I have decided to keep a homestead journal to record our production, methods of doing things, results, and more. I started this last year but I wasn't very faithful about it. Right now there is not much going on to record.... except for the eggs! So far, as of what I have collected today, we are up to 30 eggs this month. I think that's pretty good for only five hens and freezing (literally) weather!
I would like to keep track of the days' high and low temperature and general weather, what is planted, sprouting, ready for harvest, when I start a batch of soap or wine and when it's ready, and, well... you get the idea. I am hoping this will help us improve our homestead and it's production by making us more aware of what is working and what isn't working as well as we would like it to. I have great expectations for the future of our little homestead.
I would encourage anyone who wants to improve their own homesteading efforts to keep some kind of a progress journal. Write in it any little detail that pertains to your homestead, such as a change in chicken feed, a switch to a new brand of garden seed, etc. If we each learn as much as we can by studying our practices of what works and what does not, we will all have so much more to share with eachother!
Monday, January 5, 2009 - Productive Day - mostly!
We started school again today. It felt so good to have a couple weeks off!! We had to run a bunch of errands, but made it to 6 difference places and back home in two hours! That's mostly because I left the girls in the car with hubby while I ran in and did whatever I needed to do at each different stop.
In addition to school and errands, I got two loaves of bread made, two loads of laundry done, tidied up the house, and made 6 pints of cinnamon peach syrup from peaches off of hubby's aunt and uncle's peach trees. It is so delicious I'm tempted to make pancakes and eggs for dinner tonight! I think I'll have time to make a new pair of flannel pajama pants before I start dinner though. I split a huge hole in the knee of my other pajama pants!
On the not-so-productive end, I completely forgot about my dentist appointment today!
We burried our Sean today. The gal who cordinated everything at the church for us estimated that over 900 people attended. It was quite a thing to walk through those doors and see the entire church so packed with people whose lives Sean had touched. I've never seen such a thing. It's only a matter of time, and we will see Sean again!
My husband's cousin was shot and killed last night. Sean was 22 years old, and we were all very close friends. He went to a house around 9:30 last night and was mistakenly taken for a robber (there had been a whole string of robberies in that area over the last couple of days, so a lot of people were on edge). He was shot in the chest and, according to the report, killed instantly. I hope that was the case, because I cannot bear the thought of our sweet Sean lying there in that man's back yard suffering in agony. Sean and I had plans to go an a trail ride as soon as the weather warmed up. And he was going to teach my husband how to phesant hunt. Sean was one of the most kindhearted and good natured people I have every known. We will miss him greatly, but rejoice that Christ Jesus was his savior and that he is no longer a part of this trecherous world.
Saturday, December 20, 2008 - 72 hour preparedness kit
I have just started working on putting together a 72 hour preparedness kit. I am starting with the food. I will need fourty-five (5 family memebers times three meals a day times three days) breakfast, lunches, and dinners (plus snacks). I went back and forth debating between packaging the food in family size servings or individual size servings. Ultimately I decided to go with individual size servings. If for any reason we would have to split up we would be able to do so easily, at least as far as food in concerned. Today Iput together our breakfast packages. I decided just to stick with oatmeal. It's simple, nurishing, and stores well. I took fifteen sandwich baggies and labled each one with a one year expiration date. I filled each one with this recipe from TheFamilyHomestead.com:
1/2 c. dry oatmeal
1/2 c. (scant) lightly ground oatmeal
1 T. dry milk powder
1 1/2 T. sucanat
1/8 t. salt
dash of cinnamon
I then took my fifteen indivual oatmeal baggies and put them into a gallon sized ziplock bag with a label inside with the recipe (so that I can be sure to make more as I use them within the expiration date) and cooking instructions.
I did the same thing with five baggies of a Creamy Veggie Rice Mix (recipe from Hillbilly housewife) which will make one complete meal.
Now I just have to put together five more meals (twenty five more baggies) and throw in a box of granola bars, a bag of pretzels, a can of nuts, and 15 gallons of water, and my 72 hour emergency preparedness kits food section will be complete. I was surprised and thrilled at how easy it was to whip up the baggies of food. The only thing limiting me from finished all of it today is the lack of ingedients in my house (I did this spare of the moment). I will keep posting as I add more to my kit.
