2015 Goals

Looking back at my previous blog posts, I see that I did a 2014 Goals.  Let's see how I did.....

1.  Finish selling the prairie hay and brome bales from our pasture. -CHECK!

2.   New (to us) panels into the barn for the 4-H lambs. -CHECK! Got the panels in right before the lambs came in April.  Whew!

3. New chicks for the flock.-CHECK!  Actually, we got some last spring and then late this summer.  Buff Orpingtons were in the spring shipment and then Barred Rock, Copper Marans and Americaunas were in the late summer shipment.  The spring chickens are laying like crazy!  We are still waiting for the later babies to lay.  Should be this spring!

4. New clothes line!-Still waiting on this one.  

5. Build a floating dock for the pond.-Nope, still waiting on this one too!

6. Build a forge for our son.-CHECK!  Well, we didn't build one, but we did buy him one and he is running with this one! He had his first craft show this winter.  Didn't sell a whole lot, but family members are buying what he has.  He loves it!

7. Lose weight-CHECK!  and then uncheck........ Yea, I know, when you lose the weight, it does have a tendency to find you rather quickly.  Guess this one will be on the new list!  

8. Learn to can more types of veggies.-Didn't really learn new veggies this year, but I did do some more jelly.  Sandplum!!!!!!  It is heaven in a jar!

9. Make my own whole wheat flour.-Kinda forgot about this goal.  Still haven't gotten the mill out and repaired.  Another on for the 2015 list!

10. Sew more clothes for myself and my daughter.-Nope, didn't do this one either.  Back on the list it goes!

Well, now that I see I have a bunch of goals to try and conquer this year, I will try and get to them.  Maybe I can add a couple more in here.  

11.  Have a successful lambing season.  Our 4-H sheep that we had last summer were bred this fall.  We have 4 ewes that should be lambing this winter.  I will hopefully have cute little lamb pictures to add to the blog!

12.  Learn to blacksmith!  I've tried 1 time and made a couple little things.  I need my son to teach me now.  

13.  Replenish the wood pile.  We thought we had a good pile for this winter, but we are going through it quickly.  I really prefer wood heat to our propane, but I am glad we have the propane heat as a back up.  

14.  Larger garden.  Who doesn't want a larger garden?!?!  Well, this goes along with the learning to can more veggies.  If I have the garden supplying me with veggies, I better learn how to store them, or they will go to waste.  

15.  New paddocks for the sheep.  We need to get fencing up and quick!  Our lot is turning to muck with the damp, drizzly weather we've had. We have fence posts and gates and some fence, but not time.  Is that always the case with outdoor projects.  We don't have daylight to work in after work, so we are confined to weekends and days off around holidays.  

Well, the 5 goals that I completed have been replaced with 5 new goals for the year.  

Oh, and I almost forgot a very important goal.  I really hope to post more here.  I know, I said that in a previous post.  I always have good intentions, and then don't follow through.  I promise to try harder.  Seriously!  

Until next time!

Wasckally Wabbits!

I'm about to go all Elmer Fudd on the rabbits at our farm!  Unfortunately, Elmer Fudd has better luck finding the rabbits than I do.  Those little fur balls have about obliterated my peas and lettuce.  I had about 60 feet of peas planted, growing nicely.  They were healthy looking and just starting to reach up onto the fence.  One day I went out to check on their progress and about 75% of them were chewed off to the ground!  I couldn't believe it!  I stood there almost in tears as my visions of fresh snow peas just evaporated into thin air.  I went to look at my head lettuce and they had been chewed down too.  The beets and chard were damaged and the radishes were gone.

I wanted to throw my hands up in the air and surrender.  This year's market would be a disaster!  Luckily my mom's garden was still growing good, so we would have something for the first few weeks.  After stewing for a few days and wanting to nuke anything that moved out there, I decided that I need to be more present in my garden and keep an eye on things better.  I get so busy with my kid's activities in the spring that I tend to slack off on my garden duties and that's when the disaster hit.  Weeding on a daily basis has helped keep those dumb bunnies away, at least for now.  My husband has had a good laugh at my expense when I get riled up talking about the rabbits too.  He's been gracious enough to come out and help me weed and fertilize the garden too.  My sanity is in his best interest as well as mine!  ;)  We've also been letting our Great Pyrenees dog, Sophie, out during the evenings and at night, hoping she will chase off anything that comes around.  She did catch one rabbit, and a mole, so she is doing her job well!  (The moles are a whole other story!!!)

