The rabbitry ~ American Chinchilla's

Zelpha "Fern"

2 month old doe, from China Moon Rabbitry

Our rabbitry is going to focus on the American Chinchilla rabbit breed.  This doe "Fern" will be with us for many years to come as our foundation doe, the first of our pedigreed American Chinchilla breeding stock.  She's tattooed in the right ear to prove it, and last week I even joined the ARBA, the American Rabbit Breeder's Association, so now Applegarth Farm is officially a registered rabbitry.

Zelpha Fern was my grandmother's name and I've always loved it!  Mostly because it represented my grandmother and she was an amazing woman with so much energy and zest for life.  I remember her cooking and love of family and wanted to think of her often.  The story behind the name is that her mother, my great grandmother made up the name with a friend when they were 10 years old and were talking and playing and thinking about names for their future children.  My great grandmother chimed out saying, "I'm going to name my firstborn daughter Zelpha Fern", and she did!  I remember my grandmother telling my sister and I the story when we were about 10 years old, she had a real southern Oklahoma accent with inflection and tone that made stories fun to listen to. 

Of course I had to name her husband, the buck Melvin.  My grandfather's name is Lawrence Melvin "Mel" for short.  My grandpa is still alive and still gardening.  I'm sure he'll hear about me naming my rabbits Mel and Fern after both of them.  As I say their names to my new rabbits, I often think of the many happy memories our families have shared over the years with both of my grandparents.

American Chinchilla buck Melvin "Mel"

from the Tree House Rabbitry

Serendipity

One year old American Chinchilla doe 

bred to Tobin of China Moon rabbitry on 6/8

Serendipity, our one year old American Chinchilla doe came with us as we travelled South on I-5 for an hour and a half as we headed to China Moon Rabbitry.  She was coming with us to be bred to one of their nice pedigreed bucks named Tobin, I hope to get a picture up soon of him. Melvin is from a totally different rabbitry in the same area called The Treehouse Homestead rabbitry.  He's a 3 month old buck that is non related to both Fern and Serendipity.  We had a nice time at China Moon meeting Theresa the breeder, and I had fun seeing all of her rabbits and her whole set up.  It's nice to talk to other's who are further along in their breeding program, I always learn new things by asking questions.  Thank you Theresa for the rabbits and the breeding to Tobin, we enjoyed our time at their rabbitry, talking with both her and her husband. 

Fern is happily rooming together with Serendipity for the next few weeks, and a few days before she gives birth, Serendipity will get her own large cage as we're growing more cages are being built along with the rabbit tractor.  Melvin is in the cage next door, and next to him are the Champagne d' Argents.

Early Summer farm update

Looking out my back door I can see the vegetable garden beyond the patio, it's situated close by so we can easily gather fresh food.  This year we're feeling more self sufficient than we ever have before in our lives, all the hard work is starting to pay off.  We're eating salads from the garden, fresh eggs from our chickens, delicious milk, yogurt, and cheese from our goats, along with our own farm raised chicken meat.  As we walk around our property the salmon berries are ripe, they're the first berries of the season, and we're harvesting loads of rhubarb.  The beautiful spring weather we had during the time the fruit trees were in bloom has resulted in the apple, cherry, pear and plum trees to be loaded with healthy looking young fruit.

Spring is slowly turning into Summer around here, we're at a higher elevation so everything is about 2 weeks behind the valley and town below us.  I still haven't planted out many of my warm season crops except for a few tomatoes and basil on the porch, the rest are still in the cold frame staying covered on cold nights.  The cool season crops like broccoli, kale, peas, potatoes and greens are all doing great!  Note to self, remember I need to set up the trellis for the peas early this year.  The rhubarb has been the best harvest this time of year, I've been making stewed rhubarb and rhubarb pie.  I'll be planting out my warm season crops in a couple weeks as it's still getting down to the high 40's at night, the few pumpkin starts I did put out to test just withered from the cold.  We're having a full moon tonight, so the next couple weeks the moon will be waning and I'll be focusing on planting root crops.  I really do try to plant by the moon, when it's waxing or getting bigger I'll plant above ground crops, when it's waning I'll focus on below ground crops. 

