Housman Farms

Farm Kitchen Menu - February 9th

2012-02-11T08:27:00.003-06:00

This is my first "Farm Kitchen Menu" for our blog. I thought it might be helpful for others to know how our family eats. It may also help to dispel the myth that we are self-sufficient. :) Unfortunately, as dreamy as that sounds, it is not as easy to attain as one might think. The foods that we have grown or raised ourselves are marked with a "HF" for Housman Farms.
Breakfast
Omelets (cooked with lard)
HF eggs
HF goats milk
HF green peppers
HF onions
HF kale
HF garlic
shredded raw cheese

Sourdough Muffins (see recipe below)

Fresh squeezed (by Benjamin) Orange Juice

Breakfast was followed by a cup of Organic coffee, with raw honey and raw cream. We were stuffed! :)

Sourdough Muffins
Night before combine:

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup of yogurt, kefir, or whey
2 cups raw milk (you could add water if you do not have raw milk)
Cover the bowl with a towel and leave it on the counter overnight.

Next morning add:

4 beaten eggs
1 cup of honey
1 T. Vanilla
1 cup of coconut oil or butter (melted)
Mix well, then add:

2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup of raisins
1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)
Mix well
We put the batter into muffin cups and bake them at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Makes 2 dozen.

Lunch
Salad
mixed greens
kale
cucumbers
HF chicken breast
HF pickled eggs
grated cheese

Homemade French dressing

Sliced apples

Snack
Kefir shake
HF kefir
frozen bananas
HF frozen strawberries
vanilla

Sourdough muffins, again

Dinner
Tacos
ground venison with homemade taco seasoning
mixed greens
grated cheese
avocados
tomatoes
HF salsa
ww tortillas

No dessert :)

The Mysterious Package

2012-02-10T15:23:00.002-06:00

This afternoon Jonny and I were working in the shop. We are building a vacuum pump... but I'll write about that another day. Mindy had just left with Emily to go for tea at Cricket Meadow in Litchfield. She called me a couple minutes later very concerned. They had picked up the mail on the way out the driveway and there was a package. Thinking it was the long awaited herb class materials, she ripped into the box. This became quite a puzzle for her, because there was nothing in it but some "padding". No contents, nothing, nada, zip, zilch! She pulled over and threw that package out of the vehicle, suspecting something awful, and called me from her cell phone. This of course interrupted my pet project, but I decided it was worth the drive a mile down the road to see what exactly was going on.

Emily jumped out of the vehicle as I approached and said, "Dad, mom thinks you should call 911. It is from someplace called Funny Farm!". So I walked over picked up the box... sure enough, the address was "547 Fun E Farm Way". When I saw the contents though, I became quite disgusted but nonetheless amused. It was a chunk of "ceramic blanket" that I ordered earlier this week! (Ceramic blanket is a high temperature insulation that looks much like fiberglass insulation). For some of us, it looks like padding. :)

Needless to say Jonny and I had a good laugh all the way home.

Health Journal - Saturated Fats

2012-02-10T13:28:00.002-06:00

We have reduced the fat in our diets, yet heart disease continues to plague our nation. We are doing something wrong! Please consider the following information; your health could depend on it.

http://www.coconutoil.com/diet_disease.htm

After you have read that, consider what Coconut Oil can do for Alzheimer's disease.

http://healthimpactnews.com/2012/coconut-oil-and-alzheimer%e2%80%99s-disease-the-news-is-spreading/

Health Journal - Sunshine!

2012-02-07T14:18:00.002-06:00

If you are one of those people who struggles with reoccurring or chronic illness, you really need to consider your Vitamin D intake. Our overall health is greatly effected by Vitamin D, and many illnesses are now being link to its deficiency in the body.

Be sure to consider the source when taking this supplement. Vitamin D2 is a synthetic form (used for food fortification), which I would not take. Vitamin D3, which is consider the natural form, is found in foods such as egg yolks and liver and products like Cod Liver oil. This is also the form that is produced in the body as a result of sun exposure.

Unfortunately if you live above the 37th latitude, you will not be able to get enough sunlight during the winter months (November - March). In this case, you may want to consider supplementation. Honestly, I hate taking supplements! I would much rather get what I need from good food! Yet, I realize that is necessary sometimes. For my family, I will supplement with Vitamin D if I see a need for it (i.e. ongoing illness). Fortunately we are rarely sick.

