one acre homestead

Everything but the kitchen sink...

2012-01-28T14:48:00.001-08:00

My parents live at my granny & grandpa's old homestead. They've built a new home there and they use granny's old house as storage. Years ago, after my grandparents had both passed on, vandals broke into their home and stole many things, even the wood stove. We were so sad to loose all those family heirlooms, but I was thrilled when I discovered that granny's enameled cast iron kitchen sink was still in the house!

My dad & hubby got the sink out so that I could build a garden sink & resurrect granny's beloved farm sink. Have you seen any amazing garden sinks? Outdoor kitchen sinks? I'd love to see some links!

The best wheat pasture in town...

2012-01-27T17:32:00.001-08:00

I do believe that I accidentally discovered a great way to cultivate a wheat pasture! My girls had a little sunflower house in this spot so I scattered some wheat hay for them to make it more cozy. As temperatures cooled, beautiful dark green wheat began growing.

The hens just love this little patch of green and nibbling in it keeps their yolks dark orange and tasty (unlike those sad pale store eggs). Maybe we need to plan an accidental wheat pasture every year!

Hens...

2012-01-26T21:09:00.001-08:00

We bought these two ladies full grown and laying...don't think I'll ever try chicks again! It was so nice to bring them home and have two gorgeous eggs the very next day! I'm not sure of the breeds, but I'd love to hear your input about that. The black one has a beautiful green shimmer to her feathers so the 9 year old named her "Beetle". The white one was named "Feathered Friend" by the 7 year old. They have been champion layers all winter, unlike winters past when we've gone to the nesting box each day to find it empty. They are also very quiet, no loud announcements of new eggs or anything, just those sweet soft clucks of happy hens.

Fresh ground cornmeal...

2011-12-13T19:42:00.001-08:00

Having a flour mill offers lots of opportunities outside of just grinding wheat flour. Tonight I'm grinding corn and wheat to make Avocado Pound Cake! If you haven't discovered this recipe, you MUsT try it! Dee-lish! Just go to Joy the Baker's blog & give it a try...you won't be dissapointed!

Our Wee Horse

2011-11-27T18:07:00.001-08:00

While we were back home for Thanksgiving, we got to see the wee horse. She is pregnant & due in April! Brownie had to be moved to a family pasture because of the severe drought here & a lack of good grass for our special lil mama. Hoping she can return to Willow Run before the birth.

Carrots in a Bottle

2011-11-17T14:19:00.001-08:00

A few day ago I posted about our experiment with planting carrots in empty pop bottles. The theory is that you will be able to watch some of them grow. Here's what our little carrots look like today! We are up to 3 bottles and I plan to add more as we get empties.

Juicing!

2011-11-17T14:06:00.001-08:00

A juicing before and after! The chickens get the trimmings and the pulp.

A juicing plan...

2011-11-14T15:33:00.001-08:00

I have a wonderful juicer, but I realized that I haven't been juicing regularly lately...okay, I haven't juiced AT ALL in the past 6 months!! There, you made me face the dark, ugly truth!

So, I have a new plan. I will juice enough to fill a quart jar every morning and drink the whole jar each day.

Day 1 - this juice contains one mango, three apples, two celery stalks, two large carrots, and one pear. I also send the pulp through twice to be sure to squeeze out all the moisture.

Potpourri for Free!

2011-11-14T07:32:00.001-08:00

Made a beautiful fruit salad for church potluck yesterday! As I was peeling & coring fruits I threw all those bits into a sauce pan to simmer with a cinnamon stick. Humidifies a dry winter house and makes it smell heavenly! Try it next time you have some apple cores and orange peels!

Bountiful Baskets

2011-11-13T19:00:00.001-08:00

My friends, do yourself a favor and check out BountifulBaskets.com! This was our basket for this week with an added fruit package. All this was $25...no kidding!! Our local delivery comes every other week, and I plan our meals and snacks around the contents of our baskets to be sure I use every teeny bit of yumminess.

A little something...

2011-11-09T20:53:00.001-08:00

The girls planted carrots in these pop bottles so we can watch them growing beneath the soil. I think I'm just as giddy to check our experiment each morning as they are!

Irrigation

2011-11-09T06:03:00.001-08:00

As we problem solve our way through this past summer's challenges, one thing we know for sure is that our garden is too large to hand water in excessive heat & drought conditions. We've decided to design an irrigation system to make the task of watering more efficient.

As Homestead Man works through a plan involving PVC pipe and sprinkler heads, built in an above ground grid, the 9-year-old is coming up with her own underground system. The drawing below shows recycled bottles with holes punctured to allow water to slowly leak out. The bottles are connected with pipe so they can be filled in one above ground inlet. Pretty clever, huh?

Fall is for Baking!

2011-11-07T12:39:00.001-08:00

Anyone else have an irresistible urge to bake this time of year? I always pop overripe bananas in the freezer in their skin then thaw them and squeeze out the banana (toothpaste style) when I am ready to bake this banana bread. I added 1/4 cup of wheat germ in the batter and sprinkled a bit on top to boost the nutritional value. Add in pecans grown on a family tree, and you've got a treat you don't have to feel quite so badly about!

News from the Coop!

2011-11-07T07:39:00.001-08:00

We have exciting news! After a long run of bad chicken luck and a short break from birds, we went to a local farm and picked out two brand new healthy, happy hens for the hen house! I can honestly say that we have learned how valuable these ladies are to the homestead over the past few months of eggless existence. We bought local eggs, but it wasn't the same.

There's something quite wonderful about walking out to gather eggs, greeting the hens and stroking their lovely feathers, and cracking open a fresh egg with a rich orange yolk, laid just hours before. We know our hens are happy, that they can munch on grasshoppers and green grass all day long, they spend their mornings scratching through a pile of hay nibbling the grains. Hearing them coo to each other while they peck along the dirt is so calming. We've just missed having them around so much!

Meet Beetle, our lovely Black Australorp, named for her iridescent feathers and Feathered Friend, our Columbian Wyandotte, named by the 7-year-old. Beetle seemed happy with her new diggs...she laid a gigantic brown egg just one hour after arriving here at the OAH.

Lessons Learned

2011-09-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

My dear friend over at Watsourced has been making some amazing lists on her blog this past week. She inspired me to give it a try, so here goes.

Through this summer of drought and unbelievable heat, we learned many things here at the OAH:

We do not have a realistic plan for watering an acre of garden, orchard, and ornamental plants when rain is non-existent.

The rain barrel is only good if it rains at least once a month. With the slope of our roof, even a small rain will fill the barrel. Considering the addition of at least one more rain barrel.

Bunnies and chickens do not handle the heat well. We need a backup plan to keep them cool. I've heard some people suggest freezing excess squash and zucchini and putting these in as a sort of herbivore popsicle...faced with another extreme summer, we'll certainly give this a try.

Cats are a necessity around a homestead. Tex has kept our yard free of mice and rats (yes, you read that right) and he's made sure we are aware of all his hard work by leaving their remains RIGHT beside the front door. In fact, he's such a great mouser, he sometimes goes across the street to neighbors' homes to hunt there as well. Gotta love him!

Ornamental grasses are TOUGH! We planted some purple fountain grass and it is beautiful despite all that this summer has thrown at it.

While an in-ground pool is not in keeping with our steps to a more sustainable lifestyle, it is a great moralle boost during an almost unbearable summer.

With all my country girl-ness, I still cannot handle snakes. I cannot choose to respect a "good" snake...they ALL give me an instinctual reaction of fear that is overwhelming.

We need to dig out the ponds out at Willow Run. They need to be deeper to maintain water levels and keep fish alive through a drought, but this costs thousands of dollars, so that will have to wait a bit.

I am a quitter. I feel like I gave up on the garden too early and that I might have been able to save some of it if I'd just given more effort. This disappointments me more than words can say.

The Desert?

2011-07-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

In the interest of "keepin' it real," I'm going to share something with you that I'm ashamed of. Are you ready? Prepare yourselves...

Now, before you cut my blog from your reading list, please let me explain. Our area is officially 12" below the normal rainfall for the year...combine that with a record number of days over 100 degrees, WAY over 100 in fact, we're regularly seeing temps like 108 and 111 degrees...and you get the veggie garden pictured above. :( I have no doubts in my mind that some of you could have done a much better job of saving this garden, but Homestead Man and I had to make some tough decisions regarding the time and water available and what we wanted to save on our acre.

When watering restrictions began in our area, we used the water stored in the rain barrel for a time, but of course that dried up as well. We have fruit trees, blackberries, and perennials planted here on our acre that have taken years to establish. We decided that those needed to take priority over the veggie garden when watering. In addition, we have the dogs, cats, bunnies, chickens, horses and cattle that needed us. I've been taking out ice water to the bunnies and chickens every day and trying to train them to get in their ice water bowls to cool down. Even with this, we lost all three laying hens to the heat and have had to begin our flock again with two baby chicks.

The situation out at Willow Run (our land that is apart from our home acre) is even worse. The ponds have all but dried up and it looks like we'll loose all the fish that were stocked there years ago. When it finally rains we'll have to restock everything. For now we're hauling water out to the horses and cows, but we've decided to pay the cost of running water lines out there with the Coop for a dependable source of water for the livestock.

It has occurred to me that if we were in the prairie days, we would not have survived this summer. That's a pretty sobering thought. I hope and pray that this is the most severe summer we will ever see, but we have learned some valuable lessons that I will be sharing in the next few weeks. We do have some ornamental plants that have fared pretty well and we know that we need to concentrate more on mulching the veggie beds. We're already planning a fall garden with the hopes that the weather will even out a bit soon.

I can't bear to leave you with the image above, so let me share a little bright spot from our acre.

The Rose Moss is loving the heat and drought!

Taaa Daaa!!!

2011-05-13T11:21:00.001-07:00

Remember how I was telling you about our backyard makeover and I showed you this terrible picture of our backyard?

Well, you are not going to even believe what it looks like now! Check it out!

All the brickwork (which is amazing) was done with recycled bricks from downtown Oklahoma City. I love so much that they have history and that we saved them from the landfill. Check out the one in the firepit with writing on the edge...so cool!
I love the waterfall we were able to add and the jump rock (kid approved!). Going to the Home and Garden Show really paid off because we were able to do all this for the same price of a concrete pool with no extras. The pool is salt water which keeps it much more wildlife friendly.

