I was at work and overheard a few customers talking and once mentioned that they still had nine chickens to be processed and they'd have to contact the farm. I asked her which farm and she told me, and I asked why they didn't do it themselves and she said because she honestly didn't know how to process them and cut them up once they were dead. She did mention that she thought the farm held classes on how-to. I thought that it'd be something to check out.
The cooperative extension table at the fair was full of information and I picked up a few papers. There is a poultry class, and a calf raising class, something about dirt that I didn't look at too much, and a few others that sounded just as promising. I think I'll have to go down to the cooperative extension building and see what else they offer.
Gramma and I are having a yard sale this Friday and Saturday when the college kids are due to move in. Hopefully we'll have a few good sales. Gramma has a few furniture pieces, where my things are mostly books. While looking for things to sell, we found some memories. My favorite was the bible my gramma ordered from the Sears catalog when she was 16.
College classes start on the 3rd of September!
A Small Update
The weather has been wonderfully cool here as of late with a crisp sweetness that belies autumn and instead makes me think of spring. I awake in the morning to fog drifting over and through the valley only to be burned off in the forenoon sun. The birds call and cows low and traffic whizzes by on the main road.
Since realizing I own too much, I have marked for giving away nearly half my belongings, mostly books, and have set aside some for others of my family to lay their claim. The clothing and my eye glasses that I do not need or do not use went with my grandmother to the church, which receives a certain price for pounds donated. I still have the other half of my belongings to sort through, as I have kept very little. I am being quite ruthless.
I was able to find and sort through some seeds for next year. I also found my plastic greenhouses and a few boxes of dirt pod refills. I took a look at my garden space and am eager to begin work as soon as I can drag my mother out to ask what I can and cannot dig up. I at least want to break up the soil and possibly turn in some manure before the first frosts.
I didn't add anything to my Homestead Binder this past week because of the move and because the binder hasn't come off the back deck just yet. It is sitting among the things I still have to sort.
I am settling in at work and it has been nice to see everyone in town. The only downside is that, though you wouldn't think it, cashiering is hard, long, tough work and leaves me tired. I am having some trouble trying to fit everything in the day with enough time to sleep and rest. I am sure I will adjust.
Since realizing I own too much, I have marked for giving away nearly half my belongings, mostly books, and have set aside some for others of my family to lay their claim. The clothing and my eye glasses that I do not need or do not use went with my grandmother to the church, which receives a certain price for pounds donated. I still have the other half of my belongings to sort through, as I have kept very little. I am being quite ruthless.
I was able to find and sort through some seeds for next year. I also found my plastic greenhouses and a few boxes of dirt pod refills. I took a look at my garden space and am eager to begin work as soon as I can drag my mother out to ask what I can and cannot dig up. I at least want to break up the soil and possibly turn in some manure before the first frosts.
I didn't add anything to my Homestead Binder this past week because of the move and because the binder hasn't come off the back deck just yet. It is sitting among the things I still have to sort.
I am settling in at work and it has been nice to see everyone in town. The only downside is that, though you wouldn't think it, cashiering is hard, long, tough work and leaves me tired. I am having some trouble trying to fit everything in the day with enough time to sleep and rest. I am sure I will adjust.
Overtaken by Stuff
I did manage to get to the county fair on Tuesday, but my sync cord is missing once again, and so no pictures today.
I had a lot more stuff than I thought. Moving always points that out to you doesn't it? So I am going to go through and sell or donate whatever I can't otherwise use. That includes the printer I paid $100 or so for and my small television, vcr, and dvd player. I need to pare down my belongings so I can stop feeling so overwhelmed and so I can focus less on things and more on my family and God - the important things in life.
I will be getting started on my hand-milled soaps soon and aquired some dried lavender for a gentle abrasive to use. I am currently locating a source for essential oils, and after that a mold. Then I'll be ready. I'll be sure to post about it when it becomes available in the shop.
I had a lot more stuff than I thought. Moving always points that out to you doesn't it? So I am going to go through and sell or donate whatever I can't otherwise use. That includes the printer I paid $100 or so for and my small television, vcr, and dvd player. I need to pare down my belongings so I can stop feeling so overwhelmed and so I can focus less on things and more on my family and God - the important things in life.
I will be getting started on my hand-milled soaps soon and aquired some dried lavender for a gentle abrasive to use. I am currently locating a source for essential oils, and after that a mold. Then I'll be ready. I'll be sure to post about it when it becomes available in the shop.
Home, Safely
We (the cat and I) made it to New York safe and sound at right around seven pm. That's one and a half hours better than the last time I made the same drive! We ran into less traffic this time, so that was a bonus. However, when I went to start the Impala this morning at 6:30 to begin our trip, it wouldn't start! Thank God that Uncle hadn't left for work yet because he has a mechanical mind and we were quick to ascertain that the battery was dead. That same battery has been in the same car for eight years, so we got our money's worth I suppose. I had to wait until Advance Auto opened to purchase a replacement. Luckily it was a very easy fix and installed by the Advance Auto employees for free (well it was free if you purchased the battery from them, which I did). They didn't open until 7:30am, which was a bummer because it felt like forever.
I am also grateful that it happened at mile 0, instead of three hundred miles away at the gas station. Towing would certainly have been more than the $119.00 I spent on battery replacement.
The first thing that told me I was home was the crisp, cool, fresh air. Slightly heavy with moisture it enveloped the car and worked it's way in. There is no mistaking the air here. Clean and pure.
Tomorrow I will have (hopefully) a few pictures from the county fair as I will be going with my sister after I finish orientation at my new/old job. I love the fair mostly because you are allowed to pet any of the open-pen show animals (horses are off-limits, and the cows face in, so you could pet their bottoms I suppose).
I am also grateful that it happened at mile 0, instead of three hundred miles away at the gas station. Towing would certainly have been more than the $119.00 I spent on battery replacement.
The first thing that told me I was home was the crisp, cool, fresh air. Slightly heavy with moisture it enveloped the car and worked it's way in. There is no mistaking the air here. Clean and pure.
Tomorrow I will have (hopefully) a few pictures from the county fair as I will be going with my sister after I finish orientation at my new/old job. I love the fair mostly because you are allowed to pet any of the open-pen show animals (horses are off-limits, and the cows face in, so you could pet their bottoms I suppose).
Homesteading Binder Additions
This past week I added the following to my Homesteading Binder:
I'm traveling home to New York today. It is well over 600 miles and takes right around twelve hours with stops for bathroom breaks and lunch. I am also traveling with my cat and she is not happy about it! Prayers of safety are appreciated.
- This milk-record sheet from The Prairie Homestead. It's for one animal for one month.
- This excellent guide: 10 Things to Consider When Living off the Land. It's stuffed full of great advice and practical thinking for when you are looking for your land.
- A vegetables-in-season and a fruits-in-season chart.
I'm traveling home to New York today. It is well over 600 miles and takes right around twelve hours with stops for bathroom breaks and lunch. I am also traveling with my cat and she is not happy about it! Prayers of safety are appreciated.
Public Assistance
I grew up in a place very much in the grip of "too much assistance" from the government Food Stamps program. I have consequently always held a negative view of the program. It wasn't one thing that soured my view, but a combination.
First was the unfortunate fact that several (I'll extend that to most) people on the program appear or smell dirty and generally seem of below average intelligence. (I know how judgmental the above statement sounds, but I've just sat here for fifteen minutes reading and rereading and I have to say that it's an honest reflection of my thoughts and accurate observations.)
Second is that I never saw my family on it. My mom assures me that at one point we did have food stamps, but that she doesn't believe a person ought to stay on the program longer than they actually need. I don't remember it, but I do remember my mom opening and operating her own state licensed daycare. You can bet that was hard, taking care of other children all day in addition to her own four.
Third is that I come from a stubborn area and extra stubborn stock. We have pride, we can farm, we have never been rich or pampered, and most of us know God. What more should a person need? Taking assistance is selling-out and giving up, and we look down upon those people.
I recently read an article that startled the daylights out of me. It illustrates the fact that the government wants to (and is) desperately encouraging enrollment in the program even though 1 in 7 Americans are already part of it. The tone of the article is that the government is only offering to help and if we would only trust them and let them show us how much better it would be on the SNAP or equivalent assistance program, we'd be so much happier. We shouldn't be so prideful that we won't accept the "help" because it will add desperately needed dollars to our town/village/city's economy.
I do not understand how someone could take assistance permanently and feel satisfied. Are we not glorified pets of the government then? Provided for and well-trained, not earning our keep but available for our master's amusement because of miss-placed loyalty. Fat and happy and content and controlled.
I believe we as a country need to start standing up for ourselves and working hard. It's such a foreign concept that we might not be in a perfectly climate controlled place, that we might have to work and wait for our food, even though our grandparents lived without such conveniences as we have today, we could never contemplate it. It is considered so far out there that those who would actively choose that life are looked upon as unstable, crazy, uneducated, and possibly dangerous. It's not right.
We need to change. We need to start refusing government assistance in any form, because until we do, we will be under the thumb of a master all too happy to have us right where we are wanted: dependent.
First was the unfortunate fact that several (I'll extend that to most) people on the program appear or smell dirty and generally seem of below average intelligence. (I know how judgmental the above statement sounds, but I've just sat here for fifteen minutes reading and rereading and I have to say that it's an honest reflection of my thoughts and accurate observations.)
Second is that I never saw my family on it. My mom assures me that at one point we did have food stamps, but that she doesn't believe a person ought to stay on the program longer than they actually need. I don't remember it, but I do remember my mom opening and operating her own state licensed daycare. You can bet that was hard, taking care of other children all day in addition to her own four.
Third is that I come from a stubborn area and extra stubborn stock. We have pride, we can farm, we have never been rich or pampered, and most of us know God. What more should a person need? Taking assistance is selling-out and giving up, and we look down upon those people.
I recently read an article that startled the daylights out of me. It illustrates the fact that the government wants to (and is) desperately encouraging enrollment in the program even though 1 in 7 Americans are already part of it. The tone of the article is that the government is only offering to help and if we would only trust them and let them show us how much better it would be on the SNAP or equivalent assistance program, we'd be so much happier. We shouldn't be so prideful that we won't accept the "help" because it will add desperately needed dollars to our town/village/city's economy.
I do not understand how someone could take assistance permanently and feel satisfied. Are we not glorified pets of the government then? Provided for and well-trained, not earning our keep but available for our master's amusement because of miss-placed loyalty. Fat and happy and content and controlled.
I believe we as a country need to start standing up for ourselves and working hard. It's such a foreign concept that we might not be in a perfectly climate controlled place, that we might have to work and wait for our food, even though our grandparents lived without such conveniences as we have today, we could never contemplate it. It is considered so far out there that those who would actively choose that life are looked upon as unstable, crazy, uneducated, and possibly dangerous. It's not right.
We need to change. We need to start refusing government assistance in any form, because until we do, we will be under the thumb of a master all too happy to have us right where we are wanted: dependent.
I found this article especially moving and motivating; she also links to the same article I read, above.
Ideas for Self-Employment
I have very specific ideas on what I do and do not want to do on my homestead. While I wait for the money and land to become available, I am endeavoring to do everything else I can to prepare. One of these preparations is figuring out money. I do not want to work off of my homestead.
I know this isn't a reality for a lot of people, and a lot of people aren't willing to give up their conveniences in order to stop working off the farm. As I progress I intend to reduce (with the goal of eliminating) my dependence on electricity and petroleum products (such as gas and oil). Reducing and eliminating these things as they become unnecessary will further reduce my bills. There is only one bill I can foresee always having to pay: taxes. Whether income, sales, property, or school, I believe at this time that there will be those taxes to pay.
The why is partially a quiet yearning to be under no man's heel or hand and reliant only on God and His provisions through my own hands, and partially because I have come to realize how very lazy and forgetful I have become when everything is easy and available right now.
However, this post is not a dissection of my motives and desires, it's a plain listing of my ideas on what I can do to make the money I will need for those infernal taxes.
1. Sewing
Since receiving my heavy duty Singer for my birthday I have already sewn several small items, what I would consider "easy-sells". I also cut and sewed drapes into valances for a co-worker, hemmed a pair of shorts for another co-worker, hemmed a pair of dress pants for my sister's boyfriend, and repaired a seam on my uncle's work pants. I was paid for one of these jobs so far. I do realize that I will have to start charging for my work if I intend to actually make money, but I am loath to do so because I am a people pleaser at heart. I recognize it and must work on it. You will see it as a reoccurring theme in the next entries.
2. Soapmaking
I have wanted to learn how to do this for at least the past year when I was told to look at the cute goat pictures on Suzanne's Chickens in the Road, and stuck around long enough to see her making soap! I am not up to mixing lye soap yet. I am currently using melt and pour glycerin base and supplies that were given to me as a birthday gift this past year (noticing a theme here?). When I finally move home (this coming Monday!) to New York and get settled in, I will be trying the hand-milled or French-milled method. I would have tried it much earlier except it needs three weeks to cure and I didn't want to transport soap that was still setting up across six hundred miles in a hot car.