The very VERY best thing you can do for your health (and Vitamin D levels) is make going outside a habit! It is such a simple way to improve your health, yet so many people overlook it! We have developed a cultural trend of living, working, and even playing indoors. This has contributed to a society that is very Vitamin D deficient! It is estimated that 85% of the American public are deficient! If you can expose yourself to the sun at least 3 times per week for 15 minutes, you can supply your body with an adequate amount of Vitamin D. By being outside in the winter months, you will be getting fresh air and most likely exercise, two more contributors to good health.

Another factor contributing to deficiencies is fear. Doctors have convinced people that they should be afraid of the sun. Therefore we either don't go outside or worse, we cover ourselves in sunscreen. Please do not put sunscreen on your children! Be a responsible parent and make sure your children do not burn, but let them get sun exposure. Just as we have a spiritual need for the Son, our bodies were also created with a physical need for the sun. Our family spends time outside almost every day of the year. In the spring, summer, and fall we spent LOTS of time outdoors, and it is rare for us to get sunburned. In the beginning of the summer, if a child looks a little pink, I make them wear a wide brimmed hat and have them avoid tank tops. Gradually we build up a tan, and then we are set for the rest of the summer. Our family never uses commercial sunscreen! A natural option for sunscreen is coconut oil, which we have used on occasion. The point is, you do not have to be afraid of the sun! You need it, so go outside and enjoy it! :)

Farmwife's Journal - February 6th

2012-02-06T14:12:00.000-06:00

Kiow (the goat buck) has now gone back to his own farm, and we are looking forward to kidding in April. It is nice not having a smelly buck around anymore. :)

It looks like our ice skating season may be over. In past years, the season usually ends abruptly, so we are used to that. Nevertheless, we are really missing our hockey games!

A hockey game with friends

Last week we had a new member join the farm! :) The chrysalis, that had been hanging in a jar in our school room since last fall, finally went through complete metamorphosis! :) We have named this beautiful Swallowtail butterfly Valerie. We have one more chrysalis in the jar. Hopefully that butterfly will emerge too. :)

Two years ago we had a butterfly hatch around the same time. We named her Valentine. She lived for a month, sipping oranges and fluttering around the bay window. When she died, we flattened her body and put her in a frame. Jonny keeps her displayed on his shelf in his room. :)

The day after Valerie hatched, I was sitting at the kitchen table talking with a friend and suddenly her eyes got big and she stopped talking. I wondered what was wrong. Then she exclaimed, "Is there a butterfly in your house?" :)

This week we will get the pork we ordered from some friends. The butcher shop was so backed up, we couldn't get our pig in until now. Anyway, we are looking forward to bacon and breakfast sausage again! Once I get the lard, I will render it and use it for frying...just like grandma did! :) Contrary to popular belief, saturated fats from good sources ARE good for you! But that is a subject for a Health Journal post! :)

2012-02-01T16:55:00.001-06:00

Here are some pictures Emily took of Captain. Isn't he gorgeous? He is 5 months old and 75 pounds of pure love! :)

Health Journal - Vitamin C

2012-01-31T07:59:00.002-06:00

If I could only have one supplement in my cupboard, it would be Vitamin C! It is such an important vitamin, especially when the body is under stress. Vitamin C is an antioxidant. It fights bacteria, viruses, and infections. If you are low in iron, Vitamin C will help you absorb it from your food. It is a natural antihistamine and is necessary for stimulating the immune system. Another great benefit of Vitamin C is that it combines with toxins (like heavy metals), so they can be eliminated from the body.

Our bodies cannot manufacture Vitamin C. Therefore, it is important that it is ingested often. Unfortunately, most of what we ingest will be gone from the body in 3-4 hours, especially in times of stress, when the body uses it up quickly. This explains why Vitamin C is often called a "stress vitamin". Since our bodies can only handle a certain amount at a time, and any extra is eliminated in the urine, it doesn't help to take large doses all at once. During stressful times, we need to take it often, throughout the day.

Since Vitamin C is essential in the formation of collagen, and it helps to prevent infection, I will supplement with it whenever there is a wound of any kind. It is good for the skin, ligaments, and bones. When we get a major cut or wound at our house, I immediately start supplementing with Vitamin C at every meal. I will do this until I can see that the wound is healing nicely and there is no redness or swelling (usually about a week). Vitamin C speeds up the healing process!

One thing that is really nice about this vitamin is that you will know if you are getting too much. You will get the runs! :) If that happens, just lower your dose and keep taking it. When my children had Whooping Cough, I gave them mega doses of Vitamin C for two weeks and not one of them had anything close to a loose stool. When our bodies need this vitamin, we can take a lot of it! Just a caution, if you are taking very large doses, you may need to increase your calcium, and you need to be careful that you don't get too much iron (since it helps you absorb iron better).

