Monday, December 3, 2012
Monday, November 26, 2012
Our Past Week...
We had a
Wonderfully Peaceful and Yummy Thanksgiving.
I have been trying out a lot of new recipes and they have been fantastic! Trying to eat as healthy as possible, by making as much as I can from scratch. Speaking from scratch, I am proud to say that I made everything from scratch for Thanksgiving dinner except the bread that I used in my stuffing. My brother in law was kind enough to point that out for me. Thank you Chris. I was proud of myself. I think that is the most "from scratch" I had ever made at once.
Let's see what else.. The goats are ornery as ever. Two more weeks and we will know if Goat Love was successful. Fingers crossed! Homeschooling is coming along quite nicely. Landon loves it and so do we! He amazes me everyday! He is reading so well, and learning so fast. It is really incredible to see, and we have so much fun! Here are a ton of photos from our week!!
Hoping you have a beautiful week!
I have been trying out a lot of new recipes and they have been fantastic! Trying to eat as healthy as possible, by making as much as I can from scratch. Speaking from scratch, I am proud to say that I made everything from scratch for Thanksgiving dinner except the bread that I used in my stuffing. My brother in law was kind enough to point that out for me. Thank you Chris. I was proud of myself. I think that is the most "from scratch" I had ever made at once.
Let's see what else.. The goats are ornery as ever. Two more weeks and we will know if Goat Love was successful. Fingers crossed! Homeschooling is coming along quite nicely. Landon loves it and so do we! He amazes me everyday! He is reading so well, and learning so fast. It is really incredible to see, and we have so much fun! Here are a ton of photos from our week!!
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| There was some air guitar! |
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| Veggies are growing nicely in cold frame |
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| Yes, the lettuce is yummy! |
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| Granola, notice the little hand! |
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| Granola in jar. |
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| This kid loves the oven light! |
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| Root Vegetable Casserole. Beets, Sweet Potatoes, Yukon Gold Potatoes. Yum! |
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| Helping make breakfast. |
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| Baked Fruit, so wonderfully yummy! Apples, blueberries, cinnamon and honey at 350 for 40 mins! |
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| Thanksgiving Apple Pie |
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| Homemade rolls |
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| Night Milking |
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Our Past Week
Fall. My favorite time of year. All of the leaves are almost gone, Halloween has past, and now you will hear Christmas Music everywhere you go for the next two months. Deer Season is here. Campfires, smores, chili, and hopefully Husband's hunting is as good as last years and he will tag a few for the freezer.
I decided to dig and pot up a few herbs out of the garden last week. The basil and dill had grown from seeds from this year. I dug up parsley, oregano, thyme and sweet marjoram. I have sage growing too, but didn't pot it up. Now for an awesome surprise... I found a tomato seed growing in my potting soil. It had turned into a beautiful plant. Now, hoping to grow it out this winter/provide enough heat and light. :)
Painting more signs as time allows.
The other day, I was determined to find the seed we lacked. I went to the first stop. The owner looked at me like crazy when I asked him for seed. He then handed me a 10lb bag of peas, and two very full packs of lettuce and spinach and said "Here, no charge!" I was ecstatic! He said he probably had swiss chard and mustard in the back, but he wasn't for sure. I walked to my car,drove to the garden store in town... no seeds. Okay. Then I drove right back to the same store I was just in. I went inside determined to get someone to go in the back room and sell me some seed. So, with a smile I accomplished my goal! Chard and Mustard just as he said. One more stop to make, and then we had kale! All of this you see in the photo cost me only $1.84! How amazing is that...
With two does back in heat, and one child buck who only wants to love on one of them, hopefully we will be pregnant this time around. We will see.
This last week everyone here has had a horrible cough, and colds being spread. Hopefully it is on its way out of the house. One very smashed toe, and a dog who has found a fondness for our lovely chickens. What to do?
