clisse - Framtida Bruk

25 maj, 202125 maj, 2021

07.14 – Mjölkbordet / Slänsmåla, Blekinge

07.14 – Mjölkbordet
Framtida Bruk, Slänsmåla, Blekinge

Iowa är brunstig och skriker efter bock. Hawaii är gosig och vill kramas massor, Penny försöker i smyg nå torkpappersrullen på väggen medan Apetina är lite nere och vill bli handmatad och Minnie.. ja hon är bara bedårande söt. Det är en vanlig morgon på Framtida Bruk Gårdsmejeri (så vanlig en morgon kan bli när man jobbar med 40 mjölkgetter).

Svansarna viftar förtjust i luften när de första getterna hittar sina frukosthinkar med korn. Mjölkmaskinerna tickar rytmiskt på, fåglarna kvittrar utanför och killingarna leker i morgonsolen. För ett ögonblick fylls vi av total lycka och kan inte bli bli att titta på varandra och säga högt ”asså vi har världens bästa jobb”.

Plötsligt bryts den magiska stunden av att Floridas klöv rappt slår i golvet. Hon vrider sakta på huvudet och ger oss en mörk blick som bara betyder en sak; slut på korn. Rummet fylls för en sekund av en bedövande tystnad, innan alla getter på kommando börjar stampa i ett rungande ”mer korn! mer korn! mer korn!” Vi springer mot hinkarna för påfyllning när vi plötsligt ser något komma svävandes i ögonvrån.

En flygande get. Grevie har tydligen förvandlats till elitgymnast, hoppat över båset och kommer inflygandes över mjölkbordet. Hon ser lika förvånad ut som oss där hon glider genom luften. Den nyfunna smidigheten försvinner samma sekund hennes klövar når i backen. Mjölkmaskinernas sugkoppar flyger all världens väg när hon välter fram i hopp om att hitta en gyllene hink med frukost.

Innan vi hinner reagera exploderar en konfettibomb. Penny har till slut fått tag på torkpappersrullen med tungspetsen och den går snabbt i tusen bitar när alla getter glatt hugger in. Samtidigt har Cher brutit sig in genom dörren och springer exalterat runt våra fötter i hopp om lite gos (att känna av rätt tid och plats har aldrig varit hennes grej). I dörröppningen har katten Kafka satt sig för att titta fascinerat på spektaklet.

Det blir en svettig kamp som kräver kondition, styrka, list och charm. Till slut lyckas vi locka ut Grevie, fånga Cher, fylla på hinkarna, sätta sugkopparna på plats igen och mjölka klart den här omgången. Okej, bara 30 getter kvar…

En timme senare är det dags för dagens första välförtjänta kaffekopp. En njutfull klunk hinner vi med innan vi ser något fara förbi utanför fönstret. Mini-Glenn och Frippe har brutit sig ut ur hagen med bockkillingarna och springer lyckligt över gårdsplanen. Samtidigt börjar mobilen pipa – mjölken i mejerigrytan har nått rätt temperatur och är redo att förvandlas till Eldost.

Nisse & Anna rusar ut för att förhoppningsvis charma bockarna in i hagen igen och Claire springer till mejeriet. Getterna och osten kallar – kaffet får vänta!

18 maj, 202120 maj, 2021

Eldost – ett gott val på flera sätt

Den svenska grill-och stekosten som alla älskar! Men vad är den egentligen och varför ska du välja den framför ett billigare alternativ från Europa?

Eldost®️ är garanterat gjord på svenska råvaror, djuren föds upp enligt svenska djurskyddslagar och all ystning sker hantverksmässigt av medlemmar i Svenska Gårdsmejerister.

Stek- och grillost har blivit allt mer populärt i Sverige efter att Halloumi från Cypern introducerades. För några år sen valde många att bojkotta Halloumin efter att massmedia lyfte fram problemet med hög antibiotikaanvändning i djurproduktionen i Cypern.

Svenska Gårdsmejerister ville att svenskarna skulle kunna njuta av den här typen av ost med gott samvete – och registrerade Eldost®️ som varumärke 2019.

