Cutting the fat in these economic times

In the old days to cut the fat literally meant to cut the animal fat (ie. salt pork) out of the diet, because there wasn't money for it, or it wasn't available.  Nowadays to cut the fat literally means budget cuts, families, schools, cities, states and countries around the world are doing it.

The economy in our neck of the woods isn't great, but it's not as bad as some places in the US because we're less than an hour from a major city, Seattle.    Not everyone is directly affected by this economy but if you have a home, you have been most likely affected, if you have a job, lucky you, be thankful!  Hopefully it's one you enjoy and not one you're just doing because you have to bring home the bacon so to speak.   Many people including ourselves have been hit hard by the downturn in the economy, and we don't see how it's going to get better any time soon, at least the housing which is at the heart of so many things in the economy.  My husband and I talk about and are concerned about what's happening, we don't let it drag us down, but we're acutely aware that it could get worse.

In the midst of it all our family is still strong, healthy, and financially sound, we have a scrappy adventuresome attitude... it's called Faith, and it's the all important daily ingredient!  Our overhead is low and we don't have to work ourselves to death just to maintain, we have more time than money, but it's our choice how we productively spend that time.  I recently had someone who knows me well mention that maybe I should go get a job at Boeing because they're hiring.  I thought inside to myself, me at Boeing? I would wilt, that's not my dream, vision, or calling.  Sure we'd have more money, but what about quality of life, I wouldn't have much of a garden, how would I do all the things I do around the house and tending to every one's needs.  If we were in dire straights, yes I would do it and make the best of it, but we're not in dire straights, we're just cutting the fat, staying home more and making it just fine.

Our choices to cut the fat and our overhead make it where we can live this life we have chosen, one of self sufficiency without having our hand out to anyone.  I've talked about this topic some already but wanted to share again because I feel it's important to hear what other's are doing to survive right now in these challenging economic times.

So what have we cut, the first to go was tv and movie rentals several years ago, we now occasionally rent movies from the library and rarely have the tv on.  The second to go was cell phones, when I got out of the real estate business two and a half years ago, we had 2 adults and 2 children on the phone plan and another one wanting one, so it was a big expense and not one we wanted.  Now if you need a cell phone for your business that is important to keep, we have done just fine with a land line.  We cut back on sporting events, and now just focus on school sports which is nice because they usually last 3 months verses select soccer year round.  We rarely go out to eat and almost never go to movies, we try to stay home more and drive less, and we really coordinate our outings to do as many errands grouped together as we can.  We're a ways out of town so this is important for us.

We've had to cut back on buying meat, nuts, boxed cereals, luxury items like good cheeses and wines, and ice cream.  Now on the rare occasion we do get these items we truly savor them.  Maybe you're getting a picture of why I'm dreaming of making my own artisan cheeses, brews and ice cream.  I like this kind of fat and now I want to learn to make my own, so it's not cut, it's created.  I love good artisan bread, but it's expensive, so I learned to make my own.  We cut buying a coffee at Starbucks while out, we make our own at home.  We cut buying new clothes, furnishings and household goods, and buy used at our local Goodwill store.  When we need building materials we go to the salvage and scrap yards, most of our buildings my husband has built with our own trees milled, and he's used materials from the salvage yards. 

You can see that on every level we've had to make cuts, not easy ones but necessary in these times.  We're careful with our power and water use and are taking shorter showers, turning lights off and doing less laundry, if it's not dirty don't throw it in to be washed.  Our children are good sports and understand and they are not deprived in any way, they're all warm and well fed and have plenty of time themselves with us and each other to grow and develop. 

We don't have credit cards, the last one we paid in full and shredded several years ago when things started getting tight, so we are never tempted to buy things we don't need and we discuss daily where we're at and what we need to do.  We've made choices to invest our money into fruit and nut trees as long term investments, and farm animals into shorter term investments, hoping they all will be self sufficient to a certain degree this year.

Being scrappy has taken on a whole new word for us these last couple years.  I've watched my husband take jobs he never would have normally have taken.  Most are small jobs, he's gone in to the scrap yard with metal on many occasions and helped clean up properties, friends have called to say they know someone who has a clean up scrap job and we're thankful and appreciate every little bit of work we can get.  We've sold extra stuff, and he's done hard physical jobs, where at days end he's dirty and exhausted from head to toe, I make sure he has a hot meal as soon as he get's home and let him how proud of I am of his work ethic that's so strong and diligent.  The fun part is I also get to see him have time to work on projects at home, happy and free, time for long breakfasts and time to be together and plan. 

Come the first of April I get to go back to my plant nursery job on weekends, a job I enjoy and for that I am thankful.  So you can see it's not all roses, this life of ours, but it's real and we're scrappy, and through Faith and hard work it pays in another kind of richness, one of simplicity in home and family, where you can sleep through the night and have peace in your heart.

A Country Kitchen

My vision of a country farm kitchen... It's an old settled place where smoke curls from the chimney and natural, honest materials have been used, wood and stone, brick and tile.  Walking up the stone path with perennial flowers flanked on both sides, you step onto the large covered porch and your eyes take it all in, geraniums and flowers in pots and cans of every shape and size, foxglove blooming under the window, and clematis climbing up the sides of the porch.  Delphiniums shine in the bright morning sun, and a comfy old swing are all there, along with friendly dogs that greet you, and cats that sit up yawning, everyone comes to say hi and welcome you.  As you open the wood screen door and step inside you enter another world and all your senses come alive, a richly complicated smell greets you, of wood smoke and baking bread, herbs and garlic, frying onions and bacon, soups and stews, hot jams and vanilla, yeast and dishwater, somehow all melded together over the years.  In one corner there's a porcelain sink so large you could bathe a child on either side, and in the middle of the kitchen is a wood fired range with it's moods and eccentricities that must be faithfully served to bake bread and boil water. 

The stone floor in the kitchen has been smoothed and polished over the years by the passing of countless feet, and rag rugs in various sizes and colors are scattered throughout.  At the center of it all is the handmade thick slab wood table, scoured and worn over the years by daily use, it has been made strong and stable to last for decades, meals are eaten here, plans are made here, and laughter and good cheer happen here.  The woodstove glows warm overlooking the garden below and comfy cushioned chairs sit on either side, as the sourdough rises nearby. 