Some good sources of Vitamin C would be berries, citrus fruits, and green vegetables. Orange juice is a good source if it is freshly squeezed. Cooked and pasteurized foods are not good sources since Vitamin C is lost in the heating process. Another good source is fermented foods. The process of fermentation actually increases the Vitamin C content in foods like kefir and yogurt, You may remember hearing old stories of seamen dying of scurvy (a disease cause by a Vitamin C deficiency), until someone discovered that keeping crocks of sauerkraut (a fermented food) on board kept their crews from being decimated by this disease. Another source of Vitamin C used by seamen was sprouts.

Beware of pain medications (including aspirin), alcohol, oral contraceptives, and antidepressants. They all reduce the amount of Vitamin C in the body. Smoking causes serious depletion!

Needless to say, this is a supplement that I make sure I always have on hand. We get our daily doses from our foods, but during times of sickness or when we have injuries, we supplement with Vitamin C. This is definitely one for mama to keep in her "medicine chest". :)

Dan and Becky's Market

2012-01-29T20:43:00.001-06:00

This post is for all our local friends. I want to encourage people to shop at Dan and Becky's Market. I can remember when they first opened, I was so excited! Finally good food close by! Before we started shopping there, we used to drive all the way into the cities to Lakewinds Natural Foods.  Now there are other places near by that carry organic foods, but there is something special about Dan & Becky's Market!

First of all, they are godly people, who eat healthy food, and can therefore be trusted to purchase good food. They are the real deal! :) Not only that, but Dan totally watches out for his customers! There have been many times over the years when I've asked Dan, "Why don't you carry _____ anymore?" And his reply would be something like...."Well, I found out it's not good for you." How many grocery store owners do you know that are looking into their products to see if they are healthy for the consumer? We are so blessed to have this little market in our community!

Just a few days ago, while picking up some groceries, I noticed a product that Dan had, and I questioned him as to why he didn't buy that product from an organic grower instead.  He said he had met and talked to the people that he bought this product from, and after a conversation about how they grew their food, he felt comfortable buying from them.  As you know, it's not all about the label! We need to know where our food comes from! And at least at Dan & Becky's Market, if you don't know, they do! ....and you can trust them! Support their local business! :)

Dan & Becky's Market

Farmwife's Journal - January 27th

2012-01-27T19:12:00.000-06:00

Last weekend we were blessed to be able to buy meat for our dogs. A friend called one day asking what we do with our spent hens. After some thought, Mike decided we should buy them for the dogs. Can you imagine butchering 50 hens in January? Since there is plenty of will around here, we made a way! :)

Early Saturday morning Mike and the boys headed over to our friends farm to catch chickens. Once they returned home, us girls went outside to join the butchering fun :/ The boys were so excited to use the machetes that Mike got them while on a missions trip in Mexico. They chopped the heads while the rest of us skinned the birds in the garage. It was about 16 degrees outside, so there was no way to wash anything. Mike made sure the boys work was done in an area that could look "bloody" for awhile. (i.e. not the front yard!) The job took all morning.

We finished with just enough time to get cleaned up for a wedding that we were going to in the afternoon. By the time we got to the wedding, we looked and smelled so civilized, you would have never known we had spent all morning killing and skinning chickens! :)

Health Journal - MS

2012-01-23T18:48:00.001-06:00

My Dad found this video, and it is well worth your time to watch it! It is only about 17 minutes long. When this woman, a medical doctor, searched for answers as how she could slow down the disease that was destroying her body, she found more than what she was looking for! Progressing from a cane, to two canes, to a wheelchair, and then back to her feet again is unheard of with MS. Her story is amazing, yet is holds a very simple life lesson - our diet will determine much of our future!

Many times we are fooled into thinking that the older generations did just fine on bacon grease and cigarettes, so why should we do any differently. But we fail to realize that the food our grandparents grew up on, is not the food our kids are eating today! Back then sugar was sugar! It may have been processed, but I would take that over all the chemicals we call "sweeteners" today! Most of our food today is not REAL food, back then it was! Their meat wasn't infested with hormones, and their cows weren't eating GM corn as their main diet. They drank RAW milk and canned their own foods. They worked hard, got fresh air and sunshine, ate home-grown natural foods, and as a result could still smoke and live a long somewhat healthy life. Today we bombard our bodies with chemicals and wonder why every month we hear of someone else we know who has cancer.

