Writing Prompt # 12: Fruits of Labor

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Avatar for JonicaBradley
2 years ago

Lead image: canned black-eyed peas; photo by Jonica Bradley

As most of you already know, I work hard in my garden. I also work hard out of my garden.

I see the fruits of my labor almost immediately whether they be in the form of vegetables or milk or cheese.

Sometimes I have to labor to preserve the fruits of my labor. With the black-eyed peas for example.

I had to shell them, then I had to cook them (it took more than 16 hours), and then I had to preserve them in jars. A process called canning.

Canned black-eyed peas

I also had to wash and disinfect all the jars before I put the black-eyed peas in them.

And of course, wash and put away all of the canning equipment afterward.

And then I have to harvest MORE black-eyed peas from the garden and repeat the entire process.

Bell peppers, tomatoes, jalapeno, and serrano peppers.

Other veggies I've harvested are tomatoes and peppers. Not to mention herbs.

Dill. Harvested from the herb garden and hung to dry in my kitchen.

I use the herbs in the cheese I make from the milk I get from my goat.

J.J. my happy mama milk goat getting ready to be milked.

The cheese is not an immediate gratification. Because first, I have to have a dairy goat who has to be bred and give birth. The milk has to go to the babies for a while before I can start using it. Then, I have to go every day to milk my goat.

The goat brush, full of goat hair that might otherwise fall into my milk pail.

Even that takes a lot of steps before I can get the milk inside to stay making cheese.

First, I have to get her on the milk stand and put some brain in a bowl for her.

Next, I have to brush her so no stay hairs fall into the milk.

Hot soapy water with just a tiny bit of bleach.

I use hot soapy water to clean her udder. When I'm finished milking, I use the water to wash off the milk stand.

Milking into my milk pail.

And then I milk.

We're still quite away from cheese. We're still quite away from enjoying the fruits of my labor.

After I let J.J. off the milk stand, clean the milk stand, and head back to the house, I filter the milk either into jars or directly into the pot I use for making cheese.

The milk filter is a mason jar funnel with a disposable filter over the top, held in place with a rubber band.

If I'm not planning on making cheese, the milk goes into the refrigerator.

Milk is added to an already refrigerated jar. see how the warm milk is fogging up the glass?

The refrigerated milk can also be used for cheese. I usually make a gallon or two at a time. I only get 1 to 2 quarts a day, so often I have to save up to have enough for cheese.

Milk is being filtered into a clean quart jar.

I usually get about 2 quarts of milk a day. Depending on how much JuJuB had had to drink before I get out there.

My cheese making stockpot.

When I have enough milk, I filter the morning milk into the stockpot. I add the culture and let it rehydrate for a few minutes. Then I pour the refrigerated milk into the pot.

It's important to clean and sterilize equipment right away lest bad bacteria form.

Before I pour the refrigerated milk into the warm, cultured, fresh milk, I have to wash and disinfect my equipment.

After that labor is finished, I add the child milk.

I just leave it to ferment overnight. The next day I have curds and whey.

Whey
The cheese curd is just under the whey.

I use a knife to gently slice the curd. And leave it to ferment some more.

Gently slicing the curds.

After 24 hours or so, I pour all of the curd and whey into a cheese-cloth-covered strainer.

I used two gallons of milk to get this much cheese curd. It's being left to drain overnight.

I place the strainer over the pot and leave it for an additional 24 hours to drain completely.

Finally, I can take the cheese out of the cheesecloth and add salt and herbs.

But I can't yet thoroughly enjoy the fruits of my labor! I have to leave the herbed and salted cheese in the refrigerator for ANOTHER 24 hours.

Until finally, I can enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Dill flavored Chevre (creamy goat milk cheese).

The ready cheese, pictured above is salted with fresh and dried dill from the garden. It's delicious. Especially crumbled over fresh tomatoes.

Fresh tomatoes with dill cheese strewn over them.

I'm enjoying the cheesy tomatoes for breakfast! These are the fruits of my labor.

This prompt is all about the results you see from your hard work. How do you labor? Do you sit in an office or a classroom all day? Are the fruits of your labor a paycheck or good grades? Do you work with your hands, building homes or furniture? Do you labor on a farm to feed your family or to take your wares to market? Do you get to enjoy your rewards right away or do you have to wait?

Tell all of us all about the fruits of your labor!

The rules to the prompt are simple.

  1. Write anything about The Fruits of Labor

  2. Write 100% original content

  3. Write at least 600 words so Rusty will come to reward you

  4. Submit your story to PromptlyJonica here

  5. Tag me @JonicaBradley

  6. Have fun!

A few notes before I leave you to it.

  • The onus is upon the writer to ensure there is no plagiarism

  • There are no time limits. You can write on any prompt any time forever and submit it to PromptlyJonica. Click here for a list with links to all the prompts in order.

  • Please caption and credit all of your images as per read.cash rules

  • Please keep religion to a minimum. Leave testimony in church or in spiritual communities. There are many cultures and religions here on read.cash.

  • Please consider running your essay through Grammarly for spelling and grammar checks. Grammarly is not perfect, but it's a start.

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2 years ago

Comments

Wow! Making that cheese sure requires a lot of labour. I'm more comfortable with fruit and veg :)

$ 0.03
2 years ago

What a tedious process of that goat cheese making. The herbed one looks really yummy! I want some!

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2 years ago

The cheese is one of the less labor intensive foods. Processing anything is a lot of labor. But I still love it very much.