There is a certain squirrelling impulse in every country cook to store good things away into pots, jars, and baskets, things like chutneys and blackberry cordials, dried fruit, and herbs.  The baskets are filled with apples and cherries, pears and plums, all waiting to transform into glimmering jeweled jars of jams and preserves, herb vinegars and oils.  It's a place filled with milk cultures and a variety of cheeses, there are vegetables in baskets and grain in bins, and in another corner on a stack of bricks is a keg of homebrew and rootbeer with mugs nearby.   From the ceiling hang racks that hold baskets and large copper pots, bundles of herbs and strings of dried fruit. 

There is an alcove off to the side which is the pantry where all the overflow goes, jars, jams and preserves line the shelves, canned vegetables and juices, sausages and salami all hanging to dry, aging cheese wheels and new wine on racks.  There are crocks filled with pickles and sauerkraut, crackers in tins and canned soups and stews, although a small pantry it's filled to the brim from floor to ceiling with every good thing. 

Parsley and chives grow on the sunny windowsill and billowy curtains blow in the breeze on warm summer mornings.  The floors are well swept and the rugs are all shook, the laundry is drying in the sun by the garden, and the sounds of goats and chickens in the distance all add to the feeling of a world within a world, where it could all begin and end right here.  For within is a refuge of comfort and safety where family and friends are generously fed, warmed, and cherished. 

PS. I thought about this vision while sitting in front of my woodstove and began daydreaming of a long ago farm kitchen on a warm sunny day, so I pulled out my handwritten journal and began to write, some of this dream is already in place in my home, much of it I'm still working towards.  I wanted to find a photograph of a kitchen like this and I couldn't find one, so I pulled together a few items in my kitchen that were close by.  Milk from last nights milking, eggs from the chickens, garlic I grew and braided, hazelnuts I gathered in the fall, and a loaf of bread I made, winter vegetables from the garden, and a few sprigs of sage.  I am a romantic when it comes to the old fashioned ways, and I hope my children and future grandchildren will derive this sense of well being in our own country kitchen.

testing our self sufficiency skills

This last week has had it's share of highs and lows for us, we lost our power, phone, and running water for 3 days, and the snow came down hard for 5 days straight.  Needless to say we got to test our skills.  In my last post we were still in the fun part of the snowstorm, we had cozy showers and running water, laundry and a phone line, hot water and power.  Before the lights even began to flicker we had already begun to gather water in vessels and lay out the candles on the table, just in case.  Wednesday around noon the power went out, and the snow continued to fall hard.  It was kind of fun the first day and night with no power, then morning came and another day, and another day, and the snow continued to fall.   We had the phone line for the first day, and then that went dead for 2 days.  We chained up the truck to get into town, and all through town it was compact snow and ice, our school district was closed all week, and the kids had fun playing and reading.  I stayed busy with the animals, and cooking and cleaning, and continued to milk Zolena through it all.  We had 4 kettles on the wood stove to heat water for washing and cooking with, some had melted snow and some water was pulled up from the hand dug well.

If you saw the weather for Seattle we're very similar only we're about 50 miles NE  in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, our temperatures are often 10 or 15 degrees colder because we're 20 miles inland from the Puget Sound, and the Pacific Ocean.  Just down the coast where my Mom and Dad live in Coos Bay, Oregon, they're so near the ocean it rarely freezes or snows and the snow almost never sticks to the ground, it melts right away.  Here now a week later and we still have snow on the ground, it has warmed up, but the driving is still slippery.  I don't like to drive in icy snow, so I've been happily home-bound all week, we've had plenty of good food and so have the animals.  Plus I've been getting alot of great exercise hauling warm water heated on the stove to everyone. 

There is a whole new appreciation for a wood burning stove when it's you're sole heat source (which ours always has been) and your main source to cook on, and heat water with for washing dishes.  It also becomes the central focus in the evenings with candles around for light when there's no power.  Even with a well the water doesn't flow from the sink without the electric pump, the toilet doesn't flush unless it's refilled in the back, and the shower doesn't work at all.   Luckily for me, I took a shower right before the power went out for those 3 days. 

I had a whole list of what I was going to do everyday this last week, and I pretty much had to put it on hold and just go into survival mode, tend the animals, chop wood, carry water,  make meals, and clean.  The beauty of the snow in mid January is nice,  then we had too much snow, almost 2 feet, and then freezing rain, and then the cover to my  chicken aviary was near collapsing and the pen for Stormy and Cowboy needed to have the snow removed daily.  I was outside getting snow off areas that could collapse, the snow became hard to walk in, and we all got a little cabin fever.  I also had the duty of shaking off all our edibles and ornamentals around the garden and yard,  making sure branches stayed intact.  When the rain finally came and it began to warm up, we  all cheered, now today it's still melting and the wind is gusting with some high winds around 50 miles per hour, our winter weather is finally here.

Nearing the end of the 3 days we had some renewed discussions on independence from the power company and have a real desire to see our windmill operational, we've had one for years, and just need a high tower, a real high tower to get above the tree line.  We talked about ways to build the tower and the batteries we'll need to store the power, along with many of the nuts and bolts of actually making it a reality.  Back in the late 70's, my  husband lived out here for 10 years with no power, phone or running water, that was back in the day when many back to landers started out just the same way. 

Still today you could start out and buy or rent land, build a small cabin or modular home,  put in a wood stove and small kitchen and live.  It's amazing how simple people lived for thousands of years and how far we've come in such a short time.  How many of us could survive without power for a month, or two, or more?  I'm sure we all could if we had to, but wouldn't it be a little nicer with heat and a way to cook, and a piece of land to grow food.  Our whole electrical grid is so fragile, the possibility of it going out for awhile is very real.

fun in the snow

Kaley having fun sledding on our first "Snow Day" of the year!

It snowed most of the day today and they say more is on the way, 

 it looks like there will be no school for the rest of the week... and all the kids say... Yay!!!

