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Self-sufficiency in the food department…. It is the time of year in Spinach Lettuce/greens Collards Green onions Soon to come: Potatoes Broccoli Cauliflower Peas Cabbage Foraging: Although I have never actually “foraged” before, I fully intend to try: Dandelion greens Breaded Dandelion flowers Morels (I think we missed them this year, but fully intend to try next year) Foraging later in the year: Mulberries Sand plums Currents I sometimes struggle with the inner battle of “organic vs. frugal.” Anyone else have this problem? I want to buy everything organic, but then I have a feeling of regret that I’ve over spent and not used our money wisely. There has to be a balance. I justify my non-organic purchases with, “I cook from scratch, so if I don’t buy EVERYTHING organic I’m still doing better than most.” So, with that being said, Randy and I also take advantage of the farming in our area for free corn on the cob and free wheat from nearby family fields. No it’s not organic, yes it’s laden with chemicals, but it’s free and corn isn’t really all that good for you to begin with and we eat it in moderation (don't you love how I justify my choices). The wheat (if we purchase a grain mill) will be just enough to get us by for a couple of months, and then we will purchase it from a nearby bulk food store (organic). I also struggle with the need for supplements in our daily routine. These have proven to prevent ailments and sickness, so it’s hard to eliminate something that is working so well for us. However, I want to try to cut back on some of the expenses. We buy supplements for our two dogs as well. For the price of the supplements I feel they will save us on vet bills over the long run (our small dog has severe allergies) just the same as I feel it has saved us on doctor bills as well. Still I will try to trim, trim, trim. We have also put some major purchases on hold and are currently brainstorming ways to get by without: A tractor to move round bales for our sheep A new roof on our house New permanent pasture fencing (goat fencing) A vacation to the Northeast in the fall Here’s my idea for the tractor. We can line our round bales up outside our lots in the winter and place electric netting extending from the lot out around one round bale at a time to allow them to eat the one bale. When that bale is gone we can move the electric netting around the next bale and so on until spring arrives again. This year my Dad had to drive his tractor 5 miles (roundtrip) to move a round bale into the sheep lot for us whenever they ran out. Not very feasible with the price of farm diesel and not fair to him to have to take time to do it for us every other week or so. We plan to patch the old roof as needed and save until we have enough money up front to do the roof without having to finance it. We ran one strand of electric fence cable ($300) around our existing fence using the existing posts and not replacing the entire thing with goat fencing ($4000). Granted this is only temporary, but it saved us $3700 for now. A vacation to the Northeast to see the fall foliage will just have to wait. We love our farm and can enjoy fall at home instead. Homesteading, self-sufficiency, voluntary simplicity, whatever you want to call it does take sacrifice and a little ingenuity. If it were easy everyone would be doing it. I just had a discussion with Randy the other day about what he would sacrifice to not have to commute 2 hours a day and go to work 40 hours/week? I would sacrifice A LOT! He's a little resistant to some of the changes, eh hem, Dish Network is his life, literally. Some of the silly (IMO) expenses we have that could easily go: Dish Network Dining out (we've gotten kind of bad about this lately) Non-necessity food and beverages Extra vehicles Everyone has places they could trim. It’s just a matter of prioritizing the important things in life. To me TIME and our HEALTH are the most important things in our life and the two things lacking in most lives. I enjoy going out to eat, but with the price of fuel, the cost of going out to eat, and the unhealthy food we will most likely consume, wouldn’t it be just as fun to pack a picnic lunch and go sit by one of the ponds nearby, or under our big cottonwood tree, or even just on the patio at our fun little bistro table? It’s about spending time together and it doesn’t have to be expensive to make it memorable. The cost of living is definitely on the rise. I am evaluating and re-evaluating our spending more and more as prices continue to increase. Some of the most valuable traits you can have in today’s world is to be able to: Grow at least some of your own food Cook from scratch And be thrifty with what money you have. Hope everyone has a wonderful week. |
