Shelling Corn

Today has been a little out of the ordinary. I suppose my days for the past couple weeks have been a little out of the ordinary, but in a good way. Today is the day that Kelly & Kate (goats we've been sitting) were supposed to go home. They were to be bred here and didn't go into heat when expected. Yesterday, we were able to breed Kate, and as it turns out, Kelly usually will be a couple days after, so we'll be keeping them a few more days. I'm thoroughly exhausted from Christmas and this cold (a new one) but we are enjoying the milk so it is a welcome added chore. I'm getting pretty skilled at milking, too, which is good!

The only downside to their extended stay is that we've run out of their grain! I can't feed my grain to them, because my grain is medicated and not for milkers. The grain they typically eat can not be purchased at Co-Op or TSC, and it's a couple hour's drive for Brent & Andrea to get us the right grain. Soooo.... We're mixing our own blend! My mom recently purchased grain oats from the Mennonites in Kentucky, which is a huge blessing, as oats are the main staple of milking grains. We had several ears of corn that dried on the stalks in our garden because we planted 2 varieties and didn't like one much! Then, I have a barrel of alfalfa pellets, which are high in protein, that I'm not using much. So, between the corn, oats, and alfalfa, we are pretty close to Kelly & Kate's normal diet of corn, oats, soybean meal, and minerals--and I have a good free choice mineral available to them.

Having corn on the stalks is not the best place for it when you want to feed it to goats. So, my mom picked the corn this morning and brought it up to the house. She, David, and I sat around talking and shelling dried ears of corn and came up with way more than enough for what we need! I did wear a patch of skin off one of my thumbs (shelling is harder than you'd think!) but we have enough dried corn to run through my grain mill and have cornbread for a few months, too!

Now, if I can only get my laundry done and your Christmas letters out! Then I can rest up enough to help David in our library! Happy 3rd Day of Christmas!

**edit: I just found out that shucking corn is removing the outer layers of stuff. Shelling corn is pulling the kernels off the cob.