3. Jams & Jellies
This is the hardest one on the list. In order to legally sell them they have to be prepared in a licensed commercial kitchen. I have thought about contacting a restaurant in my area and finding out if they would barter/trade time in the kitchen for access to my homemade jams for free, or discussing how much it would cost to rent the kitchen for a couple hours in their off hours. I have also thought about the church kitchen. Sometimes they are exempt from licensing, and sometimes not. I will find out when I get back home.
Of all the jam I've already made, all but two jars are spoken for and all but one delivered to its recipient. Again, I didn’t charge anything for them: they were gifts.
Those are the main ones I have come up with that would be pretty much immediately doable and available for sale. In the spring and summer I intend to inquire about getting tables at a few of the areas farmer's markets as my garden grows, and look into a booth at the county fair. I may also set up a table at the front of the house when work and school permit. We live on the main route through the area and we are only five minutes outside of town. I'm thinking it'd be a good source of customers.
I am aware there may be licenses or certificates or the like that I may be required to acquire. I intend (also upon returning to New York) to check in with the local Extension agent and find out what I need to do.
That's my immediate plan for saving the money I need to purchase my place, in addition to working at the grocery store in town. Eventually I'd like to sell excess products directly from my homestead as well as those above. Time will tell!
I know this isn't a reality for a lot of people, and a lot of people aren't willing to give up their conveniences in order to stop working off the farm. As I progress I intend to reduce (with the goal of eliminating) my dependence on electricity and petroleum products (such as gas and oil). Reducing and eliminating these things as they become unnecessary will further reduce my bills. There is only one bill I can foresee always having to pay: taxes. Whether income, sales, property, or school, I believe at this time that there will be those taxes to pay.
The why is partially a quiet yearning to be under no man's heel or hand and reliant only on God and His provisions through my own hands, and partially because I have come to realize how very lazy and forgetful I have become when everything is easy and available right now.
However, this post is not a dissection of my motives and desires, it's a plain listing of my ideas on what I can do to make the money I will need for those infernal taxes.
1. Sewing
Since receiving my heavy duty Singer for my birthday I have already sewn several small items, what I would consider "easy-sells". I also cut and sewed drapes into valances for a co-worker, hemmed a pair of shorts for another co-worker, hemmed a pair of dress pants for my sister's boyfriend, and repaired a seam on my uncle's work pants. I was paid for one of these jobs so far. I do realize that I will have to start charging for my work if I intend to actually make money, but I am loath to do so because I am a people pleaser at heart. I recognize it and must work on it. You will see it as a reoccurring theme in the next entries.
2. Soapmaking
I have wanted to learn how to do this for at least the past year when I was told to look at the cute goat pictures on Suzanne's Chickens in the Road, and stuck around long enough to see her making soap! I am not up to mixing lye soap yet. I am currently using melt and pour glycerin base and supplies that were given to me as a birthday gift this past year (noticing a theme here?). When I finally move home (this coming Monday!) to New York and get settled in, I will be trying the hand-milled or French-milled method. I would have tried it much earlier except it needs three weeks to cure and I didn't want to transport soap that was still setting up across six hundred miles in a hot car.
3. Jams & Jellies
This is the hardest one on the list. In order to legally sell them they have to be prepared in a licensed commercial kitchen. I have thought about contacting a restaurant in my area and finding out if they would barter/trade time in the kitchen for access to my homemade jams for free, or discussing how much it would cost to rent the kitchen for a couple hours in their off hours. I have also thought about the church kitchen. Sometimes they are exempt from licensing, and sometimes not. I will find out when I get back home.
Of all the jam I've already made, all but two jars are spoken for and all but one delivered to its recipient. Again, I didn’t charge anything for them: they were gifts.
Those are the main ones I have come up with that would be pretty much immediately doable and available for sale. In the spring and summer I intend to inquire about getting tables at a few of the areas farmer's markets as my garden grows, and look into a booth at the county fair. I may also set up a table at the front of the house when work and school permit. We live on the main route through the area and we are only five minutes outside of town. I'm thinking it'd be a good source of customers.
I am aware there may be licenses or certificates or the like that I may be required to acquire. I intend (also upon returning to New York) to check in with the local Extension agent and find out what I need to do.
That's my immediate plan for saving the money I need to purchase my place, in addition to working at the grocery store in town. Eventually I'd like to sell excess products directly from my homestead as well as those above. Time will tell!