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Ever since Randy and I lived in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and worked at Burro Loco, a Mexican restaurant there, we have tried to acknowledge Cinco De Mayo even if only in a small way. Yesterday, I soaked the rice, made homemade tortillas, and browned our usual ground hamburger/venison combination. Then, the UPS man showed up with our electric fence cable. I put everything into bowls in the fridge, and Randy and I spent the evening putting up electric cable in our pasture. Dinner ended up being grill cheese sandwiches with homemade tomato soup I had canned the summer before. Quick and easy! You learn to adjust after a few years on the farm. Something always seems to pop up and plans get changed on a regular basis. Tonight, unless something else comes up, we will have our Mexican dinner in recognition of a belated Cinco de Mayo. We now have ½ of our pasture (about 15 acres) fenced with electric fencing so our lambs can’t squeeze through the old existing fence and wreak havoc on my garden and Dad’s wheat field. They are calling for thunderstorms for the next two days, but we hope to get the other ½ of the pasture fenced, so we can stay on track with our three week rotational grazing. We are trying to improve the quality of our pasture and decrease the need for de-wormer. My in-laws are arriving this weekend and will be here for 10 days. They are lots of help to us when they are here. They have us make a list of things we would like to accomplish while they are here, and we work like crazy until they leave. They are so great to help us around the farm. Our Have a wonderful week! |
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Randy and I have talked more and more about the idea that in the future homesteading, as in growing your own food, raising your own animals, making things yourself as opposed to buying them, may be the only way to survive as our economy spirals out of control. The world is getting harder and harder to live in and there is a growing security in the path we have chosen, to provide for ourselves as much as possible. Teaching children how to provide for themselves is more important than ever as our food chain becomes more and more unstable and oil prices continue to climb. Where to Start: BAKE YOUR OWN BREAD: You don’t even have to grind your own wheat yet, just start by baking the bread your family eats. Lots of people have bread machines stored away they had to have and never really used. I use mine just to mix and let the bread rise once in. Then, I put the dough in a loaf pan, let it rise one more time, and bake. EASY! PLANT A GARDEN: It can be a small one or in pots on your patio, plant herbs, tomatoes, whatever you love. With the rising prices of everything around us every little bit you can provide for yourself helps. Not to mention the fact you will know your produce is free of chemicals and is grown locally. CHANGE YOUR MENU: Stop buying pre-packaged, processed food and start buying food in its original form, FRESH. Shop your local Farmer’s Markets, add beans and rice to your diet, and eliminate soda and pasteurized milk and juice. These are not only healthy changes, but budget friendly changes. COOK FROM SCRATCH: This is kind of the same as some of the ones above; however, it is so important. This will save you money and improve you health. Think you are too busy? Use a crockpot! Check out The Family Homestead for some great recipes. HANG YOUR CLOTHES OUT TO DRY: Use a clothes line. There is nothing more relaxing than hanging your clothes out on the line on a quiet morning. Use the time to reflect and relax, plan for the day, or pray. You can save money and sanity by this simple task. CONSERVE: Conserve energy! Conserve money! Conserve time! Conserve tradition! Conserve family! EXTREMES: If you want to get really serious in your quest for the homestead-life and self-sufficiency you could: *Get a dairy cow or a couple dairy goats. *Covert to an off-grid system (solar, wind, gray water, rain barrels, etc.). *Get rid of all NEEDless expenses (cable, landline/cell phone, magazines subscriptions, etc.) *Pay off debt! This is important. Start with smaller bills and pay them off one at a time. *Instead of spending all your time mowing, fertilizing, and controlling weeds in your lawn, start converting that space to usable space to plant produce. *Plant fruit trees and bushes. Lastly, use the library. You don’t have to own every book. The library is a great place to learn about making more with less. The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live it is a great book to motivate you.