We've had lots of birds stopping by for a drink from the waterfall. I'll try to catch some pictures of them soon. We had an Egret perched up there this morning and it looked so cool! He flew off just as I grabbed the camera.

I'm so thankful that we found Loch Ness Pools because we got so much more than a pool...we got an amazing new living space that we will be enjoying almost year round! I can't wait to try out the fire pit and have a late night pool party with s'mores and the pool lights glowing! I can't even believe this is my backyard! If you're thinking about adding a pool, I'd certainly recommend Lowell. If you call up Loch Ness Pools, be sure to let him know that One Acre Homestead sent you!

Garden Helpers

2011-03-06T15:17:00.001-08:00

Besides my two sweet girlies and occasionaly Homestead Man, I have some other garden helpers I employ. Bunnies are fantastic for lightening fast composting! We give veggie peelings, roots, grass clippings, carrot tops, etc. to our bunnies and voila...by the end of the day (it seems!) there is a pile of fantastic fertilizer just waiting to be added to the garden! Here's our newest worker...we call him Stormy:

Also, if you recall, last summer I purchased two Praying Mantis egg cases online and we hatched them near our garden. It was so much fun to see all those tiny Mantis babies crawling around our garden and they eat all kinds of pesky pests, doncha know!? Anywho...I'd decided that we would order them each summer and had already searched a few websites looking for a good deal. Then, one day when we were planting peas in the garden I looked up on the pea trellises and saw THIS:

Yep, one of our mantis mamas decided that our humble garden would be a fantastic place for her babies to begin their lives! We are so excited and so flattered! We can't wait to welcome a new batch of mantis babies into our garden this summer!

Of course, our two chickens are some of the greatest garden helpers...but they deserve a post all their own! Stay tuned!

Good News and Bad News...

2011-03-03T08:26:00.000-08:00

Well...which do you want first? The good news or the bad? Yeah, I always go for the good first, too! Well, the fruit trees are blooming like crazy here on the OAH. Check out these pictures:

The little plum tree that we planted last year is in full bloom.

Here's a shot of the pear tree where you can see all the swollen little blooms. Do these remind anyone else of pregnancy? Maybe my mind just romances those months with my girls growing in my tummy, but I always equate the excitement and joy of pregnancy with this stage of my trees...when those buds are all swollen and ready to release their flowers and new leaves at any time.

Here are the blooms on the pear tree...I think they'll be opening fully tomorrow or Saturday.

The peach trees' blooms are so pretty when they open. Here they are preparing for their debut.

The apricot tree will be blooming soon as well.

The bad news? Oh, yeah...I was enjoying the good news so much I almost forgot! Well...our last frost date is generally April 15. If we get another hard frost with the fruit trees blooming that will mean no fruit this year. I'm really trying to remember Matthew 6:34 right now!

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. Matthew 6:34 (The Message)

Do you think we'll have another hard frost...or worse one of those freak spring snows? Our first fruit trees will be three years old this summer, so we'll soon have a variety of home grown fruits, but it may not be this year. Time will tell.

It's HERE!!

2011-02-19T19:43:00.000-08:00

Lowell from Loch Ness Pools came by today to bring us the drawing he created of our new backyard! Check it out! We can't wait to see it all come to life!

We've asked for some outdoor cooking options to be applied to the fire pit...really excited about that area. Lowell mentioned providing them with any special objects we would like worked into the design of the fire pit, so I need to go out to the flower beds and dig out all our special vacation rocks we always bring home after a trip. What a perfect way to use them and revisit all those great memories!

We'll be talking trees, shrubs, and ornamental grasses soon, and I'll be sure to share all the details with you.

Ground cover with benefits...

2011-02-09T06:29:00.000-08:00

When we moved into this house, I made the decision that I concentrate my gardening efforts on plants that produce food for our family. We've learned a lot along the way & had our most productive season ever last year. One idea that has surprised me was the thought that I could plant strawberries as ground cover. Why not? They have nice broad leaves that shade the soil, they spread quickly, and they are beautiful even in the winter in our zone. Check out the bright red leaves they wear during their off season:

These were planted two years ago and I continue to take starts of them to fill other beds around our property. Here's an area that's just getting started:

This is in our front yard, just off the sidewalk that leads to our front door. Other areas of this bed are so thick with strawberries that I harvested 3 gallon bags full of berries this year! I'm so pleased with the results, I've ordered 50 more strawberry plants for a brand new bed we built this winter. Try it...I bet you'll be sold on the idea, too!

Talk about having your work cut out for you!!

2011-01-30T14:22:00.000-08:00

We recently met with Lowell Brauser, the owner of Loch Ness Pools in Oklahoma City. He's one of the people we spoke with at the OKC Home and Garden Show and we were really impressed with what he had to say about backyards and pools. He expressed his desire to be sure a pool is really integrated into a backyard...I believe he said something like "making it look like it had been there forever." You guys know what he's talking about, right? Some pools look like they were stuck in the middle of the yard with a few feet of decking around them. Well, those were not installed by Loch Ness...Lowell is a guy who knows his trees, plants, and landscaping!

Anywho...back to our story...Lowell came out to our home and checked out the yard where we want to install a pool. This is what he saw:

I know...disturbing, isn't it?

All those pretty pictures we post come from what we eloquently call "the back-back yard." It's just beyond that little picket fence. That's where we've invested our time building beds, planting blackberries and fruit trees, and creating a veggie garden. I've never showed you this part of the yard, but it is high time we are honest with each other, isn't it? Let's hear it for keepin' it real!

The section of yard you see in the pictures has always been home to our male dog. He is a stud dog with typical stud dog issues...he likes to mark his territory, dig holes, and chew trees...but we love him so we keep him around. ;-) He'll soon be moving to a newly fenced area just off our "pool yard!" Oh, and the broken trampoline? Well, there's a funny story about that which involves a sound "I told you so!" to sweet Homestead Man...maybe I'll tell you that story someday. Not sure if we'll replace it, but it is most certainly a goner.

Lowell showed us some amazing pictures and laid out all the options his company offers in landscaping and pool installation. During our consultation we laid out a plan that just amazes me...with a retaining wall, dyed and stamped concrete, a beautiful pool, and a waterfall! I'll keep you up to date with the process as we move forward, and I know we'll all be amazed by Loch Ness Pool's work. If they can transform this yard, they can make any yard beautiful, right?

Oklahoma City Home and Garden Show

2011-01-23T16:56:00.000-08:00

This weekend our little quartet loaded up and headed to the city...Oklahoma City, that is! We are hoping to add a large water feature to our garden this year in the form of a swimming pool with a small waterfall and desperately needed to gather ideas and information from area pool companies. As usual, the H&G show is full of more garden inspiration than anyone could possibly implement in one year, so my head has been spinning ever since...but let me give you a few highlights. I'm going to save the pool info for another day (or days), but here are a few other sights to share!

Looking around at all the featured plants, it occurred to me that I LOVE weeping trees...of all shapes and sizes! The problem is that I don't have even ONE weeping anything on this acre or out at our land! We'll have to remedy that this year. Any suggestions on weeping trees that perform really well here in Oklahoma?

Secondly, I'd love to add some shade structure in our big backyard. We have a very small back porch, but really no other shade at all. I really liked this little structure. I'm thinking something like this would suit me much better than a fancy schmancy gazebo. I believe they put an acid wash on the tin to make it look like that. Perfect!

I always love fountains, but really prefer things that look a bit more natural. This fountain was so beautiful! Don't know if we'll ever add anything like this to our yard, but if we were going to put in a fountain, this is my model!

We also caught up with some old friends who've opened their own plant farm! Years ago we were in a wonderful Bible Study group with Steve and Ruth Owens when they purchased some land and had plans to open their own greenhouses...well, guess what...they did just that! Bustani Plant Farm is up in Stillwater and has some unique garden specimens...check them out sometime this spring!

I also spied the Oklahoma Gardening booth, but didn't take a picture. :( I almost walked up and introduced myself as "One Acre Homestead," but I'm pretty sure whomever was working the booth would have thought I was a crazy woman. LOL! Anywho, the booth was rockin', so hopefully we'll have a lot more traffic and subscriptions in the coming months!

One thing I didn't realize (but should have) is that they have GREAT deals on trees and shrubs at the show...next year we'll be taking the truck, that's for sure!

Winter Gardening

2011-01-15T17:28:00.000-08:00

Isn't it funny how temperature is somewhat relative? Today our high was 51 degrees and oddly, it felt wonderful outside! Homestead Man and I headed out in hoodies and layered long sleeve shirts, but before we were done we had both shed all but the last shirt and shoved the sleeves up past our elbows. Now, in the summertime, I'd step out to a 51 degree evening and say, "Brrrr...I'd better run back inside and grab a sweatshirt!"

Anyway, back to the gardening bit. I originally was heading straight for the coop to let the hens out then to beeline right back into the warm house, but along the way I noticed that I could still feel my hands...in fact, the sun felt pretty amazing. I thought I'd hook the garden hose up and water the trees real quickly. Then I remembered that I'd meant to slowly but surely begin shoveling the straw from the hen house around my fruit trees to give them a boost for spring. After cleaning out half of the coop, I thought of the pile of rock we'd rescued from a demolition site in our hometown so I popped my head in the back door & "invited" Homestead Man to come out and help me move the boulders to the backyard to create a new flowerbed around the backside of the kiddos' sandbox. While we were shuffling rocks about, my youngest joined us outside and pulled up some of last summers' dried up sunflowers and added them to the burn pile and the hens were busy at work stirring compost and cleaning up the last of the tomatoes that had fallen. Whew! Before I knew it, one thing had led to another and we'd accomplished quite a bit of winter gardening!

Just goes to show what can happen when you take advantage of one nice January day, doesn't it?