Nu, låt oss prata om hur god den är! (Nog för att vi är lite partiska, men den är ju faktiskt snudd på oemotståndlig.. ) Eldost®️ är en fast ost som tål att hettas upp utan att smälta vilket gör att den är perfekt till att steka, grilla eller fritera. Ytan blir lätt karamelliserad, bettet har ett karaktäristiskt “gnissel” och smaken är krämig och salt, utan att sältan tar över.

Så välj Eldost®️ på grillen i sommar och njut med gott samvete! Ät som tilltugg, i en sallad, på grillspett eller som burgare. Glöm tråkiga vegetariska burgare utan smak, Eldost®️ är supergott för såväl vegetarianer som köttätare!

16 mars, 2020

Our cheese comes from the sun

Obviously, the sun is the source of all cheese, through the wonders of photosynthesis and rumination. What’s new is that our process of cheese-making now also is powered by the sun.

Solar power goes very well with goat cheese production, since the energy production coincides with the milking season. During the darkest months, december to february, there is no activity in the dairy anyway, so the losses are negligible. In the summer, the need for refrigeration follows the sun, so there’s a natural correlation between energy consumption and energy production.

Barn and dairy warming up before cheese season

The barn roof is facing east-southeast, and is hosting about 50 full sized panels, producing up to 15 000 kW.

Some people would say that the south facing roof on the living house would be the best spot for solar panels, but there are a few resaons for choosing the barn roof initially.

Facing east-southeast means higher exposure in the early morning hours when the ambient temperature is lower and the panels can work more efficiently
Peak energy consumption in the dairy is in the morning hours, when the milk is being pasturized
The barn roof has the largest area, which compensates for less optimal production
The barn roof belongs to the farm company and not to the private household, meaning a possibilty to apply for the 40% EU agricultural development subsidy, instead of the 20% Swedish subsidy for homeowners.

31 mars, 20198 mars, 2021

Sweet dreams are made of cheese

New babies started arrivning at the farm on Febuary 23rd. Let us take a moment to indulge in their cuteness:

Goat kids means cheese season is soon upon us. We will start weaning the oldest ones in the middle of April, and then we will be milking the goats twice a day until December.

A few of the babies are for sale, since our flock will have reached the size we want it to be (45 milkers) per next season.

31 december, 2018

Thanks for our first season!

Looking back on 2018, we can truly say it was the year it all began..

The first kids were born on the farm, 27 of them.

We finished building our dairy, we began milking our goats and then making and selling our very own cheese.

We participated in about 10 REKO-rings, several markets and events, and had lots of visitors who came to the farm, interested in seeing our newly started goat-business.

We continued improving the farm buildings by creating a storage place for our cheese.

We had help from friends, neighbors and several awesome WWOOFers.

Sweden experienced maybe the worst summer (for farmers) ever in modern age, with a drought that lasted for over 3 months and temperatures over 30 degrees most days. We survived that!

We sold a few of our male goat kids and slaughtered 8 of them here on the farm. It was not a pleasant thing to do, we were sad to have to let them go, but take comfort in knowing the had a great life here with us.

We expanded our flock of chickens, from just a few to now having over 20 hens.

We were featured in local magazines, websites, and even got to be live on the local radio station! (see Media & press if you want to have a look or listen)

By the end of the year, we had met and even exceeded our sales goals for 2018.

All in all, it has been a year filled with joy as well as hard work. We are looking forward to 2019 and what we hope it will entail: ca 50-60 goat kids, milking around 30-35 goats, making and selling almost twice as much cheese, expanding our storage, and many other things!

19 juni, 2018

We built a dairy!

For quite a while we weren’t sure if we should try and make our goat-and-cheese-farm dream come true by building a dairy on location or if we should try to rent a space in a commercial kitchen of some sort. The opportunity arose when Claire’s stepfather decided to bring a container with building materials from China for the house project he is working on, and let us have the container in return for storing the stuff in it on our farm for some time. We then decided that we should convert the 20 foot container to our very own farm dairy!