In the farm yard, the goat kids are so much fun and growing up fast, they're curious about everything, and will run, climb, and leap about with such joy and abandon it's a delight to watch.  I was worried about them being aloof because Joon will stand off to the side as everyone else clamors about wanting attention.  She would call her kids to her as if to tell them to keep their distance. We held them and gave them attention from day one, and I decided when they were three weeks old to separate them from Joon and bottle feed them.  She was miserable with this arrangement, the kids were miserable, and so was I.  After 2 days I had a talk with Joon and told her why I was doing this, I wanted her kids to be as friendly as all the other goats, and I wanted her to come around and be friendly too.

A funny thing happened with Joon almost instantly, or perhaps it was with me.  I brought her back in with her kids, and she decided it was time to get over her shyness and let us get near her and pet her.  She has always been friendly with me as I'm the one who feeds and spends the most time with them all.  Joon is a good milker and is great about walking on a lead, it was mostly with the rest of the family that she wouldn't let near her or pet her.  So what I've been doing to get her to be more friendly is to bribe her with food, I started by filling my pockets with lots of good grain, fed from the hand and every time she eats her grain and alfalfa pellets, I literally have her eat from my lap as I pet and scratch her, of course the kids are right there crawling all over me wanting pets and scratches too.  I'm  making sure everyone has grain when they go in to see her.  We've spent loads of time with the kids, holding and loving them, my husband was amazed at what a difference it has made because now she'll even let him go up to her and pet her.  I'm sure she still won't run up to strangers for a pet, but with grain as a treat she is overcoming her shyness.  Last week I let all the goats be together, the babies love to play with Snowdrop and Stormy, and all the goats seem happy.   I'm gearing up for Jersey's kidding, she may be pregnant, but I'm still not sure.  Her udder isn't filling up, but I've read that may not happen until right around the time she gives birth.  Joon's udder filled out several weeks before giving birth.  If Jersey is pregnant, she will give birth around the middle of the month, but we bred her 4 times so time will tell.

Over the last few weeks I haven't written or posted here on my blog, it's not that I haven't wanted to or tried to, I attempted to upload photo's on several different occasions and got frustrated with my extra slow dial up connection.  I never could get the pictures uploaded. I've bemoaned not having high speed internet for years, with dial up you can never watch you tube videos, much less post them, it's hard for me to look at blogs that don't minimize their pictures before they upload them.  Most of the blogs I read and can upload are aware of the fact that they need to minimize their pictures for dial up readers, otherwise it takes around 10 or 15 minutes to upload versus say 2 minutes.  Sometimes I let things upload and go put in a load of laundry or do a few dishes, however it seems that my computer has slowed down even more over the last few months.  I need to clean it up, remove pictures and cookies, do some maintenance and see if that helps.  My dream for this year is to get high speed internet, we had a friend out the other day who tested his verizon cell phone service, he said it's spotty and may not pick up enough signal for a computer connection.  Our main option (because we're in the boonies) is to get a small satellite and use it for the internet.  I could then post videos and easily upload photos.  So, my plan for this summer is to look into the costs associated with getting one, and see if it would work for us... I'm crossing my fingers!!

In other farmyard news, I'll be picking up a couple of American Chinchilla rabbits later this week, a young buck and doe, plus I'll be taking Serendipity our mature doe to get her bred.  The American Chinchilla breed is the one I want to focus on, not that I'm getting rid of our Champagne d' Argents.  I'm just adding a pedigreed buck and doe and getting some new lineage, that way I'll get some nice diversity within my rabbit stock.

The 2 hives of honeybees I installed a month ago are doing well, they need to be fed sugar syrup on a regular basis, and need room to grow this time of year.  Feed them faithfully until the blackberries come into bloom and they'll thrive, between the dandelion/ fruit tree bloom and the blackberry bloom there's a real gap with almost nothing for them to eat, this is the time of year they can starve quickly.  I learned the hard way one year, so I always like to remind new beekeepers to be vigilant about feeding in late May and early June.  If you see any dead bees on the entrance, suspect hunger and put on sugar syrup right away, for us up here so high we have to feed the whole month of June.  The ratio of sugar syrup is 2 parts water 1 part sugar in the Spring.  In the Fall it's a one to one ratio, because you want a thicker syrup.