I love to visit the backyard in the winter and imagine what it will look like this year. When we moved into this house, the "yard" was just clay...no grass...no trees, absolutely nothing. Each year the trees grow, the bushes thicken, and we add more garden beds. It's so much fun to see the plants mature and to hope that this will be the year of the bumper crop of blackberries, or that the blueberries will make it past June this time. Every year we learn and adjust as the yard turns into our own little Eden. Here's a pic of our veggie garden last May:

I can't wait to see what it will look like this summer! I know every little bit that we get done on these nice winter days will help make this growing season that much better! So, tell me...what kind of winter gardening have you been doing? I'd love to hear tips about how to make the best of our off-season!

Is it Spring Yet?!?

2011-01-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

I see you there...sketching out garden plans for spring, gazing longingly through seed catalogs, carefully recording planting dates. I know I am not alone! My dear neighbor sent a message saying that Atwoods had their seed potatoes in, which sent me into a gardening frenzy.

No, it can't be time to put in potatoes, what about other early spring crops! Maybe I should be out there wrestling with the jungle of dead tomato vines RIGHT NOW!! (Okay, I know I'm not the only one with ginormous dead okra stalks standing tall next to trellises of gnarled tomato vines...am I? Fess up, people!)

Then, I went to Wal-Mart and saw this:

I know...it's enough to send you right over the edge, right?

I'm not good at doing this winter thing. I prefer the promise of a new garden and the smell of freshly turned dirt, the summer harvest and canning season, the late summer tomatoes and okra. Christmas keeps me occupied for a bit, but then I'm ready to jump right back into the garden.

Well, the good news is that spring will be here before we know it. The seed catalogs are pouring in and there's plenty of sketching paper nearby. The dates you see above are from my iGarden app on the iPhone, but I've yet to check these against the lunar recommendations for planting. Anywho...they do give me hope that planting time is closer than it seems and I suppose that's all I need to make it through the next cold week!

Is it bad...

2010-12-02T17:51:00.000-08:00

...that I'm already ordering seeds? :) I used up $20 in SwagBucks today ordering Renee's Garden seeds. Here, take a look:

All the varieties I purchased were heirloom varieties and fall crops as I know I'll need those first. And I had to do a little happy dance because they were FREEEE with FREE shipping as well!! (Again, if you haven't started Swagging yet, TODAY IS THE DAY! Click here to sign up!)

Is there a market...

2010-11-30T18:44:00.000-08:00

So, many of you know that I'm finishing up my PhD in Education. Right now I teach at a nearby university and mostly enjoy my job. My previous gig was with a big company writing curriculum for schools, and I enjoyed that as well; however, I am always dreaming of doing new things (am I the only one like that?). Lately I've been pondering how to combine my love of education with my passion for homesteading. To make a long story short, I'm thinking of writing curriculum specifically for homeschooling homesteaders!

In my mind, the curriculum is divided by homesteading seasons (i.e. spring & garden tending, harvesting & canning, fall crops, putting the garden to bed for the winter, etc.) and incorporates all the chores we'd normally be doing. I'd like to highlight various teaching techniques to incorporate traditional subjects into daily work. I'm thinking the books would be sold as PDF downloads so I don't have to pursue a publisher and all that jazz...this also keeps cost lower. They could also be used for hybrid families like ours who do traditional school during the school year and homeschooling in the summers, weekends, and anytime we get the chance. I don't even know it this is a viable idea, but I think I would really enjoy it. What do you guys think?

It's Pumpkin Time!!!

2010-11-04T16:18:00.000-07:00

Please, oh please, do not let all those lovely pumpkin seeds go to waste! We had all kinds of pumpkins decorating our house and this is about the time I begin to harvest their seeds and freeze up some pumpkin puree. The best instructions I've found for roasting these lovely little seeds comes from Pioneer Woman. She has beautiful step-by-step photos of the process...check it out!!

You can also find instructions for the puree on the Pioneer Woman's website! She's awesome!

REWIND!! Photos from the end of May...

2010-09-24T19:13:00.001-07:00

Our blackberries were FULL this year! This photo was taken in May.

A little patch of Thyme...isn't it pretty?

My elephant ear garlic from Seed Savers was amazing this year!

Our praying mantis eggs hatched! It was so much fun to discover these little guys in the garden throughout the summer, growing like crazy! I think we'll make mantis eggs a staple in our springtime garden!

The lavender harvest...wonder what kind of Christmas gifts our lavender will become this year??

Soap Making...

2010-08-26T06:49:00.000-07:00

You really, truly MUST go watch this video from Maple Valley Farm!! I am so inspired to try my hand at soap making after watching how easy it is!

Check it out at
http://eclecticculturefarm.blogspot.com/2010/08/todays-soap-episode.html

or here

http://www.wzzm13.com/video/take_five_default.aspx?menuid=188#/Take%20Five/Make%20your%20own%20soap/51295455001/51120544001/594119748001

Do you have soap making experience? If so, what are your favorite essential oils/exfoliants/colorings? These would make truly fantastic Christmas gifts!

I'm still here!!!

2010-07-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

I am still here! This summer the garden has been so successful, I had to make a choice between blogging about canning and gardening and actually working at the canning and gardening...I chose the real thing. My sweet neighbor said she thought blogging might be a winter sport! ROFL!! How great is that? I am taking lots of pictures and trying to keep records of all the yummy produce coming in. Hang in there! I'll be back with lovely visuals and details of our most productive summer yet!

Welcome to Fresher than Fresh...Cooking with Scapes

2010-06-03T19:30:00.000-07:00

We've been watching a bit too much Food Network...bear with me...

Here's a pic of the garden from last week!

Garlic scapes that were harvested in order to encourage healthy, big elephant ear bulbs:

The scapes were chopped up and drizzled with bit of Olive Oil and some Parmesan Cheese then ground in my sweet neighbor's baby food mill (which I promise I will return any day now):

Then I put the garlic scape pesto in ice cube trays to freeze it:

We had pasta with garlic scape pesto and BOY, HOWDY...did it have a kick. Not sure if ours was a bit more stout than most or what, but I'll probably be mixing this in with other pasta sauces or traditional pesto in small amounts to add some flavor. I must say it was a bit too strong to eat solo, but the flavor was amazing.

In addition, we've canned 2 pints of pickled beets, 10 pints of carrots, and frozen 1 gallon of strawberries from our garden! This weekend, we'll be heading out to pick some wild blackberries as well as harvesting some of our own!

In the garden, I'm slowly pulling up the spinach and lettuce that's all bolting to feed to the chickens and the bunny. The garlic is almost ready to pull and we'll soon begin digging up and canning potatoes in earnest. The tomatoes are full of golf ball sized green tomatoes and the onions get bigger each day. Green beans are beginning to bloom and I'll be planting black-eyed peas this weekend. Busy, busy, busy!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-02T20:31:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures of the happenings around the OAH...

Window Stars

2010-05-12T17:42:00.000-07:00

When I began reading about Waldorf style education, I was fascinated by the tranquility of the environments for children...all natural materials...and the amazing colors. One of the things I noticed repeatedly was these lovely window stars that caught the sunlight. I finally decided that I needed to figure out how to make window stars so I can teach my big girl this summer! The rainbow window star was my first one then I made one with greens and yellows.

You can find directions on GardenMama's blog. I bought the kite paper from Nova Natural...I LOVE their store!

Thursday

2010-04-30T20:31:00.000-07:00

Beginning to get some salads from the garden!!

Each peach, pear, plum...

2010-04-29T14:16:00.000-07:00

Remember those pears I showed you? Well, here's what they look like now!! WOW!!

We also added a plum tree to the OAH! Here she is! She's a Candy Rosa Plum:

And here are those tiny peaches you saw...isn't nature amazing?

What's wrong with this picture?

2010-04-29T12:27:00.001-07:00

We had some store bought eggs from a recent visit with my mom, who is a bit squeamish about using "real eggs" in her cooking. Yes, you read that right, my mom went to the store to buy eggs even though I had TWO dozen in my fridge. Anywho...we had these white eggs hanging out in the fridge when my wee one asked for a boiled egg. I never boil just one egg, so I plopped the last three white eggs in the water along with three of our beautiful brown homegrown eggs.

Now, I've certainly noticed that our egg yolks are a much deeper yellow than the store ones, but I was SHOCKED when we peeled up one of each and put the yolks side by side. That pale yellow yolk doesn't even look appealing, does it? I don't think I'll ever go back to generic, mass produced white eggs....how could I?

Garden update...

2010-04-21T19:08:00.001-07:00

The blackberries are blooming...

And the potatoes went crazy after three days of nice, slow rain...

I love this time of the year!!

Calling in the good guys...

2010-04-21T18:59:00.000-07:00

Our praying mantis order arrived today!!

The eggs were much bigger than I thought they'd be. If you click on this photo, you can read the instructions that came with them.

We took them right outside and found a nice, sheltered bush to wire them into...can you see them?

Here's a close up. I used copper wire to securely attach them to the branches of this bush in filtered sunlight...just as the instructions said. These bushes are right beside our garden, so I'm hoping as they hatch they'll stay near and begin eating aphids and potato bugs!

We'll be keeping a close eye on these and with any luck we'll be able to see some of the babies hatching out of the egg. I'll keep you updated!

Recycled Ollas

2010-04-20T14:06:00.000-07:00

So, this year I thought I'd plant a few 2-liter bottles and see what happens...a cola tree perhaps??? LOL! Seriously, we live in Oklahoma...land of crazy weather patterns. Every summer we go through a period of drought that wreaks havoc on the garden...especially larger plants like tomatoes. After much research, I found this information on ollas from one of my favorite blogs, Little Homestead in the City. After reading, ollas seemed like a great solution to my water woes; however, the cost was a bit much for me at $29 each!

Back to researching. I soon found several websites with instructions for recycling pop bottles to create a homemade olla! PERFECT! So, I set out making a few of these little beauties to deliver aqua straight to the thirsty roots of my tomatoes and peppers! We'll see how it goes...my goal is to get bookoos of tomatoes to can my own spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, and ketchup!!

The view from here...

2010-04-19T17:31:00.001-07:00

How does your garden grow? Here's a shot of what we've got going so far...hoping to put in green beans & corn very soon!

We got a few new guests out at Willow Run! Three new baby cows! Here's a shot of the girls peeking into the trailer:

The newest residents meet Smokey and Red.

Here's a view of the front pond...so pretty...

Smokey & Red have really settled in and are enjoying the green grass!

