- A great bonus from obtaining and using raw unpasteurised milk, is that you get the chance to try your hand at making great foodie cheeses. There are various books for cheese recipes, however I use the recipes from a great book I came across called The Backyard Homestead. You can go for the cheese only book Home Cheesemaking by Ricki Carroll – however for me the Backyard Homestead has all sorts of other fascinating information – especially if you have any intentions of setting up a small-holding, or even of something more modest as eating from your garden year-round. In fact it encourages you to get stuck in as it gives you all you need to produce all the food you need on just a quarter of an acre. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on more land this book shows you with beautiful line drawings & plans of exactly how to set about doing it.
In fact it has perfect plans for: -
- 1/10th of an acre
- 1/4 acre
- 1/2 acre
How amazing to realise that a plot of 1/2 acre using BH’s plan could produce: -
- 50 pounds of wheat
- 280 pounds of pork
- 120 cartons of eggs
- 100 pounds of honey
- 25 – 75 pounds of nuts
- 600 pounds of fruit
- 2000+ pounds of vegetables
The Backyard Homestead has a US slant, however so much is useful for us here in Europe, as also types of chickens and cattle are introduced to us. It is certainly a great book for someone ‘incubating’ their own ideas of self-sufficiency. It is especially good for all you Anastasia fans as it lays things out in easy to understand terms for those of us with absolutely no experience of growing or farming, or bee-keeping!
For now I shall be happy and peaceful just making Mozzarella from my beautiful raw unpasteurised non-homogenised milk.