Storey's Basic Country Skills another great book for motivation and ideas. Path to Freedom is a great site to see how a family (in Good luck and have fun! It takes work to be a homesteader, but the rewards far outweigh the costs. |
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This was a really easy recipe for making your own shampoo. I have a recipe that actually makes it from lye, but for a good starter shampoo this one is great. Sorry I didn't actually do a tutorial. This made more than enough for Randy and I, so I didn't go ahead and make another batch. Herbal Shampoo: 2 cups Distilled water 4 oz of Castile Soap (lavender, peppermint, etc.) ½ oz. (2 T.) Rosemary ½ oz (2 T.) Sage ½ oz. (2 T.) Nettles ½ oz. (2 T.) Lavender 2000 mg MSM Mix the herbs in a mason jar, which has a lid. Boil 2 cups distilled water. Add 3 heaping tablespoons of the mixed herbs into the boiling water. Pull the boiling water and herbs off the stove. Let the herb mixture sit for 30-40 minutes. Put the 2000 mg MSM into the herb mixture after 30 minutes of cooling. After 40 minutes and the MSM is melted, strain the herbal mixture into a bowl. Pour 2-2 ½ oz of strained herbal tea into an 8 oz bottle. Now, pour the 4 oz of castile soap into the bottle. Cap the bottle and shake to mix the ingredients. The shampoo is now finished and ready for use. Use this as a bas for all the shampoos you make. You can add different herbs as you learn what these herbs do and how they help your hair. You can vary the ingredients according to your taste.
**I added 4 drops of Rosemary essential oil for good measure since I struggle with thinning hair. *MSM-an organic sulphur compound in gel, liquid, powder, cream or capsule form. Consult your doctor before using MSM, especially if you are using medication. *Rosemary-stimulates the hair follicles and helps to prevent premature baldness *Sage-has antioxidants and keeps things from spoiling and is antibacterial *Nettles-acts as a blood purifier, blood stimulator, contains a large source of nutrients for hair growth *Lavender-controls the production of sebaceous gland oil and reduces itchy and flaky scalp conditions
The herbs came from More Than Alive. They have a great selection of herbs I couldn't find at other places and great prices.
The finished product!
I have been using it for about a week. It gives my hair a lot more volume, however, it also gives it a different feel than my commercial shampoo. I am still getting used to it. It's not thick like commercial shampoo, but it doesn't take a lot and lathers really well. |
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Well the chicks were safe and sound this morning. Last night we loaded all of them up and moved them back into our garage/shop, and Randy put cinder blocks all the way around the perimeter of the coop. This morning he could see where the skunk had tried to dig under the blocks and wall to get in and didn’t make it. This will only be a temporary solution for a couple of reasons. It doesn’t look all that attractive, and I don’t think it will deter the critters forever. We are planning on digging a trench around the outside wall of the coop and burying tin at least 2 feet down. Basically we will be extending the wall into the ground two feet. Hopefully this will keep everyone out of our coop. The numbers were a little better than Randy first thought. We ended up losing nine chicks and are still debating on whether or not we will replace them or not. If we do it will be in the fall when we get our Cornish Rocks to raise for meat. The sheep are doing well and see to be enjoying the pasture as opposed to hay. We are getting closer to weaning which is never fun for anyone. We are late getting our sheep recorded to the Texel Sheep Breeders Society, so we will probably have to pay a penalty on a couple of them. Oops, that is kind of my responsibility, and I pretty much dropped the ball. My plants from Abundant Acres are supposed to be here tomorrow. They were pushed back a week due to a late freeze. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday. |
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Monday started out as a great day and kind of ended on a bad note. Every spring we borrow our neighbors tiller to work our garden. The agreement is Randy changes the oil and gets it all ready so when I neighbor goes to use it it is all ready to go. It works out great for both parties. We don't have a tiller and our neighbor is not a mechanic. So, Randy tilled our garden and when he was nearly finished it broke. $150, and two weeks later it is up and running again. Randy got a phone call at 6:30 last night from our neighbors because the tiller had started smoking. We got down there, Randy tinkered with it, and it threw a rod just like it did the first time it broke. Our neighbor is being really great about it. He knows there is a good possibility there is something else wrong causing this to happen over and over. However, Randy is going to do a couple of things to it to see what's going on. The tiller is old and it may be a situation where he should just buy a new one. When we went to bed last night we were pretty upset about it. We hate borrowing and just needed a reminder that it is not a good thing to do. We woke up this morning with better attitudes and decided we would just roll with the punches, fix it, and move on. On my drive to work Randy called me to let me know a skunk had dug into our chicken coop and killed 11 or our 25 month-old chicks. The skunk didn't even eat them, just killed them for sport. Fourteen of them had gotten over or through the panel separating the chicks from the Banties and survived. Isn't that sad? It just about made me sick this morning when he told me. So, all our chickens are locked inside right now until we can figure out what to do to try to save the few we have left. Every morning starts with feeding our bottle lamb/lambs. This particular morning it was really cold outside and the gate to the backyard was open, so our cute little bottle lamb made her way not only to the backdoor, but stepped right inside to have breakfast.