Golden Retrievers are like kids, they love to play in the snow.



Tessa heading down the hill!

Tessa with the male puppy Fatolini (aka, Bubs), well he has several names depending on who's talking to him. 



Summer wants to sled too!  She loves getting in on the action.

Jason with Josie, she is such a sweetheart.




"Snow Kisses" from Sierra



in the kitchen

I've been having fun cooking in the kitchen on these snowy days.  Over the last several weeks I've been practicing a new method of making whole wheat sourdough bread.  The method uses a wild yeast biga and a soaker, whole wheat needs to be brought alive by starting the bread the day before, and allow the flour the and wild yeasts to ferment.  Everyone in our family loves good whole wheat bread.  I'll write more about this method and post more pictures of this process the next time I make it.    I also made a big batch of chicken, barley, rice and vegetable soup, and baked a butternut squash to eat as dessert (with butter and brown sugar) plus I'll have enough left over to add some to the soup tomorrow.  I love to make good smells in the kitchen on a snowy winter day. 

snow storm

We awoke this morning to a dusting of fresh snow, just as predicted.  As the day wore on it began to get dark and windy and the snow really started to come down.  Just like a snowglobe, the snow went every direction as the wind blew.  Stepping out my back door, this is the view of the woods behind the garden, big Douglas fir and Hemlock trees.  The trees surrounding our property are giant, and they always look extra big with snow on them.  The puppies had fun playing in it today, and the goats stayed inside their snug little barn.  I fed everyone undercover, and gave extra helpings of alfalfa and grain.  They're saying more snow is on the way.

I like to cook when I'm cooped up inside, so I made a sweet potato pie, the smell filled the house with the sweet spicy aromas of cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg.  It turned out delicious and we just finished eating a piece with whip cream, sitting by the fire all snug and cozy.  We had glasses of goats milk to wash it down, Yum!

We've been feeding both of the fires, cleaning, and playing outside most of the day.  I waited until the snow stopped around 4pm to go milk, I do have a covered area, but the snow going sideways still made everything wet on our milk stand.  In early December I switched from milking twice per day to once a day during these darkest of days.  I plan to pick back up again with 2 milkings per day in mid March as the days are getting longer and warmer. 

I decided back in the Fall not to breed Zolena this year and just milk her through the winter until Jersey freshens in the summer and I can begin milking her.  I'll have several months where they'll overlap, and the cheese making will really begin to happen.  It takes a lot of milk to make cheese.  I'll also have Joon's milk and nigerians have the highest butterfat milk, it has loads of cream.  It's so fresh and thick it whips up into cream in seconds, plus it's wonderful for cheese making and soap making.

Naptime in their new bed that Dad made for them over the holidays.  We have two beds he made just for the dogs to give them their own cozy spot.  Summer's in the one on the other side of the porch, it's kind of like a dog living room now.  They see me with the camera and open their eyes to say hi, still tired from playing in the snow.

 

Jersey's date last night

Jersey is almost 2 years old, which is pretty old as far as goats go for never having been bred.  I've been wanting to get her bred all through the Fall and somehow couldn't time her heat cycle where I knew she was ready, or I was at work and couldn't get her there.  I talked with the the breeder Kim and she helped me pick out a gorgeous buck named Excaliber to be the sire, I looked at him through pictures on her website.  It happens to be the same farm Jersey was born at, called My Enchanted Acres Nubian's, she has about 40 goats, all Nubian's and has been raising them for over 20 years.  They're one of the most well respected Nubian breeders in the Northwest, and I am thrilled to have her bloodlines.

Kim told me what to look for in heat cycles and that they can last for 2 to 3 days, and happen every 21 days.  I watched and watched and finally noticed her going into heat on Christmas Eve of all days, she was in full blown heat on Christmas day.  I knew I'd have to wait another 18-21 days for her to go into heat again, there was no way I could get her there on Christmas day.  There are definitely benefits to owning a buck, if I had one, we could have just put her in his pen on Christmas day and it would be no big deal.

I knew we were getting to the end of rutting season, and Nubian's are seasonal breeders, meaning the bucks go into rut from about mid August to mid January, and the does go into heat during this time as well.  The little Nigerians can breed year round, that is one of their special benefits.  I was getting worried we may have to just wait until next Fall, which I didn't want to do because I wanted to start milking her this summer along with Joon.

Yesterday I called Kim in the morning and excitedly told her Jersey was wagging her tail, bellowing , and mooning over little Cowboy (the Nigerian buck we have).  I said "I think she's ready, can we come over today".  We agreed on a time, got the pen together in the back of the truck and drove the 30 minutes over to their farm.  While we were driving her there, Jersey had her head to the wind taking in all the new smells.  As we unloaded her, she looked around at the familiar farm where she was born. I'm sure she remembers the first year of her life.  I bought Jersey through another lady who only had her for a couple months, she got her from this farm.  It was fun to meet Jersey's mom and grandma and see all the many variations of color and beauty in her goats.  At one point while we were waiting for them to get the buck, my husband called me over and said you gotta come see this.  I had been looking at the yearlings, and when I went over and peaked over the wall, there were 22 cute and curious goats looking at me, they were the older does, munching away on their hay.  I so wish I had brought my camera, but the lighting wasn't the greatest and it was getting dark.

As Excaliber came up to us, I noticed how big he was, his coloring is a creamy color and he is so handsome, as far as Nubian bucks go.  Plus we quickly realized he was also a total gentleman, Jersey didn't seem too scared, but leaned into me for courage I think.  Before I knew it, it was over, and they said, there's one.  As the four of us stood there talking along with many little goat eyes curiously watching us, he bred her 4 times in about 15 minutes.  Then as they led him away, I said "So that's it, she's pregnant now".  They said " Yes, that's all there is to it."  Well how bout that. Jersey seemed calm and happy, and we loaded her up, gave them the breeding fee, and then got to have a peek at her new 3 day old Nubian kids.  She had 4 kids already born this year, and has more to come all through the early winter and spring, they were so cute, I can hardly wait! 