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
I finished The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski yesterday afternoon. In fact I fairly vibrated in my car in impatience to get home and read the last few pages. (I may or may not have been reading it during working hours.) Then it was over. Done and gone and nothing more.
I knew the moment I started reading it that I would like this book. It starts out excellently and only goes upward from there. The reader is thrown into the story as if you've already been reading for twenty pages, but you quickly catch on.
I found it via a recommendation on Amazon, and upon reading the glowing endorsement of the novel from Stephen King, I decided to give it a try. The reviews below from purchasers are a mixed bag though. Read too many negative and you will be tempted to not read the book at all. Now that I have finished the book, I understand the frustration voiced so clearly in those reviews and I share it with them. However, I do not feel the book was at all a waste of my time. I feel enriched by this novel, in fact, happy to have read it.
I won't tell you the story has a happy ending, but it does have an ending which I whole-heartedly believe fits it. I wanted so badly for things to be different at the end, but they weren't. The journey of the rest of the book though, that's where I will remember my time in Edgar Sawtelle's world.
Edgar is a boy born to two hard working dog breeders living on a farm in a small town in Wisconsin. The dogs are named after the boys grandfather who started the breed. They are called simply Sawtelles. The dogs play an integral role in the story, and being the dog person I am I found myself intrigued by these animals and Edgar's grandfather's passion for them. I also found myself longing to be there next to Edgar's mother, Trudy, as she trained the dogs so I could observe her methods.
Edgar cannot speak. He can hear and see, but he can't talk. The doctors don't know why, but we quickly realize it isn't really a problem for the family. When their highly intuitive house dog (a Sawtelle of course), Almondine, picks up on Edgar's silent cries his first night home, we can see the pattern of their relationship unfold.
I loved the silence of Edgar. I loved the way he thought and reasoned and how he treated the dogs and how they understood him, even without a voice. I often found myself unwilling to speak after spending mere minutes engrossed in the text of this book.
Of course nothing can stay idyllic forever. Tragedy strikes and the lives of Edgar and his father and mother and even the dogs are ultimately changed irrevocably.
This is not a light read, nor one that you will be done with after a day of hard reading, but it is so very much worth your effort. I believe every author has a reason behind every word they write and therefore I am willing to accept the ending he saw fit, even if I didn't like it. Ultimately it isn't my story, but his to tell.
I cannot ask you enough to go to the library if you don't want to commit to buying the book and just give it an honest try. There is no way you could possibly be sorry for spending time with Edgar and Almondine in the world so carefully, lovingly crafted by Mr. Wroblewski.
I knew the moment I started reading it that I would like this book. It starts out excellently and only goes upward from there. The reader is thrown into the story as if you've already been reading for twenty pages, but you quickly catch on.
I found it via a recommendation on Amazon, and upon reading the glowing endorsement of the novel from Stephen King, I decided to give it a try. The reviews below from purchasers are a mixed bag though. Read too many negative and you will be tempted to not read the book at all. Now that I have finished the book, I understand the frustration voiced so clearly in those reviews and I share it with them. However, I do not feel the book was at all a waste of my time. I feel enriched by this novel, in fact, happy to have read it.
I won't tell you the story has a happy ending, but it does have an ending which I whole-heartedly believe fits it. I wanted so badly for things to be different at the end, but they weren't. The journey of the rest of the book though, that's where I will remember my time in Edgar Sawtelle's world.
Edgar is a boy born to two hard working dog breeders living on a farm in a small town in Wisconsin. The dogs are named after the boys grandfather who started the breed. They are called simply Sawtelles. The dogs play an integral role in the story, and being the dog person I am I found myself intrigued by these animals and Edgar's grandfather's passion for them. I also found myself longing to be there next to Edgar's mother, Trudy, as she trained the dogs so I could observe her methods.
Edgar cannot speak. He can hear and see, but he can't talk. The doctors don't know why, but we quickly realize it isn't really a problem for the family. When their highly intuitive house dog (a Sawtelle of course), Almondine, picks up on Edgar's silent cries his first night home, we can see the pattern of their relationship unfold.
I loved the silence of Edgar. I loved the way he thought and reasoned and how he treated the dogs and how they understood him, even without a voice. I often found myself unwilling to speak after spending mere minutes engrossed in the text of this book.
Of course nothing can stay idyllic forever. Tragedy strikes and the lives of Edgar and his father and mother and even the dogs are ultimately changed irrevocably.
This is not a light read, nor one that you will be done with after a day of hard reading, but it is so very much worth your effort. I believe every author has a reason behind every word they write and therefore I am willing to accept the ending he saw fit, even if I didn't like it. Ultimately it isn't my story, but his to tell.