I've noticed that the peas are trying to regrow and will hopefully be able to grow enough to produce before the summer hit sets in for good.  The head lettuce, beets and chard have all rebounded and are looking better.  The radishes didn't fare as well and had to be replanted.  I've noticed they are coming up, but an insect is turning their leaves into a lacy mess.  Not sure how they will turn out.  At this point, I don't care about them.  If that's the only thing I loose, I'll count my blessings.  They must not have liked my spinach much.  I saw a leaf or two chewed on, but for the most part, they were left alone.  There are insect holes, but nothing like a rabbit munch spot. 

I think we are in the clear for the rabbit damage. (Knock on wood!)  We'll see if the combination of dog patrol and our presence in the garden more helps deter the varmints!  If not, we may have fallout to deal with. 

Gearing Up Again

This winter I took a break.  I decided to stop blogging and reading blogs a bit to keep my sanity.  There are so many blogs out there that I've been reading or stopping by here and there that have really started to rub me the wrong way.  Ones that tout that their way of life as the only way to live or that this type of food or way of raising food is wrong on so many levels.  If I were to start blasting certain groups of people, I'm sure I would get lots of nasty responses saying I was wrong or that I'm being mean.  I realize we are all entitled to our own opinions, but it still doesn't make it right to speak against a certain group of people when they are doing their best to provide for others.

I come from a farming background.  Not a corporate farm, but a large family farm.  At least it's fairly large for the area I live in.  Some people would feel it is tiny compared to farms in other states, but in our little slice of the world, I think it's a good sized operation.  It's a conventional farm.  GASP!  I said it, conventional.  We grow wheat, soybeans, milo, sesame, and sometimes corn-although, we don't have the moisture to grow corn successfully. I know there are a lot of people who only feel organic farms and small locally grown produce farms are the way to grow food.  Well, guess what.  The world would starve without conventional farmers.  Self-sustainable farms can't feed the world, let alone all the people in their own state.  It takes ALL types of farms to feed the world.  Locally grown produce is wonderful!  I applaud those who take on that task and succeed, but we have to think larger scale here.  There are a lot of people who have no desire to grow their own food.  That's ok.  They may provide a service that those of us who do grow food may need.  You are either reading this post on a computer or phone.  Who makes those?  Certainly not me and possibly not you either, but there are people out there working their jobs and letting the farmers grow their food, while they make the farmer's phone, computer and other technology.  It's a win-win situation in most cases. (There are always exceptions...)

Ok, I think I'm done with my soapbox, but it may get revisited.  On to what's up on our farm!

We are starting up a new season on our farm.  It's been a rough start though.  We have 16 acres of wheat planted by our house and there hasn't been much moisture this winter.  Yes, we had about 12 inches of snow this winter, but when you melt that down, you don't get much water.  Since the snow, we've had .2 inches of rain-that was just this past week.  Well, that isn't enough to get the wheat up and going strong enough to produce a good crop.  On my way to work this morning I was noticing that the wheat is heading out.  Yikes!  Our field is only about 6 inches tall.  Not tall enough to already be heading out!  We have brown patches in the middle of the field that will probably not even produce a head.  Hopefully we'll have enough to harvest this summer.  It could be a sad harvest this year.  We may try to double crop some milo, but that typically is a bust too. 

The garden is in for the most part, but the wind is wreaking havoc on my planting schedule.  I have a few heads of lettuce that I transplanted in one row, but I'm unable to get out and plant lettuce seeds for fear they'd never make it into the row and would blow into the tree row.  I'm working on mulching my rows this year with wheat straw.  We traded 3 bales of prairie hay for 6 bales of wheat straw with a friend of ours.  This straw should help keep weeds down to a minimum and the straw breaking down in the soil should help amend it and create a good base for the future.  I used some straw last year in one part of the garden and I can already see it starting to work it's magic in the soil. 