I was so relieved to know that I got the timing right, and that we'd gotten Jersey bred this year.  Plus we're happy for her that she'll get to be a mom, and that we'll get to have another milk goat. This year Joon should have kids around May 10, and now Jersey around June 12th.  It worked out perfect to have the kids spread out, so the first month of their life they can be in the nursery with a heat lamp.  Such simple things like getting a goat bred make me happy today.  We also have snow predicted for this weekend, only our second time since November.  I love the snow in January and February, it just feels right, it's winter after all :)

plans for this year

Sometimes in the middle of the night when all is quiet and I look out on the stars, I say thank you because I'm so grateful.  I know that I'm living the life imagined by me for so many years, it's the one my husband and I have created and we love it.  I also know that it all came from within first and began as a thought, then it was talked about, then it was written down, and then it was accomplished through time and labor. Some goals and  thoughts are quick to accomplish, like saying you're going to get up at an hour earlier, but most often there is time and work invested to bring our dreams into reality.  

A gift from my daughter for Christmas was a new journal.  I like to start a new journal every year, in it I write down my overall goals, then break them down into the steps I need to take to bring each one into reality.  I will then invest time each day or week to work on the goal.  I have many different areas of interests and some take more or less time and some are seasonal.  Most of my goals take money and it needs to first be earned, and then invested into materials. This year I want to be better organized with my time.

One of my biggest goals this year is to set up an art studio and begin painting again after many years.  When I was young I remember whenever someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I'd  say, "an artist"  meaning I wanted to paint pictures, I used to love to draw people and animals.  I need to set aside 2 or 3 hours a couple days per week, and schedule the time in, so I actually sit down and do it.  I have an upper loft in my bedroom that is going to be just for my paints, paper and artwork.  It has plenty of light and will be perfect.  I want to paint pictures of our farm life and capture these moments on canvas.


Another big goal is to set up a "creamery" in my kitchen for a while, and just learn everything I can about cheese making, I have visions of wheels of cheese aging in a root cellar.  I want to make as much of my own butter, yogurt, and ice cream as I can this year too.  Speaking of root cellars, we began digging into a North-east hill side by our house when we had a back hoe here last year.  We moved some big rocks over to begin a staircase, someday this will be a stone entrance with an arched thick door, and will be an authentic root cellar.  For now I have a large basement that is our storage area, and will cure aging cheese just fine.

Grafting and propagating fruit trees and edibles for Applegarth Nursery is going to be a big priority along with potting up native species for sale, and planting more rootstock.  This year I want to get licensed through the state to be able to sell my nursery stock and farm products, like goats milk soap, and lotion.  I also want to go to the Seattle fruit tree society scionwood sale in February and get more varieties of fruit trees and root stock to plant. 

Soap making is going to be fun this year with goats milk.  I still need to buy more supplies and also want to try my hand at making lotions.  There are new essential oils I want to try as well as making some naturally scented bars.  Plans are to turn the kitchen in the barn into my designated soap making area.  I hope to be selling Applegarth soap and lotion on Etsy, and to be linked through this blog by next Fall.

Something I want to see happen this year is a farm sign at our front gate.  I know I'll have to paint it myself to be  happy with it, I'd love to carve it out of wood and then paint it.  I want it to be oval shaped, and have some artwork depicting our farm, like a goat, an apple tree, and a rabbit perhaps.  I need to play around with a design on paper first.

For years I've been wanting to learn how to make my own artisan beer.  I've checked out every book our library has on it and read them all.  I've talked to brewers and got catalogs from them of where they get their supplies.  In the old days every good housewife knew how to make hard cider and homebrew, as well as how to make cheese, soap, sew, and cook.  In our orchard we have apple trees planted that are specifically for hard cider and someday we'll have fall cider pressing.  For this year though I just want to learn to make good artisan beer and bottle it.  Not that we drink a lot of beer, it would just be fun to learn.  Once you get into making your own good foods, I think good drinks are simply the next fun thing to try.

We are planning to build the goats their own goat barn this year, at least phase one of it.  This will take the most time and money of all our projects.  We'll hopefully begin this spring or early summer by pouring the foundation and beginning the framework and roof.  It will have to be done when the days are longer for my husband to work on it after work.  This will also be the year our perimeter fence will finally be finished, currently it's two thirds of the way around our 10 acres and we just got most of  the remaining wire needed to complete it.  For the last few years we have invested much time and labor into this fence.  It will be so nice to have this huge goal accomplished.  I am going to love being able to close our main gate and know all the animals and plants are safe and protected from the deer and predators.  The chickens will have daily freedom and our goats will have plenty of room to run and have rotational pasture.

Each one of the children has goals they are working towards as well.  Tessa is learning the guitar and we've been taking her to lessons once a week.  She'll be doing Track in the Spring and Soccer in the Fall (both seasonal school sports), plus she'll begin high school. She has her goals of going to the University of Washington after two years of community college, and is talking about a career as an editor or publisher of books.  Kaley is our runner, we are planning to enter her in various local running races as this is dream of hers.  She has hopes of going to college on a running scholarship.  Jason is getting a car soon and will be getting his first job this Spring.  He's a Junior and is also enrolled in a technical school learning automotive repair.  My daughters living on their own Christina and Heather, both have good jobs as barista's and goals they're working towards just as ambitiously.  We like to help all our children plan and think about their futures by talking about college and what classes they need to take and talking about different careers with them.

In our big house this years goals are to finish the walls, taping, texturing and painting them.  We are also planning to put down the tubing and pour the floor in the kitchen so when we lay our stone tile it's heated.  I also want to put finish on all the interior wood. 

I have plans for this blog, like having a section for the books I'm reading and the ones we have in our library.  I want to take more pictures of the meals I make and the recipes and methods I use.  Plus I'd like to connect and network with more local women that are interested in learning from each other.  I want to be faithful to write regular posts and articles that are interesting and inspire you to learn and grow.

The vegetable garden will have some new things like jerusalem artichokes and globe artichokes, and I'm hoping for my greenhouse to get set up too, but may have to be happy with just a small hoop house to get starts going this year.  The flower beds are getting an addition of trees and plants that we've been planting over the last couple months, and continue to plant even now.  New beds are being dug and we're landscaping around our big house.  We've been getting trees and shrubs through the nursery where I work and  I'll share more about this whole landscape project in another post.