I cannot ask you enough to go to the library if you don't want to commit to buying the book and just give it an honest try. There is no way you could possibly be sorry for spending time with Edgar and Almondine in the world so carefully, lovingly crafted by Mr. Wroblewski.
*As a side note, I was not compensated in any way for this review
by either the author or Amazon and I purchased the book with my own money.
The Importance of Stars
Bortle Dark-Sky Scale lists my home as a number four on the scale (1 being the darkest, 9 being the least dark). I personally think that it is a number three, especially after reading the descriptions of each number, and determining that the closest reporting observatory is actually quite far away. However the area that I currently live in rates a seven. (Check your sky here. Use this chart here to determine rating based on color.)
When I moved here, to Virginia, the stars hardly crossed my mind for the first few months while I adjusted to a new place, living in the city, new routines, and applied myself to finding a job. But then they began to call to me.
At home, in New York, I look to the sky for comfort. I enjoy stargazing on a blanket in the yard. (Though now that all the trees are grown up, the middle of the driveway is the best place for stargazing.) One night in Virginia I went outside to do a little looking-up. Imagine my surprise at only seeing one or two tiny points of light sparkling back at me! A phrase entered my mind then that I had only heard once, but never forgot and never truly understood until that moment: light pollution.
How strange the orange glow on the horizon, as if the edges of the sky were on fire! The moon shone brightly to my right and those two stars burned through the indigo backdrop. I was mesmerized. I had no idea that people couldn't see the sky as I had always seen it: clear with the stars shining benevolently down. I couldn't believe that I wouldn't be able to go outside and find the Big and Little Dippers, and the North Star.
This is a picture of the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, and Polaris - the North Star.
One of my routines upon returning to New York for visits and the like has been to walk outside on that first cool, clear night and look up. It's like a balm on my soul: to be outside, gazing at the stars, contemplating the vastness of Creation and the very small space in it that I occupy. The very small space that occupies everyone I have ever known and affected in some way. The stars are very good that way. Allowing for such large thoughts.
I encourage and urge you to go outside and look up. If you are lucky you will see constellations. If you don't see many stars at all, then I hope that somehow, sometime in your life you will see them as I have and that you will allow yourself to truly see how very small you are in comparison.
When I moved here, to Virginia, the stars hardly crossed my mind for the first few months while I adjusted to a new place, living in the city, new routines, and applied myself to finding a job. But then they began to call to me.
At home, in New York, I look to the sky for comfort. I enjoy stargazing on a blanket in the yard. (Though now that all the trees are grown up, the middle of the driveway is the best place for stargazing.) One night in Virginia I went outside to do a little looking-up. Imagine my surprise at only seeing one or two tiny points of light sparkling back at me! A phrase entered my mind then that I had only heard once, but never forgot and never truly understood until that moment: light pollution.
How strange the orange glow on the horizon, as if the edges of the sky were on fire! The moon shone brightly to my right and those two stars burned through the indigo backdrop. I was mesmerized. I had no idea that people couldn't see the sky as I had always seen it: clear with the stars shining benevolently down. I couldn't believe that I wouldn't be able to go outside and find the Big and Little Dippers, and the North Star.
Source: Astropix.com via Pinterest
One of my routines upon returning to New York for visits and the like has been to walk outside on that first cool, clear night and look up. It's like a balm on my soul: to be outside, gazing at the stars, contemplating the vastness of Creation and the very small space in it that I occupy. The very small space that occupies everyone I have ever known and affected in some way. The stars are very good that way. Allowing for such large thoughts.
I encourage and urge you to go outside and look up. If you are lucky you will see constellations. If you don't see many stars at all, then I hope that somehow, sometime in your life you will see them as I have and that you will allow yourself to truly see how very small you are in comparison.
Homesteading Binder Additions
I thought that Mondays could serve as the round-up of whatever I have added to my Homesteading Binder this past week.
So, without further ado:
This list of 22 lessons in running a successful farmers market stand. It sounds promising, though I haven't full read through it as I only added it to my binder this morning.
I also printed information on cultivating and transplanting wild blackberries, because my uncle has tons of blackberries every summer, but I have none. I thought to transplant a few. However, the link seems broken. Here's the link anyway, just in case it's back up soon.
A list of cold-temperate perennial plants that grow in my zone. I got the list from here. Just click your area and it will take you to the correct list.