This could be the year!!

2010-04-08T13:33:00.001-07:00

It is just beautiful here today so I headed out to the backyard with my trusty camera in hand and discovered a few tiny surprises that made me more excited than a lotto winner...seriously...

As many of you know, we planted fruit trees before we unpacked boxes when we arrived here on the OAH. Knowing that it would be several years before seeing fruit, I've watered and weeded, and given many pep talks to these trees...after all, growing FRUIT is an investment in time. It's a wholly different undertaking when compared to an annual veggie garden...serious stuff, people.

Anyway, back to the walk I took today...check out what's been happening out back!!

The blueberries will be blooming any day now! Yes, I know this is a bush...not a tree, but these take some time, too!

That's a tiny pear!! No kidding!

Apple blossoms...the first blooms on our apple trees since we planted them!

A teeny peach was hiding inside this blossom!

I'd like to pause for a moment to thank all those who have made these garden developments possible...thank you precious little buggies! Ummmm...could you get off that dandelion, though, and head over to the fruit trees? (Look at all the pollen on his little bum! :)

Our apricot tree is our healthiest tree...it really seems happy with it's location and all this crazy Oklahoma weather. Grow little tree, grow! Can you see that lovely little baby apricot?

Could this be the year we finally get a decent fruit harvest? Maybe! Stay tuned to find out!!

(Also, I'd like to apologize for being a bad blogger...I know it's been awhile since I've posted. Thanks for your patience and for sticking with me!)

Little feet...

2010-03-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

What is it about their little feet that is so endearing?

There's a First Time for Everything...

2010-03-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

This is the story of a set of dishes...dishes that I gazed at routinely growing up...dishes that I never...not once...ate off of. The story started with a marriage, my mom and dad to be exact, and some very expensive tableware that my parents registered for. It is rumored that the plates cost $15 each...in the 70's! These dishes were so nice that my mom lovingly placed them in the hutch, and never took them out again.

Yes, these dishes were given as wedding gifts to my parents, but never used...really...not even once. This past week, my mom gifted them to me and we intend to put them to good use. The photo above was taken to commemorate the very first use of these awesome dishes! (Homemade applesauce with a dollop of yogurt cheese and a sprinkle of wheat germ...my kiddos' favorite snack.) I love them (the dishes...oh, and the kiddos, too, of course)!

She's at it again!!

2010-03-16T19:27:00.000-07:00

Awhile back my husband's grandmother gifted me with several gallons of plum juice she'd carefully processed and frozen. She does not feel like doing the hard, hot work of canning any longer and was considering throwing out this last batch of juice she'd put away...I could go on about the sentimental value of this jelly...but I'm pretty sure you all are with me. I'm hoping that this batch wins a blue ribbon at the county fair that I can give to her along with several jars of jelly. Isn't it lovely?

Come on, everyone....get in line....

2010-03-11T07:46:00.001-08:00

This brings back my days as a teacher! I've decided to be a bit more organized in my garden plot. Hopefully this will help me utilize every inch of my space and make weeding a bit easier. In the past I've been one of those rogue, random seed spreaders...no rows, just...well....ummmmmm, clumps! Yes, that's it, clumps! While I enjoy more natural garden designs, I have come to an understanding that the veggie garden is not the best place for this. Keeping records of the rows will allow me to be more purposeful in my testing of varieties and will encourage more careful seed choices in the future. All of that being said, let me explain the photo. I've been using a string stretched between two stakes to help in laying out semi straight rows. These are my little yellow onion sets all nestled in compost enriched soil. I made sure to follow the Farmer's Almanac lunar calendar recommendations for planting root crops.

I've also found a fantastic "app" for my iPhone that is called iGarden. This app allows a gardener to keep records of the date of planting and counts down the days to harvest for each veggie. It's so nice to see those harvest days grow closer...even when I am away from my garden I can sort of virtually check in with it via iGarden. If you have an iPhone, I highly recommend this app! Have fun!

Finally, I'd like to take a moment to say a hearty "THANK YOU!!" to the inventor of rubber mud boots. Honestly, how did I garden before these beauties came into my life?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...

2010-03-10T19:06:00.001-08:00

Of course, I knew spring would come...but it seemed like such a loooong, cold winter for us Okies. Now, if we can just avoid one of those late frosts...

Pre-packaged protein...

2010-03-09T12:54:00.000-08:00

It was a long winter without these lovelies flowing in each day! We're back up to 4 eggs most days and our family is so thankful for the provision of such perfectly packaged protein. There is something just lovely and artful about eggs, don't you think?

Garden news!

2010-03-09T08:42:00.000-08:00

Here's the newest gardener at OAH! I highly recommend enlisting the help of a bunny rabbit for your gardening efforts...they make fast work of composting your veggie scraps and offering up some wonderful garden fertilizer in return. This little gem has been named "Snowball," she is a Dwarf Newfoundland (sp?), so she should remain small and will hopefully show well in the County Fair for my girls.

Here are the potatoes, cut and curing the night before planting!

These beds contain spinach, onions, lettuce, and peas! They're still a little rough...this is a garden in progress, people! On the right, you'll see the potato plot...cock full of seed potatoes planted, in part, by this little person:

Take a look at the newly tilled space...this will soon be built into beds like the ones above.

Here's another pick of the bunny...nestled in a bed of lamb's wool. She is just adorable!

Wheat, Coop, and Local Foods

2010-03-03T17:07:00.000-08:00

Check out this wheat pic! The one on the left is hard white winter wheat and the one on the right is hard red winter wheat. The white variety has less protein; however, it is not as heavy...so I purchased 25 pounds of it, and only a small bit of the red winter wheat.

Several of you asked about where I will be buying wheat berries for grinding. After much deliberation and gnashing of teeth over shipping costs...I decided to go in with a friend and join the Oklahoma Food Coop. All the food is made right here in Oklahoma and much of it is organic and is created with a whole foods philosophy. I can order once a month and don't have to pay any shipping (yippee!). Here's the label from my wheat:

I love knowing where our food is coming from and that is is relatively local. Can you believe I only paid $12 for 25# of organic wheat berries?

For my first order, I only got two items...the wheat and a divine little product called "Yogurt Cheese." It tastes a lot like cream cheese and the girls loved it mixed in with our home canned applesauce and sprinkled with some wheat germ.

This Saturday, WatSourced and I will be attending the annual Coop meeting and tasting lots of yummy local foods! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and report back. I'm so excited!

Amazing Pancakes!

2010-02-27T06:39:00.000-08:00

This absolutely amazing pancake recipe is based on the one in the book Flour Power by Marleeta F. Basey. They were so good and so filling! I ate mine with homemade peach butter on top...oh, my...perhaps we should call it an "unbutton your pants" kind of recipe....you know what I mean? Here goes:

2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (I used freshly milled hard white winter wheat)
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1 T. brown sugar
1 t. salt
2 eggs
2 to 3 c. buttermilk (I subbed regular milk with a dab of vinegar)
2 T. oil

Mix together everything but the buttermilk. Add the buttermilk last to reach desired consistency. The author suggests something like thick mud stating that thicker batter results in less "gummy" pancakes, but she also cautions that the batter will thicken slightly while waiting to be cooked as the bran absorbs moisture. In other words, feel free to experiment with the liquid measurements!

Use a 1/3 c. measuring cup to measure your batter out...the size of each pancake will be consistent this way. You may need to use a spoon to spread the batter out a bit into a circular shape. If you, like me, love pancakes so much that you cannot confine them to breakfast, you might consider investing in an electric griddle. I got one for Christmas two years ago and LOVE it! I can cook 6 pancakes at a time without any oil or butter (because of the non-stick coating on it).

If you achieved the liquid/dry ratio, your pancakes will fluff up immediately after flipping it. The result is a hearty pancake that won't disappoint...even if it is served without sausage or bacon. The flavor is unbelievably rich, deep, and nutty...it seems almost a shame to top them with anything at all!

Now, as you all know, I find it almost impossible to follow a recipe without a bit of tweaking. To enhance the texture and nutritional quality of these pancakes, I ground my wheat a bit course to get a nice texture and also maintain the integrity of the fiber and I also added two heaping serving spoons full of cottage cheese to boost the protein content of these pancakes. They were much fluffier than the first batch I made, so I think I'll stick with that addition. You can also add blueberries, bananas, etc. as they are available.

Flour Power is filled with many more recipes and info on why milling your own grains is far better than buying previously milled flour. I would recommend it for those of you interested in home milling. If you are thinking you've heard me mention it before, you are correct...it was one of the books I received for FREE with my SwagBucks. If you are not a member, click on the link on the right and get started today! I'm about to earn another $5 Amazon.com gift card myself!!

Bagels

2010-02-20T09:47:00.000-08:00

I ventured into the world of bagel making last night! It was fun to try and they are really yummy! Homestead Man said they were definitely better than store bought bagels, and they were made with fresh ground locally grown winter white wheat! I'm reading Flour Power (a book I got for FREE with my SwagBucks) and am so inspired by how much healthier freshly ground whole wheat flour is for our family!

I found the recipe, complete with step-by-step photos over at Heavenly Homemakes...this is a fantastic blog that features lots of healthy, delicious, from scratch recipes. Do you follow a blog that features scratch cooking recipes or cooking with freshly milled grains? Do tell!!

Garden Gathering...

2010-02-20T09:28:00.000-08:00

In preparation for the upcoming gardening bonanza, I've been gathering supplies, seeds, onion sets, etc. Here's the progress to date:

16 pounds of assorted seed potatoes (buying more when they get a new shipment)
320 onion sets (overkill?)
a million assorted packages of seed ;-)
soil test kit (I'm gettin' all scientific this year!)
innoculant for legumes (from a local coop)
several varieties of seed proven for our region from the coop

Last, but certainly not least...I always seem to need ties for training cucumber vines, taming tomatoes, etc, but haven't been happy with any previous materials. It seems that garden twine is too rough and scars the plant...also, it has no give when the wind comes sweeping down the plain. My new idea you ask? (Okay, you didn't ask, but I'm telling you anyway.) I found an old pair of tights that my girls had looong since outgrown. After carefully cutting them into strips, I ended up with a bag full of stretchy, soft ties for the garden and a headband (made from the waist) that my oldest likes to wear when she's practicing yoga poses on the Wii! I think these will work perfectly and they didn't cost a penny! :)

Waste Not Want Not...