Two of our turkey hens are sleeping elsewhere at night. Coming home first thing in the morning for food, and then gone all day? Maybe she is roosting out we thought, so the boys and I decided that we were going on a hunting adventure. After we were in the woods it dawned on me that I had never found a turkeys nest in the forest before, and that I probably wasn't going to find hers either. Maybe if we followed her one morning, but time for that hasn't came around yet. Until next time..
I decided to dig and pot up a few herbs out of the garden last week. The basil and dill had grown from seeds from this year. I dug up parsley, oregano, thyme and sweet marjoram. I have sage growing too, but didn't pot it up. Now for an awesome surprise... I found a tomato seed growing in my potting soil. It had turned into a beautiful plant. Now, hoping to grow it out this winter/provide enough heat and light. :)
Painting more signs as time allows.
The other day, I was determined to find the seed we lacked. I went to the first stop. The owner looked at me like crazy when I asked him for seed. He then handed me a 10lb bag of peas, and two very full packs of lettuce and spinach and said "Here, no charge!" I was ecstatic! He said he probably had swiss chard and mustard in the back, but he wasn't for sure. I walked to my car,drove to the garden store in town... no seeds. Okay. Then I drove right back to the same store I was just in. I went inside determined to get someone to go in the back room and sell me some seed. So, with a smile I accomplished my goal! Chard and Mustard just as he said. One more stop to make, and then we had kale! All of this you see in the photo cost me only $1.84! How amazing is that...
With two does back in heat, and one child buck who only wants to love on one of them, hopefully we will be pregnant this time around. We will see.
This last week everyone here has had a horrible cough, and colds being spread. Hopefully it is on its way out of the house. One very smashed toe, and a dog who has found a fondness for our lovely chickens. What to do?
Two of our turkey hens are sleeping elsewhere at night. Coming home first thing in the morning for food, and then gone all day? Maybe she is roosting out we thought, so the boys and I decided that we were going on a hunting adventure. After we were in the woods it dawned on me that I had never found a turkeys nest in the forest before, and that I probably wasn't going to find hers either. Maybe if we followed her one morning, but time for that hasn't came around yet. Until next time..
Saturday, October 27, 2012
The Last Few Days...
Last few days here at our farm have been splendid. Landon has officially declared his secret hideaway. Kingston and I were allowed to come see it based on the promise that we tell no one. He he!
We went to our first official Homeschool Coop, not really a coop but get together and socialize play day. We had a great time, made new friends and can't wait to go back next week. Thank you to our local librarian and feed store friends for making the connection.
Nursing our greens daily. We now have Mesclun, Lettuce, Turnips, Radishes and Kohl Rabi sprouted. I forgot to pick up the rest of the seeds we need to finish our planting but hopefully I will remember next trip.
We rented a space at The Factory in Farmington, MO to sell our homemade goods! We are completely excited! The people were so nice, helpful and welcoming. I believe we have the best booth location that you can have there!!! I will keep you posted on this!
We had our weekly library trip.
Grandpa T. along with the girls break out of their inside pens every other day it seems, so we are leaving them in communal living until we get Grandpa T's Casa built. Also, after much learning about goat breeding first hand this year. I hope that the goat love was successful. We will know in about two more weeks, no heat = babies. Will keep you posted on this as well!
What is this gorgeous greenery that you see growing in the ground you ask? Well my friends that is our green manure, red and yellow clover. Soil building at its finest!
I had lunch with a long time friend of mine yesterday. It was nice. The conversation took me through an array of emotions, only to secure the everyday grateful feeling that I have for choosing to live my life, our family's life, the way we do. Simple, off the land, homeschooled, self-employed. Just a lot of fresh air and room to be ourselves. I love it! Makes Me smile!
Hope you have a magical and peaceful weekend!
We went to our first official Homeschool Coop, not really a coop but get together and socialize play day. We had a great time, made new friends and can't wait to go back next week. Thank you to our local librarian and feed store friends for making the connection.
Nursing our greens daily. We now have Mesclun, Lettuce, Turnips, Radishes and Kohl Rabi sprouted. I forgot to pick up the rest of the seeds we need to finish our planting but hopefully I will remember next trip.
