independence days - week 17

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.

my parents' neighbors have a garden that produces enough veggies for the three households. since my garden isn't doing too hot, i've been accepting the overflow and reaping the rewards of filling my larder for the winter.

1. plant something:
^

2. harvest something:
^eggs, milk
^cucumbers, tomatoes
^green beans (from my parents' neighbor's garden)

3. preserve something:
^10 qts. sweet pickles
^5 qts. black beans
^10 qts, 17 pints green beans
^4 qts, 17 pints applesauce
^1 qt, 4 pints peach salsa
^4 qts, 1 pints relish (i would have preferred these in 1/2 pints but i forgot to specify that to my helpers)

4. prep something:
^organized shelves in basement to accommodate incoming canned goods
^greg started putting in the fencing for the goats and sheep
^cleaned out and organized/defrosted deep freeze to prepare for butchering goats/broilers
^greg tilled garden areas to get ready for autumn planting

5. cook something:
^roasted one of our broilers. it was delicious!
^making lots of new things using old favorites (zucchini, apples, beans)

6. manage your reserves:
^weeded like crazy!
^made a master canned goods list to keep track of everything preserved
^wrote up master garden plan for fall garden sowing

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
^return containers to farmers at the market
^collecting packaging from grocery stores to store apples

9. Learned a skill:
^reading up on goat butchering and hide tanning

hope restored

we have been lucky with our wwooers this year. we've had three sets so far and 1 more to go and they have been a great help, unlike the ones we had last year. (we had 1 girl who stayed three months, invited her boyfriend out w/o consulting us first and then sponged off us the rest of her stay).

the current couple biked here from new jersey via michigan. they dove right in from the moment they arrived (at 9pm) to learn how to milk the goats. the guy has set posts to help build our pasture and she does the dishes constantly, even when it's the kids' responsibility. it's nice to relax and not worry about things getting done. this summer has been a summer of knowing it is being taken care of even if i don't have the time to do it myself.

all have been great with the kids too. which is wonderful because my kids are enamored by everyone that shows up.

we have 1 more girl to show up next week. she and the current couple will be here until mid-september.

independence days - week 16

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.

1. plant something:
^

2. harvest something:
^eggs, milk
^cucumbers, tomatoes

3. preserve something:
^14 pints pickle beets
^7 pints dill pickles
^7 pints pickled zucchini
^1 gallon blackberries frozen
^8 gallons zucchini frozen
^20 pints applesauce

4. prep something:
^

5. cook something:
^

6. manage your reserves:
^weeded like crazy!
^hauled 5 sheep home from ohio

7. work on local food systems:
^sold eggs and jellies at local farmer's market
^bartered with produce vendor: milk for veggies
^brought home information about a local farmer who raises organic beef

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

9. Learned a skill:
^learned more about navajo-churros
^hand shearing sheep (first hand)

still limping along on my 'puter..

woodruff, our ram, originally a 5 horn, down to 4

he wants to be friendly but still isn't sure. i'll win him over!

shearing our 1st sheep. they haven't been sheared in at least a year and this one was the most matted .

our wwooer and greg trimming away...it took all three o' us 2 hours to get her done using 2 hand shears and a leatherman (the saw blade to cut through the dreads).

butchered job but hopefully feeling much better.

turkeys! one disappeared, we are down to three now. no more free range until they are bigger.

what are you looking at?! sheep with attitude.




so far, betony and sassafras won't mingle with the new sheep. hopefully they will all get acquainted soon.

ridge named our great pyr pups thelma and louise.

the trip was great. we got to meet a bunch o' wonderful people (including gina and her beautiful family) and see a lot o' beautiful landscapes through ohio and indiana. i wish we had had the time to travel more slowly and enjoy everything more but i'm grateful we got the time we did. the owners o' the sheep were very nice and we spent saturday morning hanging out with woodruff's previous owners and touring their place.

thank goodness for spell check which helps fill in the blanks.

independence days - week 15

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.

my parents brought over several bags o vegetables. i used them wisely, thanks to my wwooer that just left today.


1. plant something:
^

2. harvest something:
^eggs, milk
^cucumbers, tomatoes

3. preserve something:
^apricots given to me by fellow farmer at market (7 pints preserves)
^8 qts and 1 pint sweet pickles


4. prep something:
^

5. cook something:
^

6. manage your reserves:
^weeded like crazy!
^

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
^return containers to farmers at the market

9. Learned a skill:

it's t time!

we are off to indiana and ohio to meet the fabulous gina and to pick up 5 more navajo churros.

computer difficulties

posting may be sparse for awhile, my laptop keyboard is dying. i've lost the ability to use e, f and 3 and sometimes d. right now, i'm borrowing my kids' computer but that is a rare moment.

independence days - week 14

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.



1. plant something:
^lettuce, kohlrabi, kale

2. harvest something:
^eggs, milk
^tomatoes, purslane, lamb's quarters, peppermint, lemon balm, dianthus, nasturtium, daylilies, asiatic daylilies

3. preserve something:
^apricots given to me by fellow farmer at market
^2 1/2 gallons zucchini grated and frozen (zukes from my dad)
^10 quarts and 1 pint sweet pickles canned (cukes from my dad)

4. prep something:
^cleaned off more pantry shelves in basement
^moved several bins from basement to barn (clothing and bedding that kept getting musty from the dampness)

5. cook something:
^

6. manage your reserves:
^weeded like crazy!
^

7. work on local food systems:
^sold eggs and jellies at local farmer's market
^bartered with produce vendor: milk for veggies
^bartered with friend: his self caught wild tuna for my eggs

8. reduce waste:
^use canvas bags at grocery store and farmer's market
^re-use egg cartons for our nest run eggs
^return containers to farmers at the market
^passed on several kombucha scobys to fellow bloggers

9. Learned a skill: