kombucha offer

i have several mismanaged kombucha scobies that are going to die if they don't find a new home asap. 3-4 to be exact. 2 are quart jar sized, 2 are gallon sized. if anyone is interested in starting their own kombucha brew, email me your name and address and your size preference (small can be made larger by putting in a larger jar) and i'll be happy to send them on their merry way.

stellaluna_0429 AT yahoo DOT com

ETA: they've all been spoken for!

but wait, it gets better!

i stepped on a bee this am, the same toe that i broke.

10 minutes later, jaden did too.

i am a non-conformist

it's true. it's been popping up all my life that i just don't fit in with the 'norm.' some examples are:

-i celebrate the solstice instead of christmas every year
-most the gifts i give for solstice are handmade
-all the gifts are wrapped in recycled paper (lehman's rocks with their packing paper. one order a year from them stocks me with enough paper for solstice and all the birthdays!)
-i hate shopping. i avoid malls at all costs and only make it into grocery stores and other department type stores when absolutely necessary
-i use cloth wipes instead of tp
-i bathe only a few times a week (less in the winter)
- i'd rather butcher a chicken for dinner than run to the store
-my definition of convenience is having a pasture to put my goats in instead of tethering every day (i'm still waiting for that convenience!)

there are others like me. others who would rather bake bread from scratch and culture their own yogurt and cheese. those who sew their own clothes instead of buing the latest fashion. and now, a few of those others: kathie of two frog home, gina from cauldron ridge farm, robbyn of the back forty, phelan of homesteading neophyte and jessica of practical nourishment to be exact, will be co-blogging at the new brain-child blog kathie put together called women not dabbling in normal. each of us host 1 day (i'll be posting on thursdays) and on fridays, there will be a q & a day for all of us to join in on. kathie kicks it off tomorrow. please stop by and check us out. we're all homesteaders and we're all out there!

rule # 285 in homesteading: goats and bees don't mix

cinnamon, the self sucking goat, pissed our bees off yesterday. from what i can tell, she got a little too close to the hive for their personal comfort and they came after her. unfortunately for her, she was tethered and couldn't escape so she crawled under a tree greg had downed last winter. i heard her bellowing and went out to see what was wrong. at first, i thought she had gotten tangled that way and was choking so i leaped in and unchained her, then noticed she was covered in bees, poor thing. i jumped back and feared for the worst.

for the next hour, i attempted to coax her out, i couldn't go in for fear of being stung myself. and since i am fairly allergic to them, i didn't think that would be wise. her kid, rue, ran up to her and got nailed, he backed off quickly. she kept trying to get up to get away and then they'd start stinging her worse so she'd crawl back under the log.

greg finally got home and got on his gear and got the smoker fired up and rescued her. she had lumps all over her body and her face was swelling considerably. i bet she'd been stung a few hundred times. she kept crying in pain.

we've done what we can for her, i gave her a b-12 and b-complex shot to boost her adrenaline. i gave her doses of immune booster tincture and plantain tincture. greg rubbed her down with tobacco mixed with water, chopped up plantain and yarrow.

today, she looks pretty rough. she's got bottle jaw and her eyes and nose are swollen. she's been drinking a lot of water which is good and is probably keeping her alive. i give her doses of tincture periodically and i'll probably give her another b shot later today. i've thought about giving her motrin or ibuprofin for the pain but have held off so far. mostly, i'm worried about the bottle jaw. that usually comes out when they've got worms really bad but she'd been wormed recently so i don't think that's the problem. i need to research that a bit more.

overall, yesterday was a day i just want to forget about. i had a headache all day long that moved into my neck/shoulders after i tripped in a hole and broke 2 of my toes while tethering out the goats. a hole that should have contained a post but had been empty and weed covered for a month previous before my foot found it. then, last night, sage spiked a fever. he was fairly hot, probably around 102.5 or higher (we don't have a thermometer but i'm pretty accurate at guessing). i gave him some motrin which is a rare occassion around here. most kids eat that stuff like candy but he didn't care for it at all. afterwards, i gave him some echinacea which he slurped right down. my kid is an herb kid for sure! today, he spiked again and was pretty miserable so i gave him some more, much to his dismay. i usually like to let fevers work their magic but his misery was too much for me to bear.

independence days - week 13

since i'm struggling to get the garden in again this year due to my rambunctious toddler, i thought taking the id challenge would be a good moral booster for me. i try to practice this idea anyway during the growing seasons so it's a great reminder of how much i really do even when it feels like i don't.

i've been on a weeding binge, trying to relocate all the vegetables in the garden. it is hard work as some of the weeds are taller than me! most of the squash have bit it to borers. freaks.

the puppies took out half the sunflowers in a fight over food yesterday. they got hosed and screamed at by yours truly. those were seeds for my goats!


1. plant something:
^transplanted daylilies
^sowed poppies, thyme
^ginger root

2. harvest something:
^eggs, milk
^blackberries
^onions
^pattypan, zucchini
^lamb's quarters, basil
^peaches and PLUMS!
^broilers - 5 ended up in our freezer, the other 6 were sold to friends

3. preserve something:
^yarrow to make more bug spray
^5 broilers frozen

4. prep something:
^cleaned out portable coop and moved 25 baby broilers into it
^parents got me a sausage stuffer they found at an estate sale

5. cook something:
^

6. manage your reserves:
^weeded like crazy!
^added 1 gallon lamp oil to reserves
^started trellising tomatoes (finally!)

7. work on local food systems:
^sold eggs and jellies at local farmer's market
^bartered with produce vendor: milk for veggies
^sold herbs to chef (lamb's quarters and basil)
^sold broilers to friends
^greg and i discussed the csa we plan on doing next year with animals/animal products instead of vegetables

8. reduce waste:
^use canvas bags at grocery store and farmer's market
^re-use egg cartons for our nest run eggs

9. Learned a skill:
^considering applying to a master naturalist program this fall

public service announcement #329:

in case you were wondering, this is what 3 dozen eggs smashed on the floor looks like:

and the winner is...

23 names to put into the basket...

all folded and ready to draw...

my lovely assistant

yes mom, i know how to pull out a piece of paper!

take the picture already!

and the winner is...

danielle, from touch the earth! congratulations!

back online

my modem bit the dust a couple weeks ago during a lightning storm. we got a new modem last night but i'm still having problems getting the wireless to connect. i'm getting very frustrated with it.

the past few days have been busy though...

*saturday, i sold 5# of lamb's quarters and 1# basil to a local chef

*sunday, we butchered our 11 broilers that were ready. friends who wanted some for themselves came and participated and got to take home 2 each for $10 each. we put 5 in our freezer for ourselves. they weighed in pretty good sized but it was disappointing to go from 30 down to 12 birds

*sunday afternoon, we picked up our 2 great pyr pups. they are working out well so far. i've been feeding them raw scraps of chicken and goat meat.

*have another sick goat - lung worms. it's been a bad year for them. i didn't know until today that they are caused from the goats eating slugs. ewww. we must have a lot this year due to all the early rain. i haven't seen any but then, i don't go around looking for them either.

*i'm considering signing up for the master naturalist program. it is 3 months of fridays but i think i could swing it provided i could secure a babysitter.

*the sheep are warming up to me. sassafras actually bleats at me any time she sees me. betony is still very skittish but probably because i love on sassy more since she is more receptive. i need to work on betony.

*greg and i have been discussing starting a different kind of csa - a subscription to our animal products. so far, what we've come up with is interested participants pay $25 per year to subscribe. that gets them first dibs on limited amounts of eggs, milk, honey, chickens and goat meat. they will still have to purchase those items. the $25 goes into 'renting' the animals so they can have a 'share' of the end products.

*sage decided it would be fun to throw 3 dozen eggs onto the floor yesterday while i was outside watering all the animals. i was not very happy with him, especially since we are trying to fill our weekly store order and were already behind. kids!

*i've been lusting over handmade homes again. luckily i have a lovely handmade home book full of pictures to drool over. sigh. someday.


by the way, if anyone is still interested in signing up for the gift package giveaway, tomorrow is the last day! sometime wednesday night/thursday am, i'll draw a winner. i think i'll end sign-ups by 7pm. and ron, i promise, no poisonous shrooms will be included.

lazy days

today, i finally decided to do something productive so i went to the orchard to check on the peaches. they are slowly ripening but something else caught my eye...
i can't believe it!! after 3 years of nothing, the plum tree is fairly loaded. and they are delicious! i am very excited. plums are one of those fruits that i LOVE but never get to eat. we ate most of the ripe ones, the ones in the picture i picked up off the ground. i hope they will ripen soon.

fruits and veggies are slowly trickling in finally! tomatoes are orange. soon! the pattypans are more prolific than the zucchini. i have baby spaghetti squash that i need to start tying up as i have trellised the vines. the tomato plants overnight seem to have leaped and need trellising asap or i'm going to have a disaster on my hands. the green beans are pathetic this year. hardly any came up. i need to attempt to plant more and see if i can get some late harvests in.

moondog was hot and decided to cool off in the kids play tub. ahhhh, thanks kids for filling this up for me!

wet dog alert!

by the way, why aren't any of my guy readers signing up for the free gift package? my gifts do not discriminate against the sexes! i promise you will not be disappointed! there are still several days to enter. no purchase necessary. valid in the united states and canada only. offer void where prohibited by law...

a day in the life

sunflowers basking in the late fternoon sun

pattypan just about ready

sassafras aka sassy

still unnamed

volunteer

purple bergamot

fuschia bergamot

in the glow of lantern light

preparing to milk

checking out the sheep

full moon rising...my camera sucks, this moon was red and streaked by clouds

independence days - week 12

since i'm struggling to get the garden in again this year due to my rambunctious toddler, i thought taking the id challenge would be a good moral booster for me. i try to practice this idea anyway during the growing seasons so it's a great reminder of how much i really do even when it feels like i don't.

out of town half of this week so again, not much done...


1. plant something:
^transplanted astragalus, banana trees

2. harvest something:
^eggs, milk
^blackberries
^pattypan
^lamb's quarters, basil

3. preserve something:
^holy basil in everclear

4. prep something:
^made patchouli soap

5. cook something:
^

6. manage your reserves:
^brought home 2 sheep and 2 polish chickens

7. work on local food systems:
^sold eggs and jellies at local farmer's market
^bartered with produce vendor: milk for veggies
^met with chef and set up time for delivery
^taught friends to make soap

8. reduce waste:
^use canvas bags at grocery store and farmer's market
^re-use egg cartons for our nest run eggs

9. Learned a skill:

3 posts in 1 day!

i forgot i took these pictures until i read ron's post about a creek visit. this was taken at the creek we went to while visiting karl and tabitha.

lovely

i recently won!!! the gift package from kathie at two frog home. it arrived yesterday and was waiting in my mailbox for me last night. this am (i was very tired and had cranky kids so i had to wait) i opened it to find all these wonderful gifts:the future of food dvd (i've been wanting to watch this and i have several friend who want to watch it too), a montana guide cd (we are always looking at new states to decide where we want to live after our older kids are grown, this may give us the montana bug!), some montana huckleberry preserves (i've never had huckleberries and can't wait to try them!), recipe cards (always useful and quite lovely too), coffee cookies (wow, these rock!) and molasses spice (and these too) cookies, a beautiful glass drop sun catcher (my favorite color, it is stunning, i need to take a picture of it in the window after i take some vinegar and water to the window!), a lined handsewn tote bag with a garden angel on it (beautifully sewn and again, in green! i'm going to have to convince jaden that it's mine, not hers as she is going to love that angel on there) and a handy apron (see below).i love this apron! i'm always wearing pocketless skirts and it's too hot to wear my longer aprons right now so this is going to be my best friend. i can store my camera in there, my small garden clippers, eggs, seeds and anything else that i need to hide away in my pockets.

thank you so much kathie! this was such an awesome gift box. you are amazing. your sewing and baking skills are coveted by me.

and, since it was so much fun opening and unwrapping everything and seeing all the goodies, i'm going to pass on the joy. that's right! i'm going to send one lucky reader a package put together by me. if you want to be included in the drawing, let me know in the comments what your favorite subject is in my blog and i'll add you to a drawing. you have until wednesday, july 23 to sign up. this gift package will include a few of herbal products, something homemade and a few other goodies i have about.

and the collection grows!

we returned home late last night (8pm) after leaving tabitha's house at 10am. tabitha sent us on our way with 2 polish chickens she had gotten as a freebie with her chicken orders. i'll have to try to get the picture caleb took of the black one riding on one of the sheep's back on the way home. greg loves these chickens and wants us to get more...
lucy

amadeus (not up to posing this am, he was too busy scoring some grain).

what?! you were expecting sheep??? well, here they are:

our first 2 sheep, unnamed at this point. both are about 3 months old and very shy. i was giving the red one a back massage though and she was digging it. her eyes glazed over and her head started drooping. she was in sheepy heaven. a few more of those and i'll have her eating out of my hand!

whew!

we went to a friend's house 1 1/2 hours away last night to see the house they are moving into and need major help for renovation ideas. it is their parent's house and is very interesting. it originally was a dug out barn and was added on to several times. the father loved low ceilings and doorways so the house is very hobbit-ish. it is also dark as there are few windows and no windows that actually open. they want to lighten it and update a few things. i'm totally in love with the place, it's quirks and all. i love hand built houses. it was added on to by mark, his brother and his dad w/o permits or following any codes. i think when greg gets through drawing up plans and they follow through with the work, it is going to be spectacular.

there are so many fun things about this place. there is a scottish village of these little buildings (also hand built by the father and a crew he hired) with built in alcoves for beds and fireplaces and all. there is also an indian village with a few long houses. it is just a magical place. i feel that every time i go there.

tomorrow, we (5 of the kids and i) head off to the omelay's! we are spending a few days there to relax, visit and teach soapmaking then we are off to pick up 2 of our new sheep, 2 lambs that are 3 months old. jaden is very excited to see kassi again and i know adelena is excited too get her quidditch buddies back for a few days. we'll be bringing tents and the kids will be camping in the back yard to keep the house a bit serene and unchaotic since there will be 8 kids running amuck.

our wwoofer is great. she is very sweet and her 3 year old is adorable. he's a bit of a handful, reminds me of what sage will be like when he's that age and is always competing with jaden and sage but it's been fun. greg likes her too which tells you how good she is. he couldn't stand our wwoofer from last year.

the garden is growing like crazy (at least it seems that way with the height of the weeds). lots of promising green tomatoes so here's hoping!

independence day - week 11

since i'm struggling to get the garden in again this year due to my rambunctious toddler, i thought taking the id challenge would be a good moral booster for me. i try to practice this idea anyway during the growing seasons so it's a great reminder of how much i really do even when it feels like i don't.

wow, friday already? it feels like this was a wasted week. our 1st wwoofer of the year arrived this week so hopefully, production will go up.


1. plant something:
^transplanted astragalus, banana trees
^buckwheat (cover crop)
^hay/pasture seed

2. harvest something:
^eggs, milk
^blackberries
^purslane, asiatic dayliliy, lady's thumb, dianthus flowers, pansy fkowers, daylily flowers, peppermint, clover leaves, lemon balm, nasturtium for salads
^rosemary, thyme, summer savory, parsley, chives, dill for cooking
^pattypan squash (1)
^potatoes (finished harvesting red)
^clover blossoms
^chamomile, lemo balm, thyme, rosemary for tea

3. preserve something:
^clover blossoms

4. prep something:
^greg bought me 2 antique (but useful) cherry pitters for our anniversary
^bought (another) herb book
^made another batch of soap (patchouli)

5. cook something:
^

6. manage your reserves:
^weeded
^took wether to friend's petting farm (he was a previously owned pet and came to us with the stipulation that he wouldn't be eaten)

7. work on local food systems:
^sold eggs and jellies at local farmer's market
^bartered with produce vendor: milk for veggies
^emailed chef from local restaurant to follow up on earlier conversations of supplying herbs
^ok, it's not food but i taught the wwoofer how to make soap

