Land
16+ acres of rolling hills
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Morning Feeding with Doobie
Doobie is a rat terror and also a rat terrier. Quite remarkably, we have trained him to not attack poultry. We started with chicks 4-5 months ago after getting down to less than a dozen old laying hens. The first batch of these girls will be laying fairly soon.
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Early Morning Harvest
Each morning, I look forward to getting up, getting dressed, donning my grey hoodie jacket, washed red denim ball cap, and muck boots with basket, scissors and bowl in tow, and going out into the garden / budding food forest to gather the day’s goodies. Starting in May I was able to harvest strawberries and greens (lambsquarter, kale, and swiss chard) on a daily basis. Then the raspberries came in with a smattering of blueberries. Blackberries were just around the corner. Today, I picked a nice sized basket-full of blackberries, a few strawberries, a bowl full of kale, and a couple bell peppers. I try to get out there before…
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Lambsquarters: How We Prepare It
Lambsquarters (also Chenopodium album) is commonly considered a weed and is often cast aside and attention is diverted to more conventional plants. However, it is actually an incredibly nutritious plant as well as very accessible because as a “weed” it grows exponentially and in places that would be inconvenient if you weren’t planning on eating it–so in actuality, it’s very convenient if you choose to take advantage of it. So, how do you eat it? Great question! It’s actually a very easy plant to prepare considering it’s mild which makes it very versatile. Wherever you would use spinach in a recipe, you can use lambsquarters instead. You can put it…
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Mother Earth is Not My God
In the course of my research on Permaculture principles and living a more natural lifestyle I find a lot of attention is often given to “Mother Earth” (aka “Mother Nature” or “Gaia/Gaea”) all over the place…in magazines, books, videos, etc. While I recognize the value of the land, and I can see how the land can be identified as our mother, I am not an advocate for Gaia worship, and I prefer not to call the earth or nature our mother because of where that leads people in their minds. Mother Earth is Not My God I believe in a Creator, who is identified in the Bible simply as “God”. I…
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Beast and Birds Showdown
While sitting on my back porch this morning, I saw two large black birds standing in our garden adjacent to our hen-house. I squinted and got up from my seat to get a better look, and I saw that they were vultures, just standing there beside our well-house. I went out to shew them away and to see why they were there, thinking there were probably dead animals out there. But when I got to where they were, I saw all our birds (chickens, ducks and turkeys) alive, standing at the fence on the outside looking in at them. It was like they were having a staring contest — a…
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The Cost of Our Milk
Our kids love cereal, particularly our boys. I think they would eat it all day, every day if I let them. But I don’t. However, I’m fine with letting them drink as much milk as they want. That’s because our milk comes from our own animals. This is a chore my husband is not particularly fond of, and he often wonders if the cost of obtaining that milk is truly appreciated by all those who consume it. So, in the interest of having our kids better understand the cost of our milk, I started having them recently go out with my husband each time he milked and be a part of the process.
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Transplanting Chickweed
My youngest son has been struggling lately with sleeping all the time, and I believe part of his problem is that he is not getting enough of the proper nutrition he needs. Since we prefer to get our nutrition from the food we eat, as opposed to popping pills, my husband referred us to the garden for some fresh greens. Chickweed We all love this edible weed, commonly known as chickweed, and it’s pretty easy to identify. So, my husband started cultivating it to grow in our gardens. This bout with excessive sleep, coupled with our need for homegrown greens in the winter, prompted my husband to start our family on a new project. Moving Our…
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Homesteading Tool Must Haves – Forstner Bit
When it comes to boring deep holes in wood, it is hard to beat a Forstner Bit. Spade Bits You probably have some spade bits to go with your drill. These are fine for limited use. They dull easily and are not easy to sharpen. The spade bit seams to overheat quickly. They jam up suddenly at that can be a knuckle buster. Holes sometimes get out of round when the bit travels too quickly while drilling. Hole Saws You may also be familiar with hole saws. These are good for sheet goods like plywood and sheet rock, but are limited if you need to put a number of deep…
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Putting Up A Post with a Harbor Freight Trencher
Ty’s been single-handedly doing a lot of work around these parts for several years now, but he has had a faithful companion to help share the load: his Harbor Freight Trencher. While the trencher has had its share of maintenance required, Ty has definitely gotten his money’s worth in having it. Check out his most recent project with this pal of his:
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The Beginnings of Our Beekeeping Journey
In late February Ty and I attended a 3-day Beginning Beekeeping class taught by our County Extension Agent. It was my first exposure to learning anything about honeybees. Personally, I have always had an aversion to bees in general, and I never paid much attention to learning anything about them. I just knew they stung, and I didn’t want to get stung. When we first moved into my grandparents’ home over ten years ago, they had big azalea bushes by the front door, and I always hated going through the front door in the summer because these giant furry bees (bumble bees) would be lingering right there, buzzing loudly. So, I typically just…