It sounds like a lot when I read it all.  This year I'm going to continue learning all about gardening, goats, chickens, rabbits and honeybees.  It will be the year our farm gets licensed to sell products and we'll go through our gate and see an Applegarth Farm sign hanging. It will be the year of the artist and a creamery and a brewery in the making, these are some of the good things in life to me. 

Most of all I want this to be a year that I honor God in all that I do, and to daily thank Him and count my blessings.  I hope this is a year full of health and prosperity for our family and yours!

writing out the dream

This is a post I wrote on December 14, 2010, with a few minor changes.  I wanted to share it again for those of you new to this blog.  I'm planning to write out my 2012 goals and will write a post detailing them.    

One of my favorite things to do when I have a quiet moment is to dream of what I really want in life, what I should be doing that is meaningful, not just for me, but for my family, my friends and the community where I live. This is new to me in recent years, I haven't always been in a position to even be able to think about what I wanted to do. My thoughts have primarily focused on raising my children and creating memories with them, cooking, cleaning, organizing, and tending to everyones needs have been a huge job over the last 20 years! In the midst of raising children I also worked for 12 years as a realtor and had to be disciplined to make money.  Personal ambitions since I have been an adult have been very limited, if you're a mother with young children you will understand.   

Four years ago, I really began to ask the question in my quiet hours, what am I here to do on this earth (besides raising children)?  What do you want me to do... my creator?  I would ask Him who knew me before I was born, and created me, gave me my family, my Mom and Dad, my twin sister, and my brothers, and gave me the gift of 5 beautiful children, and my husband, whom I adore.

Writing it out.. this is what I heard when I asked 4 years ago what it is I'm put here on earth to do? My answer was simple and clear, but also included some of my childhood dreams of painting and animals. You are called to teach others about what you're learning about self sufficient living through writing and photographing your journey. Get prepared to be out of debt, create your own food and power, work from home as much as possible, and teach all that you are learning, and have learned over the years.  The cashflow is to come through having a small fruit tree and edible nursery, and Jarin's new business building cabins and bungalows.   

5 years ago I started gardening more intensely, and studying like a student in school, getting as many books as I could. 4 years ago, I studied beekeeping, and got 2 honeybee hives, plus that was the year I bought fruit trees, put in an orchard and learned all I could about pruning and tending to my new orchard and hives. Jarin deer fenced the large vegetable garden, so we could really begin to produce our own food, and it has grown by one large bed every year. 

The next year I got rabbits, and more fruit trees, and Jarin continued to build fencing to enclose the whole ten acres in deer proof fencing.  We want to plant the land in fruit trees and edibles, without having them destroyed by the deer. The next year we got chickens, and began to build the coop and the chicken run to make it predator proof... this was a huge job!

We are learning as a family where our food comes from, how much work it is to create rich soil to grow your own food.  How to create fencing that lasts and keeps deer out of the vegetables and fruit trees.  We have learned to greatly value the chickens, rabbits, and honeybees for their contribution to the farm's permaculture plan.  

In the next few years we hope to get off grid totally with the help of a windmill and solar power. These are dreams that will become a reality I know. Further down the road, I hope to hold self sufficiency classes and retreats here at Applegarth Farm. 

2011 farm highlights

I'm ready to end the year and start over fresh and new in 2012. The week before New Year's I mentally review the past year, all the highs and lows, and new experiences.  I try to remember the valuable lessons I learned along the way as well.

2011 ~  Year in Review

Applegarth Farm Blog ~ For the last year I've been taking pictures and writing about our life here at Applegarth Farm.  It's been good for me to have my goals staring me in the face and write about them, somehow writing and reading my goals regularly helps them to come true.  Over the last year I've had fun discovering and reading other blogs, mostly women who work on and write about their farms and gardens, and cooking and family.  There are some really incredible people that have taught me things I didn't know, and inspired me  to learn new things I'd never thought of before.  The blogs I enjoy have women writing about their lives and sharing from their hearts and I look forward to what they write about, and a little glimpse into their life.

Work ~ In early April I got a great new job working in a plant nursery on weekends.  I wasn't even looking for a job but agreed to try it. I have met more wonderful new people and enjoyed working and learning in a field I love.  You know the old saying do what you love and the money will follow, it really is the best advice.  Thankfully I also get to go back to work again this April.

Moving from the barn to the big house ~ This added it's own element of work that I haven't talked about a lot, but it was definitely a highlight of 2011.  We moved over a bare minimum of stuff to be comfortable in the beginning of May, so we could still work on the house.  I've slowly been bringing stuff over as we need it, but I have a lot to go through still in the barn  this coming year.  In the midst of all we're doing it has been hard to devote the time needed to work on it. This will be a big goal in 2012, to continue finishing the house we're living in, not ideal, but it works and I'm happier!

Goats ~ I began talking about goats here over the winter, and began looking at them in Spring.  Come early June when I still didn't have one, I went to the feed store and bought a bag of goat food by faith.  By the end of June we had 2 goats, Joon and Stormy, both Nigerians and a Nigerian doeling on reserve.  I wanted my own fresh goats milk, and realized it would be a year or more before I would be getting any.  We looked some more and found a Lamancha in milk along with a young Nubian, they were a package deal.   Then the baby Snowdrop was born and we had to wait several months for her to come home.  In the Fall I couldn't get Joon bred so brought home a buck.  Now we have 6 goats to start 2012 with.  We haven't had to buy any milk since bringing home our Lamancha "Zolena", she has provided enough for our family.  They were all big highlights and have added tons of fun and work to our lives.

Soap ~ I had been wanting to make soap for a long time and really had fun learning all about this last year.  I spent time studying and reading after my failed attempts.  I learned to render suet in tallow, and to make many different varieties.  We just used up the last of the soap I made, and now I'm ready to learn to make goats milk soap this coming year.