8. reduce waste:
^use canvas bags at grocery store and farmer's market
^re-use egg cartons for our nest run eggs
^use our metal water bottles when we go out

9. Learned a skill:

the view from my kitchen window

this is my 'altar.' i bring my problems to this place and meditate on them as i wash dishes. the window sill is always littered with pieces of found nature...shells, feathers, rocks, pine cones, acorns, crystal, branches, leaves, flowers, dried bits. it also contains some stones that say 'faith,' 'joy', 'love' and 'trust'. there's an incense burner and an oil burner as well, gifts from greg from over the years that are multitasking tools (the incense burner is where i put my tea ball to dry before emptying the contents).
looking beyond the window sill, the view is of part of the gardens...herb and vegetable. daylilies, echinacea and mint fill the foreground. flowers dot the borders...dianthus and pansies mostly. the garden surrounding the birdbath is filled with rue, daylilies, marshmallow, comfrey, lavender, butterfly bush, dill, catnip, lemon balm and plantain to name a few. i am currently thinning out this garden and moving the bigger plants to a more appropriate area in the new herb garden, to the left of the garage. the greenhouse, cheap as it is, has served its purpose. it has housed (and is currently doing so) day old broiler chicks, turkey poults (who are now happily thriving in the goat barn), lots of seedlings and transplants. soon i'll be starting our fall veggies in there. eventually, it will be moved away from its location and a summer kitchen will go in its place, filling out the space to the right of the greenhouse to the stone path that is barely visible in this picture. this is the last of the lawn...to the right there is a fire pit and circle and i hope to build a sand pit for the kids to play in before this summer is over.
the stone path is barely visible (click on the photos and they'll enlarge to show you many things, including lenny drinking in the bird bath). but beckons me to wander down it to the farther out gardens. there more herbs await me...dill, mugwort, chamomile, st. john's wort, ashwagandha, marshmallow, motherwort, chives, spilanthes, poppies, lemon balm, valerian, basil, feverfew and astragalus, just to name a few. their path leads to the main vegetable (and weed) garden. beyond our property, the farmer has planted soy beans this year after a harsh 3 years of corn. the ground has got to be sucked dry of any bit of fertility. at the far end of that field lies a tree line and beyond that, the 'mcmansion' house, home of the annoying neighbor with a para glider. we always joke about what it would take to bring him down, everything from discussing using a bow and arrow with flames to a hand held missile. seriously though, the guy gives me the creeps every time he flies over us, i feel like he's spying on us and seeing what all we have going on around here. i don't like the invasion of privacy.

next time, i'll show you the much less glamourous view out my side and front windows!

what do you see out your kitchen window?

independence days - week 10

since i'm struggling to get the garden in again this year due to my rambunctious toddler, i thought taking the id challenge would be a good moral booster for me. i try to practice this idea anyway during the growing seasons so it's a great reminder of how much i really do even when it feels like i don't.

wow! 10 weeks already?! where has the time gone.


1. plant something:
^transplanted comfrey, oats, curry, astragalus, tansy, scarlet pimpernel, winter savory
^sowed more chamomile, dill, chives, amaranth, summer savory, cilantro
^lettuce, pumpkin

2. harvest something:
^eggs, milk
^herbs, flowers for salads
^potatoes

3. preserve something:
^

4. prep something:
^purchased 50# pasture seed mix to start sowing pasture/hay fields
^scores at auction: fuel tank to store gasoline for tractor or kerosene for winter heat supplement, glass pie plates to make ahead meals and freeze in, wooden pulleys, ice tongs (for carrying blocks of ice), dual wash tubs on stand, corning ware dishes

5. cook something:
^

6. manage your reserves:
^30 more broiler chicks arrived to be raised and eaten
^chicks in incubator are hatching

7. work on local food systems:
^sold eggs and jellies at local farmer's market
^bartered with produce vendor: milk for veggies

8. reduce waste:
^use canvas bags at grocery store and farmer's market
^re-use egg cartons for our nest run eggs

9. Learned a skill:

need some suggestions

calling all sheep owners...

can you suggest some good sheep books and/or websites? particularly treating with herbal/alternative medicines. i've got 2 weeks to learn.

thanks!