This spring has been busy for me with my daughters having track practise everyday and meets once a week, work 2 days a week, and in between, I'm in the garden, with the farm animals, cooking, cleaning, and feeding everyone.  My days are full and happy!  I hope that wherever you are, you're having fun and blooming where your planted!

twins for Joon

Calypso and Comet

Last Friday Joon gave birth to twins, a doeling and a buckling, our first kids born here at Applegarth.  We had been getting ready for them all last week by setting up a separate paddock and stall just for Joon, cleaning her area and filling it with fresh straw, gathering all the supplies I thought I might need in a basket set by the door, plus I spent time reviewing every book I had on goats and what to expect for my first kidding.  The last year I also followed several blogs that focus on milk goats and read all about their birth experiences, so I did feel somewhat prepared.  Still I was nervous and anxious because I didn't want her to go into labor without me there. 

I watched for the signs that would indicate she was going into labor soon, a full and shiny udder, soft nickering, a pinkish discharge, and of course the days.  A normal gestation for goats is 150 days, but does can give birth anywhere from 145 to 155 days.  Finally last Friday morning, day 148, I went out to feed everyone breakfast and noticed Joon stayed in her stall and wasn't interested in eating.  Upon checking her, I noticed a pinkish discharge and watched her lay down and could see she was in labor, I thought it was still the early stages.  So I quickly finished feeding everyone and ran to get my husband,  he had one more gap to fill in the stall so the new kids couldn't slip through into the big goat area. The timing was good because he hadn't left for work yet. While we were in the big barn where he was cutting a piece of wood, we kept hearing all the goats calling, I wondered why since I had just fed them.  As I ran over to check what was going on, I realized they were trying to tell me Joon was giving birth and having her first one.  By the time I reached her she was cleaning up her first doeling, it was that fast, like 10 minutes from when I first saw her.  I ran to the house as fast as I could and grabbed my basket by the door and sprinted back out to help dry her doeling.  She was all black just like her mom, except she has grey ears from her dad Cowboy, she is so cute! 

Applegarth's Comet and Calypso

Being new to all this I was so surprised how active a newborn goat is, once dry she was crying and crawling all over both Joon and I, it was a noisy affair and Joon was still in labor.  After almost an hour and a half of  pushing during the second birth, I started getting concerned for Joon and thought my first delivery I'd be going in to help straighten out a kid or untangle kids.  I also knew the little doeling was getting hungry because she was stomping her foot and crying as she looked at Joon.  I had read that new kids need to nurse within an hour, and every time Joon stood up, we tried to get her to nurse, and she couldn't get the hang of it,  then Joon would lay down and push some more, I was getting worried.  After two hours of pushing I began to pray in earnest for her as I watched her push and cry out and still saw nothing.  Finally the pinnacle happened with one huge push and I saw a large form begin to emerge, she continued pushing and I realized she was giving birth in a breech position and that's why she was having such a hard time. Imagine touching your toes, he was coming out bottom first, and he was a big strapping buckling compared to the little doeling.  As she pushed I helped ease him out carefully with each push, by the time he was born I breathed a huge sigh of relief, I didn't realize I had been holding my breath.  It was an emotional moment, and I was thankful to be there for Joon. 

Joon was thrilled to finally welcome him and she licked him all clean, then laid her head down for a much needed rest and dozed, she was exhausted.  I dipped the bucklings umbilical cord in iodine and then his feet, I had already done the doelings earlier.  I also gave them some probios, a probiotic, and some vitamin E and Selenium, stuff I had read is a good idea to do.  I was getting anxious for Joon to get up and nurse them, as the doeling was going on two and a half hours, finally once rested after about 20 minutes Joon got up and the kids began to nurse, thankfully.  She is such a good mom!  I waited not knowing if there was another kid to be born, but soon after nursing she passed the placenta uneventfully and the final part of the birth process was over.  Once we were all done I got Joon some fresh water, alfalfa, and extra grain.  She also wanted some probios and licked it up, her body must have needed the electrolytes after all that. 
 