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2 years ago

As long as you love what you're doing, all worth it.

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2 years ago

On all counts, seems like a lot of work. But the reward? Well worth it it would seem.

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2 years ago

πŸ’―

$ 0.01
2 years ago

Wow. Patience and hardwork are votal, especilly in that cheese one! The goat looked ready for posting for a photo, LOL.

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2 years ago

She's always ready.

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2 years ago

You're really great at those kind of work! Goat's milk into a cheese? That's an amazing process for me. Keep it up!

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2 years ago

I will!

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2 years ago

That is some insane skills there, especially with the goat part 🀯 plus the process of turning it into cheese.

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2 years ago

Never seen a milking goat. Do you have a big place for all of it? Sorry, just new being active here πŸ˜….

$ 0.03
2 years ago

We have about 30 acres. The goats are close up front in the pasture by the house. They have lots of room to roam.

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2 years ago

Wooow, making a cheese out of goat's milk is a long process but the result is so satisfying πŸ€—

$ 0.03
2 years ago

Wow , making goat cheese is a lot of work. Thanks for sharing.

Enjoy your fruits of labor. πŸ‘

$ 0.03
2 years ago

Very delicious!

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2 years ago

You have a lot of stuff there for survival. That's the advantage of having piece of land to grow crops and farm. I wish I can go back in my hometown so I can do the same.

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2 years ago

Not too shabby for a city girl born and bred, eh?

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2 years ago

Nice article

$ 0.01
2 years ago

Thanks.

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2 years ago

I have not had goats cheese for donkeys ages. I used to get from a farm, and the shop stuff is not so good. And all those beans, how long do they last for?

$ 0.05
2 years ago

They should last up to a year. I will most likely eat them much sooner.

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2 years ago

That's so great you make your own cheese the perks of having mama goat you can have milk for free, l would love to do that when I am grown up, have my own little farm to plant veggies and have goat or any animals. So exciting. You are very hardworking ma'am😊 enjoy the fruit of your labor.

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2 years ago

Best thing I ever made happen.

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2 years ago

You're very hard working ate Jonica πŸ’— and I can see that you love everything you're doing. You're amazingly great.

$ 0.03
2 years ago

Thank you.

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2 years ago

you're welcome πŸ’—

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2 years ago

So that's how you make cheese. Interesting. I've never tried goat cheese before and the only cheese I've tried is the Eden cheese. 😁

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2 years ago

I discovered dairy products aren't very popular in S.E. Asia. At least not in Laos. I did have cheese on a cheeseburger. Best cheeseburger I've ever had and I love in Cattle Country (Texas).

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2 years ago

It’s so amazing to see how you made cheese from goat milk hehehe. And to see you reap the fruit of your labor is so much cool 😎 hehehehe the fresh tomatoes πŸ…

I would make sure to bring an entry to the title.

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2 years ago

Can't wait!

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2 years ago

That must be tedious but the end result is worth it. Nothing is more fulfilling than enjoying the fruits of one's labour. I used to watch Li Ziqi in Youtube, she knows a lot about stuff like this.

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2 years ago

I'm not familiar with her.

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2 years ago

She is a Chinese YT influencer living in Sichuan..She builds, farms, gardens, cooks, sews..She is like a super human..

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2 years ago

Your goat has plenty of milk and you turned it into cheese πŸ§€ wow so yummyπŸ˜‹πŸ₯›πŸ§€

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2 years ago

Definitely yummy

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2 years ago

This is great and yummy. I don't think I have eaten cheese before. So, with the methods used, I think I should be able to prepare one.

I will submit my write up later tomorrow...

$ 0.03
2 years ago

I use a dehydrated cheese culture to spread on the milk. It helps a lot.

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2 years ago

Okay, I think that cheese endured a lot. I mean, the work is truly hard and for sure, that tastes amazing from your hard work.

I think that's how great work pays off and it states delicious (literally. I must work now and think of something that I could say is a fruit of my labor. Kudos for this lovely prompt again!

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2 years ago

It's so yummy on these tomatoes!

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2 years ago

That close-up picture of the goat shocked me lol! Never knew about black-eyed peas and goat milk cheese so this is really interesting. Thanks for sharing!

$ 0.03
2 years ago

Wish I could add a photo here.

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2 years ago

Because her eyes are green? That's the camera flash. Hey eyes are yellow/gold.

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2 years ago

Oh nothing like that, she's pretty alright! It's just that i scroll through quite fast and was not expecting a goat's face hahaha

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2 years ago

Go check my other articles! So many goat pics. You'll see.

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2 years ago

Gladly! I will also try to follow this writing prompt of yours. Hopefully I can do well hehe

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2 years ago

Welcome to the prompt family.

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2 years ago

How different is a fresh cheese from store-bought processed cheese produced in the factory? I have never had fresh cheese like this :/ (Except cottage cheese)

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2 years ago

So different. I don't like store bought goat cheese. Unless it's so salty all you taste is the salt. Using fresh ingredients makes this cheese so yummy!

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2 years ago

It is very salty here :/ I haven't had goat milk either! And these vegetables look so healthy! damn, sometimes I wish I lived country side :(

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2 years ago

I love it. So much. I sold my house and ran away. I will never live in a city again. Unless I can keep goats and chickens and turkeys!

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2 years ago

hahaha aww :) You kinda look like Princess Diana in your display picture :) See ya :)

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2 years ago

I've not heard that one! Thank you.

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2 years ago