Organic Certificiaton

Been thinking about making it official and obtaining our organic ceritification. QAI is one certifier we've been looking at, and they estimate approximated $2,000 / year to keep 1 - 40 acres certified. Seems awfully steep for such a small amount of land, particularly since we only have 1 acre planted. Either way, not a bad idea to review the guidelines in preparation for when it might become worth it (once we have more planted). http://www.qai-inc.com/services/producer.asp

It's too bad it can't be a reasonable price for just one acre. That MIGHT be related to the fact that there's no organic ceritifiers in Alabama so inspectors have to come from afar (thus increasing costs) but somehow, I think this is just plain ole expensive.

 

Easy Homemade Cheese

Feta

I fully intend to try making some homemade cheese in the near future and will post back once I do. Homemade butter making, i strongly recommend as well. It's SOOO much yummier than store bought butter, if you eat it very shortly after making it.

These 3 cheeses (feta, ricotta, and mozarella) only take a short period to make, don't require special equipment that most folks don't already have around their house, and are up there among my favorite cheeses. Think I'll try a feta recipe that doesn't involve oil though, but rather a brine.

The really cool thing about making making mozarella is that you get ricotta as a bi-product. Never knew that till today. Learn something new every day.

http://thefamilyhomestead.com/mozzarella.htm
http://thefamilyhomestead.com/easyfetacheese.htm

Mozarella and Ricotta