In other news, Friday and Saturday were spent putting up electric fencing in our pasture so we can 1) make paddocks to rotational graze our sheep and 2) block off a portion of the pasture so we can start replacing fencing. This is Randy out in our pasture. Our house is in the background.
We borrowed Mom and Dad's four-wheeler and trailer and it made things so much easier. Sunday, we sheared 36 sheep at our house and over 200 at Dad’s house. We started at our house at 6:30 setting up and didn’t get home, showered, and settled until 7:00 that evening. We were tired. Monday, Randy took the day off and worked on my brother’s four-wheeler and worked on his pickup. Hopefully we will have a pickup up and running again soon. Tonight we will be moving the chicks back inside their pen in the garage where they will be safe and sound. Any suggestions for reinforcing our dirt floor coop are welcome. I have read to bury 1 ½ to 2 feet of fencing around the perimeter, so we are debating on something like that. We really feel dirt floors are the healthiest in a coop and would prefer not to do wood or concrete flooring. Our house is so cozy right now with the weather being in the 70s. Windows open and cool fresh air blowing through the house. What could be better? What would a post be without a few dog pictures, right? Here is Ash who doesn't have the ability to take a picture with her eyes open. She is playing with her favorite toy, Lamb Chop.
Here is Koal playing with the ONLY toy he has ever really played with, Animal. Just incase you can't read it, the front says, "Cats are not my friend."
Have a wonderful day!
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That's how many baby lambs we worked (vaccinated, docked tails, and de-wormed) at Mom and Dad's Sunday. I got lucky and got to de-worm them, Dad vaccinated and docked tails, and Mom and Randy were the catchers. By the end of the day we were all pretty tired. I made shampoo over the weekend. As soon as we have used it a couple of times and worked out any kinks I will share the recipe (maybe even do a fun tutorial on it). This weekend we are putting up electric fencing to split our pasture in half. Then we will start rebuilding our exterior fencing with goat fencing and eventually have it split into parcels for rotational grazing. We have been wanting to do this ever since we got into the sheep business, but just hadn't had the money or the time. However, our pastures need some extra care, and we would like to at least cut back on our use of de-wormers if not eventually eliminate the use of them all together. I planted a few more things in the garden yesterday. It is slowly but surely coming together. Just waiting on my heirloom plants from Abundant Acres to get here and we will be in full gardening mode. Hope everyone has a wonderful day.
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Okay, there isn't much to review in the way of supplements. We got our Twin Lab CLO Lemon to try in hopes of saving some money and not use the Carlson brand. No way! Twin Lab tastes fishy and not good at all. We will use the Twin Lab because we have it, but then we are switching back to Carlson CLO and fish oil. Koal has only been on CLO (Twin Lab Unflavored) and Vitamin C powder for one day. I will post later on what the results are with his allergies/supplements. If we haven't seen any improvements by Friday I will load him up and take him to a vet about 70 miles away to get a second opinion. Randy has the day off today, and I wish I was home with him. I want to be home curled up in bed right now. It's cold here in Kansas and after this weekend's events I could use a little extra sleep. Randy will be moving these cute little guys into a bigger pen today.