No, I haven't dropped off the face of the planet, just taking a break! Life gets awefully busy around this time of year.
Itty Bitty turned two, Little One turned six, and our marriage turned eight! We didn't get to do anything for our anniversary because we were at the local emergency room since Big Girl broke her arm. We didn't mind, though. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do!
Our chickens are laying eggs like crazy! I'm getting four to five a day, which I think is pretty good since we only have five chickens. Not to mention the fact that yesterday's high temperature was only six degrees, yes that's farenheit! It's a toasty 35 today. But it's supposed to drop back down and we should only have a high of 4 degrees on Saturday! I have a heat lamp on in the hen house during the night. Still I just wonder how long they are going to keep laying.
Well, we got our wood stove hooked up finally! We need a little more pipe up the chimney of our existing fireplace for a better draw, but can't get the damper out. But the house is nice and warm, and I don't fear the chill of the upcoming days!!!
I don't know why we are having such a problem with our camera lately. Sorry it's so blurry!
Anyways, on to menus. To help me stay organized, help with grocery shopping, and to not have to worry what I'm going to cook for any given meal, I keep a two week menu calendar hanging on the fridge. To simplify things, breakfast is always the same on the same day of the week. My lunch menu rotates every two weeks. We like a little more variety for dinner. This is what my would be on my calendar;
BreakfastLunch Dinner
(1st)Sunday - Muffins Mac 'n cheese Beef
(2nd) Hummus and crackers
Monday - Pancakes Ramen soup Soup
Quiche
Tuesday - Oatmeal Tuna sandwich Chicken
Ruben sandwich
Wednesday - Eggs and Toast Nachos Crockpot
Quesadillas
Thursday - French Toast Tortilla Pizzas Pasta
Soup
Friday - Cold Cereal P.B. J's Fish
Turkey Sandwich
Saturday - Eggs and Hash Browns Burritos Whatever
Hot Dogs
So, every Sunday morning we have muffins, Monday we have pancakes, and so on. For lunch the first Sunday we have Mac 'n Cheese and the next Sunday we haveHummus and crackers, and so on. Every Sunday for dinner we have something made with beef (venison actually since I have a freezer full of it!), Monday a soup, and so on. I keep a list of every beef meal (hambergers, meatballs, beef stroganoff, etc), chicken meal (creamy chicken casserole, chicken burritos, fried ckicken, etc), and so on. I have a master calendar that has two weeks worth of breakfasts and lunches already on it. Every two weeks I print off a new one and fill in the dinners according to what day gets what. Sunday may be tacos (beef), Monday - corn chowder (soup), Tuesday - chicken and dumplings (chicken), Wednesday- Pork roast (crockpot), Thursday - spaghetti (pasta), Friday - salmon patties (fish), Saturday - leftovers (whatever). I also have a list of good side dishes that we like, so if I made corn chowder on Monday I might make Irish soda bread with it. I would have baked potatos and steamed carrots with the pork roast maybe. But what ever I choose, I write that on my menu.
For my grocery list, I have a master list for things that I buy every time I go shopping (every two weeks). In this master list will be general things like flour, sugar, butter, etc, and also everything for breakfasts and lunches. Then all I have to do is add what I need for dinners to my list.
I spend a lot less time stressing out about what to make for each meal, and a lot less time putting together a grocery list. And I rarely go to start a meal only to find that I don't have the necessary ingredients!
I don't stick to the menu all the time. I might decide that it would be more convenient to have a crockpot meal on a Monday instead of Wednesday and then I would just swap them, or I might decide that beans and cornbread sound better than tuna sandwiches for lunch. Since I always keep dry beans and corn meal on hand I can just cook that instead and save my tuna for the next two week period.
Well, Big Girl had a little accident yesterday! Poor thing!!! She was playing in hubby's trailer which was parked on a concrete pad. She fell as she was climbing out......and broke her elbow.