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| Turnips |
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| Mesclun |
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| Radishes |
We rented a space at The Factory in Farmington, MO to sell our homemade goods! We are completely excited! The people were so nice, helpful and welcoming. I believe we have the best booth location that you can have there!!! I will keep you posted on this!
We had our weekly library trip.
Grandpa T. along with the girls break out of their inside pens every other day it seems, so we are leaving them in communal living until we get Grandpa T's Casa built. Also, after much learning about goat breeding first hand this year. I hope that the goat love was successful. We will know in about two more weeks, no heat = babies. Will keep you posted on this as well!
What is this gorgeous greenery that you see growing in the ground you ask? Well my friends that is our green manure, red and yellow clover. Soil building at its finest!
I had lunch with a long time friend of mine yesterday. It was nice. The conversation took me through an array of emotions, only to secure the everyday grateful feeling that I have for choosing to live my life, our family's life, the way we do. Simple, off the land, homeschooled, self-employed. Just a lot of fresh air and room to be ourselves. I love it! Makes Me smile!
Hope you have a magical and peaceful weekend!
Saturday Story
Over my morning cup of coffee and daily news search I ran across this article. Thought I would share. I hope you like it. I think it is a beautiful story, but the best part is the reality of a healthy lifestyle. It is very inspiring, and full of reassurance, for me anyways. Enjoy!
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/magazine/the-island-where-people-forget-to-die.html?_r=1&smid=tw-share
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/magazine/the-island-where-people-forget-to-die.html?_r=1&smid=tw-share
Friday, October 26, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
October Happenings
Yesterday was a busy day for us. We put the new top on the greenhouse, made some beds, which required two wheel barrel loads of rocks being relocated.
We planted leeks, radishes, mesclun, loose leaf lettuce, carrots, leeks, peas, turnips and kohl rabi.
I know it might not look like much, bet there is a whole lot going on in that soil.
Homemade pizza is always nice.
We recently started making birdhouses and signs from a barn that Steve tore down this summer. Let me know what you think. We are renting a spot in The Factory in Farmington this week to sell them. Wish us luck!
I was out doing the evening chores and guess what I found? Turkey Egg! Soon we will have to arrange a nesting area for those ladies!
With the unbelievably awesome weather we are experiencing, we are enjoying every minute of it we can.
We planted leeks, radishes, mesclun, loose leaf lettuce, carrots, leeks, peas, turnips and kohl rabi.
I know it might not look like much, bet there is a whole lot going on in that soil.
We recently started making birdhouses and signs from a barn that Steve tore down this summer. Let me know what you think. We are renting a spot in The Factory in Farmington this week to sell them. Wish us luck!
I was out doing the evening chores and guess what I found? Turkey Egg! Soon we will have to arrange a nesting area for those ladies!
With the unbelievably awesome weather we are experiencing, we are enjoying every minute of it we can.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Our Summer Update
Where to begin. It has been some time since my last post. Many, many wonderful things have happened here at the farm. We mostly learned alot of lessons here our first year out. We grew a ton of tomatoes, canned some spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce, which by the way takes many many hours.
Most of our tomatoes however, went somewhere other than my harvest baskets. They were invaded and sabotaged by nothing more than our own chickens. No seriously, I have never grown this many tomatoes and who knew that 30 chickens and a couple turkeys could wipe you out. I was able to sell absolutely none at the farmers market. We planted 300 plants, give or take a few. Everyday it was like I was punched in the gut. I hated those chickens, and cursed them everyday. We ran out of money for garden fence and well, we learned our lesson there. Oh, and our tomatillos were very abundant as well. Until they reached full maturity and then they turned into a jungle that I couldn't even walk through. I planted them exactly as I read, however that didn't work out. Yet again, lesson learned.