Just one of the many things on his "to do" list. Hope everyone has a wonderful day. |
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We had an eventful weekend. It was my Grandma’s 80th birthday party so we had lots of family in town. Thursday, Randy and I went up to Grandma’s to see my aunt, cousin, and her daughter. Randy and I were really close to all of them when we lived in Friday night more and more people started making their way to town and out to Grandma’s house. We had a potluck dinner with tons of food and great conversation.
Saturday, Randy and I worked hard around the house trying to get a few things done, got cleaned up late afternoon, and headed back up to Grandma’s. The adults were going out to dinner and all of us cousins were going to order pizza and hang out to watch the KU/UNC game. The adults got home in time for the game, so it was a packed house for the big game.
Sunday morning was church, family pictures, and lunch with everyone. Then we all loaded up and headed to the Country Club for Grandma’s birthday. There were over 100 people there for cake, punch, and conversation. Other than a pretty strong wind the weather was beautiful for the entire weekend.
Here are my two cousins, Mindie & Ali. Ali looks a little different without her stylin' hat.
Sunday evening most had headed home. A few of us rode 3-wheelers, 4-wheelers, and hiked down to a pond on Grandma’s property. It was so peaceful and the two “city” boys from Monday was a dreary, rainy day. I got up early and was out putting up electric netting at 6:30 in the morning, so I would be done by the time everyone else was up and at ‘em. I went to Grandma’s and chatted with my aunt, cousin, and grandma for the morning. My cousin and I finally got to sneak away for a trip to town and got to visit a bit. Her and I share secrets with each other and have a wonderful relationship. If only we were closer. We share many of the same ideas on how to raise children, homeschooling, and just life in general. I will really miss her and her mom (they fly home today). The kids got to hold our baby chicks, feed bottle lambs at mom and dad’s, and see their donkey and our llama. Life was good for the little ones. One of my cousins has two little boys. They were well mannered and just and sweet as they could be. I could sit for hours and watch her interact with her children and admire the bond they have and the wonderful job she has done as a mother. Her efforts were very much noticeable and noted by all. It was an incredible weekend and so much fun to have all of us together again! |
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I placed and order yesterday from Vitacost. It shipped the same day. I was so excited. I had originally checked Amazon for these items, but found them cheaper at Vitacost. Twinlab Super C Powder Twinlab Norwegian Cod Liver Oil Unflavored Twinlab Emulsified Norwegian Cod Liver Oil Lemon Carlson The Very Finest Fish Oil Shipping is a flat rate of $4.99. The vitamin C and the unflavored CLO is for the dogs, specifically our little mutt with allergies. I'm leaning toward atopic dermatitis and hope the CLO and Vitamin C will help. Vitamin C is suppose to work as a natural antihistamine amongst other things. I'm comparing the Twinlab CLO to the Carlson CLO we already have on hand. I would love to pay $4-$5/bottle compared to $23-$25/bottle. I also placed and order from More than Alive for herbs to make our own shampoo (nettle, sage, and rosemary). I usually order from Mountain Rose Herbs, but they were out of a few things I needed. More than Alive ended up being less expensive because you don't have to order as much, so it worked out. I also ordered a book from them Created to be His Helpmeet. I have wanted to read this for a long time, and our library doesn't have it so I coughed up the money and bought it. I've read mixed reviews on it and want to see for myself what it is like. I visited the kinesiologist/chipropractor yesterday for an adrenal/thyroid issue. He put me back supplements containing bovine adrenal, bovine thyroid, carrot, and magnesium citrate, yum. They seemed to work the last time I took them I just didn't stick with it. I'm also trying to take Virgin Coconut Oil daily (or close to it). I have also tried to eliminate for cut back on peanuts/peanut butter to help my thyroid. Peanuts and soybeans, goitrogens, block iodine absorbtion in the body. It's always something, right? Have a great day! |
