Category: Life at Briden Farm

Lara and Her Three Daughters Weather The Winter Storm

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Lara and Girls Weather The Storm

After a pretty mild Winter, Nova Scotia has been hit with a major Winter Snow Storm! More snow in one Weekend than All Winter! Compared to other areas like Halifax, and Cape Breton, where they declared a State of Emergency, we got off easy here in Bear River.

However, after a pretty decent Saturday, We got hit over night as the Temps dropped and the snows moved in. Leaving our Berkshire Sow, Lara, and her three daughters out in the cold. So to speak. It also used up most of the battery on our Solar Power Electric Fencer. Thankfully, even in these conditions Lara and Her Gals respected the fence and stayed in their pasture. Although they were waiting and glad to see me when I got there today!

Pigs really are incredible creatures, and while they only need minimal shelter to weather storms, it was a bit much! They were ready to get out of the elements, but we’re also patiently waiting for me when I got to them today. They, as they most always do, faithfully followed me back up the hill from their pasture to the Barn.

Once inside they were, of course, happy to eat, but they weren’t shivering, nor were they overly food aggressive. Pigs are always happy to eat, and always at least a little too excited and somewhat aggressive when they are presented with Food. So, even though, as the video shows, the tips of their hair was covered in snow and mostly ice, they weren’t really as bad off as I thought they might be! Thankfully.

See, Lara’s daughters are part Mangalitza, also spelled Mangalitsa, or Mangalista, and they have woolly hair that covers them and help keep them warm. Pigs also have a layer of fat under their skin that helps act as insulation.

What happens, even with Lara who’s a Berkshire Pig, is they grow a somewhat thinker coat in the winter. This helps, as the heat from their bodies keeps the hair closest their bodies dry and the ice forms on the tips. Even when faced with cold temperatures, I think it was about -7°C or 20°F over night, with mixed precipitation. While They’re usually not out in that, the best laid plans of mice and men, and apparently pigs, often go awry! To loosely coin a phrase from Bobby Burns in His poem, “To a Mouse“.

Anyway, by the end of the day all were back in the Barn and as warm as Pigs in a Blanket! Well… Almost! 😉

 

Artisan Chèvre Fromage made at Briden Farm

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Briden Farm Cheeses

With a couple of our Briden Farm Goats recently freshening and our regular milking goat still milking nearly two years after her last freshening we now have three of our six goats in milk. Freshening is when Goats give birth to their Kids. Having three goats giving milk at the same time produces a little extra, although some of it is definitely going to the kids, we’re able to use enough to not only give us fresh milk everyday, but also enough to allow us to have a little extra for making Cheese! 

I love the process of Cheese Making and when we can do it with our own fresh Milk, and then use Watkins Herbs and Spices to flavour it! Wow! I most always use Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Oregano, and either Minced or Fresh Garlic and often fresh onions. Adding the dry ingredients to the Milk as it heats, just after adding the White Vinegar and before the curds separate from the Whey! Yes, just like Little Miss MuffetLittle Miss Muffet, we eat ur Curds and our Whey! I even have the spider to prove it! 

Actually the Curd is what is used to make the Cheese, and the Whey is delicious and nutritious and we often use it as a base for making some type of Seafood Chowder! It really enhances the flavour, is full of protein and very good for,You and makes it taste great! Topped with Sea Salt and Black Pepper of course! 

Ok, I know, I probably didn’t need to include the photo of the Spider! However, other than that, this is a wonderful time to come visit! Of course You’ll have to walk up our snowed in Laneway, but once you get here you’ll find some really good Cheese, and maybe even a good cup of tea, or coffee! Or, something else! 

Anyway, thought you might like to se how we keep busy this time of year when we’re not doing chores! Cheese Making is just one of the fun things we get up to here in our Winter-Wonderland… 

Winter Walk of Rice Mullen Road at Briden Farm

It is a great little escape and wonderful place to play in the snow!

Please let us know You’re coming though! Just call Brian at 902-907-0770

 

Sourdough Starter, Recipes, and Histories

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Sourdough Starter

In recent memory, and yet, hardly believable for some, is the recent history with Sourdough, and Sourdough Bread making when in 2020 many of us were seeing empty store shelves for the first time in our lifetimes!

We might say Sour Times, lend themselves well to Sourdough! So, let’s get a Starter!

Ok, Ok, I know! Don’t worry though the real proof is in the Rising Dough!

Now, before I loose You, let’s take a quick look at the History of Sourdough.

It is said that, Sourdough bread has a rich history dating back to ancient Egypt, around 1500 BC. Funny, because most of my people were eating Manna. Of course, after 40 years on the Wilderness eating flatbread it’s no wonder someone, somewhere, came up with a fermentation process, driven by naturally occurring wild yeast and lactobacilli, to make leavened the bread! Right?

In more recent times, Sourdough gained popularity in Europe during the Middle Ages. I said more recent, not modern! However, more recently when in 2020 we were faced with empty store shelves, people weren’t just hoarding toilet Paper, they were also learning to make Sourdough Starter, Sour Dough today, its distinctive tangy flavor and traditional preparation methods continue to captivate bakers and food enthusiasts worldwide.

Meanwhile at home, here in Canada, we’d be a miss if we didn’t mention the History of Sourdough in Canada and how Sourdough played a vital role in Canadian history, especially during the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 19th century! Prospectors carried sourdough starter cultures on their journeys, relying on it to bake bread in the harsh conditions of the Yukon. This iconic connection between sourdough and Canadian frontier life persists in cultural narratives and culinary traditions. Which sort of brings us full circle to Life at Briden Farm!

Take for example how, just today, We’ve rendered lard from our Woodland Pastured Pigs, made homemade bread, manually carried water buckets and feed to our animals through the snow. Some of which we pulled along on the toboggan, and kept warm by our kitchen wood stove while preparing supper of  rabbit and fried potatoes. Potatoes from last years garden of course. I also started feeding my Sourdough Starter, that I started just a couple days ago! Not wanting to waste the Discard from the Sourdough Starter, I found a
Recipe for Sourdough Crumpets! Imagine!

Sourdough Crumpet Dough

Like the Watkins 1944 Calendar that hangs on the Wall beside my Recliner, we often do things the old way, the simple, basic, things are often the best! Take this basic Beginner Sourdough Starter Recipe for example.

See, I hate to waste anything, and to me the worst part of making Sourdough Bread isn’t necessarily the seven days it takes to feed a good Sourdough Starter, to me it’s that when you feed the Starter You have to throw half of it away! Not once, but everyday! At least for the first week! So, I went in search of what I could do with the “Discard”. Here’s what I found!

Sourdough Discard Recipes from the King Arthur Baking Company (Wish They Shipped to Canada). Wouldn’t i just be coo to say You got that from King Arthur! In fact, if You’re in the United States you can just order your Sourdough Starter from King Arthur! I think it might have been Guinevere’s Recipe! Maybe not!?

Anyway, back here in Canada, where we can’t order from King Arthur, and where we like to do things for ourselves, We like this Beginner Sourdough Starter Recipe.

 


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