The goats are doing wonderful. We did have scare with Red, she turned very ill. We fought mastitis for almost a month, two vet visits later, we dried her up. She is happy and healthy now, couldn't be better. I am now experiencing goat breeding for the first time. The girls have been in and out of heat, and well baby goat isn't all the way there yet if you know what I mean. He is just over 4 months old. He tries and keeps trying but no finish. If we go through one more heat cycle and no luck then I believe that we will be in search for man buck.
Our greenhouse covers went to pot. They were polywoven and every little piece of plastic popped out of both tops. No roof means no greenhouse. We didn't even have them for a year and they went bad. Next time 6ml poly. Luckily, when we first got the greenhouses this year, one had a faulty zipper, so I called the company and they shipped me a new cover. I had three, now just one. We put that cover on today in hopes for winter greens.
We grew 400 mums this year. Another lesson learned. Not that I have a hard time growing mums, just that Free range turkeys really like to dig out the plants and destroy them, almost all of them. Another punch in the gut feeling. We did manage to sell a few. We will be planting the rest of them and digging them up for next year.
Our beloved Max is no longer with us. He never came back one day. So, we found and adopted Cedar our new dog. He is wonderful and full of life, we love him very much.
Our chickens being the little destructive dinosaurs that they are are doing wonderful and laying anywhere from 15 to 18 eggs daily.
Besides utter destruction I do have to report that our little flock of turkeys are doing wonderful. Steve harvested two of them and they are now resting comfortably in the freezer for Thanksgiving and family Christmas. I can't wait to eat them. Trust me.
We renovated our cellar. Washed every single jar in the place. Steve deserves the credit here.
Added new nesting boxes for the chickens. Tilled new ground and planted green manure.
We are now getting ready for winter, closing down, sort of. We are lucky to still have one greenhouse in production. We are planting tomorrow, better late than never.
We are now enjoying this glorious fall.
Most of our tomatoes however, went somewhere other than my harvest baskets. They were invaded and sabotaged by nothing more than our own chickens. No seriously, I have never grown this many tomatoes and who knew that 30 chickens and a couple turkeys could wipe you out. I was able to sell absolutely none at the farmers market. We planted 300 plants, give or take a few. Everyday it was like I was punched in the gut. I hated those chickens, and cursed them everyday. We ran out of money for garden fence and well, we learned our lesson there. Oh, and our tomatillos were very abundant as well. Until they reached full maturity and then they turned into a jungle that I couldn't even walk through. I planted them exactly as I read, however that didn't work out. Yet again, lesson learned.
The goats are doing wonderful. We did have scare with Red, she turned very ill. We fought mastitis for almost a month, two vet visits later, we dried her up. She is happy and healthy now, couldn't be better. I am now experiencing goat breeding for the first time. The girls have been in and out of heat, and well baby goat isn't all the way there yet if you know what I mean. He is just over 4 months old. He tries and keeps trying but no finish. If we go through one more heat cycle and no luck then I believe that we will be in search for man buck.
Our greenhouse covers went to pot. They were polywoven and every little piece of plastic popped out of both tops. No roof means no greenhouse. We didn't even have them for a year and they went bad. Next time 6ml poly. Luckily, when we first got the greenhouses this year, one had a faulty zipper, so I called the company and they shipped me a new cover. I had three, now just one. We put that cover on today in hopes for winter greens.
We grew 400 mums this year. Another lesson learned. Not that I have a hard time growing mums, just that Free range turkeys really like to dig out the plants and destroy them, almost all of them. Another punch in the gut feeling. We did manage to sell a few. We will be planting the rest of them and digging them up for next year.
Our beloved Max is no longer with us. He never came back one day. So, we found and adopted Cedar our new dog. He is wonderful and full of life, we love him very much.
Our chickens being the little destructive dinosaurs that they are are doing wonderful and laying anywhere from 15 to 18 eggs daily.
We renovated our cellar. Washed every single jar in the place. Steve deserves the credit here.
Added new nesting boxes for the chickens. Tilled new ground and planted green manure.
We are now getting ready for winter, closing down, sort of. We are lucky to still have one greenhouse in production. We are planting tomorrow, better late than never.
We are now enjoying this glorious fall.
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