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I'm getting really terrible about blogging. I tell myself I'm going to do better and the next thing I know a week (or two or three) has passed. The visit from Randy's mom and fiance went really well. They weren't here for long, but it was nice seeing her and meeting him. You know I was worried about the whole menu thing. So, I cooked pretty much like I normally would and received a nice complement. Jeff (fiance) told me the one thing about vacations he never liked was eating food you don't normally eat, so you never feel quite right. He said it was great at our house because he was eating good food he would normally eat at home and felt great. Yea, that is the best complement I could have gotten the whole weekend. We drank raw milk, ate homemade mozaarella, homegrown eggs, and lots of organic veggies and fruits, and they couldn't have been happier. We have a sick ewe lamb at home. She's almost two months old and we are at a loss for what's wrong with her. Dad came over last night to look her over and is checking on her today. We did so well not losing any during lambing season it will be terrible to lose one now (especially a ewe). We got our baby chicks last night, twenty-five Rhode Island Reds. Dad walked in to see them and asked, "are they laying any eggs yet." Ha, ha, he's so funny! They are really cute. I took pictures, but I think I left my camera in the car. Oops! Just take my word for it, they're cute. Today is the day my family from all over the country will start filing in for my Grandma's 80th birthday party. It's going to be so much fun. It is going to be a weekend long event and Saturday night the adults are taking Grandma out for dinner leaving all of us cousins at Grandma's to watch the KU/UNC game and visit. Some of the family is from NC, so we are going to have a divided household. Rock, Chalk, Jayhawks! I was also supposed to go plant some flowers at a friend of our's on my way home from work. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, it has spread, and not good. She loves flowers and always has such a beautiful yard. There's a good chance it will be raining, so I think Randy is going to take off work tomorrow and go over and help me or do whatever they need done to help around their farm. She is such a kind-hearted, happy person. Pray for her and her family. Tonight I'm hoping to make homemade pizza and roast a chicken for sandwiches since I didn't have time to actually roast it for a nice dinner. I'm in charge of cole slaw and a couple of appetizers for the weekend, so those will have to be made also. Tomorrow chicken broth will be going in the crockpot and hopefully Coconut Chicken Soup (NT) to follow. I'm hoping to nip the allergies in the bud before they take over. Hope everyone has a wonderful day! |
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We have been really busy around our homestead the past couple of weeks/months. Garden: We are putting the garden in and some of the things are getting off to a late start due to a lack of fencing. We needed to fence our free-range chickens out of the garden, but instead they are on a short break from their free-range status until we can get fencing around the garden. So far we have potatoes, onion, peas, greens, beets, radishes, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower planted in the garden. Randy borrowed a roto-tiller from our neighbors and was tilling the garden (and before you say anything I don’t like deep tilling the garden and suggested not turning the soil anymore than necessary). Eh hem, so he was roto-tilling the garden and the engine locked up, piston broke, etc. $150-$200 and a few hours of labor later the roto-tiller should be purring like a kitten again. Yard work: I managed to get the fruit trees sprayed with an organic dormant oil spray from Gardens Alive. It has to stay above 45 degrees for 24 hours in order for the spray to work. Sadly, yesterday was about the first calm day with a predicted low above 45. Pasture: Dad came down with the tractor and disk and worked up a bottom area of our pasture that seemed to only grow poke, devil’s claws, stickers, and cheat. Yesterday evening, I headed down there with a big bucket of turnip seeds and my little lawn fertilizer spreader to throw some turnip seed around. The plan is to have turnips for the sheep to eat soon and follow up by planting grass. We’re a little late, but that’s kind of our theme this season. I have no idea how many seeds got thrown, where they got thrown for sure, if they will come up, and what it will look like if they do, but it is done and we got a tiny bit of moisture last night and today to help the little guys grow. Tonight we will be docking tails and doctoring sheep. Luckily a friend of Randy’s and my Dad will be there to help. They will also start an hour before I get home, so hopefully they have it covered by the time I get home from work. Randy’s mom and fiancé are visiting this weekend, so I have plenty of tidying up to do before they get here. I know we eat differently than a lot of people, so I always panic when we have company and meals will have to be prepared. I don’t want to freak anyone out with the meals we eat, but I also don’t want to completely change who we are for someone. So, I will make some slight compromises which some are more of a convenience for me anyway (i.e. store bought tortillas). We will probably go out to eat once or twice. His mom can’t sit still for long and insists on going “shopping” a lot. Otherwise, on the menu: Dinner: *Fajitas (venison, shhh!) with homemade salsa, homemade yogurt, store bought ww tortillas (compromise/convenience), and homemade Spanish rice *Roasted Chicken (raised on our farm) with baked potatoes, veggie, and homemade bread Breakfast: *I hope to make ww pancakes one morning while they are here and maybe kefir smoothies another morning if anyone is feeling daring. Snacks: *Organic raw veggies (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and celery) and homemade Ranch dressing *Organic apples with organic peanut butter *Organic bananas *And possibly no-bake cookies if I’m feeling froggy! I know they aren’t healthy, but man are they tasty. We are supplementing a bottle lamb right now, so it will be fun for his mom to get to feed the little cutie. Our blue heeler, Ash, can always squeeze in a game of fetch. And our cat, Spooky, can always stand to be held and loved on.