2010-02-14T15:38:00.000-08:00

I hate wasting things...anything...even the wax that is left over when a candle has burned itself out. I started saving those bits and pieces of wax to pour new candles awhile back & finally melted them down. These bits were even more special because they came from my beeswax candles that I LOVE to burn, but are so expensive. Here are some photos:

We've got WATER!

2010-02-09T08:36:00.000-08:00

Check out what happens to chicken wire when you get lots of freezing rain! The chickens were almost fully enclosed in their coop by the end of the storm, with ice filling the space in the screen door and the chicken wire surrounding the east end of the coop.

The ponds (tanks for your Texans out there) out at Willow Run have been looking a bit sad in the past couple of months...we'd begun to wonder what we'd do for water if they dried up. Then we were hit with an unbelievable winter storm that included hours of rain followed by hours of freezing rain then sleet then snow. While this was not good for driving or power lines, it was great for our fields and our ponds! Here are a few pics of both ponds after the storm...no more water worries for awhile!

This is the pond at the back of the property:

That's Homestead Man there, breaking the ice for the cows and horses.

And this is the front pond:

This was the first time we've seen water run in the usually dry creek bed that runs across the property!

In other news, the calves seem to be enjoying the new shelter Homestead Man and my dad built! Aren't they adorable?

And...an age old truth is revisited...boxes really do make the best toys!

For a great post on our winter storm and lessons learned, check out my neighbors blog today over at WatSourced!

More preparedness notes

2010-02-04T08:06:00.000-08:00

(That's my clothesline you see above...coated in ice!)

After being without power for 7 days and counting, here are some of the things I've discovered that we need to have on hand at all times:

a generator
gasoline for the generator
several bottles of fuel for the Coleman Camping Stove
LOTS of batteries & candles
bleach (for washing dishes)
bottled water (we were under conserve water orders)
an inverter (device that allows you to charge items in your car with a regular plug)
extra propane for the gas fireplace
TOILET PAPER!!! (I'm so thankful for our neighbors over at WatSourced who shared their TP with us!)

In a perfect world, I'd have a lovely wood burning stove; but I don't have one or have space in my house for it, so that's out. This summer I'll also can more of my veggies so that the freezer is not AS essential...although it'll still be used for meat and stocked up sale items. I was so upset when I thought I'd loose everything in both freezers, but Homestead Man saved the day by buying us a generator! As long as we've got gas, I don't have to worry about that again.

(The top of the chicken coop...poor chickens! I let them out and cleared all this off when it started to melt as I was afraid one of them would be impaled with ice!!)

We had plenty of food and even instant milk, but absolutely no way to bake...that was a challenge. With the generator, we also purchased a toaster oven...but I'm not sure how it would handle loaves of bread, etc.

If we'd had the Airstream ready for camping, we could have stayed in it, but we are still doing some repairs and checking to be sure the heat, oven, etc. are safe to use and in good working order...that'll be another option if we ever are in this situation again.

We also had plenty of blankets and warm clothes, but the girls needed mud boots...that's already been remedied as Homestead Man took them in to Atwoods to get outfitted for heading out to Willow Run to check on the horses & cattle. Oh, and just wait till you see the ponds out there and how much water they caught! (I have pictures to post later!) We do have some clean up to do out at the land as we lost a lot of limbs from the willows, but nothing that can't be handled after it warms up and dries out a bit.

I'll leave you with a parting shot...isn't she pretty? Well...she would be if you'd been without power for a week!! Trust me!!

Oklahoma Ice Storm 2010

2010-02-02T11:08:00.000-08:00

Our area has been without power since last Thursday, so BOY, do I have some preparedness posts for you guys later!! Here are some pictures from our area:

We're still without power, but we've acquired a generator and have a gas fireplace so we're getting by quite well. I'll post more later on!

Books, Books, Books

2010-01-26T06:14:00.001-08:00

I love books...I collect them endlessly and read them every chance I get, oh, and magazines, too! I love them so much that just before Christmas I ran out of space on my bookshelves! A quick trip to IKEA solved that problem and now I have plenty of space and find myself needing to seek out more books!! LOL!

Here are some of my favorite shelves of books:

I love this little display shelf option on IKEA's Billy Bookshelves...it allows me to display some of the book/magazine covers!

This is what my two new bookshelves look like from a few steps back:

Then, there are the bookshelves in the hallway that the wee ones keep their books on...I know these could use a bit of straightening, but here they are...mess and all:

Oh, and we can't forget the books above the fireplace! Here they are:

Lately I've been able to order several FREE books each month with my SwagBucks, and it has been great fun to maintain a wish list on Amazon for that purpose. Right now we are waiting for the DK Eyewitness book, Paris...my oldest is currently obsessed with Paris and would like to take a trip there...maybe someday, sweetie...and Flour Power: A Guide to Modern Home Grain Milling for mommy! Again, if you haven't started using SwagBucks for all your internet searches, do it today!! (There's a link to get you started in my sidebar!) I can't believe how quickly my $5 Amazon gift cards roll in! I just downloaded the SB toolbar and always search from there and type in my addresses (facebook, blogger, etc.) there.

Hmmmmm...I *may* have a leetle problem...perhaps I am addicted to books? You should see my office!! ;-)

What's YOUR favorite book currently? A homesteading reference? A garden tip book? Perhaps a wonderful cookbook or canning guide? C'mon, help me build up my Amazon wish list!!

Planting Peas & Finding Eggs...Spring is Coming!!

2010-01-24T20:57:00.001-08:00

We planted Alaska Peas today in the garden. I've not planted them before, but here's what Victory Seeds has to say about them:

Alaska (Earliest of All)
55 days — This variety was introduced in 1881 in England as 'Earliest of All', by pea breeder Thomas Laxton. A cross of 'Ringleader' and 'Little Gem', it became the parent of many subsequent varieties. First offered in the United States in 1882 by James J. H. Gregory and was in several seed catalogs by 1883. It seems that it was renamed in 1884 by A. B. Cleveland of Cape Vincent, New York and given away as a premium for subscriptions to the periodical The Rural New Yorker. The name stuck.

The plants are twenty four to thirty six inches tall and grow well in cool soils. There are typically five to eight smooth peas in each round pod. Classically used for canning or freezing, also fine fresh or dry (in eighty days) for soups. Not a super sweet variety. Seeds are smooth.

We also got a surprise in the chicken coop today...an egg!! We've been without fresh eggs all winter and seeing an egg in the nesting box was pure bliss! Don't let anyone tell you that fresh, homegrown eggs aren't better than the store ones...my 7-year-old said the store ones were a bit like rubber when scrambled one morning. We're very excited to see that our flock is back in business! It's also a sure sign that spring is on the way!

The grain mill....

2010-01-21T06:24:00.000-08:00

...has arrived!! I knew it would be coming, so I stopped by the Whole Foods store and picked up a bag of this:

Then I poured it into the top of my lovely, new Nutrimill. Wee ones and I stared as the grains disappeared:

When we opened the flour bowl at the bottom of the machine...we found this stuff:

Of course, the point of freshly milled grain is to bake it asap! So, I whipped up a batch of banana bread.

Here, take a closer look...check out the wee bits of coconut I added to mix it up a bit:

Ladies and Gentlemen...start your engines!!!

2010-01-17T13:34:00.001-08:00

Your tiller engines, that is! With the help of my engine savvy neighbor, WatSourced, I tilled up the garden plot this week! I also wandered into Wal-Mart (on date night, no less) and stumbled upon the newly arrived seeds! We purchased 25 packets of seeds and have laid them out on the coffee table, to the delight of my two muchkins. Yes, I know that big seed companies are bad news to seed saving and I'd prefer to buy from organic, lovely companies and from Seed Savers; however, these seeds were only $1 a packet, which is less than half the price of the seeds I'd put on my favorite catalog list...if $$ were no object, I'd have made a different decision, but alas, $$ does come into play. I will still order some of my seeds and hope to order more from companies I can believe in in future years.

In another note, (and one of the reasons that I had to rein in the homestead related spending) I finally ordered a grain mill!!! Yep, I took the plunge! I can't wait to write about my experiences with milling my own grains fresh for baking and let you know about the Oklahoma businesswoman who supplied my mill!

For now, though, Homestead Man and I are about to load up the kiddos and head to nearby big city to get a pickup load of beautiful, rich compost to top-dress the garden!

The Biggest Blessing...

2010-01-12T06:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I blogged about our Christmas Blessings, but I wanted to share the biggest blessing in it's own post. This one reminded me of how precious my family is and taught me some lessons. Our biggest blessing was....drumroll please.....

Spending the night in a hotel - We were actually stuck on the highway during the Texas/Oklahoma Blizzard on Christmas Eve. There were some scary moments when we thought that we'd be spending a freezing night stuck in the snow on the highway. Through the hard work and generous spirit of my husband and many strangers, we were able to get ourselves and many others to a hotel to spend the night. HM was actually directing traffic at one point to get all of us between a snow plow and two trucks that were stuck and almost blocking the entire highway (see photo above). When we finally arrived, it had taken us 6 hours to drive what normally takes an hour. The hotel had purchased sandwich supplies knowing that no one would be able to get to a store or restaurant for food. I was so thankful to be warm and safe that night and learned some seriously valuable lessons.

#1. My car needs additional emergency supplies. While we had crackers, water, & blankets...I sure was wishing for a camping shovel (to dig us out of the snow) and additional food.

#2. I have never taken snow/ice driving seriously enough. I am usually optimistic and say, "Oh, it's just a little snow...we'll be able to make it!" From now on, I'll take winter driving much more seriously, to be sure!

What do you keep in your car for emergencies? How do you store it there and keep it out of the way?

Christmas Blessings....

2010-01-12T06:01:00.001-08:00

I was so blessed this Christmas that I'm a bit embarrassed...so it took me awhile to come and tell you about it all. Homestead Man and I both have parents who spoil us and our children...yep...I said it....we're spoiled. Here's a list of my blessings that affect the OAH directly:

Roomba - My mom gave us this awesome robot that vacuums my floors everyday at 11:00am!! This has been a huge life changer for us because this means we CANNOT leave anything out in the floors in our common areas (as I've set the Roomba to stay in the living room, dining room, and kitchen).