Our 4-H lambs are finally here.  We are going to keep the ewes after the fair this year and hopefully breed them back and start our own herd.  I don't know how this will work, but we are going to try.  It should be a little easier than dealing with cattle, but it's an animal, so that thought will probably be thrown out the door when we starting having issues, and I know we will have issues.  :)

Now I'm off to a high school track meet.  I'll try not to blow away in the 30+mph winds we are having today.....  My son runs the 110 m high hurdles and of course the wind is out of the west today, so they will be running INTO the wind.  Every other day we've had meets, it's been out of the north or south and of course they were running into the wind those days too.  But today, the track runs east and west.  Most days, that would be ideal, because you would have a cross wind that is a little easier to deal with.  Nope, no such luck.  Hope he doesn't crash and burn!

Farming

I really enjoy surfing the web and seeing what other people are talking about when it comes to sustainable living and homesteading.  I'm striving to be more self-sufficient, but I know I'll never be 100%.  I'm ok with that. I've been spoiled with conveniences that I don't really wish to give up.  I guess if push came to shove and I had to give certain things up, I'd adapt, but I'd rather not.  That's probably not the best attitude, but that's where I am at this point in my life.

One thing I am having a hard time understanding in the homesteading community is their idea of Big Ag.  What do you consider Big Ag?  Do you consider anything over a couple hundred acres to be too big and a corporate farm?  My thought may completely differ from yours on this.

I grew up on a family farm.  I am the 5th generation to be trying my hand at farming.  My husband and I only own 48 acres.  Around our area, that is not even a farm.  It's a patch of land that you play with.  We have 16 acres that is crop ground, 22 acres that is pasture/hay ground and the rest is the homestead.  Definitely not enough to live off of.  My parents farm the land my Great-Great Grandparents first homesteaded.  My mom jokes that the reason we are where we are is that this is where the wagon wheel fell off.  It's an area of red dirt clay with thin topsoil.  We get envious of black dirt farmers! :)

Over the years my parents have acquired more land, either through buying it or renting it.  They now farm 3000+ acres of crop ground and pasture.  Is that considered Big Ag to some?  Maybe, but to me, it's not.  It's still a family farm.  It supports my parents and pays the bills.  It allows them a few nice things, but don't they deserve it after years of struggling to pay bills, raising three kids and caring for aging parents that are now gone?  They have had to sacrifice many things during the lean years, just like a lot of the other farmers in this great nation.

They employ 1 hired hand and throughout the summer some friends come out to help out during harvest.  Both my brothers and I were the farm hands when we were still young and living at home.  I learned a lot over those summers.

My dad has worked very hard learning the tricks of the trade and trying to farm more responsibly.  He has even abandoned the conventional thought of turning over the soil each season.  He is now a no-till farmer and has had huge successes with it.  He's been featured in a farm magazine for this way of farming.  (Sorry, can't think of the magazine name at this moment.)

No-till farming is a way of farming that leaves the residue of the previous crop in the field-stubble, stalks, dropped grain, chaff, etc.  This residue sits on top of the soil instead of being turned under.  That helps nutrients stay put in the soil and not be moved around constantly.  It encourages good bacteria to do their job and break down the leftover material.  It also promotes earthworms to stay in the field and aerate the soil.  When a farmer tills the soil it disrupts their environment and they leave.  If there are not worms in the soil, there are no worm tunnels and water can not filter through quickly.   Our little 16 acres is a prime example of this practice.  When we moved onto our land, the previous farmer plowed after each crop.  There were huge ridges of soil along the edges of the field and where he would make his turns and a very large drowned out spot where water would collect, but couldn't drain.  We spent some time working the ground that first year to try and even out things. When you no-till, you may still have to use a chisel or disc to work up small areas that get ruts from harvest, but it's not the whole field each year, just spots.