While I found this video very inspiring, I don't totally agree with everything she said. First of all, I do not believe in evolution. There is far too much evidence of a Creator in the order and design of the human body, nature, and the universe. Secondly, there are MANY nutritious foods. While eating a limited diet for a period of time may be necessary to eliminate a disease, continuing a limited diet can potentially cause deficiencies in other nutrients which will then lead to a new disease. Balance is the key! Lastly, I am still hanging on to my grains and dairy! :) Many new diets recommend eliminating grain, but I am not yet totally convinced that that is wise. I think there are reasons why grains are causing intestinal problems for people (which I will explain in more detail in another post) , but I think we need to change the WAY we eat them, not eliminate them. The same goes for dairy products. It's not uncommon to read about how dairy is the cause of many health problems like eczema and allergies, but most articles don't mention the type of dairy causing the problems - PASTEURIZED! The processes of pasteurization and homogenization destroy many of the nutrients in milk and not only makes them indigestible, but toxic to the body! Raw milk is a completely different story! And I believe it is foundational to good health in children...and adults.

It is interesting that the doctor in the movie had to look beyond her own colleagues for answers. As I've said before, being your own doctor is not as hard as you think! It starts with choosing your foods wisely; good food is your best medicine! Then talk to your grandma or someone old and ask them how they prepared the foods they ate - research! There is a lot of wisdom in the traditions of our ancestors!

Here's the link to the video:

http://www.wimp.com/mindingmitochondria/

BTW, we have a family friend who worked closely with this woman while training in Iowa.

Chicks in January

2012-01-20T12:44:00.001-06:00

Yesterday our yearly order of future laying hens (day old chicks) arrived. Per the norm, we received a call at 6:45 am from the Post Office letting us know that our chicks were there. For those that thinks this sounds odd, I should explain further.

We order all our chicks from Hoovers Hatchery in Iowa. The chicks are hatched and packed into little cardboard boxes for shipping. The chicks going to Minnesota are actually driven up to the main post office hub in Minneapolis. From there they are sent out via the normal mail trucks and arrive the next morning at the local post office, only one day old. How do they survive a whole day without food and water you ask? Right before a chick hatches it inhales into its abdomen the remaining egg yolk (its food source for the 21 days of incubation). This gives it enough food to go for a couple of days. What an amazing design!

When I ordered our chicks I unfortunately could not order the weather at the same time. So yesterday I got up early and went out to get their little brooding area preheated up from -11 to 98 degrees so it would be ready when the post office called. They are all very happy and running about the pen being a bit peckish.

So why chicks in January? Well, it takes about five months for laying variety chick to reach maturity and start laying eggs. This means that they will start laying in June, about the time Friday on the Farm starts to ramp up.

See ya in June for Friday on the Farm!

Farmwife's Journal - January 16th

2012-01-16T20:54:00.000-06:00

We continue to spend many evenings playing hockey. Last week we only played three times, partly due to the weather and also because I had a sore foot. I stopped a puck from going into my goal with my skate, which wasn't so favorable for my foot! My foot was really sore that night, and the next morning I had it x-rayed just to make sure it wasn't broken. My foot turned out to be fine. After babying it for a couple days, it healed up quickly.

Many nights Mike and I wonder if we are too old to play hockey so hard and so often. Even though we have played together as a family for a few years, our kids (and their friends) just keep growing and getting harder and harder to play against. :) Some nights we lie on the living room floor together moaning. :) Thankful for our 303's (see my last post), we are determined to continue playing with our children. When I hurt my foot, my children were horrified by the thought that my hockey season may be over. They really enjoy the family time together, as do Mike and I, and we all love having friends over to join in the fun.

Not much is new on the farm. Kiow (buck goat) is still here. We are hoping that Claire will come back into heat again, so we can get her bred. It would be easiest to just put the buck in with all the does, but then they will all be due around the same time, which means that they will all be drying up at the same time. Since our family doesn't really want to be without milk, we are trying to stagger our breeding. Nature doesn't always cooperate with that program....still we are trying. :)

The puppies are doing well! We have almost exhausted the meat we saved for them from our fall butchering, so now it's time to find other sources. Knowing that raw meat is the healthiest and most natural thing for a dog to eat, we will continue to feed our dogs this way. We do supplement with dog food when needed and for treats. Jackson, our 8 year old Pyrenees, ate dog food as a puppy because we didn't know any better at the time, but it has been many years since we have bought a bag of dog food for him. We just feed him meat from the farm and table scraps (which are usually from the farm). As many of you have seen, he is a very big, strong, healthy dog. :)

A number of years ago (4?), Mike accidentally ran over Jackson with our skid loader. It was horrible! We thought for sure we would have to put him down. Amazingly Jackson recovered! When you look at him now, you can hardly see the effects of that accident. I really believe that his diet is a testimony to his lack of joint problems and overall good health. If a good diet works for us, it works for them too! :) What you feed your animals does make a huge difference in their quality of life and longevity!

