Plastic Feed Sacks

Okay, all the creative people in the world kind of hurt my feelings. It amazes me how people sew, knit, paint and the list goes on. It skipped me. My mother does it ALL! I mean everything from making clothes and quilts to painting and colored pencils and wood burning on gourds and crocheting and punch needle and...I am tired, you get the idea. I like to color with crayons. Does that count? But nonetheless, being of German, Scottish, Irish and Native American descent I am a bit...determined, yes, not stubborn, determined. As I am getting older and finding that simple things are better. I am trying to obtain skills that will be useful when I am able to "stay at home" and run the homestead versus working from home full time. And I will. Even if it is mastering garden and greenhouse, especially herbs, since that is the name of the farm, all the skills that go along with milking such as cheese and yogurt making, knitting, candle making and soap making with our beeswax and honey. You get the idea.

So, these plastic feed sacks. People are making purses, grocery bags, bags in general, things I am not confident I could make. But wait...tarps. They are making tarps to cover hay bales, chicken and rabbit runs, using them for weed barriers, etc. Surely I can sew a tarp, right ? Well, I have saved my first bag-dog food, the chicken bag is getting there, so it will be soon that I may have my answer. And the strings when you open these bags...why didn't I think of saving them to sew on buttons or tie things with. They are fairly thick and sturdy thread.

So much to learn, so much to try. Life is certainly not boring is it? I will post a pic of my first tarp. Be prepared. Do not have liquid in your mouth for your own safety. It could go in or out at the sight of it.

Update on Laundry Soap

Just wanted to say that I love, love, love my laundry soap. I use about 1/8 of a cup (its a scoop from something else so haven't measured exactly). And thank you, Lisa Davis, for the vinegar fabric softener tip. I don't use much, since I don't want to smell like salsa, but even about a tablespoon in the rinse cycle makes a big difference in Bruce's Carharttwork pants, both on the line and in the dryer. We have four hampers in the house, usually at least two if not all of them are full. I am pleased to say that I am down to one that I should finish tomorrow. What will I do if I get the laundry caught up...and no, you can't send me yours, nice try though. Yes, the laundry soap is part of the motivation, but really, it is probably the fact that I had to finish off the gallon ice cream so I could use the bucket to put my laundry soap in. Sugar, sugar! Luckily, it is about gone---just like the dirty clothes :)

More Chickens!

Dern you, Murray McMurray Hatchery! Why do you tempt me with your sales in my inbox! Yes, I am weak when it comes to chickens. Especially since we have the brooder built. I have 25 heavy straight run coming September 13. I ordered those about three months ago to ensure I would have everything ready and cleaned up. And last week, there was a special. Duke's Mix they called it. A plethora of variety. You know, my mother chastised me for just ordering all one breed of white chickens last year; she called them "boring." So, now I have gone to the other extreme. Yes, I clicked order now! And they will be here in two weeks. Oh dear, what have I done. I will have 25 more three weeks after that. Guess, I better divide the brooder. At least I know the ones I ordered in the past will be useful for eating and eggs. I guess even if I get fancy ones I can still eat them and their eggs. I will just call them gourmet.

Laundry Soap

I made my first batch of laundry soap today. I hope that it works well. I had read one recipe that was just shaved soap, 1/2 cup of washing soda and 1/2 cup of borax. And you use it just like that. Well, it sounded like a lot of shaved soap, so I looked up a few other recipes and ended up making a batch that is in my 5-gallon bucket. I will find out tomorrow how it works. Can't wait...what, wait, can't wait to do laundry, really??? Did I hit my head :)

Still Regretting

Oh how wonderful the cooler air felt as I opened up the greenhouse and walked to the mailbox. The humidity is so much lower. And it is only supposed to be 90 degrees today. On my 0.6 of a mile walk to mail my package, I looked around the place. I have not been doing anything to "beautify" the place this summer. I didn't plant any flowers or have any hanging baskets out. I didn't even feed the hummingbirds. I feel horrible. Of course, I had a few veggies in the garden, and even picked three cucumbers from the plants around the porch this morning, but have pretty well let the rest of it go. It had been so dry and hot. That is no excuse. I will be sorry when my few bags of frozen corn and cans of green beans are gone before Christmas! Now that the reality of the end of the growing season is here, I am feeling regret for my lack of perseverance. I guess that is why I am now, in the heat of the summer, trying to make up for lost time by making sure this fall and early winter are different. When I have a menu and grocery list for the week and spend over $120, it irks me, especially knowing that some of these things should be in my garden! Although there is regret, there is still hope.

When I opened the greenhouse today I was so happy to see several trays have sprouted; cabbage, collards, beets, lettuces, kale and basil. Especially with the fact that I have been at war with a mouse in the greenhouse. I saw him running into the fuse box a few weesk ago. He destroyed my first batch of sown seeds. He even decimated this batch of spinach and brussels sprouts (much to my husband's joy-he hates brussels sprouts, even swallowed one whole to avoid tasting it-ouch!) I am seriously considering a greenhouse cat! First, I will try some good old fashion traps. I can only dream of the morning I find him in the trap...ahhh, the joy it brings my heart. Sorry if that offends, but he offends me by eating my seeds that are supposed to provide food for my family this fall and winter! I am sure there are more lovely things he could find besides digging in my seed trays!!