It was so amazing to all of us that when goat kids are born they are only wobbly on their legs for a few moments and then are running around and will crawl all over you.  Joon is so proud of them, and Cowboy too looks on at his first offspring, I went over and congratulated him.  All the goats wanted to know how Joon was and it was fun to watch them and see Zolena peak in to give updates to everyone as I held the doeling up for her to see.   We are going to name the doeling Calypso, and the buckling Comet, he has white mark on the center of his head, and is so cute too.  Both are C names, every year the American Dairy Goat Association has a letter for tatoos for that year, if you want to name your goats by that letter it helps to  remember the year they were born, this year it's the letter C.

Sugarcreek Joon and Comet

Morels ~ A Northwest Delicacy

This has been a week of morel foraging in our neck of the woods.  I wanted to make a note here to myself to mark the date of the first harvest of the season, this is our first year ever picking morels, our neighbors hunt for them every year and they've shown me what they look like.  Over the years I've read about them and looked at pictures, and have hunted for them on our property, I wanted to find some but had no success except for one time, I found one.  Morels are kind of a mystery, where they will grow, and what conditions they will grow in, they are one of the only mushrooms that are not cultivatable, they need a perfect growing condition of  rain and sun.  Here in the Northwest we are one of the mycological capitols of the world with our rainy climate, many mushrooms grow and  thrive here, especially in the Spring and Fall.

One of our goals in becoming more self sufficient as a family is to learn all about foraging around where we live.  I want to learn to hunt morels in the Spring and chanterelles in the Fall, these are yearly Northwest harvests I want to participate in.  We have so many mushrooms on our property and it would be fun to learn more about them,  either I would need to have someone from the mycological society come out to identify them for me, or I will join the mycological society and go on their walks and learn.  Even if I only know a few mushrooms, it's something fun and free to look forward to each year.  I already know how to identify both morels and chanterelles, as they are some of the more easily identifiable mushrooms.

My youngest daughter Kaley and I went morel hunting the other day, I knew they were ripe when I saw a couple by the entrance to our driveway, as it turned out there was a whole little grove of them right near us,  hidden in the woods coming up under the leaves of alder trees, with fir trees nearby.  They seem to like it where there are lots of leaves and the sun can filter through a little.  It was like an Easter egg hunt, we were so excited as we found one after another, and would exclaim everytime we found one, I found one!!  I found one!! 

From what I've read about morels you want to eat them right away, within a day or two or dehydrate them, you also want to clean them really well.  We cleaned them by filling a bowl with warm water and added a teaspoon of salt, swished them around and then rinsed them in fresh water until it came clean, about 4 times.  You don't eat the stems just the mushroom end, we cut off all the stems and discarded them.  To dry them, we put them in a salad spinner, and then laid them on a clean towel and rolled it up softly to get them good and dry.  Some we dehydrated right away, and the rest we sauteed in butter and garlic and had good bread to eat with them,  along with penne noodles and marinara sauce, it was a delicious meal!

April through June is the season for morels in the Northwest, so there is still plenty of time to hunt for them this Spring.  I know we'll be going out again to see if we can find more of these mysterious and nutrious mushrooms.  Mushrooms that in the gourmet world are a true delicacy!

Bees

I can hardly wait until next Wednesday when the bees arrive, my garden doesn't feel the same without them in their corner buzzing about.   I've got two packages coming, each  are three pounds and will have their own queen.  Tomorrow I'll be going into Snohomish to visit Beez Neez, the nearby apiary store where I'll be getting more frames for setting up the hives before they arrive.  I'll also pick up some paint so I can give them a fresh coat of green, they say in our climate green is a good color to paint the hives, because we want our hives to warm in the sun.  The traditional white is great for sunnier and warmer areas of the country where you want the hive to cool, rather than absorb heat.  Any green will do, I have used the same color for the last six years.

The guys at Beez Neez also shared some new information about frames, so after I try them tomorrow I'll discuss more about them.  This will be a busy week getting ready, the bees will arrive just as many of my fruit tree blossoms are opening, and they'll have plenty of dandelions to feast on too.  Over the sunny weekend the dandelions began their annual bloom, and as a beekeeper you have a whole new outlook on dandelions as you watch the bees bring in the pollen from their flowers.  The pollen feeds their young as they grow and mature.  They will also gather pollen from the fruit tree blossoms, and in turn pollinate them for fruit, this year I'm hopeful for a bountiful season, and the bees are at the heart of it all.