That's it! Three new additions this week.
So, without further ado:
This list of 22 lessons in running a successful farmers market stand. It sounds promising, though I haven't full read through it as I only added it to my binder this morning.
I also printed information on cultivating and transplanting wild blackberries, because my uncle has tons of blackberries every summer, but I have none. I thought to transplant a few. However, the link seems broken. Here's the link anyway, just in case it's back up soon.
A list of cold-temperate perennial plants that grow in my zone. I got the list from here. Just click your area and it will take you to the correct list.
That's it! Three new additions this week.
On Cloning
Cloning our public milk and meat puts more power straight into the hands of major monopolic conglomerations. They are the ones that can afford the complicated equipment and personnel to engineer and place these clones into their surrogate mothers. They also have the money needed to enlist or build and employ veterinary facilities for their often sickly cloned infant animals.
That leaves family farms again unable to meet the demand of the public for good, cheap meat. That's a lot of why we are in this mess we are in, because we didn't want to wait for the animals to grow to slaughter weight naturally. The demand for so much meat isn't sustainable naturally - they way God intended it to be - and so we allow other people to pump our food full of unnatural feed and antibiotics to force it to grow to slaughter weight (1200 pounds for a steer) in just 14 months. Allowed to reach this weight naturally, it would take years.
Why clone at all? It is infinitely more expensive to raise a cloned animal (from impregnation to birth to slaughter), and so it's been suggested that the companies would then use the more valuable animal for breeding purposes instead of slaughtering it for the market. Just because we can, doesn't mean we should.
Cloned animals are more sickly than (I hate to call them "regular" or "normal" animals) their traditional counterparts and if not for highly specialized veterinary care, most would die long before they were even born. These high rates of miscarriages put strain and stress on surrogate mothers. Babies, if born alive, can be malformed and are certainly in more jeopardy health-wise than normal babies.
The FDA continually ignores public outcry that cloned meat and milk at least be labeled so consumers who wish to can avoid it.
Those who do resist are often labeled negatively and laughed at and patted on the head as if a small child who asked a dumb question. We are reassured with easy language and pat answers that everything is okay, that everything is safe. But we are told that so often - that something is okay and safe - that we are becoming suspicious. We know better.
Their arguments are that the same outcries went up over pasteurizing milk, and over artificial insemination and look where we are on those issues now. That we are obviously better off and cloning will follow the same path.
Those of us awake to the real food of yore know what is wrong with these things. We know they are not of God. We refuse to be coddled and reassured with falsities and we resist, albeit peacefully. We bring (most of) our food from the ground with hard work and prayer. We are trying to break through with earnest pleas for intelligence in regards to that most basic of needs: healthy food.
That leaves family farms again unable to meet the demand of the public for good, cheap meat. That's a lot of why we are in this mess we are in, because we didn't want to wait for the animals to grow to slaughter weight naturally. The demand for so much meat isn't sustainable naturally - they way God intended it to be - and so we allow other people to pump our food full of unnatural feed and antibiotics to force it to grow to slaughter weight (1200 pounds for a steer) in just 14 months. Allowed to reach this weight naturally, it would take years.
 |
 |
Why clone at all? It is infinitely more expensive to raise a cloned animal (from impregnation to birth to slaughter), and so it's been suggested that the companies would then use the more valuable animal for breeding purposes instead of slaughtering it for the market. Just because we can, doesn't mean we should.
Cloned animals are more sickly than (I hate to call them "regular" or "normal" animals) their traditional counterparts and if not for highly specialized veterinary care, most would die long before they were even born. These high rates of miscarriages put strain and stress on surrogate mothers. Babies, if born alive, can be malformed and are certainly in more jeopardy health-wise than normal babies.
The FDA continually ignores public outcry that cloned meat and milk at least be labeled so consumers who wish to can avoid it.
Those who do resist are often labeled negatively and laughed at and patted on the head as if a small child who asked a dumb question. We are reassured with easy language and pat answers that everything is okay, that everything is safe. But we are told that so often - that something is okay and safe - that we are becoming suspicious. We know better.
Their arguments are that the same outcries went up over pasteurizing milk, and over artificial insemination and look where we are on those issues now. That we are obviously better off and cloning will follow the same path.
Those of us awake to the real food of yore know what is wrong with these things. We know they are not of God. We refuse to be coddled and reassured with falsities and we resist, albeit peacefully. We bring (most of) our food from the ground with hard work and prayer. We are trying to break through with earnest pleas for intelligence in regards to that most basic of needs: healthy food.