Goldens ~ This was a year to learn all about breeding Golden Retrievers.  We bred Summer in August to a gorgeous male named Ace, and she had 4 puppies on October 10th.  We still have Josie and Fatolini, (aka. Jesu) and plan to keep them both.  Yes 4 puppies and we keep half the litter :)  We found great homes for both little Ace and Sunny, and will get to see them as they grow up, especially Sunny because she went to family friends.

Garden ~ When I say my garden, it usually refers to my vegetable garden, which is where much time and labor are spent.  I had some good successes and not so good, and this really does need it's own post, so that will be coming next month.  Right now I'm going over seed catalogs that come in the mail this time of year, and beginning to plan for spring planting.

Rabbits ~ It has been a year of change in the rabbitry.  We still have 3 of the mini rex does, but in addition I got a breeding pair of Champagne d' Argents and American Chinchilla's.  They are both meat and fur rabbits, and I'll be selling their offspring as pedigreed breeding stock for backyard farmers.  This is an exciting new change for me, that of breeder.

Chickens ~ Our chickens multiplied this last year, we had 4 setting hens, 2 in the spring and 2 in the Fall, and we added about 12 new hens to the harem.  By this February we should have 24 laying hens and will finally have eggs to sell after 3 years of building up to this point.  We also raised our first batch ever of meat chickens and processed 30 of them, they are delicious and we have a  freezer full.

Bees ~ I started out the year with one incredibly strong hive, unfortunately it swarmed when I was at work one day in early June.  I thought some of it had come back, but in the end it never fully recovered, so I had bees all year, but not many.  It has been a sad year for me with my bees, I was so disappointed I didn't want to write about it.  This spring more bees will be arriving in the apiary, and we'll start over, these things can happen.  The lesson learned, check the bees regularly in Spring and early summer and add supers before they need them.  My plan this winter is to get all my frames rewired and new wax put in them.  This deserves it's own post in Jan/Feb. I'll talk about getting ready for bees and what I'm doing.

That's a quick review of the farm highlights for the year.  Goals and plans for the coming year are brewing  inside me and waiting to be written.  Some things I didn't get to last year that I plan to this year are cheese-making, more soap-making with goat's milk, candle-making and learning to propagate different trees and shrubs that I don't know how to do already.  We'll also have our first goat kids arriving in early May, and will be building our goat barn and working on more fencing. 

Happy New Year!

Tis the Season

Tis the season to reflect on the magic of the holidays, it's the time to be with family and good friends, and to be a little extra indulgent... like spicing up the coffee with a dash of Bailey's Irish Cream.  With the nights longer, we like to sit by the fire more than ever (dogs and puppies included).  There is a richness in just slowing down, eating good food, and being close together by the warmth of a wood stove. 

Tis the season to celebrate with our traditions, each of us in our own way.  We put up a tree, give a few gifts to each other, and the children get stockings filled with goodies and small gifts on Christmas morning.  Our tree is cut from home or we go to a tree farm, this year we have a Blue Spruce tree, and the needles bring the smell of Christmas to our home.  I like colored lights on our tree, and decorations made from the kids at school over the years, we also have glass balls, candy canes, and wooden ornaments. 

 

Tis the season for good food, on Christmas morning our tradition is to have a breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls, fruit, juice and coffee.  Then we have an early dinner with honey cured ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans, homemade rolls, fresh vegetables, and for dessert I'm making a pumpkin and pecan pie.

Tis the season to gather greens from around our property to bring inside and decorate with.  Just being outside gives me time to reflect on the true reason for the season... Celebrating the birth of our saviour, Jesus Christ.  I've been thanking Him extra this year for His many blessings.  He has taught us about walking in faith, sometimes not knowing how our needs would be met, but somehow He always provided a way, and gave us the strength and health to work hard.  For this reason I reflect upon Him more than ever over the holiday season, and say thank you.   I hope Christmas is special for you and your family and that your wishes come true... Tis the season for miracles, only believe!

the lucky one ~ meet Romeo

When all was said and done with our chicken harvest, Romeo the rooster got to stay.  His exquisite tapestry of feathers and sweet personality won my heart.  I justified that we needed two roosters because we have 24 hens, they say one rooster for every 12-16 hens.   Our closest neighbors we give eggs to, and we're giving them one of our home-grown chickens for a holiday dinner.  They  have endured our crowing roosters with good humor thankfully. 

Half of the hens are young, 4 of them have just started laying pullet eggs, and we are back to plenty of eggs after our fall shortage because of moulting hens and hens too young to lay.  Come the end of February we should have an abundance of eggs, and I'll finally have some extra eggs to sell to help pay for their feed.  Remember that self sufficiency with the animals is our ultimate goal.  I figured last year that I'd need around 25-30 laying hens to accomplish feeding our family and selling enough eggs for them to pay for their feed.

I feed the chickens layer crumbles, corn, dry cob, and allow them out to forage for greens and grubs.  If you don't let chickens out to forage a couple times a week, it's a good idea to give them some type of protein, ie. black sunflower seeds (they love these), or feed meat scraps once per week.  I usually feed extra corn in the winter because it helps to produce warmth in the chickens and better winter laying, plus we give them fruit and vegetable scraps from the kitchen and garden. 

Mornings around here are feeding time, and the ground is usually covered in thick frost this time of year.   The sun warms the chicken run first thing, and after they all get their fill of food and water, everyone will sit in the sun and groom themselves.  They all have different areas they congregate in at different times of the day.  Each group of chickens that were raised from babies together have their own group.  Romeo has his allotted 4 hens that are his, should he stray and try to mate one of Rodney's girls, oh boy all comes undone.  Rodney let's him have it, and tells him to leave his 12 girls alone.  He's learned now to stay clear of them.  I'm not sure who the youngest 8 hens will chose.  In the coop there is definitely a pecking order, and the new young one from the batch of meat chickens is the lowest girl on the totem pole, it will take her a while to be totally accepted by everyone.  I need to take a picture of her so you can see if anyone can guess what kind of chicken she is, I'm still not sure.

8 weeks old



Sunny, Ace, Fatolini, and Josie

Early in the morning and still sleepy on their 8 week old birthday, the puppies are growing up fast, we have absolutely fallen in love with them all, and it will be hard to say goodbye, we are keeping Josie.  In the picture below the kitten Cinnamon was purring and rubbing against the puppies.