Rain Barrel - My in-laws gave me a lovely rain barrel, which will be in place and collecting water when our spring rains come!! So excited about that!

Magazine Subscriptions - My brother & sister-in-law gave me subscriptions to two fantastic homesteading type magazines: Countryside & Small Stock Journal and Mary Jane's Farm. I love reading both of these & it will be awesome to have them regularly grace our coffee table!

Bike - Homestead Man and the girlies got me the cool retro cruiser bike that I've been drooling over for a year! It's got whitewall tires and no handbrakes...just the good ol' pedal brake. Love it!

Solar Lamps - My mom found two solar lamps at IKEA and gave them to my girlies. How great to know that we have those in the event of a power outage! Another cool note, for every lamp purchased, IKEA gives one away to a child without electricity. The note pointed out that those children cannot read or color after dark, so a simple solar lamp allows them several more hours of light for these activities. How fantastic to think of this each time we use our solar lamps.

More plum juice - Homestead Man's grandmother mentioned that she was about to throw out all of the plum juice in her freezer because she wasn't able to can anymore...she asked if I wanted it! Ummmmmm...YES!!! I think I have enough for three batches of jelly! Awesome!

Airstream Camper - Yeah...I saved that one for last!! We came across a deal on a 1980 31' Airstream Camper that we couldn't pass up. It has solar panels on top that allow the lights, radio, and water pump to all work without additional power. We need to do some repairs and replace the fridge, but other than that, it's in pretty good shape. New curtains and new flooring were put in in 2001, and it came with complete records and the original owner's manual. I'll be blogging some more about it as we get it cleaned up and do some of the repairs. When it starts to warm up, we'll park it out at Willow Run to allow us to spend some weekends out there working on our goals for the land and spending time with the animals.

Juicing

2010-01-08T18:56:00.000-08:00

I can certainly tell a difference in my energy and general wellness when I'm juicing. Have any of you tried it? I have a Champion Juicer and it is an awesome addition to the kitchen...it also helps when juicing for jelly. Here's the story of my breakfast one morning last week:

Here's the pile of fruits and veggies I started with:

After sending them through the trusty Champion, here's the color in my juice...isn't it lovely? Can you imagine all the vitamins and antioxidants in there?

And this is all that's left over...(it goes straight out to the chickens, who also love it when I'm juicing regularly!):

Believe it or not, you can't taste the spinach at all, and the carrot really adds a nice flavor when combined with all the fruits. My 7 and 5 year old girls will agree that this juice is yummy! They always get excited when they hear the juicer whirring!

Views from Willow Run...

2010-01-02T16:24:00.000-08:00

Willow Run

2010-01-02T16:16:00.000-08:00

Willow Run received two precious little gifts today...meet Red and Smokey! Aren't they adorable? One of these will eventually be in our freezer, so I'm trying hard not to look at those impossible eyelashes and all that cuddly fur...we'll see how this goes.

To squeeze or not to squeeze...that is the question!

2009-12-30T13:01:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know it's been awhile since I've blogged...but we are still alive down here in the frozen tundra of Oklahoma. And we've been canning, too! While we were snowed/iced in, I decided to haul out some of the apple peels and cores from the freezer and make jelly.

As soon as I started boiling these peels, I noticed the beautiful color of the juice. My mind turned pretty quickly to the county fair! Now, after boiling these peels, you let them sit overnight then strain the juice from the peels. To strain, I put all the pulp in a double layer of flour sack towel and hang it above a pot to let the juice drip out at an excruciatingly slow pace. Now, any jelly maker will tell you that you are NOT...I repeat, you are NOT to squeeze the pulp as it will cloud your jelly. This has always been tough for me because it seems wasteful (and you KNOW I hate wasting anything). I decided to do a little experiment and make one batch of jelly from unsqueezed pulp and another from the juice obtained from squeezing the pulp to get the remaining juice. Here, let me show you the results:

The jelly on the left is from squeezed pulp and the jelly on the right is from nonsqueezed pulp. Quite a difference, huh? Does this mean I will not ever again squeeze the pulp? NO WAY! I got a whole batch of jelly just from squeezing...that's five cups of juice that would have been thrown out. I think this double batch method works pretty well...one batch of nice, clear jelly and one batch of what we've decided to call "peasant jelly!" LOL! We don't really care about clarity when we're loading our PB&Js, doncha know?

Anywho...You'll be seeing this jelly again...she's going to the county fair for sure...and I think she'll bring home a blue ribbon!! BTW...that bubble you see just to the left of the words "Perfect Mason" is a bubble in the glass...not in the jelly. Aren't old jars fun?

Lovely Lavender...

2009-12-20T16:44:00.000-08:00

I love our lavender plant and hope to plant more this coming spring as we always find so many uses for it. This year, we carefully harvested and dried lavender planning to use it for Christmas gifts. Here's our jar:

The girls and I combined salt with a drizzle of oil (soybean and olive oil), added a few drops of lavender essential oil and blue food coloring then mixed in some of our dried lavender and a few dried rose petals.

Isn't it lovely all combined?

We'll be giving these out to friends and family members this Christmas...I think they turned out beautifully!

SwagBucks = SwagBOOKS!!!

2009-12-18T19:21:00.000-08:00

I recently ordered three FREE books using my SwagBucks! I'm looking forward to reading and perusing them over the holidays! Here's the list:

A Very Small Farm by William Paul Winchester
This is the journal of a man who becomes a substistence farmer on 20 acres in Oklahoma...really looking forward to this read! It chronicles his adventures in gardening, beekeeping, and cow milking as well as orchard building...and all in our very own climate!

The Backyard Homestead Edited by Charleen Madigan
The subtitle is "Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre"...need I say more?

Just in Case: How to be Self-Sufficient when the Unexpected Happens by Kathy Harrison
I don't want to be an alarmist, but I do want to be prepared...and watching the evening news lately has really opened my eyes to all that we take for granted. Looking forward to rethinking preparedness and assessing our own home with this book.

If you haven't joined SwagBucks yet, here's your chance! Click on the banner and get started! I'm amazed at how quickly we earn free stuff!

Ahhhhh...the life of a dog....

2009-12-17T18:51:00.000-08:00

Zoe is our female Miniature Australian Shepherd. Since we lost our 15 year old Miniature Pincher in October, Zoe has the run of the house...needless to say she's enjoying herself.

"WILL YOU PLEASE GET OUT OF MY ROOM!! A GIRL NEEDS HER BEAUTY SLEEP, YA KNOW!!"

Ummmm...sorry Zoe. I'll leave you to your nap now.

(Also, please notice the unmade bed...just keepin' it real, folks...)

Applesauce Bread (Okay...Cake....Whatever!)

2009-12-14T17:37:00.001-08:00

Since my pantry overfloweth with applesauce, I decided to try baking with it! Now, I'm a big fan of subbing applesauce for the oil in baking, but I wanted to go beyond that. I used a basic recipe and did a bit of tweaking and came up with this yummmmmmmy applesauce bread (errrr...cake?):

Applesauce Bundt Cake

1 cup all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon allspice
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar, packed
1 egg
2 cups chunky applesauce
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray bundt pan with Pam (or whatever greasing method floats your baking boat)

Combine dry ingredients. Combine butter and both sugars in a separate bowl. Beat in egg then stir in applesauce. Stir in flour mixture until it is fully incorporated. Fold in pecans.

Pour into bundt pan and bake 60 to 70 minutes. You could drizzle this with a glaze, but it was yummy as is...better the second day, even!

OPEN UP!

2009-12-10T07:21:00.001-08:00

Here's a pantry pic! Everyone post your own pantry pics and comment with a link so we can check it out!

You can see that the jars are stacked three high in the back! We also have bags of Halloween marshmallows for our hot cocoa...had to stock up because they were 20 cents a bag after Halloween and we don't really care if they are shaped like pumpkins and bats so long as there are marshmallows!

This is my "overflow" pantry...we also have food stocked in the kitchen cabinets, but all the home canned foods are here so I can open it up and gaze at them several times a day (yes, I'm a dork and PROUD of it!). I'm especially excited because this year I canned more "food" and less jelly. Don't get me wrong, we love the home canned jelly and we haven't bought store jelly in over a year now, but it was my goal to can more nutritious foods this year and I made that goal. Next year, I'm tackling veggies! My Mother-In-Law gifted me with her dial gauge pressure canner, and the local extension agent tested it for me this year, so we're good to go next summer!

We also have two freezers with tons of home grown veggies and sale stock ups...like 20 pounds of chicken leg quarters that were on sale for $4.99 for a 10 pound bag! Couldn't pass that one up! One of these days, I'll take some pictures of the freezers (after I clean them out, of course)!

Alright now, let's see your pantries! LOL! C'mon everyone, don't be shy!

Pantry Building...

2009-12-08T06:37:00.000-08:00

So far, I've got 19 pint jars and 5 quart jars of applesauce. I made cranberry applesauce (just throw in a good handful of frozen cranberries while cooking the apples), spiced applesauce (with pumpkin pie spice added...don't ask me why I don't add apple pie spice...pumpkin is just better....trust me on this one), and plain applesauce. For the last two big batches I've made, I've left the skins on and blended them right up with the apples...it adds both flavor and nutrition to the sauce, and makes cooking it immensely easier without all that apple peeling.

Here's a close up shot that shows the little pieces of peel and the lovely colors. Food in jars is just so beautiful, isn't it...or maybe that's just me...

Here's a group shot...smile everyone!

And...I need to confess to you all that I am slightly addicted to roasted pumpkin seeds. It's really becoming a problem as pumpkins are not as readily available around these parts after Halloween. I was extremely excited to find out that roasted acorn squash seeds are just as good (okay...maybe even slightly better) after becoming desperate...er...I mean....researching alternatives to pumpkin seeds! So, here's my coveted jar of pumpkin & acorn squash seeds, roasted, with a touch of salt and pepper for flavor!