Sources:
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/campaign/cloned-animals/
http://www.livescience.com/2182-cloned-milk-meat-beef.html
Photos: William Warby.
Homemade Chicken Broth
Have you made chicken broth from scratch yet? If not, why not give it a try? It's easy and simple and so much better for you than the store stuff because you know exactly what's in it (and you control salt content)!
Easy, right!? Absolutely simple, and it makes the house smell divine! After a night in the fridge, remove the congealed fat from the top. If you make a mistake and add too much spice, add a little more water. If you add too much water, mix in a little more spice. It'll turn out, I promise.
Now, this can be canned and stored just like the store stuff, but you need to do it with a pressure canner. A regular water-bath canner does not reach a high enough temperature to kill botulism, a rare but deadly bacterium that produces nerve toxin. I didn't actually can this batch, because I don't have a pressure canner, but I liked how it looked in the jars anyway.
I used a fair bit the day after this batch was made in a chicken topped with biscuit dish I was trying out. Yum!
Basic Chicken Broth
Ingredients:
1 WHOLE rosted chicken, picked mostly clean of meat.
VEGETABLES to taste.
(I used: 5 stalks of CELERY,
1 large chopped ONION,
1 sliced green PEPPER
4 smashed cloves of GARLIC,
SALT & PEPPER.)
These are what I had on hand, you could add CARROTS, THYME, ROSEMARY, PARSELY, BAY LEAF, SAGE, and anything else you can think of. It's really hard to ruin.
WATER to cover.
Place chicken carcass into a large pot. Add vegetables. Add enough water to entirely cover the chicken. Set over burner, turn the fire to low and do not cover.
Leave it alone for at least 1 1/2 hours, but you can skim as needed.
Strain broth using a colander or mesh strainer.
Pick any remaining meat from the chicken and put into a separate container to use later.
Store in glass jars in the fridge.
Easy, right!? Absolutely simple, and it makes the house smell divine! After a night in the fridge, remove the congealed fat from the top. If you make a mistake and add too much spice, add a little more water. If you add too much water, mix in a little more spice. It'll turn out, I promise.
Now, this can be canned and stored just like the store stuff, but you need to do it with a pressure canner. A regular water-bath canner does not reach a high enough temperature to kill botulism, a rare but deadly bacterium that produces nerve toxin. I didn't actually can this batch, because I don't have a pressure canner, but I liked how it looked in the jars anyway.
I used a fair bit the day after this batch was made in a chicken topped with biscuit dish I was trying out. Yum!
Ye Olde Microwave
I could live without a microwave. Sure, it'd be a little inconvenient at first, but then it would force me to be more proactive about planning dinners and eating healthy food. I have never really trusted them anyway. I guess it sort of niggled at the back of my mind without ever truly coming to the surface.
However as I am awakening into real food, I am facing things that I never thought of before. Never considered. Always taken as good and true and right because that's what we are told; that these things are normal.
I will be going cold turkey on microwaves, especially after reading this article on the subject that is well researched and full of examples. I didn't know that microwaving certain foods in certain materials can cause carcinogens to form in otherwise healthy food! What? That's utterly insane. Why use something that will give you cancer?! Just... wow.
How disappointing that we are told this is safe.
How frustrating that this information is so unknown, and that people are so unwilling to hear it.
I had a microwave that mom gave me for Christmas one year. I am happy to say that it has been gone for months now to someone else (though knowing what I know now, I'm feeling guilty for giving her that thing). Though I live with people who do use theirs on occasion, I am personally giving it up for good.
- From the (now non-microwaving) Sweetgrass Cookery.
However as I am awakening into real food, I am facing things that I never thought of before. Never considered. Always taken as good and true and right because that's what we are told; that these things are normal.
I will be going cold turkey on microwaves, especially after reading this article on the subject that is well researched and full of examples. I didn't know that microwaving certain foods in certain materials can cause carcinogens to form in otherwise healthy food! What? That's utterly insane. Why use something that will give you cancer?! Just... wow.
How disappointing that we are told this is safe.
How frustrating that this information is so unknown, and that people are so unwilling to hear it.
I had a microwave that mom gave me for Christmas one year. I am happy to say that it has been gone for months now to someone else (though knowing what I know now, I'm feeling guilty for giving her that thing). Though I live with people who do use theirs on occasion, I am personally giving it up for good.
- From the (now non-microwaving) Sweetgrass Cookery.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)