This will be my sixth season raising bees, and my 4th season buying them.  I've learned so many lessons the hard way and lost bees along the way.  I have kept journals through each season with records of the successes and failures, and how to solve the problem the next time.  Working with bees over the years and those experiences are what it takes to learn this ancient art. I intend to keep at it and not give up.   One week to get ready!

mozzarella cheese

Good fresh milk is the all important ingredient for making delicious cheese.  This was my first time making mozzarella cheese with our goats milk, it tuned out nice and chewy but lacked the flavor I was hoping for.  I have since found out I can add a little lipase culture for added flavor.  Mozzarella is an easy beginner cheese to make and is great for cooking pizza's and using for lasagnas and omelette's.  Most cheese when it's first made has a fairly bland taste, the taste develops as the cheese ages, and with mozzarella you don't age, it's ready to eat and use right away, this is definitely one of it's virtues

Here's the recipe I used, it's for one gallon of milk.  The recipe is from the book by Mary Jane Toth and is called Goats Produce Too!  The Udder Real Thing

Quick Mozzarella Cheese

1 gal            milk

1 1/4 tsp       citric acid powder

1/4  tsp         liquid rennet or 1/8 rennet tablet

1/2   C         cool water, divided in half

In a stainless or enamel pot, place the cool milk.  Dissolve the citric acid powder into 1/4 cup cool water and add to the milk.  Stir well.  Bring the temperature of the milk to 88 degrees.  Mix the rennet with the other  1/4 cup of cool water and stir into the milk for about 10 seconds.

Allow the milk to sit for 15 minutes to coagulate.  After setting for 15 minutes, the curd should be firm and when you dip your finger into the curds they will break cleanly over your finger and whey will fill the depression where your finger has been.  Cut into 1 inch cubes and let rest for 10 minutes.

Then place the pot of curds into a sink of very hot water and slowly bring the temperature up to 108 degrees.  The curds will shrink during this process, keep the curds at 108 degrees for 35 minutes.  Drain the curds into a colander for 15 minutes.

Save the whey if making ricotta or heat treating the curds in the whey.  When the curds have drained , they are ready to be heat treated to get their stretch.  For the stove-top method, Use a double boiler.  You will need enough hot water or whey to cover the curds. I used the whey. 

Heat the liquid to 150-155 degrees, then place in the curds, which have formed into a mass.  Work quickly as it does not take long int the hot liquid before the curds melt together and become stretchy.  This is an amazing process, which happens very quickly.

Use a large slotted and a large regular spoon and bring the curds out of the liquid, pulling and stretching like you would taffy.  Use your hands or the spoon's to stretch the cheese.

Shape into balls, and place into a brine solution for 10-30 minutes, depending on how salty you like you cheese.  Remove from brine, pat dry or air dry.  Refrigerate cheese for up to 2 weeks.  Freeze for longer storage. 

Brine Solution

2 lbs kosher or canning salt to 1 gallon cold water or

for a smaller batch add 8 oz salt to 1 quart of cold water.

Salt amount can be altered to suit your taste.

Note;  This cheese is great eaten freshly sliced with a slice of tomato, a basil leaf and olive oil drizzled over the cheese.

Bringing the temperature of the milk to 88 degrees

After 15 minutes of setting, the milk coagulates, then place in a sink of hot water and bring the temperature up to 108 degrees, this lets the milk temperature rise slowly.  The curds begin to shrink up and form a mass.

The rinsed curds

Stretching the warmed cheese

Cheese



There are many different ways to make and form cheese, from presses to molds,  and so many different types of cheeses to try.  It's been fun for me to learn and read all about being a cheese maker, like any artisan's craft, it takes time and many experiences to learn the fine art of turning out truly great cheeses.