She was such a trooper about it all, but she is bummed about the cast. She has to keep her wrist tied higher than her elbow or it will strain the break and she will have to go into surgery to get pins to hold the bone together. Sorry it's fuzzy. Camera trouble!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - Eggs and Christmas Cards!
We got our very first egg from our hens this morning!!!! We are sooo egg-cited!
I've been working on some Christmas cards and thought I'd post what I've come up with. The snowman is quilled. I learned how to quill in the Keepers class at homeschool group (thank you, Cindy!) It's a fun and simple craft, though a bit time consuming. Still, I think I'll have all my cards done in time to send out for Christmas, and they only cost me about 20 cents a card to make!
I was looking around at some other blogs this afternoon and I ran across one where the post was a question to the rest of us fellow bloggers asking us what we are doing to prepare for the financial crisis ahead because she is afraid of the days to come. My initial thought was to comment at the end of her post, but I really felt like I wanted to post about it myself. So here are my thoughts about preparing for what I believe will be a depression worse than the great depression.
First of all, I have to think about worse case senario, and prepare for that mentally. I think we will lose our business and our house. This is ok! God is in control. We choose to use this time to grow closer together as a family and to grow closer to God.
Ok, now for physical preperations. Man needs three things to survive: water, food, and shelter. I will start with shelter. If you lose your home, where will you live? You need a place that is owned (not mortgaged). My hubby's grandparents have a four bedroom house that they own. They would gladly open the door to us and the rest of my hubby's family, if the need arises. It will be tight, but like I said - we will grow "closer" together as a family! The problems there would be water since they are on city water, which might not remain available, and food. There are a few creeks nearby where we could draw plenty of water from. Our business sells Chlorifloc which is a water purifier, and we have access to it by the loads. (The city of Los Angels, CA buys all their chlorifloc from us to keep in their city's emergency stash). Bleach and also GSE (grapefruit seed exctract) can also be used as water purifying agents. Take some time to learn how to use them, and then stock up on it. GSE has numerous other benefits outside of water purification and I would recomend having a bottle or two of it on hand for any situation. You will need something in which to both collect and store water.
Ok, now you should have in mind both a place where you can live, and a way to have clean water. Food is still a problem. We must assume that food as we know it will not be able to be able to be shipped in from outside the local area. That means that you are going to have to provide entirely for yourself. At my hubby's grandparents house, there is a very, very small yard. We could stock up ahead of time, which we plan on doing, but it is just not going to be possible for us personally to store enough food to get us through more than a few months. So, we will stock up first on things that take the most space and or time to grow such as wheat, rice, oats, and beans. Electricity may also become unavailable, so we will not buy anything that must be kept cold. Canned goods are next. Stock up on what you can.
For what little garden space we would have, I would plant things that grow quickly, provide abundatly, and can easily be stored and do need to be canned (pressure canning cannot be done over an open fire or on a camp stove). I see potatoes as a must. They are nutritious, versitile, easy to store, and are filling. If grown above ground in tires, you can maximize space. Carrots are the same as potatoes, except they have to be grown in the ground (at least, to my knowledge). Winter squash will also provide wonderful nutrition thoughout the winter if you have a long enough growing season for it in the summer. Many other things could be grown indoors year round. They may not grow to their prime, but it's better than nothing. Among the things I would grow would be lettuce and bush green beans. Two things are necessary for gardening to continue year after year (remember, the Great Depression lasted ten years!) One: keep every bit of garden scrap and leaf that falls as compost to return vital nutrients to the soil, and Two: All of your plants must be grown from heirloom seeds, otherwise you cannot seed collect and hope for them to grow again next year. Also, be aware of plants that cross pollinate. You will not get good seeds from them. I will stick to potatoes, carrots, and pumpkins for my outdoor plants, and lettuce and green beans indoors. It may not provide much variety, but it will be filling and nutritional.
For dairy, I would plan on buying a goat. This takes some foreplanning. You need to know what kind of goat you need, where you can get her and where you can breed her. You also need to have a goat proof area with a shelter for her. You need to know how much all this will cost and put the money aside. I plan getting more chickens to add to my small flock. Know where you would buy and keep you chickens. Both goats and chickens can be fed fairly easily on human scraps and neighborhood greenery. If managed wisely, you could possibly have milk and/or eggs to give away or even possibly sell.
