Fair week is over and Hayley's Mint Jelly..... Won best sweet spread! KS State Fair or Bust! September, here we come...

Mint Jelly, Anyone?

Last year, Rand brought home lots of mint plants and (go figure?) planted them.  Those plants are very happy and healthy in our front garden.  See?  In spite of the drought, those mint plants are doing incredibly well.

Well, Hayley and I decided to put those plants to work making something useful (and sweet).  So, we made an executive decision that those plants would be better used to make Mint Jelly....

First, pick the mint leaves.  Chop them and add water.

Bring water to a boil.  Turn off heat and allow to sit.  Pour into cheesecloth and drain.

Measure prepared mint solution (my term - the recipe is much more technical)  and add sugar, etc.  

Of course, there may be a little food coloring and some lemon juice added somewhere in there, as well....  Perhaps some liquid pectin, too.  Like I said, the recipe was much more technical.  Who needs all those technicalities, anyway?

Pour into jars.  Place lid and seal.  Put in canner.

The hard part.  Waiting for the water to boil....

The best part.  Taste testing....

Random Gal says the Mint Jelly is Awesome Sauce.  The other two aren't so sure.  Either way, it was fun to make watch Hayley make it.

The difference that copper makes...

I promised a long time ago that I would post the pics of Joyous before and after copper.  I posted some before pics, and will repost them now - but the after pics of that gorgeous girl are amazing!  I am excited to share these with you.

Oat Bucket Farm Almond Joy.  We ran out of copper before she received her dose with the rest of the herd in January/ February.  This is what she looked like the day the new order of copper arrived.  Note the faded coat.

See how the hair at the tip of her tail is frizzy?  This is called "fish-tail" and is another symptom of copper deficiency.

Never get low on copper.  Your goaties will look like the above - their coats will fade and turn color, (sometimes orange) and their tails will get a severe case of the frizzies - kind of like a perm gone bad!

These pictures were taken earlier this week (late June).  Joy was given copper in late April/ early May and then given a "booster" dose of copper when the other girls received their scheduled dose around June 4.  Note the difference in her coat and her true color.

I definitely learned my lesson about running short on copper boluses.  The transformation from my orange, frizzy-haired bad-perm Joyous to this sleek and lovely, healthy girl is amazing.  Better go check my stock of boluses now - I think it is time to order again!