The container in place in front of one of our barns:

We poured concrete on the floor and made a drain:

Then we cut out holes for windows and doors, put up walls and a ceiling:

We poured more fine concrete as a final layer and had some ”help” decorating:

Then we put up ceramic tiles on the walls, painted the ceiling:

In between there was a lot of work on things such as painting the floor with epoxi, connecting water and sewage, installing ventilation, and of course, putting a roof with a tilt on top of the container:

Finally it was time to move in all the equipment. This is Nils using our 300 l Rademaker cheese-making vat for the first time!

Claire in front of the cheese vat wearing signature hat and apron with our logo:

The whole project took us about 6 months from start to finish, while working with our day-jobs as well as taking care of the goats, etc. Did I mention we also delivered 27 goat babies..?

All in all, building our farm dairy was a really cool project which we are super proud of, and plan to put to good use as well as develop and expand during the years to come.

18 mars, 2018

New kids on the blog

Since kidding season is upon us, it is time for a presentation of our new farm inhabitants!

First out to give birth was the oldest goat, Asta, who came to us as a foster mother and leader of all the kids when we bought them. She was a little grumpy in the morning and head-butted a rooster so that he flew all over the barn. Soon after, she gave a cat what he didn’t deserve. I put her in a box to calm down, but she showed no signs of beginning labour so I went to have breakfast. When I returned half an hour later, a beautiful little goat that we named Athena was delivered, and Asta was happy again.

Athena heating up a little under Nils jacket

After that, it was time for Iowa to take over the show. She went straight into labour, and I had just put her in a separate box before she delivered Glenn. A black and white buck, with a certain Klingon resemblance.

The day after, when we were expecting all the kids to arrive. Nobody showed up. The day after that however, Alabama greeted us in the morning with a brand new daughter by her side. We named her Artemis. She got her own box since Asta and Iowa could move together, and even if we had some problem getting the milk to flow, they soon seemed to enjoy life.

Around lunchtime, North Carolina was beginning to show signs of distress, and soon her water broke. I was watching her the entire afternoon and we shared a cup of tea.

5 hours later, she finally delivered a kid, but it had it’s head twisted in a strange way, and was dead. She had been sick a week before, refused to eat and sought solitude. We suspected ketosis/pregnancy poisoning and gave her treatments that eventually started her digestion again. That was probably the moment when the twisted kid died, and her metabolism went into overdrive, providing her with all the energy the kid would have taken.

We cleaned out and went to look after the other goats. When we where about to leave the barn, we heard a strange sound. Like from a cat or a bird. We went to see Northie one more time, and there she was, with a newborn buck who we named Glenn nr 2. That was a very happy moment.

The morning after, as soon as we entered the barn, we noticed something was sticking out from Delawares private parts. It turned out to be a kids head, and nothing more. The poor thing had managed to come out head first thus having caught its front legs still inside Delawares uterus. We managed to get her in to a box and then the difficult kidding began. The kid seemed ok at first, already breathing, but it felt firmly wedged in and impossible to get out even though Delaware was pushing hard. It was not looking good, and we feared for the goats life, not to mention the kid (which in this case, comes second in priority, but still, is a sad loss if there is a chance to save it). Finally, when we pretty much had given up hope, Nils managed to pull the kid out, working as a team with Delaware, who seemed to be in a lot of pain.

It turned out to be a buck, Glenn 3, and even though he was weak at first, he gained strength and turned out to be fine. He also turned out to be the largest of the bunch (so far) with a birth weight of 4.5 kg.

A difficult kidding before breakfast, phew! After breakfast, I went out to the barn again only to find Maine with two newborn babies. Unfortunately only one of them was alive and on its feet, a buck. The other one was lying with its head in a strange angle and was not breathing and did not respond to my efforts to animate it. This is very sad of course, but there was nothing more to do then to direct attention toward the living kid and take care of its mother.

So began the twin kiddings. Soon after Maine, South Carolina went in to labour and we helped her just a little as she delivered two female goats which we named Selene (the light brown one) and Spio (the dark one).

