Wednesday, August 24, 2011

A New Adventure!

Long time no see, loyal readers.  It's been a few crazy weeks around here, and I've left you in the dark as to why.  Well, the decision has been made, and the moving van has been reserved, so now I guess it's time to alert the blogosphere as well.



We are leaving our little high-altitude home and moving to Oregon!  My husband has recently received basically the ideal (for us) job offer, so we're packing up (with boxes from the grocery store, above) and heading across the country. This means:

  • I can no longer complain to you about my high-altitude gardening, and I will just have to suck it up and learn to bake - I won't be able to complain about high-altitude baking either, when I'm less than an hour from the coast!
  • Canning will henceforth take less than half as long as I am used to.  Hooray!
  • We will have a peach tree, an apple tree, and a plum tree, all in our own yard!  Also, the entire property is surrounded by millions of blackberry bushes (according to my husband).  
  • Our dog may have to get shaved every summer.
  • We are going to have to seriously ramp up our chicken security... apparently, our property is just teeming with bobcats.  I have a feeling bobcats may be smarter than the average coyote.  We will, however, have some time to figure out our chicken security system.  Lola and the baby chicks are being sold in 2 hours, and we'll have to start from scratch when we get to Oregon.  6 chickens in the back of my minivan for a 23 hour drive, sharing space with a 160 lb St. Bernard and 2 toddlers?   No thank you.  
Yes, those 6 forlorn boxes in the picture at the beginning of the post are my (extremely grumpy) chickens, boxed up and ready to be driven down to meet their new people.  Lola is going to a sweet lady who loves Brahmas, and the 5 baby chicks are going to a slightly sketchy-sounding farm that I am trying not to think too hard about.  I have been promised that they will be used as layers, not meat, at least.

So, that's why I haven't been blogging much lately...my goal has been to pack 5 boxes a day, and the doesn't leave a lot of time for doing blog-worthy things.

I do have a question for anyone willing to tackle it:  Has anyone successfully moved yogurt and kefir long distances and had it turn out okay?  I'm thinking if I just keep it in the cooler for the drive out, it should be fine, right?  Any suggestions?  Will my kefir grains die if I keep them in an airtight container in the cooler, or is that fine?

Anyone have any great moving tips for me?  Especially moving-with-toddlers tips?

6 comments:

  1. I took my kefir grains on vacation this summer, because we were renting a house. And I wanted to make it and eat while we were gone! It was just fine. I keep my grains in a quart size canning jar. So I just lidded it and left it in the jar with milk unrefrigerated in the car. Just like I would have if it was on the coutertop.

    If you aren't driving to your new home, just wash your grains in cool water and pack them in a small tight plastic container. They can live for a few days without milk. I have mailed mine before to friends and they are totally fine.

    CONGRATS!

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  2. Congratulations on your new home! I hope everything goes smoothly. I haven't moved live culture foods long distance, but I think the cooler should work just fine.

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  3. That is so exciting. You will now live in the next greatest state I would think to live. CO and OR, I'm jealous. So excited to hear all about your new abode and those fruit and berry action will be amazing. I'm curious, what is the new job? Another camp?

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  4. Best of luck to you! I wish I had fruit trees around me, that's great!

    I think the kefir grains will be fine, I had mine shipped to me so they were in an envelope for 2 days at room/outside temperature, and I've had no problems with them.

    For after you get settled:
    http://www.eatwild.com/products/oregon.html

    http://www.realmilk.com/where4.html#or

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  5. Your yogurt and grains should be fine. Yogurt only really needs to be re-cultured every 5 to 7 days and kefir grains, in a little new milk, will last in the fridge for a week or two. I think mine were in there for a month when we didn't have a raw milk source.

    Congrats on the new house! I would say have fun moving but I am not sure 'fun' is the right word to describe moving, lol.

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  6. Thanks, all of you who offered reassuring words about my yogurt and water kefir starters! It's kind of funny letting everything "go" in the house as we pack up, but keeping the yogurt and water kefir alive and well. Amanda, yes, it's a new camp!

    ReplyDelete

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