 After about 4 years of crops (and a few crop wanna be's) we are finally seeing progress.  We've had some pretty big rains that would flood the front yard, but once things drained into the ditch and could drain through the soil, the drowned spots were much smaller.  The residue left on the field each year after the harvest acts as a natural mulch too, keeping the soil much cooler and keeping moisture where it belongs.  The soil also stays put better with no-till farming.  When you till the ground and it gets wet, it likes to create a crust that seals and will not let water penetrate.  This then causes the water to wash over the soil and carry it away to the ditch.  Well, there just went that little bit of topsoil that you started with and also any nutrients that might be beneficial for a new crop.  Wind is not able to pick up as much of the loose soil either, because it's covered.

Now, here comes the part that most self-sufficient homesteaders will cringe about.  We do use chemicals to control weeds and fertilizers to help promote healthy plants.  We use much less of both now that no-till is being used.  The residue that is in the field acts as a mulch to keep fewer weeds from growing.  There are still some that come up, but less herbicide is used to kill them off.  When you are trying to control weeds on a 160 acre field, you just can't go through and hand pick them.  The farmer would never have a crop if that were the case. Some people paint a picture that the plants are drenched with chemical.  When I hear that, my mind shows me a picture of a plant, standing there and the liquid is pouring down it, dripping off the leaves.  It's practically the opposite.  The chemical is mixed with water and a fine mist is sprayed.  Very little chemical is actually being used.  The tanks on the sprayers are huge and most of that is occupied by water.  I don't have application rates, as each one will differ.

I'm not a professional at any of this.  My dad is the one that does this for a living.  He's been around this for years and has not had many health issues.  He's going to be 69 years old this year and is one of the healthiest men I know.  He has had his share of colds, flu, and other inconvenient illnesses and injuries, but nothing serious.   I feel blaming agriculture for everyone's cancer, reproductive issues, learning disabilities and other health problems is wrong.  I've seen extremely health conscience people get sick with cancer.  It's not fair to make one group out to be the cause.  We all need to help keep our earth clean and be better stewards of the land.  Ask a farmer and they will tell you that the land is what keeps them in business.  If they destroy it, they will destroy their livelihood.  That's not what they are trying to do.

This is my opinion on farming.  If you don't agree with it, that's fine.
I respect your opinion.  Please respect mine.

Cooking Failure

I enjoy cooking and trying new recipes and I feel like I'm a competent cook.  That is, when I follow someones recipe.  When I'm given creative license in the kitchen, it sometimes turns into a failure.  Last night I wanted to try a noodle free lasagna.  What I should have done was look for a recipe that works.  What I did was just wing it.  WRONG idea!  I'll start at the beginning of my disaster.  Don't be too harsh, I knew it could either turn out fabulous or be an absolute flop.  It was the latter......

I thought I'd try and use zucchini as my noodle replacement.  I found my usual noodle using lasagna recipe.  That probably should have been my first hint that this would be bad.  I have a no-cook noodle recipe.  I followed the recipe and put the zucchini in.  My other problem was next, I covered it with foil.  Now, what I should have thought to myself was, "Where is the excess moisture going to go if it's covered."  No, that's not what I was thinking at the time that I covered it and popped it into the oven.  I just followed the recipe.....

At the end of the hour that it was to be in the oven, I pulled it out and took off the foil.  What did I see?  Lasagna soup.....yes, soup.  Everything just sloshed around.  I put it back into the oven and immediately looked for something to serve it over.  Quinoa.  I found the little pearls of goodness and got them cooked.  I pulled out bowls for everyone and we had lasagna soup over quinoa.  It actually tasted decent.  I doubt I'll try that again, but it was salvageable.  Whew!

I guess what I learned from this is keep trying.  It may not turn out like you want, but some quick thinking can save a disastrous situation.  I didn't panic, just thought to myself, what do I do now.  Maybe more people need to think like this when other situations present themselves in life.  Nothing good comes from panic and hysteria.  Crying doesn't fix it.  It might make you feel better at the moment, but you still have to deal with it.  I'm not saying I never panic when problems arise, but this little bit of insight might help me the next time I'm in a more serious situation.