I'll try to take some pictures over the weekend, so I have some more interesting posts next week.
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. |
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Things are busy, busy here on our little chunk of the globe. We celebrated Easter with family and lots of wonderful food. We have Randy's family coming in this weekend, so there is lots of housekeeping and food preparations to get finished up before they arrive. Hopefully the weather is nice, but they are already calling for rain here on Saturday. The rain will be good for the pastures and we need pastures desperately right now. Chas has a Giveaway! So go check it out. She has a wonderful blog and the giveaway is great too! So far I only have potatoes and onions planted. My peas didn't come up and our garden isn't fenced yet, so our free range chickens will eat the seeds if I plant them. Hopefully this weekend I will get the majority of my seeds planted. I know it's late, but this is a wonderful recipe for Blarney Stones for those of you intrested in some fun Irish food. One recommendation is to use salted peanuts. I made half with raw unsalted peanuts and the other half with regular salted peanuts and they were MUCH better. Have a wonderful day!
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It’s just another one of those days here at work. My co-worker is on vacation so I am all alone today. We are officially done lambing. It ended with a bang, of course. Our favorite lamb, Ma, had a major ordeal delivering her single ewe lamb. I’ll spare you the details, but we are doctoring mama and baby and praying to avoid infection for the mama and pneumonia for the baby. Things are looking good so far, so hopefully we have a completely happy ending. So, it is safe to say this now without having to “knock on wood,” not including our aborted/miscarried baby lamb that started off our lambing season, we had no fatalities this season. Any of you who raise livestock will appreciate this. We had 18 ewes lamb this year and have 26 babies to show for it. We didn’t have the highest percentage ever, but we are grateful for the healthy babies we have. Two have already been sold and one is spoken for, so we are pleased. In other news my Grandma had surgery to have her gall bladder removed and is doing really well. Randy brought her home yesterday afternoon and said she looked really well. We have decided to buy her car from her since she is buying a new car. With both of us commuting we put so many miles on our cars everyday. Randy’s car is a really old, worn out car and may go at anytime. Hopefully by this time next year we won’t need two commuter cars, but for now we are on the treadmill and contributing to pollution, the need for Middle Easter oil, and an empty house all day. We’re working on it though. Randy has been working with Ash, our blue heeler, in the sheep lots. She is still a long way from independently herding sheep; however, she has made small progress in the form of not devouring sheep poo as soon as she is through the gate. Baby steps! I am off to a vet 1 and ½ hours away Friday to get a second opinion on our other dog, Koal. He has allergies in the form of a rash and also has a small bump on his back we need to have looked at. So, him and I are loading up (without Ash, she will heartbroken) and heading to a different vet to see if we can come up with something. I will also be ordering CLO to supplement both of the dogs from here on out and also contemplating making Koal’s food. I found a recipe that uses lamb which is in great supply here. I’m just not sure I can keep up with it at this point in my life. He’s always done really well on the food he is on now. So, unless they have made changes to their food I can’t imagine it being the problem. Other than that things are pretty normal here. We placed an order for 25 Rhode Island Reds which should be here the beginning of April. We lost another Bantie hen in our stock tank and are down to three. It was decided to go with a larger chicken that can reach the stock tank without jumping up on the edge, so hopefully we have better luck with these. Did I mention we are excited about having normal-sized eggs too! Have a wonderful day! |
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I haven't posted in awhile, so I thought I would real quick. Here are some pictures of my Dad's Icelandic sheep's babies. They are the cutest little things!
