Kings Castle Farm

Answering a few questions:

Q:" Hey! I actually have a question to ask over here. How long is a cow's gestation period? "

-Phyllis in Russia

A: Is is Approximately 9 months or a bit longer. Since we only just got cows back in Nov. and Dec. I havenÂ’t yet gotten to go through the entire process of breeding through deliveryÂ…just the delivery part LOL. My dad who raises black angus says some can take close to 10 mths (of course unless you AI, itÂ’s hard to know the exact time of conception.)

Q:" what do you (or have you) used over the years for your math and language arts/grammar base? We seem to be in a bit of a slump with those and I think it's time to revive the school day.
Deanna

A: WeÂ’re actually probably kind of boring. For many years we did the Calvert Curriculm..everything included and now we do Sonlight (we love all the reading). LA consists of SL LA and we use Singapore and Horizons math for the most part. I also, for the older dc, use my comprehensive math text from when I went for AA degreeÂ…covers thru trig. I donÂ’t know the ages of your dc, but we sometimes just take game breaksÂ…scrabble & boggle for spelling and vocabulary and monopoly for math and financial planning .

Q:"Re: crockpot granola – "There's one problem, I don't like coconut, is there something else I can use to replace it? "

A: I never tried to replace it but after you asked I went to one of my mssg. boards and asked ladies that have been using this for awhile and the consensus was to add aprox. ¾ cup extra oats and add ¼ c. more honey….Also some said they like adding the ¼ c. extra honey regardless because they liked the way it clumped.

Q:" I have been reading some of your blogs, and love hearing about your daily routines. It sounds like you are learning a lot of homesteading things such as making cheese, butter, etc....things I have yet to learn. Or did you know how to do those things from growing up on a farm?

A: I think most of what I learned growing up on the farm was to be comfy w/a wide variety of animals and while I love all our animals IÂ’m comfortable w/the process of raising meat animalsÂ….I enjoy the animals but not upset when processing time comes. I did learn how to milk a cow growing up and that was a big help since until my dad came no one else here new how. I learned to make cheese and butter off the good old Internet and am still a novice.

Blessings,

Tam

Thank you!

03:10, 2006-Jan-14 .. Posted by Phyllis

"My" cow (no, we don't have a cow, but we buy fresh milk from friends) is pregnant, and I was wondering how long I have to suffer ;-) before she'll start giving milk again.

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07:52, 2006-Jan-14 .. Posted by HillmanAcres

You certainly have an advantage having grown up on a farm! I am such a novice and so is my husband, having both grown up with concrete under our feet :) But it's fun anyway, and we love to see our relatives raise their eyebrows when we tell them what we are up to LOL

Leah

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06:50, 2006-Jan-15 .. Posted by kayinpa

Sounds absolutely yummy!

from hippiechyck

07:27, 2006-Jan-16 .. Posted by Anonymous

Tam...you can replace the coconut and use coconut milk...it doesn't taste the same as the flaked coconut and adds texture and clumpieness ;-) i don't like coconut but i like this as a sub.

Thanks

08:15, 2006-Jan-16 .. Posted by YPAmy5

Tam- Thanks for answering so many of our questions. I tried the granola with coconut and I didn't mind it! :o) but I will try the extra oats & honey this time around.
Amy W