2014 Goals

Goals for 2014

I see homestead goals on lots of pages, so why not join in and put up a few of my own!

Goals:

1.  Finish selling the prairie hay and brome bales from our pasture.  We had a bumper crop of hay this year thanks to the unreal amount of mid-summer rains that we received.  We usually do good to get one cutting out of our 20+ acres of grass, but this year, we could cut the brome along the landing strip early and it caught back up with the rest of the grass and we got a 2^nd cutting in August.  We ended up with 18 bales of brome and 41 bales of prairie hay.  We usually average 22-25 bales.  We were excited to get double that this year!

2.   New (to us) panels into the barn for the 4-H lambs.  We bought some WW panels at a consignment auction a couple years ago and they still aren’t in the barn.  They had some damage that needed fixed with the welder, but now that it’s done, we need to get them installed.  My hubby helped get the ball rolling by removing the panels that were already there.  Now, we HAVE to get the new ones in before the sheep show up in April. 

3. New chicks for the flock.  I have a conglomeration of old and older birds.  I have one bird that is a cross between a Silver-Laced Wyandotte and a Buff Orpington that I’ve had for almost seven years.  I know she is just a pet now and had quit laying several years back.  I just don’t have the heart to do her in or put her in the stew pot.

4. New clothes line!  When we moved to our little farm, we had one of the breeze catcher types that would spin in the breeze.  It didn’t last more than a couple of years though.  It was old and had been damaged at the base years ago.

5. Build a floating dock for the pond.

6. Build a forge for our son.  He has taken an interest in blacksmithing and really wants to get one made to start trying it out.

7. Lose weight-I know, cliché on the goals list, but so far, we are sticking to it.  Both my hubby and I are doing it, together, so it’s not so bad-at least not yet.  We are 5 days into it and I feel like my arms are about to fall off!

8. Learn to can more types of veggies. I have green beans and applesauce down and learned to do pickles this last summer.  Now it’s on to carrots, potatoes and maybe some other types to be determined.

9. Make my own whole wheat flour.  My grandma used to grind her own.  My mom has her old mill, but it needs some repairs before it’s operational again.

10. Sew more clothes for myself and my daughter.

These are just a few of my goals for 2014.  I think there will be more added as the year goes on.  We are trying to learn more each year so we are ready for just about anything. 

Shared at:

The HomeAcre Hop

From the Farm Blog Hop

Hope

Hope is one of those words that we use on a daily basis. 

"I hope the weather holds out so we can go to our activity."
"I hope you remembered your appointment!"
"I hope you're happy!"

Too many times we use the word hope, but don't really think about it's meaning.  To many people, it's just another word in their vocabulary.  To many others, it means so much more. 

If you are celebrating Advent, you know that the first week is "Hope"-anticipation for the coming of Christ.  This is a very exciting time in the church and in our daily lives. 

Ask anyone and they will tell you what Hope means to them.  To me, it means so much.  Our family gets involved with The American Cancer Society, and Hope means a cure for cancer is on the horizon.  Like I've posted before, our son is a cancer survivor.  The Relay For Life uses Hope in many of their promotions.  Hope for a cure is in the front of everyone's minds when they participate. 

Hope is also something we use on our own little farm.  We hope to have another source of water for our animals and garden someday, we hope to expand our animals someday to include more species.  We hope to build a little cabin out at the pond for storage and entertaining.  We hope to update our kitchen so it doesn't have that 1950's look that it currently has.  So many hopes and dreams.  Sometimes we feel like we will never achieve those dreams, but we keep plugging along.  One hope and dream at a time. 

This past week, that Hope has caused a more peaceful feeling in my heart.  I've tried to quit worrying about every little thing and just "Let Go and Let God."  Too many stresses during this season can make for a miserable time.  I realized it just the other day, driving home from work.  I was happy and had this at-peace feeling in my heart.  I couldn't describe it, it just felt right.  My hope for each and every one of you, is that you can find that peaceful feeling that is just right for you too. 

Merry Christmas!