And of course, what would a post be with out the cats involved. They just happen to be the most photogenic critters on our farm.
This weekend we will be selling our two bottle lambs. Yea! We are also hoping to possibly burn our pile of limbs leftover from the ice storm and mow around our pasture so we can get it burned off soon. Oh, did I mention build more lots and fence in the garden to keep the chickens out so I can plant seeds? We're going to need a long weekend : ) Have a wonderful day!
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I know I haven't posted recently. There isn't a lot going on at our little farm. Lambing season is winding down. We had a wonderful season with no casualties thus far. We still have two more ewes to lamb; one is our absolute favorite, so we still worry about them. Our black cat, Spooky, has found a new place to sleep and if I can get a photo I will be sure to post it. He likes to sleep in the nesting boxes in the chicken coop. Every evening we have to go retrieve him from the coop and put him in the pool house for the night.
We have once again decided to work more with our Blue Heeler and allow her to go out with the sheep more. She has so much energy; maybe it can be put to good use.
Isn't she cute? hahaha Spring seems to be slowly creeping in. I have a few seeds started, will start more this weekend, and I'm also trying to get some black berries started from cuttings. No luck yet, but I was told to cut near the main vine and try to start those cuttings. This weekend I will cut a few more and see what happens. I also need to trim up the crabapple tree this weekend. I can't wait for crabapple jelly! The grape vines, boxwoods, apple tree, and black berries have all been trimmed. I need to go through my herb garden and see what need to been cut back and get them situated. I've been cleaning out lambing pens and using it to much the beds and garden. Peas are in the ground, so hopefully they start pushing through soon. I will get my potatoes this weekend so I can get them cut and curing. I might even try to get some lettuce going in a small box near the house. Spring is in the air! Have a wonderful day! |
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I have been studying ways to change our diet and improve out health for a couple of years now. It started with Crystal Miller’s website and the purchase of Nourishing Traditions and progressed from there. I was convinced it would take a lot of money to eat a “healthy” lifestyle. However, I have changed my tune and believe what you spend eating the right food and supplements you save in doctor’s office visits, prescriptions, and over-the-counter medication. Also, by eating more “whole” foods you tend to not suffer from hunger pangs in between meals. Two of the best resources for me are Mercola and Weston A. Price. Here are a few things I changed at the beginning of my journey to leading a healthier lifestyle (somewhat in order). *May I note my husband has been SO supportive and accommodating through it all. First things first: No Soda Drink Raw Milk (no homogenized, pasteurized, soy, or otherwise milk) Whole Grains (whole wheat flours, organic oatmeal, steel-cut oats, whole wheat or gluten-free pasta, etc.) No More Processed Foods (boxed cereal, spaghetti sauce, etc.) Organic Raw Sugar, Raw Honey, and Stevia As we adjusted to these changes I gradually began adding to it little-by-little. Organic, Local, or Homegrown produce only: This helps not only your health, but the environment by buying locally. Good Path To Freedom is also a wonderful sight. |