Josie running to me when I call her name.  I have her come and sit down for a good pet. 



Sunny



Ace, Josie, and Sunny



Joon's Cowboy

This morning I went out to take a few pictures of Joon with her new man.  Over the weekend we brought home a Nigerian Dwarf Buck, his name is "Cowboy".  The owner is the same farm where I got Snowdrop from, and she agreed to let him come here for a month trial.  We're doing a trial mostly for my husband who hasn't wanted a buck on our farm, so we can see if he can endure the smell and their ways.  If Cowboy has good buck behavior he may just get to stay... cross my fingers.  I put Joon in with him yesterday and she didn't want to leave she was enjoying his attention and crooning in her ear.  That was after watching him wear himself out chasing her, and her running and head butting him.  I got to learn first-hand about courting goats. She should be in full heat today or tomorrow. 

I thought for sure Joon must have had enough after a half hour, but no, she wouldn't come out, I tried several times, and in the end let them stay until this morning, they were both having so much fun.  I put her back in with her buddies for several hours and will try again this afternoon.  What we're looking for here is a standing heat, then she'll stand still for him to breed her.  When new to this whole thing it's a bit of a mystery at first and running back and forth with a doe to a bucks farm is frustrating.  Joon is also the kind of doe who wants to know who the buck is first, and she wants him to court her properly.  Our last attempt at breeding, she couldn't get away from the buck fast enough.  With Cowboy she's in love!

Cowboy is about 7 months old, and is from Poppy Patch Farm, he has Rosharon, Algedi, Twin Creeks, and Ponders End in his blood lines.   Joon also has good bloodlines, her official name is Sugarcreek Joon, and she has Sugarcreek, Spring Run, Enchanted Hill and Velvet Acres.  One good thing if I keep Cowboy is that I could breed him to Snowdrop in the Spring when she's old enough.

The bright winter sun shines right on the goats, chickens and rabbits in the morning and early afternoon , we situated their housing to take advantage of the morning sun in the winter when we all need it the most.  I enjoy feeding and milking in sunshine when it's out. 

Everyone was happy to welcome Cowboy to Applegarth Farm.

harvesting the meat chickens

We processed our meat chickens this last week, the jumbo Cornish Cross meat birds are ready to harvest around 8-10 weeks old, and ours were about 9 weeks old.  If you don't harvest them soon enough their quality of life deteriorates rapidly.  All of our birds still looked healthy, but we knew they were at that point of being ready.  This was our first time ever doing anything like this, it was kind of a dreaded thing and we procrastinated until the end.  Somehow sweeping my floors and cleaning the house became more important than anything, I found myself for two days worried about it and knowing we had to do it.

 

Setting up our work station was step 1, Jarin set up a wonderful work area for us.  He equipped it with a cone, a hanging rack, a large kettle to scald in, work surfaces, a large bucket for rinsing and cooling, and lots of knives, chisels, bags and buckets.  We also wanted to have good music to listen to while we worked.

 
Being new to this whole thing we were probably slow compared to the old pros.  It took us about a half hour or a little more per bird from start to finish, so 8 birds took us roughly 4 1/2 hours.  The first day it rained sideways the entire time, it was cold and wet work, with the temperatures hovering around freezing.  It almost felt appropriate, as we mumbled words like barbaric, should we become vegetarian if this is what we will do for meat.   In the end we described it as humbling, and felt it was honorable work to feed our family.  However in the midst of it as we prayed over each bird and thanked it for it's life, we felt our own mortality, and also felt primal.  We talked about how this was normal for thousands of years, people knew where their food came from, and experienced life and death.

Once we got over the heartsick feeling of taking a life, and the actual processing of working the chickens started, I did better.  We turned up the music and worked steadily... scalding, plucking feathers, eviscerating (removing the innards), rinsing, drying and bagging.  The plucking took the longest and I didn't want any pin feathers so I tried to be meticulous.  We equally shared jobs, except the first part when they were put in the cone.  The time from them being in their pen to crossing the rainbow bridge into chicken heaven took only seconds.  We made sure the whole station was hidden from all the animals view, and that it was swift.

I think the best way to learn to eviscerate a chicken is to just get in there and do it, you'll figure it out trust me.  Just make it look like a store bought chicken and get all the innards out, I saved the necks and livers to add to home-made dog food.  One of the most important things in the whole process is cold running water, we were washing down everything continually.  We were dressed in total rain gear from the beginning because of the rain and cold, we soon realized this was appropriate attire even when it wasn't raining. 

 A home-made cone, fashioned from a metal funnel we had.  It probably should have been bigger, but it worked, a sharp chisel and mallet were used.  Why did we do it that way?  Well my husband being a wood-worker simply thought the cleanest, swiftest way was a sharp blade hit hard with a mallet.

In the end we have 30 chickens in the freezer, well 28, because 2 are in the refrigerator for a family meal on Monday night.  27 were the Cornish Cross, and 3 were young roosters hatched out in the early summer.  The young roosters were harder for me to do than all the meat birds, simply because I had watched and admired them and their beautiful plumage and they were part of the chicken family.  They were very different, more lean and muscular, tougher skin and yet they felt very good quality.  Not that the meat birds didn't look healthy, they were big and plump, and the breasts were large, they were more soft.  We are cooking a young rooster and meat chicken on Monday, and will taste test the difference.  I also wanted to cook a couple that had never been frozen first. 

It's a good feeling to have done it, and have it behind us, and know that we're going into winter with a freezer full of wonderful home-grown chicken meat.  We decided we could do this twice a year, even though it was hard, we like knowing where our food comes from, and that they had a nice quality of life while alive.  They got to lay in the sun, and eat bugs and grubs, dig in the dirt and eat grass and weeds.  They were given love and care in the end, and our family is richer because of them.   I still haven't weighed any of the birds, and am planning to, I'll include the average weight here when I do.  Also we planned to keep track of feed and costs, however between both my husband and I buying feed, me keeping receipts and him throwing his away, there's was no way to get an accurate cost.  Next Spring we plan to keep meticulous records so we can know the cost of raising them.