For meat, hunting is a good source for us. My hubby could conceivably walk to a place where he can hunt. Meat rabbits is also another great idea. You should know where you can get them and how you can keep them. They also are easy to keep fed. The trick with meat is keeping it from spoiling. Assuming you have no fridge or freezer, you either need to smoke it, dry it, or share it. Have a plan.
Study up on how to make your own pasta and bread using absolutely only the bare essentials. Use sourdough for bread and you don't need to stock up on yeast! Save every bone to make nutritious broths with.
If still there is not enough food for everyone, we will have to move out to the grandparents 80 acre ranch, which sounds better anyhow, except there is no house. There is a small shed or two, but both are infested with rats. Still, if that were to be the best option, we would be wise to have a little bulding plan and enough money set aside to build it; even a 20 x 20 ft shack would suffice. Then there would be plenty of space for a garden and animals (even a cow!), and there is even a well for fresh water!
In any case, have a plan. Where are you going to live? How will you get drinkable water? How will you have enough food.
For light, I am stocking up on candles, and kerosene for my oil lamp. I will purchase an Aladdin lamp if I can afford to.
I will also keep a good supply of baking soda (25 lbs) and vinegar and homemade soap for cleaning home, clothes, and body.
I also plan keeping a bolt of denim and a bolt of muslin fabric and plenty of thread and needles to take keep my growing children clothed, as humbly as it may be.
In addition to the essentials, I plan on keeping my favoite wall picture and embroidered table cloth to add some cherryness.
All we can do is prepare to our best ability, and then trust God for the rest!
In light of the fact that the U.S. has a major depression coming its way, I am curious as to the price of a Jersey cow. Does anyone know what I might expect to pay for a good Jersey? Also, where might I find one? I live in Colorado, but we mostly have meat cows here.
I hope you all are also preparing for the financial trials ahead. The parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 has been the Lords prod to me! Not that I'm suggesting that this is the end of the world, but we are to always be prepared for everything. My current favorite quote is "Over prepare, then go with the flow!"
If you haven't already heard, the "the first thing" Obama says he's going to do in office is sign the "Freedom of Choice Act" which will open the floodgates in favor of abortion. Please, sign this petition to prevent his ability to do so!
Monday, November 10, 2008 - Easy Creamy One-pot Mac 'n Cheese
Homemade mac 'n cheese is one of our family's favorite meals. Here is our current favorite mac 'n cheese recipe.
Easy Creamy One-pot Mac 'n Cheese
4 c. (1 lb) uncooked elbow noodles
1 lb sharp cheddar, grated
1 c. milk
Fill a large pot half way with water and bring to a boil. Add noodles and cook until soft. Drain cooked noodles and return to hot pot quickly. Pour in milk and stir in cheese. Put lid on pot (stove should be off, just use residual heat from the pot) for 10 minutes. Stir well and serve!
Hubby filled both of his deer tags last weekend! Both are does, and one of them was the size of a buck. She had so much fat on her we could hardly believe it. She was sure ready for winter. We decided to process them ourselves. In the past we have always taken our game to a processor, but we thought we would try to save some money by learning to do it ourselves. Surprisingly, there was not much to learn! You just start cutting meat off the animal and don't stop 'til it's done! We ended up with about 100 lbs of meat!!! Praise the Lord!!! We could have gotten more, but it would have taken a lot of time to be so nit-picky to get every single little tiny scrap of meat. I bought 10 lbs of suet from our local all natural meat store to mix in with the ground meat. We have enough suet left over to add to our elk if hubby fills his bull tag next week. Part of me really wants him to get his elk, and part of me thinks that's being awefully greedy, but it sure would be nice to not have to worry about meat for a whole year!
I am looking for a used Nutri-mill grain grinder for a friend of mine. She is looking for one that holds 12 cups. Do any of you know where she might be able to get one?