This morning I've been making out my order for more cheese supplies, and as I'm looking through Hoegger's goat supply catalog, I spot their cheese presses.  I'm seriously considering buying a cheese press, maybe not today, because I already have a list of needs on the order.  However, Hoegger's has a nice looking one that is maple wood and stainless steel, it has a two hoop cheese press and is ready to use upon arrival.  Considering how much I like things to look nice sitting on my kitchen counter, I'm thinking this may be good investment in my cheese adventures.  I've discussed it with my husband before, and we talked about design and how to build one.  This evening I'll show him the picture and see if we can figure how to make something, or I'll plan for purchasing one. 

making weed mountains and haulin compost

That's basically what I've been doing in the garden, along with planting peas, getting the cold frame up and going, transplanting seedlings into bigger pots, and weeding all the beds.  It's a busy time of year, early Spring.  This is the time to break sod, dig beds and  move last minute perennials and trees.  I've been working on the fruit tree rootstocks, taking divisions and replanting them into a new bed.  The weed piles I've been creating are enormous as I work through the vegetable garden cleaning everything up.  The compost I made last year is top dressing all the beds and creaming everything with nutrition.  We've had sun the last few days and rain yesterday afternoon, it's been great gardening weather and I've been outside with the animals, in the garden, or making meals for the family.  I'm also happily back to work at the plant nursery a couple days per week. 

Joon is a few weeks away from kidding, this will be my first year ever with goats giving birth.  I've been reviewing all the birthing chapters in every book I have, gathering all my supplies, and I think I have everything I  need.  Next week I'll be focusing on getting Joon's nest ready, the small paddock and a portion of the barn will be freshly cleaned and set up just for her and her new kids, separate from the other goats.  I'm both excited and nervous, and  hope I'm there when she gives birth, I still need to get a vet's number lined up, just in case, although I've reviewed so much I feel pretty confident.  There are a few things I do still need, one is a dehorner, the kids will need to be dehorned at 2 weeks old.  Plus I need CDT shots, more milk filters, and cheesemaking supplies. 

Just wanted to give a quick update, and let you know I'm outside gardening in the fresh Spring air and loving it!!  
Happy Spring!

PS. I've also been working on several posts that are ready with pictures, I just need to finish writing them.  One is sourdough baking, making waffles and scones, one is on fruit trees and berry bushes, another on mozzarella cheese and buttermilk, and one about the hands that built Applegarth.  They're all coming soon.

Easter Eggs





A fun moment on Easter today as the girls colored a couple dozen of our eggs.  We don't have any white egg layers, they're all brown and green eggs, and when they're colored, they turn out the most beautiful deep shades. 

Our naturally colorful eggs

Today was a gorgeous sunny day, and I made a full on Easter meal, it was a kitchen day, full of cooking and baking.  I'm always happy to have a reason to celebrate, and the reason to celebrate today was His (Jesus) resurrection and Life, and the glory of His triumph!  We all had discussions about this as we colored eggs and cooked.  For our meal I made ham, scalloped potatoes, vegetables and homemade dinner rolls.  For dessert I made a pear and apple pie/crisp, and of course we had some ice cream to go with it.  

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter! 

Happiness!

Early Spring around the farm

It could be true... we think Jersey might be pregnant.  I've been feeling her belly everyday, and it feels like she has a couple kids growing inside of her.  I hope it's true, we'll all be watching.  This would most likely mean she got pregnant on the first breeding in mid January and will then be due around the middle of June, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping.  Can a goat go into heat every 3 weeks even though she's pregnant, could it have been a false heat?  

Yep, she looks pregnant to me!

Cowboy likes to hang out with everyone and chat.

Serendipity and one of her 3 kits, they're all doing well.

Joon might have twins or triplets, she's getting bigger by the day and is due around the first of May.  Cowboy is the father, they're both Nigerian Dwarfs, along with Stormy and Snowdrop.

This is the mystery chicken that we got as a freebie when we bought the batch of cornish cross meat chickens from McMurray hatchery.  We raised him right along with them and then put him in with the laying flock, we were'nt sure if we'd get a hen or a rooster.  Well he's turned into the most friendly rooster ever, he tags right along with me everywhere.  He's the one walking towards me in the first picture with Jersey, and the one with Joon and Snowdrop.  Right now he's just getting to hang out with the flock, but my plan is to post him on Craigslist for sale.  He looks almost identical to my other farm yard rooster, but he's from McMurray Hatchery so must be a purebred.  Someone may want to add a friendly rooster to their flock of hens I'm hoping.