First Snow

 

We had our first snow a few days ago, it was about half an inch, and the goats and puppies sure had fun playing in it.   Frozen water buckets and rabbit bottles were extra work, along with hauling hot water out to the goats and chickens and thawing frozen hoses.  Fortunately the snow didn't affect the roads into town.   You can see in the picture above that we have our herd of 5 goats going into winter.  Snowdrop is the newest goat we have, she's a little 4 month old white Nigerian Dwarf doeling, she came here about a month ago.  The goats have added both fun and work into our lives, along with milk, and lots of wonderful compost material.  We are working on fencing and I spent the day cleaning out their goat barn and filled it with fresh dry straw.  I've also spent time everyday studying the goats and watching for signs of being in heat. I have a record for both Zolena and Joon and their last dates in heat, and am waiting for Jersey to come back into heat, somehow I must have missed her last one.  We've already tried to have Joon bred once, but I think our timing was off by a day. 

The puppies are growing so fast, they're 6 weeks old now.  This morning they all followed me out to milk right along with their Mom.  Summer loves the routine with all the farm animals, and  goes with me whenever I head out to the barn, now I can tell the puppies will love going out with us too.  They were fascinated to watch the chickens and goats, Zolena just carefully stepped around them and jumped onto the milking stand.  Goats and dogs once they get to know each other, get along quite well. 

 This is Rhododendron  Ridge Sparkling "Snowdrop",  her father is Pecan Hollow Bronze Snapdragon, and mom is Calico Creek Meadow Bluebell.  Her mom Bluebell has a gorgeous udder, and her father has good udder genetics as well.  Snowdrop was the first goat I put money down on over the summer, she wasn't even born, and I went to see her mother, and put a deposit on a doeling, not even knowing if she'd have one.  We had to wait for her to be born, then wait 3 months until she was old enough to come here to Applegarth.  We have all just fallen in love with her, and her sweet personality, and so have the goats.

Exploring and playing, Josie happy and smiling.

Stormy, Jersey, and Snowdrop all munching on some douglas fir greens.  We took down several trees last week for the fence line and the goats love to eat the tips of them.  The goats are interesting to watch all the things they eat, moss on trees, various ferns, dried leaves (chips),  bark, and of course any edible berry bush.  They are more deer like and will leave the grass as a last resort. 

flying South

On my way home from work last weekend I had my camera with me and stopped to take a picture of the gorgeous sunset I was witnessing.  As I looked up to take the picture there was a flock of geese in formation flying South for the winter.  Everyday we can see them flying overhead, going South to warmer weather.  I got back in my car and headed up our hill, and halfway up I had to take another picture so you could see the mountains silhouetted in the sunset. 

Cornish Cross and a chicken tractor

The Cornish Cross meat birds are all feathered out at 4 weeks old, and gaining weight rapidly.  They eat heartily, and are drinking loads of water.  I feed and water them several times per day, and plan to keep track of the costs since this is our first time raising meat birds.  Because it's cold (in the 30's) we keep a light on at all times for warmth.  Temporarily we put up a two sided tarp for wind protection, until we get the 3 sided lightweight shelter built.   

We've been wanting a chicken/rabbit tractor for a long time, and like every project began by gathering the materials.  It is designed with 12 foot gate panels, so it's big, 12ft by 12 ft, it has reinforced rabbit wire around the sides.  The top we are still gathering the rest of the metal for the roof.  It will also have a 3 sided simple shelter with a roost and a couple of nesting boxes so we can let the layers be in it too, or if the rabbits are in it they have shelter from wind and rain.  We are planning to build one more so we'll have two that can go all over the upper pasture.  The heavy duty wheels are in the middle on either side, and easily raise up to move it around.  This chicken tractor is an exciting development for our farm to really implement pasture raised animals, that are protected from predators.

3 1/2 weeks old

From left to right, Josie (the one we're keeping :), Sunny (going to a good friend and her family), and Fatolini (a favorite, with a couple of families who are thinking they may want him)

Summer and her puppies in their new whelping box.  The puppies are so playful now, they wrestle and try to run, then they like to crawl all over each other and their mom.   She is still nursing them, and we began a few days ago feeding one meal a day, and now we're up to 3 meals per day of meat and rice.  Their little teeth are all coming in sharp, I'll need to provide chew toys to help them as they teeth. 

I love to sit by the fire and hold the puppies as they snuggle up and make there little grunts and groans that little babies make.  The kids all hold them everyday and love to watch them play, it is such a good and positive experience for our family, and I think Summer is having fun too.

"Little Ace" is so cute!  He's the stud dog owners pick of the litter, and looks just like his father "big Ace".

fall garden

Looking out my bedroom window towards the South, and over-looking my garden.  The vegetables in the garden are winding down rapidly for the year, the low temperatures have been around 38 degrees.  We haven't had a hard killing frost yet, but it will be here soon.  I still have some potatoes, carrots and beets to dig.  We just got a couple bales of straw today, so now I can line a deep hole with straw, cover it with dirt, and plastic for a winter root storage.  In the photo above you can see all my concrete columns for fence posts, hopefully in the next year, in the plans are wooden gates to the garden, there will be four in all, along with a wooden arbor along the left side.  I have hardy kiwi's planted and ready to climb the arbor next year. 

Remember the picture of my warm season crops of squash and pickles, well the warm and sunny month and a half we had was exactly what it all needed to grow.   Not a huge crop of delicata, but enough to enjoy for a dozen meals over the winter. 

Over the summer we had the crane over by the garden and set these stones in a circle for a new fire pit.  We have enjoyed grilling right over the open wood fire, the flavor  imparted to our just picked meals is delicious.  I love the fact that it's just outside my kitchen and deck for outdoor dining and entertaining.

 I just harvested all of my zucchini, and sunburst patty pan squash, we've been enjoying lots of sauteed vegetables and steamed kale as side dishes in our Fall meals. 

tomatillos love our climate, I never plant them, they just come up yearly on their own (like many things do in my garden).  We get a couple large harvests per year and I make salsa verde`.

One of my favorites "Delicata Squash"