teats are in bad shape. Maybe if she can heal, we will be able to milk her.
We had a great time with their family, though, enjoying homemade ice cream, music, and games. They have four sweet boys, and we all have something in common...including the moms. They talk a lot about health and food...and even had a taste test for sucanat and sugar cane! We appreciate their hospitality and generosity by keeping our cow for us!
__________________________________________
06.07.08 | Jersey Adventure, Part 1
This morning Nathan and I worked on Season for another 2 hours trying to milk her. It was worse today because she kicked and her bag was full. Tonight when we brought her in to milk, she was obviously in pain. She wouldn't let us even touch her bag and by this time, and we all were desperate! We called some friends who also have a dairy cow to ask their advice. The father of our friends offered to come over and try to milk her out. When he arrived, he said she was too full to hand milk, but suggested to try the calf they use on their dairy cow. We went to their place to pick up the calf and brought her here. Season did not like that at all, so the calf went home and our friends brought him back the next morning. After tying Season up, the calf was able to milk her out, thus, a great relief to all--especially to Season.
They offered to take Season and keep her until we were able to milk her. What a blessing this offer was to us! So we loaded her onto our trailer again...
Our friends' boys have a new zip line, demonstrating how it works. Pretty soon our boys also took the ride and loved it.
~Sarah, for the
__________________________________________
03.06.08 | Getting A Jersey!
We bought a Jersey milk cow from friends in Northern Missouri. We've wanted one for years, and are pretty excited about this new adventure, plus being able to have cream to make butter.
We are thankful to finally have this trailer! It's nice not to have to figure out what to do about hauling the cow...
The time and fellowship with our friends was refreshing, especially after the three hour drive. Their blackberry cobbler...excellent!! That will hold us over for the three hour back home.
...Season wasn't too eagar to leave her green pasture...
...nor too eager to get into the trailer!
Milking her tonight was an adventure...we couldn't get her milk out, and she wasn't letting it out. She was very stressed after the long drive, and being in a new place with new unexperienced milkers. She's used to being machine milked. Tonight as we spent over two hours on her, a thunderstorm came and about shook the barn down, and drenched us. Hopefully, tomorrow we will have more success...
This picture was obviously taken before the storm
and milking woes began!
~Sarah, for the
__________________________________________
06.03.08 | Dooley
We take music lessons from Catholic nuns at a monastery. Being there every week has given us the opportunity to get to know some of the sisters and staff. The Lord has also given us the chance to help a sister with some outdoor clean-up work.
We also have become friends with a former nun who lives there. Betty has been our fun and lively game player.
Today Sisters Mary and JoAnn invited us to lunch with them. What a treat! We enjoyed the food (what a wonderful break from our cold sandwiches!) and their hospitality was warming.
Mom chatting with Sister Mary:
This week we ordered and received a lever harp. It was a very good price for a harp. We found that our full-size harp was too big to move around very easily, and we wanted to be able to transport a harp so we could play at other places. This lever harp will certainly be easier to haul, since it only weighs 28 lbs.
We were able to take it to Dooley today to show our teacher and play for the residents. !
Rachael playing for the residents
Sarah harping
We thank the Lord for the opportunity to take lessons here!
~Sarah, for the
__________________________________________
|