I am hoping to get back into the overgrown garden soon and redig some of the old beds to put some of the vegetables in. If I have enough energy, I would like to make some tunnels for fall and early winter to save the greenhouse bed for other experiments. I will be putting a few in the greenhouse bed nonetheless. I also need to put another bed in the greenhouse to make sure we have plenty of winter growing space. There is a whole other compost pile to dig and use for that purpose.

Still so much to do. Thank goodness I am re-motivated everytime I come home from the grocery store!

At Least I Had a Good Weekend

I am giving this weekend a B...for me. I got my package mailed out for my paying job, I got 12 trays of seeds in the greenhouse (fingers crossed), the semi-permanent brooder is up and ready, the kids' school supplies and a good start of clothes is bought and paid for, the animal food is in the containers (I will explain in a second), the fire ants have somewhat abated from the kitchen, Penny and Cherry free-ranged a bit, and my office is finally painted, partially cleared out and ready for organization. I am content with what we got done.

Bruce and the kids, on the other hand, probably graded a bit lower. Jake got several ant bites and cuts. Sarah got a lot of ant bites on her feet, and every time I turned around she had hiccups. And then there is Bruce...poor, poor Bruce. Right now he is lying on the couch in a Benadryl/Ibuprofen coma. He got stung in the eyelid while feeding the bees. No, he didn't wear any veil and had on a sweaty black T-shirt. He looks like he was in a boxing match with a gorilla. He also has ant bites up to his knees. And last, but not least, he stepped on a stick that went through his shoe and stuck into his foot. Very rough day, indeed. Bless their hearts.

Okay, I am trying a new animal food system so I am not taken unawares when the kids say they have been out of food since last night. I have started using, and will be buying more, those 18-gallon totes you can get for $4 at the dollar store. I lined them with trashbags and dumped a bag of food in it. My goal is to have two totes per animal feed/type (two goat chow, two sweet feed, two chick starter, etc.) stacked on each other. When the top one is full the last person to feed the animal is to bring the empty container to the porch so I know what we need when I make a trip to the feed store. Theoretically it will work; however, I know the day will come when the new container is not rotated or left somewhere between the feed shed and the porch, but hopefully those moments will be few and far between. I also think this will keep the food fresher and not waste as much. But, time will tell.

I'm Back!

Not that I have been gone per se. Over the last six months, I have been posting on Facebook. Social Media is great, but I miss the simplicity of the blog. It is not intertwined with all these other things that can make you lose focus, which I have a tendency to do. Okay, the past six months. Spring was an absolute disaster! We lost so many animals. I was almost afraid to try anything. Our chickens were massacred. They were destroyed by dogs that had been running rabbits across the pond. The man got ill and left, leaving behind one dog who found his way to the chicken pen. Our dogs had been trained and did not bother the chickens, thus we free-ranged. I have one hen left. That very same day Snow White, our NZ rabbit had 10 dead bunnies that I had to dispose of. And I had left the cage door open and she got out and our chow did get her. At that point, I came in, sat down, cried like a baby, called my mommy and then put my big girl panties back on and grabbed a shovel. Not one of my best days, ever!

Currently, I have Cherry, she is a registered Nubian (disbudded) goat, whom we will have bred next month. Suzy was given to a wonderful family who love her and treat her as a pet. I have Bucky, the white New Zeland buck. My one hen, whom I have named Henny Penny.

So, we are at the building stage again, starting over. Maybe I am trying to do too much. Maybe I should slow down, but in my gut I have this urgency to get the farm up and running quickly.

What am I up to now. As I mentioned, Cherry will be bred next month and we will be getting the milk house ready, which means rebuilding it. We have 25 more chicks on the way-brown layer straight run. Some to eat, some to keep. With that, we are also going to be building a chicken tractor so that they can free-range...safely. (Lesson learned). I am not actively looking for rabbits at this point, but I do scan the Market Bulletin if something is close and reasonably priced. I expect it will be March or so before we get any more.

The garden is so dry that I have let it go. I will be removing the fencing and trellises and posts next month as well. I have put a small raised bed (yes, it is a redneck bed, but it was free) in the greenhouse to try and grow throughout the winter. I am not sure how this will work out, but as everything else, it will be lessons learned until I perfect it. We have several trays of fall/winter crops started.

The yard has not been mown for quite a while now. First, our lawn mower is down and I am waiting to get that fixed. Luckily it is so hot and dry that the grass is not really growing anyway.

We have two beehives. I am feeding them now with sugar water and a supplement of essential oils to keep them healthy while there is nothing blooming on our land anyway.

That catches us up, yet, it seems I am further behind than I was.