After lunch, one of our dearest and most intelligent goats, Indiana, began telling us it was time for her to have her kids. The whole thing went very smoothly and the kids were very quick to get on their feet and find the teats. She had a super pretty grey buck, Glenn 4, and a light brown goat, Ino, and soon got to move in with Southie and her twins.

So that was a wrap for that day! 10 new kids had arrived in total and about half the goats had given birth.

Sunday morning Oregon went into labour and did a prefect job with two babies, a light brown goat – Oizys, and a dark buck, Glenn 5.

About an hour later, one of the white goats, Utah, decided it was time to take off into the woods. Since we prefer to watch over the kidding in case of complications, Nils had to lure her back inside with some grain, and after another hour or so, she gave birth to a lovely white little female goat we named Urania and a darker, grey buck – Glenn no 6.

Last one out this day was Arizona who gave life to two female goats, it went well and we named them Asteria (the dark one) and Aphrodite (the light one).

10 januari, 2018

Winter wonderland

Nils took some great photos of our surroundings the other day when the sun came out for the first time in weeks!

17 december, 2017

The Great Grain Vacuum Transporter (GGVT)

The main concentrate feedstock for the goats is whole barley grain, that we buy from a big farm up north from our farm. We get in big plastic bags of 600-800 kg, and that is far to much for our tractor to lift. We could store it in the sacks right on the ground, but that would attract all kind of vermin, like mice, birds and bugs. and wouldn’t be covenient for our barn cats to protect, as they reside on the second floor. Also, feeding it to the goats through the automated feeder that is under construction right now, will be a lot easier with a little help from gravity.

A regular revolving screw transporter is expensive and needs a lot of permanent installation space, so we were not very fond of such a solution. Vacuum, on the other side, is cheap and can be used for several purposes. At least for getting the grains up and down, and maybe aid in some vacuum cleaning too. So we bought the biggest vacuüm cleaner we could find at the nearest el cheapo shop. A 2400 W machine with decent removable filters and remote resemblance with R2D2 would probably do the job of sucking some barley 3 meters up in the air, and it sure did. The question was what to suck the grain into.

A 1000 m3 water container would be practical, since it has nice valves and is easy to move around with a hand truck or floor jack.

Unfortunately, it had very poor integrity, and went down like a lead zeppelin when attached to the vacuum. We filled it anyway, but in a quite exhaustive manner that meant filling up the vacuum cleaner barrel, 75 l at a time, and empty it manually down the container top whole. This is probably still the fastest way to get the grain upstairs since each 75 l run takes about 3:30 minutes, but with one dude downstairs manning the pipe, and one upstairs emptying the vacuum cleaner, it’s quite labour intensive speaking in man hours.

Anyway, the farm always provides, and we found an old rusty 1200l oil cistern in the junk mines that seemed like a better choice. After cleaning out some, rust, dead birds, and sealing a hole with a glove, we suddenly had the allegedly largest vacuum cleaner in the neighbourhood.

The pipe to the right in the picture leads down to the goat milking parlor, and the next challenge is to get the barley down again. Preferrably automagically.

Now, loading the barley is a one dude show, although the suction power is a little weaker than when using just the 75 l barrel.

Manning the pipe is really just about making sure it doesn’t get too much barley and becomes clogged. That could probably be avoided by inserting a small airhose into the pipe, or developing some nice automation stuff with a solenoid valve and a barometric pressure sensor in the hose, but we ran out of barley on the ground before the need for that was imminent. We’ll be getting a new bag next week, so we’ll see if that’s the next improvment.

27 november, 2017

What’s cookin’?

We havn’t posted for a while – the thing is, that when you have a lot of projects going on, there is little time left for bloggning..!

Our main priority now is to find a decent cheese vat. We are rebuildning a part of the barn in order to make a milking facility for the goats, but it is time to get things going when it comes to the actual cheese making. To be continued… Until then, here are some photos of when we attended a course with the french expert Michel Lepage, hosted by Eldrimner.

Michel Lepage breaking the coagulated milk into curds. A true artist!

Soon-to-be cheese. Just a few months of storage left..