I've got one more 8 lb. bag of apples to can...what's YOUR favorite way to preserve apples? Apple butter? Apple pie filling? Hmmmmmmmmmmm.....I'm off to dig out that yummy apple butter recipe...it's around here somewhere!

Apple Craziness!

2009-12-05T19:43:00.001-08:00

Apples at 42 cents/lb? Oh, yeah!! So far, I've canned 24 pounds of apples, which translates into 17 pint jars of applesauce which figures out to around 58 cents per jar! The only canning supplies needed were new seals as I already had to jars and rings...canning rocks! I've got 24 more pounds to can tomorrow and plans to do one more round later in the week before the sale is over. I <3 my local grocery store...they even play Christian music so I can sing along while shopping!

P.S. I'll share pics of all this appley goodness later! Stay tuned!

Around our house...

2009-12-03T17:42:00.000-08:00

Winter = knitting...this is the softest baby blanket ever for a special brand new baby boy. No, it's not made of organic or natural anything, but this yarn was too soft to pass up. It's delicious!

Six pounds of pumpkin puree headed to the freezer. P.S. I love my new kitchen scale...thank you IKEA!

Good dog, Zoe! She's got a head scarf on and is being put to bed!

The Shed...

2009-12-01T15:10:00.000-08:00

Here are pics of the loafing shed! I'm so glad we could salvage the tin from granny and grandpa's homestead for this project! It makes it so special to remember time spent at their farm as I'm working on our farm. And the fact that my dad planned it out and helped build it just adds to its value. It's a beginning! And it's progress! And for these things I am immensely grateful!

Now, off to drool over seed catalogs and continue to work on the final touches on my written exams!!

Annnnd...we have a barn!

2009-11-28T20:05:00.000-08:00

Homestead Man and my dad finished the barn (loafing shed) today! I can't wait to go out to Willow Run to take some pictures and share them! All the tin was salvaged from my grandparents' farm, so we're planning to patch up a few holes and paint the whole shebang. Later, we'll add some pens around the barn so we can have a hog next year and we can pen up the horses when needed. This will also serve as a safe place to put new calves when they join the family.

I need to look into some solar lighting solutions for the barn as we do not have any electricity out at Willow Run.

In other news, the girls spent the entire day before Thanksgiving picking up pecans at their great-grandmother's house, which we shelled and froze in Food Saver bags. We ended up with 11 pounds of pecans in the freezer. Those are my girls!

This week is a big week for me because I will be finishing up my General Exams and handing them in on Friday. This means I am one step closer to finishing my PhD! It will be tough finishing them up and every spare moment will be spent reading/researching/writing, but the weekend will be GLORIOUS! Please pray for productivity, understanding, and success in this step of the process. On December 14, I'll be doing my oral defense of the Generals...prayers for that day are certainly appreciated as well!

Lucy

2009-11-24T12:01:00.000-08:00

Our lovely little barred rock chicken:

Willow Run

2009-11-22T11:56:00.000-08:00

Some of the grass out at Willow Run...keep in mind, it's late November. Our cows are gonna love this place!

Ever wonder where real cowgirls take a nap?

The site of the loafing shed...you can see the pond just behind.

Poles in the ground and cemented...checking to be sure they're level.

Canning Pears

2009-11-22T11:28:00.000-08:00

Pears were on sale at our local grocery, so I bought 15 pounds for canning. I ended up canning half of them and making pear-sauce (like applesauce) with the other half. Here are photos of canning:

The set up: You'll need a big bowl of cool water with lemon juice to keep your pears from darkening during processing.

I tried to waste as little as possible. A metal teaspoon makes a great tool for taking out the seeds.

Here are all the pears in the lemon water...waiting for the jars to finish in the dishwasher.

Hot water bath processing:

I didn't take any photos of the syrup, but I used a light syrup and did a hot pack, meaning that the pears went into the hot syrup for a period of time prior to being put in the jars. I believe I boiled them for 10 minutes, but please check the time prior to canning your own, just to be safe.

I put in some apple pie spice in a couple of the jars for spiced pears.

After scooping out all the pears from the syrup and topping off the jars, I was left with a bit of pear syrup...I hated to waste it...then I had a brainstorm. I added a bit of sugar and some pectin to make a lightly flavored spiced pear jelly. After the pears had boiled in the syrup, it was left with a nice flavor.

And in the interest of not wasting any of the pears, the seeds and skins went out to the chicken/rabbit coop.

After dumping the skins into the coop, I thought that I should have used them to make more jelly...similar to the apple peel jelly I've made in the past...oh, well...gotta keep the animals happy, too. :)

SWAG BUCKS = FREE STUFF!!!

2009-11-17T06:30:00.000-08:00

I've recently discovered Swag Bucks, which gives me free prizes just for using their search engine...which I do a lot!

We've already earned a $20 restaurant gift card, which we completely enjoyed...eating out without the guilt of spending so much $$!

Last night, I ordered a book off of Amazon FOR FREE with the Swag Bucks I've accumulated in the past month! The book is a Waldorf-y book entitled The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections. I'll write up a review after I've had a chance to browse it and try out some of the activities!

Anyway, I couldn't bear not sharing this great opportunity for FREE STUFF with all of my frugal blog friends out there! Do yourself a favor, click on this link and start earning Swag Bucks!! I use mine mainly for Amazon.com gift cards, but there are tons of other prizes you could choose!!

Waldorf-y Fun...

2009-11-17T05:59:00.000-08:00

There's this educational philosophy that I have been dabbling in for awhile called Waldorf. Some of it I like...some of it I'm not crazy about...but isn't that true of most things? One of the things I love about Waldorf is that it calls for more simplicity...back to basics...which is right up my alley. Now, don't get me wrong, we have more than our fair share of plastic crap toys all over our house, but I would love to move toward less toys...and more natural, handmade toys. In my experience, my kids do LOVE the Waldorf style toys that we make or buy (they're pretty expensive as they're handmade) and they've stood the test of time. They'll certainly be family heirlooms that can be used for generations of OAH kiddos!

There are some Waldorf websites that I love to follow, including The Magic Onion. She is an amazingly creative mommy who is full of crafty fun ideas. We had great fun making her walnut mice! Here's a photo of our little mice that the girls have played with for three days now...by far outlasting many of the plastic crap toys we have laying around!!

In addition, Waldorf emphasizes the use of nature as a natural classroom. Boy, do I ever appreciate that! This weekend we were out at the land, working on the barn (which my dad said is not really a barn...it's technically called a "loafing shed") and the girls found this adorable little fuzzy caterpillar. Wee One wanted to bring it home with us and I agreed, thinking we'd let it go in our backyard the next day. The girls gave it food and water then went to bed. Later that night, I discovered this:

Little caterpillar was making a web...like a spider. Hmmm....interesting...we kept watching. Several hours later, it looked like this:

And the next morning, our tiny caterpillar had completed her cocoon (or chrysalis...not sure yet)and appears to be resting:

How awesome that we happened to find a caterpillar that was at this exact point in her life cycle...and that she chose our home as her metamorphosis home! We are so honored to give her shelter while she performs a little miracle of nature! God's plan for these tiny creatures is so amazing that I can't help but think that it's meant as a metaphor for us...how we all go through a metamorphosis during our lives...perhaps many times....as we live life and find our way to who we're truly meant to be.

Coming soon to a blog near you...

2009-11-14T20:44:00.000-08:00

Hoping to blog soon about canning pears as well as the building of a loafing shed out on Willow Run. We cemented the poles today and I took a million pictures! Stay tuned for more!!

Fall Planting

2009-11-01T05:35:00.001-08:00

Yesterday turned out to be a big planting day here at the OAH. Homestead Man was repairing our fence and had to make a run into the big city for cement and pipe. While he was gone, the wee ones and I decided to plant our garlic (perfect timing) in one of the raised beds that I'd just cleaned out. Shortly thereafter, the phone rings...it's Homestead Man saying that I should start digging holes...Lowes had their plants on sale...big time. He'd gotten 7 blackberry bushes ($2 each), 1 blueberry bush ($1.50), 7 white crepe mertyls ($1.50 each), and several other decorative bushes and ground covers ($1 each).

We got about half of the planting done yesterday and we'll finish today. It's a great time to plant berries and shrubs because they are able to establish their root systems before the stifling heat of our Oklahoma summers.

Our cumulative numbers? We're up to 16 blackberries (probably maxed out on these) and 5 blueberries. Let's hear it for antioxidants! LOL! Seriously, berries are power foods just packed with health...we should all beef up the berries in our diets. Both of these berries also freeze well to preserve the harvest oh so easily.

The chickens are only laying an egg or two a day now...some days there are none. I'm so glad I froze some of the eggs for winter baking!

We are having a blast socializing Zoe's new litter of pups. She had four beautiful puppies this time and we are truly spoiling them. Our plan is to skip her winter litter this year if we can stand the huge fit she and Zeke throw when they are separated (especially when she is in heat). Nature has a way of out-howling us mere humans, you know?

Oh, and for those of you wondering about Willow Run, the horses LOVE it out there...plenty of beautiful green grass and room to run and roam. Still working on getting a couple of steers and a pig...Homestead Man's father has been quite ill this Fall and many of his weekends have been spent driving down to Texas to help out. We have tried to ride the horses at least once a week and they are really shaping up with the additional attention they are receiving now that they are so close to us.

It's the little things...

2009-10-27T11:21:00.001-07:00

I've been needing a pair of mud boots for awhile now and this past weekend I found the perfect pair at Academy! Check 'em out! They had cheetah print, zebra, hounds tooth...then I spotted these mosaic print boots...and they were clearly made for me! Now I can wear them when I muck out the chicken coop this weekend!! ;-) I'll be stylin', huh?

Crazy Busy...

2009-10-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

We've been crazy busy around here the past few weeks. Field trips to the pumpkin patch, a brand new batch of adorable puppies, baking...baking...and some more baking..., lots of projects at work in progress, and beginning to work on my General Exams for my PhD. So, you haven't heard much from the OAH lately, but it's for good reasons.

This is the time of year when I am drawn back into the kitchen and I've been baking bread and muffins along with making pots of beans, stew, chili, and cornbread. Tomorrow I plan to make up a double (maybe triple) batch of bread dough, shape it into loaves, and freeze it for the coming month. This will allow me to take a loaf out of the freezer at night, let it thaw/rise overnight, then bake it in the morning. We'll need this "homemade convenience" while I frantically work on General Exams.

