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Chasteen Farms

Hello and welcome to a glimpse of life on our family farm! I hope you stick around!

My hope is that you find inspiration and encouragement through the highs and lows that are shared about gardening, cooking/baking, health, raising animals and family life.

05/10/2026

Last weekend, I processed my very first goat and for dinner Thursday evening, I roasted one of the legs. I must admit, I was nervous about what it would taste like. We have had some goats we had processed at the butchers taste wonderful, but we have also received meat back that unfortunately, tasted "goaty". Given I was very careful while skinning the goat and removing the offals, that thought was going through my mind, especially with all the time I had invested in the process (not to mention caring for the goat). Thankfully, the meat tasted very good, very similar to a beef roast. I have since enjoyed the leftover meat as a sandwich, BBQ goat and for our dinner tonight, tacos. I'm looking forward to turning some of our boneless cuts into kabobs.

05/04/2026

Yesterday marked a huge accomplishment for myself. I processed my first goat! I have done many rabbits and various types of poultry, but a goat is the largest animal I have butchered. This whether was assisted in being born (he was the one we had to pull last August when April had triplets), was given a name and has enjoyed many scratches these last 8 1/2 months of his life. Processing always comes with mixed emotions for myself, but when he was born, he was destined for our freezer or someone else's.

Just like any new endeavor, you can read all the books and watch all the videos, but nothing teaches you more than diving in and figuring it out through trial and error. Processing a goat was very similar to a rabbit, but there were a few things that required some different techniques making this a half the day job while trying to figure it out.

After he was skinned and gutted, we were able to move him in the house to the kitchen island to part out into primal cuts. Since we don't have a walk-in cooler, or enough fridge space, we vacuum sealed the cuts and put them in the freezer. I'm hoping to try one if the cuts for dinner this week.

All while doing this, I kept thinking about how much I want to be able to teach people how to process their own animals and allow them the hands on experience to do so. I have a lot more goats (and other livestock) that I need to get under my belt first, and aquire some equipment to make the job easier, but I am very much looking forward to accomplishing that dream some day 😊

P.s. We had a Walmart delivery come today and the hooves were still dangling from the tree (I didn't get them taken down until this evening). If they caught a glimpse of them while driving around the circle, they were probably wondering what kind of voo doo was going on here 🤣🤣🤣

05/02/2026

I can be guilty of letting excuses keep me from accomplishing a task or goal. For example, this roaster is filled with the last of the pig fat I had left in the freezer to render into lard (there is skin from the pig attached to the fat and that is why the pieces look leathery). The best way to render lard is to cut it into smaller pieces or better yet, run it through a meat grinder. My grinder is still packed up in an unknown spot and the last time I did a batch and cut it up into pieces, my wrist was sore for days from the repetitive motion of chopping it. I did not want to have to chop it up again, but am in need of freezer space and needed to deal with this dilemma. I figured I wasn't out much if I just threw the hunks in the roaster to see what happened, especially when we have already rendered lard in the freezer from our last batch of pigs. Sure enough, it worked and I ended up with 3 quarts of lard from the previous batch. It did take 2 days to cook down, but that was fine by me (I imagine this batch will give me at least 5 additional quarts). Moral of the story? Just because you think there is only one way to complete a task, doesn't mean you can't get a little creative and try a different way (I know this doesn't always apply, but this mindset can often be used in the kitchen). As the old saying goes, "There is more than one way to skin a cat".

04/30/2026

The chicks have been growing like weeds and were evicted from the trough broader last week. I don't think they had any complaints once they realized all the space they had to rome in. Unfortunately, the best place to put them was our current chicken tractor so the hens have to remain in the barn until another one can be built. Regardless, I'm happy to have them outside where they are WAY less messy and easier to take care of.

04/29/2026

I'm currently trying to create some new habits that save me time as well as help keep areas of our home clean/tidy. Batch cooking is one of those habits and 'present me' has been grateful for 'past me's' efforts a few times already. So far my batch cooking has involved marinating an extra package of meat if I'm already preparing one for dinner (I've done this with pork chops and chicken thighs) or preparing a double batch of a main dish (meatballs, browning ground beef, fried chicken, naan bread, cinnamon rolls). It does take a little longer, but it is so worth it and I'm only dirtying the dishes once. I'm hoping to continue to build up my "stash" for those days I want to dive into some big projects and not have to worry about cooking dinner (or even breakfast and lunch). Feel free to share in the comments your favorite meals that you like to batch cook.

04/28/2026

These Irises have been under this maple tree near our house since we have been living here (my parents planted them at some point), and they have not bloomed once in the last 4 years. Surprisingly, they graced us with their beauty for the first time, late last week, and we have been enjoying them greatly 💚

04/21/2026

Leela got a lesson with power tools on Saturday, making a nest box for her Holland Lop, Miss Lavender. We are expecting babies any day now and I caught Lavender gathering nesting material while doing evening chores. This will be her first litter and from what I have gathered from other breeders, Holland Lops can be hit or miss with their mothering abilities. I think I am just as excited as Leela about these potential babies, so fingers crossed that we have a winner in the mothering department.

04/18/2026

I had a bunch of runners that I guided to a few different trays last summer, hoping they would take root. Fall came around and they never got moved to a permanent spot. Surprisingly, several survived the winter, but something has snuck into the garden and nibbled the leaves on a few of them and other returning plants. Today, I started transplanting them to these grow bags I had on hand and I'm hoping they will recover (they are pretty small probably due to the lack of nutrition). This is only the start, but I am determined to grow strawberries for my family and one of these days, to have enough so that I wont have to buy them.

04/15/2026

Look what came up after all 😊

04/12/2026

I have wanted a gate that is mama goat proof and dog proof for our goat kids feeding trough, for quite some time. We used a cattle panel last year that we cut the squares out of to allow the kids to fit through, but Jasmine was able to squeeze through too, and clean up whatever feed that the goat kids left (not a habit that I'm OK with). After looking at some gates online, I couldn't quite get past the price that these companies were asking. After running some ideas, measurements and a drawing by Noah, we came up with this gate. The goat kids have yet to discover the grain that awaits them, but the yearlings definitely cannot fit (and boy did they try!), but the verdict is still out if Jasmine can squeeze through. Being our first time making a creep feeder style gate, we know we may have to make some adjustments, but this sure beat spending $250-$300 (our materials were less than $80). One more project off the "To-Do" list and one more improvement to our system.

Address

New Madison, OH
45346

Telephone

+19374599468

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