My Self Sufficient New Year's Resolution

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I want to start making cheese and stuff. I have a number to a farmer who has milk cows and sells the milk, that is more practical right now. How do you get started making cheese though?
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Yeah, I got my cheese making supplies there, they have classes, too, but I did not register in time and they filled up months in advance. It is only an hour's drive for me. Next year....

So I bought my rennet and stuff, then discovered that I cannot find milk here. I refuse to go through all that trouble using grocery store milk....might as well continue buying grocery store cheese.

Hence the quest for a dairy goat, should know by Feb or Mar if this new girl is the one. She is a sweety.

For my milking stand, I am gathering my wood (scavenged from a scrap pile for free!) piece by piece when I walk the dog, so will build it by the end of January if the weather warms up on one of my days off. Still looking for cows' milk, though, I am hoping to find something to trade for it.

Think a dairy farmer would get a massage from my dh? Or would he be too "manly" for that?
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Maybe one of the cows needs sportsmassage!!!
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Went shopping today and by chance found a little "soap saver" in the soap section of the pharmacy store. It is a little mesh drawstring bag to put the bar of soap in. I will use it for the saved soap chips, my little mesh garlic bag works great, but is wearing out. I like the drawstring, I can add chips. I love the way it really lathers, I like it better than a plain bar of soap!
 
We try to continually improve our self-sufficiency. We've planted a lot of fruit trees and bushes that are becoming ever more productive, and the fertility of our garden soil improves every year. We always save the best seeds from the best plants of our heirloom tomatoes, beans and corn for replanting. And our foraging skills continue to evolve, too. We eat quite a lot of wild greens and mushrooms. Last year we bought 52 acres of woods, and are planning on tapping some of the sugar maples this spring.
 
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We have been slowly moving towards being self-sufficient. We have chickens, 35 goats (dairy and meat), a large garden, and I'm wanting to start keeping bees...going to a meeting on that at the end of the month. WE have a neighbor that is a beekeeper and he will help me with it. We use to have rabbits, the kids showed them, and are looking at getting a few does and a buck or two and start breeding them again.

Nikki28 where did you find your stevia plants. I've been reading up on it (we use it and thought it would be easier and cheaper to grow our own) and want to try growing it. I've read you need to start with plant, that if you grow it from seed you may be waiting awhile??? Not sure about that.

I will be checking out the sufficientself site.
 
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I like Shumway's, they have a print catalog and nice website: www.rhsumway.com They have some nice heritage selections and some varieties that are supposed to store well. I'm a newbie to serious storing, so don't listen to me....Root cellar next year, I have been monitering a section in my basement for temp and humidity and think I found just the right spot, just needs a door and a small ventilation window and some shelving units, and I'm good to go.

Lots of stuff on the internet, too. I found, then lost, a site that sells tiny packets for something like .25 each for the smaller gardener....anyone know what it is? I don't always want or need 100 seeds of anything!
 

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