I'm also hoping to have a leeetle bonfire out in the garden to burn all the dead growth from this past summer and make some nourishing ash to spread on the garden for next year. Gotta wait until it is all nice and crispy and the weather is just right, though.

So, don't give up on me...I'm still here.

Fall is my favorite canning season!!

2009-10-08T11:49:00.000-07:00

Because Fall is when the apples are on sale at our local grocery. Final count...18 jars of applesauce! One batch each of cranberry applesauce, chunky apple pie spiced applesauce, and skinny applesauce (applesauce with skins included :)

Chunky Applesauce:

Cranberry Applesauce:

Skinny Applesauce:

The View from Here...

2009-10-03T14:43:00.001-07:00

Apple Pie Filling

2009-10-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

The apple pie filling won out! I used this recipe from Recipezaar. After doubling the recipe to account for the amount of apples I had, my yield was 10 quart jars of apple pie filling with some syrup left over. Here are some pics:

The coolest thing about this canning session? The jars! These are the jars that Homestead Man's grandmother gave to me. One of the is a Mason jar with the liberty bell with the dates 1776-1976 on the side. Another is an Atlas jar. It's so awesome to think of all the things she might have canned in these jars.

The Energizer Bunny Garden

2009-10-01T07:07:00.001-07:00

This morning, I put up another gallon size bag of breaded okra and summer squash (mostly okra), fresh from the garden. I sliced up a zucchini for stir frying and sealed it up with the food saver...then it went into the freezer. I'm also drying a tray of cherry tomatoes...which have just, finally, taken off.

The chickens are not missing out, either...I left several cukes on the vine to fatten up and have been throwing them in with the chickens each day. Aside from red, ripe tomatoes and soft bananas, the cukes are their favorite treat.

I've also made two batches of chicken stock recently and frozen it in ice cube trays. Here are the instructions I've been using for chickens stock, except that I use my crockpot. The stock makes a fantastic, healing soup and adds tremendous flavor to canned veggies.

Apple Butter Recipe

2009-09-30T18:39:00.001-07:00

Apples are on sale again!! Here's the recipe I used last year for Crock Pot Applebutter.

CROCK POT APPLE BUTTER

Put 3 quarts of apples, sliced thin, in a crock pot and cook overnight on high. Next morning, add 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 3 cups sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cloves. Cook all day on low. Tastes like old-fashioned apple butter that is cooked in copper kettle.

Here's the one I found for apple pie filling:

APPLE PIE FILLING

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt

10 cups water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 drops yellow food coloring
6 pounds apples

Directions:
1. In a large pan, mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add salt and water and mix well. Bring to a boil and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and food coloring.
2. Sterilize canning jars, lids and rings by boiling them in a large pot of water.
3. Peel, core, and slice apples. Pack the sliced apples into hot canning jars, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace.
4. Fill jars with hot syrup, and gently remove air bubbles with a knife.
5. Put lids on and process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes.

I bought 18 pounds of apples tonight, so I have to decide whether I want to make apple pie filling, apple butter, or applesauce...decisions, decisions, decisions!

GOODBYE PAPER TOWELS!!

2009-09-28T19:27:00.001-07:00

I finally did it!! We've not used paper towels in two weeks, AND I'm finally using all those cloth napkins I've purchased over the years! Check out my new setup:

Ummmhmmmm...that's my paper towel substitute there on the left...looks like a bouquet of fabric, no? Here, take a closer look:

A dear friend of mine over at It Began in Camp 4 once said that sustainable living is much more about frugality for her than anything else...living a sustainable lifestyle saves you $$$$$!! That really resonated with me in many ways. I would like to say that ditching the paper towels was born out of my responsibility to conserve natural resources and all that jazz....but it was really about cash. I hated that we used the towels once then tossed them and we were going through WAY too many rolls each week. It was like throwing $ straight into the trashcan...what a waste.

Of course, we do have to wash these, but I just throw them in with pretty much any load of clothes and they don't really add any bulk to a load...then they hang to dry and get rolled back up and go right back into the basket! I dreaded making this change, but it was soo much easier than I'd expected. Try it....you might like it!

Both the squirrels and I...

2009-09-22T08:06:00.000-07:00

As I was organizing the freezer last night, I couldn't help but think of how this must be how a squirrel feels...I was so proud of what we've accomplished this year in producing some of our own food and preserving it! I've already bragged on the canned goods, but now it's time for the freezer to show off! :-)

Since we didn't have a pressure canner until just recently, the veggies had to be frozen, thus the huge amount of black-eyed peas in the freezer. I would have preferred to can them and I'm seriously considering thawing them to can sometime soon. Anyway, without further adieu:

Black-eyed peas - 17 bags (From our garden and the university's community gardens)
Summer Squash - 7 bags (Again, from our garden and the university garden)
Mashed Potatoes - 4 family serving sized bags (from our garden...we've already eaten 4 servings /blush/)
Onions - 8 bags chopped and ready for cooking (from our garden)
English Peas - 2 bags (from our garden...hoping to grow more next year)
Green Beans - 2 bags (from our garden...I think I've decided that bush beans grow much better here, so that'll be our plan next spring)
Carrots - 7 bags (and more in the garden)
Corn on the Cob - 5 bags with 5-6 ears per bag (from a farmer's stand on the way to my parent's house...about 45 miles away)
Okra & Squash for Frying - 6 huge, stuffed, gallon sized bags with more okra coming in every day!
Eggs - 5 dozen frozen in ice cube trays for winter baking (from our hens)

Almost all of this is sealed in Food Saver bags to keep freezer burn to a minimum.

Homestead Man and I set a goal this morning to have a small pen ready for two calves by the end of the weekend. I'm hoping that the sale of the first calf with pay for the processing of the second calf into beef to fill our meat freezer...but then that is a long-term goal, isn't it?

I (heart) old stuff...

2009-09-20T14:40:00.001-07:00

This pic is of a few things we found out on our land. I'm not sure what they are, but I love finding pieces of Willow Run's past life. We know it was part of a larger parcel of land that was a dairy before the previous owner purchased it, but we've also found evidence that it was once an old homestead (a filled in tornado shelter). Any ideas about what these items were? The one that looks like a key of some sort is threaded on the end. I'd love to hear everyone's input.

Special Delivery!!

2009-09-15T12:02:00.000-07:00

When I arrived home from work yesterday afternoon...there was a package waiting by the door. Inside the package was a very exciting paper bag...here, see for yourself...

Of course, I couldn't wait to pull out the bulbs and take a look. I can't wait to plant them!

Wordless Sunday

2009-09-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

Okay...maybe not wordless, but definitely LESS WORDS! In other news, we've had 3 inches of rain this weekend...nice, slow, steady rain! Boy, did we need it! I'm really hoping our ponds out at Willow Run caught lots of this glorious water from heaven!

The Fair Results Are In...

2009-09-10T07:05:00.000-07:00

What an exciting fair we've had this year! Last night, we trucked two hens and a rabbit up to the fairgrounds to compete. Both Amelia (New Hampshire Red) and Laverne (Rhode Island Red) competed in the American Singles division. Amelia took the second place ribbon while Laverne got Reserve Champion and Best of Breed and went on to compete in for the Grand Champion. Imagine the ruckus this will create in the coop...what with Amelia being our Alpha Hen and all...Laverne may stage a coup tonight in the coop!! Okay...back to the story...it seemed like the Grand Champion judging went on FOREVER, but in the end, Laverne took Reserve Grand Champion! The judge came over and told us what a nice hen she was and that she'd have taken Grand Champion easily if she hadn't been competing against a rooster. We were so proud of our girls!

When it was time for Ginger, our Mini Rex Rabbit, to take the show table, she won Best of Breed as well!

We also checked on my Canned Goods to see if anything had placed. You may remember that I entered 7 items...and 5 of them placed! I really was shocked since this is only our second year canning and our first year to participate in the fair, I had really hoped that ONE would place! (These are still at the fair on display until Friday...I'll get some good pics of the jars and the ribbons when we can bring them home!)

Here's the rundown:

First Place:
Applesauce
Watermelon Rind Preserves

Second Place:
Peach Butter
Apple Peel Jelly
Dill Pickles

In addition to all our ribbons and plaques, we will get a check for around $13...enough to buy several sacks of feed for the chickens!

Feelin' GOOD!

2009-09-06T19:38:00.000-07:00

I pulled all the jars out of the pantry to reorganize and lined them all up on the table...take a look!

Willow Run

2009-09-04T11:53:00.000-07:00

We've officially named our 22 acres of land...we're calling it "Willow Run." Here's a picture of the brand we've designed!

In other news, the County Fair is next week and we're preparing some entries! We'll be entering:

Amelia - Buff Orpington Hen
Laverne - Rhode Island Red Hen
Ginger - Mini Rex Rabbit
Applesauce
Apple Butter
Pickles
Apple Peel Jelly
Watermelon Rind Preserves
Peach Butter

Send some blue ribbon vibes our way!! My canned goods have to be entered Tuesday and the poultry and rabbits will be entered and judged on Wednesday night.

Our cup runneth over...

2009-08-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

More pickles today!! Squash pickles, cucumber pickles, and pickled okra.

When we got home from the land...we found FOUR eggs in the coop (one of which was a tiny egg), which means that Lucy has FINALLY come into production! I was beginning to think she'd never lay an egg. We were pretty ecstatic about that!

We also had an exciting development at the land (aside from me being bitten by red ants which stings like you wouldn't believe!). My dad came down to look at the place and he and Homestead Man started talking about barns...by the end of the day, dad had said he thought he had the materials just laying around his ranch and would be glad to see them put to good use and they'd drawn up plans!!! So, instead of saving up for several years to put a good barn out on the farm, it looks like we'll be able to build one out there this year, virtually for free!!

I am so thankful for the way blessings have been raining down on our household lately, and truly believe it is because of our new commitment to pay cash for purchases and pay off our debt. The Bible talks of how if we manage our money in a Godly way, He will return it to us in good measure, shaken down, and running over. That's exactly how He's blessed us lately!