I used to have a "Catagories" section on my last template, but I can't figure out how to write code to put one on this template. Can someone message me with some code to put Catagories in my sidebar?
I've had a broken tooth for about seven years now. I know, tsk, tsk! But it has never given me a problem until a couple of weeks ago, and then it was unbearable! So I went in to the dentist knowing they would either have to pull it or do a root canal. My dentist is wonderful. He and everyone one else in the office are Christians and they are all so nice. My tooth was really, really bad so quite a bit of work had to be done for the root canal, but they numbed me up really well, and I didn't have any pain. What's more remarkable is that I am still in no pain. I'm soooo relieved and it feels weird to have a whole tooth there again!
1. Do you have magnets on your fridge? Yes, only two.They hold up my weekly menu.
2. Do you have a calendar in your kitchen, if so, what's the theme of it? Yes, horses.
3. What is your favorite kitchen gadget or tool? My wooden spoons!!!
4. Are you lucky enough to have a pantry of some kind? No ;-(.
5.What is your favorite appliance? My crock pot.
6. Do you have an eat in kitchen (table in it)? No, we have a dining room, but the kitchen is big enough for a table and chairs!
7.Do you have a bread box? No, but I would love one.
8. Do you have a picture of your kids on the fridge? No, I don’t like anything on my fridge if I can help it.
9. Do you ever cook breakfast in your PJs? Rarely.If I don’t get dressed first think in the morning, I tend to fall behind all day.
10. Do you have a favorite cookbook that you use? Better Homes and Gardens
11. Are you lucky enough to have recipes that were passed down from your mom or grandma? Yes, from both mine and my husband’s sides of the family.
12. Whats your favorite food? Mexican, in general.
13. Whats your favorite thing to cook? To be honest, I don’t really care for cooking that much, but I sure love the smell of a freshly baked loaf of bread, so I’ll have to go with that.
14. Is your coffee pot electric or stove top? Electric.
15. Do you ever make your own bread? Yes, oh yes.
16. Name one thing that you have hanging on your wall in your kitchen. Awooden tray
17. Is there a clock in your kitchen? Just on the oven and microwave, not a wall clock
18. Do you have a bowl of fruit sitting on your table or counter? No
19. What type of canisters do you have? Glass with wooden lids.
20. Does your kitchen have a theme? Not really, but I have red gingam curtains over the window and cast iron skillets hanging on the wall.I guess that’s sort of a theme.Just sorta country-ish.
21. What's for supper tonight? Salmon patties, green beans, and pesto
22. Do you have enough cabinet space? Yes
23. Does your family use paper plates? On Sunday, I take the night off from dishes!
24. Do you have a good set of china picked up? Yes, but it’s not a complete set
25. Do you wear an apron to work in your kitchen? Not very often, but I have some really wonderful aprons that I should wear more!
26. Name one thing, if anything, that you would like to change about your kitchen. That my walls were taped and bedded instead of having seems.
I made a soup for lunch yesterday and my entire family loved it. I thought I'd share the recipe; it is very fall-ish.
Cream of Corn Soup
5 c. frozen corn, thawed
1 1/2 c. chickn broth (or water with bullion)
Blend together in a blender until there are only some little tiny bits of corn.
4 T. butter
1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 c. chicken broth (or water with bullion)
2 c. milk
Melt the butter in a large sauce pan and stir in the flour until smooth. Stir in broth and milk and continue to stir over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Stir in the corn mixture and heat until hot. Serve with crackers or bread!
You can do the same recipe with 4 c. canned pupkin instead of corn and add a little ginger or nutmeg for seasoning. Either way it makes a delicious fall soup.
Considering all that is going on in the U.S. right now and with the E.U. my daily Scripture memory verses seemed quite apt and I thought I'd share them.
Hebrews 12:3 "Consider him [Jesus] who suffered such opposition from evil man so that you will not grow weary and loose heart."
Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
Hebrews 10:24,25 "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, and let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another all the more as you see the day approaching."
The problems there would be water since they are on city water, which might not remain available, and food. There are a few creeks nearby where we could draw plenty of water from. 