The new pasture is connected to both the goat and chicken barn, you can see the grass is really starting to grow.  The chickens and rabbits also have their own fully fenced aviary that they still go in often, it has an opening that is small enough just for them to pass through and not the goats.  It's a totally safe zone, however most of the time the rabbits run all over.  We opened up the new pasture and it's been three weeks, so far so good, I was worried about air attacks from hawks or owls.  All the animals are living in total harmony, when everyone has free browse and plenty of food and water, they're all happy.  One important goal we have is for us to eat well, including the animals, everyone in my care is well fed and has fresh food.

Hazel and Filbert saying hi to each other during feeding time. 

Hazel has been building her nest, she's due anyday.

Blooms on the young hazelnut tree in front of the rabbitry.

The next best thing to living off grid

Over the last week we've made some decisions to go back in time even more.  After realizing we had to fill the propane tank yet again, and wondering  how it went so fast, I decided it was time to make a change with my attitude towards our energy consumtion.  The price of propane keeps going up and we have to fill our large tank about twice per year, at twelve hundred dollars a pop I'd rather only fill it once per year.  As I took a long look at our indulgent consuming of energy as a family, I had to reassess what was important.  I'm happy to report that I've had a real paradigm shift over the last few days.  I excitedly talked with my husband first about it, and of course he was supportive, then I talked with the kids about it and we've decided to make a game of seeing how much we can save on our energy consumption, and how self sufficient with our power usage we can be.

After researching what uses the most energy, I discovered that my gas oven and range that I love is on the top of the list, right along with my propane clothes dry, and our on demand propane hot water in both the cabin and big house.  We have lots of dishes and laundry and I hadn't been thinking much about it as I filled the hot water into the sinks and ran the clothes dryer everyday, and took nice hot showers twice per day.  These are all just the propane users, and do not include our power use with lights, small heaters in the kids rooms, the toaster, dehydrator, refrigerators, and clothes washer, we don't own a microwave or dishwasher, thankfully. 

Just like our food bill, this is one area we can have direct control over and make some cuts to save money.  Know the things you can control and the things you can't.  Money represents time and work and is getting harder to come by and quicker to disappear in these times.  I don't know about you, but as we watch the chaos in the middle east and our own country totally out of control with it's debt, it's sobering to realize we're in way over our head as a country and no one knows how to fix it without major cut backs.  Cut backs that no one wants to change and make.  I think we're all aware our country could have a massive financial collapse if we keep going without correcting this problem.  Underlying concerns are one of the things that are causing us as a family to prepare the best we can for an uncertain future.  I know we can't control what's happening in our country on that scale, but in our own little world we can make the choices that are within our control. 

Sure we could continue consuming and work hard to pay for it all, like we always have, but now we've decided as a family to keep it simple in our life. I like the idea of going back in time with our thinking to a time when people knew how to live by their own power. 

So what are we doing differently.  We have a woodstove going everyday, so we're hanging our clothes to dry around it, and cooking over it as much as we can. We also pulled out an old wood cookstove we've had in the shop for years, one that we are going to work on and refinish so we can bring it inside for cooking and baking.  I love my gas stove and will still keep it all set up, I've just been unplugging it and turning off the gas, so the pilot light doesn't run continuously burning up precious fuel.  I won't be blow drying my hair, and the small heaters in the kids rooms are not going to be used, we'll each get 5 minute or less showers once per day.  I'm also keeping two large pots of water on the woodstove so when I do the dishes I can fill up the sinks with it.  Every little bit will help, and we all have an attitude of adventure in making these changes. 

This mindset of living from your own power is the next best thing to off grid living.  We're still connected to the power grid, it took my husband 15 years of living here without it before he got our property hooked up.  Now as I suggested making cut backs, he at first questioned putting up a clothes rack around the fire for many reasons including looks.  So he ended up thinking about it and made a removable rack with copper poles, that easily comes down when we have get togethers with friends and family.  He used materials that we had to make it and I am thrilled to be able to hang my clothes to dry for free.  When summer rolls around we'll set up our outdoor clothes line to hang laundry to dry.

We continue onward with our journey to living more simply and self sufficiently.