Health Journal - Pain Relief

2012-01-15T20:30:00.001-06:00

While we are on the subject of pain, I thought I would mention a product that our family uses for body aches (you may not always have time to sit around drinking clove tea). Since most pain relievers are so bad for the liver, it's hard to know what to take when you are hurting. Our family has used Formula 303 for years, and it works great. We get it from our Chiropractor, but you could find it using Google and order it online.

Formula 303's Ingredients:
Valerian Root (Valeriana officinalis) - used for centuries to calm upset nerves and for treating mood problems, pain and headache. Today homeopaths and herbalists use Valerian root for its antispasmodic, calmative, tranquilizing, carminative (good for upset stomach and digestion) and pain relieving effects. (approximately 264 mg)

Passion Flower (Passiflora incarnata) - discovered in 1569 it is primarily used as a sedative or nervine to combat excess nervousness and anxiety, to tranquilize, and to promote sleep; as an anodyne, anti-spasmodic and anti-convulsant to treat dysmenorrhea, muscle cramps, and so forth. (approximately 132 mg)

Magnesium - is one of the most important essential minerals to promote proper nerve function. It is a key element in the stabilization of nerve cells, without which, the nerves would be in a constant state of excitation (a state known as tetany.) (approximately 65 mg)

Health Journal - Cramps

2012-01-11T20:54:00.000-06:00

In my last "Health Journal" post, I mention that I had another use for cloves. If you are one of those women who suffers through cramps every month, we have a remedy for you to try. Here it is:

Add a heaping tablespoon of cloves and two cups of water to a pot. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Then strain and add a good amount of honey and cream...if you like. Drink this clove tea while it is hot. See if that helps...seems to work around here. :) Actually, this tea is good for any pain in the body. Try it!

Farmwife's Journal - January 6th

2012-01-05T22:10:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Jonny dug some more carrots from the sand bin in the root cellar. Mmmm! For as many years as we have been doing this, you would think that the satisfaction, joy and amazement of storing our own foods would wear off, but it hasn't! :) The carrot were bright orange, sweet and crunchy!

We continue, as much as possible considering the weather, to play hockey in the evenings. On Wednesday the ice was like glass. Mike had flooded it two day prior to that, and it took that long to freeze due to the warm weather. Thanks to a heated game of hockey Wednesday night, I woke up yesterday feeling very stiff. I think that a collision with a teenage boy may have been the problem, but getting lots of exercise and spending time with friends makes it all worth it! :) We are planning another game for tonight! :)

Jonny started mandolin lessons yesterday. That was exciting! For his birthday, in October, we got him a new mandolin, and he has been practicing with a DVD since them, but now he will receive better instruction which he is very happy about. Winter is the time of year when we focus on music lessons, since there isn't much time for that during growing season. Emily plays the piano (beautifully, I might add), the guitar, and is learning the banjo. Ben and Jonny also play the piano. Last Christmas we got Ben a harmonica, and he immediately started playing songs! He also has a DVD that he watches for instruction on the harmonica. Both boys would like to learn to play the banjo too. And Mike and I....well...we listen! :) Neither of us have any musical talent (although Mike has a beautiful voice), but we thoroughly enjoy sitting around and listening to our children play. :) I can't think of a better way to spend a cold snowy winter night....is it winter yet?

Boy, this weather makes me kinda nervous. :) In Minnesota we are rarely rewarded with beautiful weather for very long. It makes me wonder what spring will be like. We are hoping for some precipitation!

You have probably noticed that Mike and I have been working on the blog. Since it's January, the planning has begun! Our 2012 season will bring some changes, but we are planning some fun activities that I am sure you will be excited about. Keep watching the blog for updates. We will also be sending out emails to notify you of our upcoming classes.....so excited! :)

Who chooses what you eat?

2012-01-05T19:32:00.000-06:00

This is Mike... I haven't posted for a long time, but I'm going to try to get back at it again. I may ruffle more feathers than my sweet wife... but here we go. :-)

I was listening to the radio this evening while waiting on the aforementioned sweet wife to finish shopping at the mall. The news person was doing a special report on breakfast cereals. He was lamenting about how much sugar (and probably high fructose corn syrup) is found in the common breakfast cereal. It was stated that over 40 of the products on the shelf have more sugar in one cup of cereal than three Chips-a-hoy cookies. Wow. One product mentioned, Honey O's or something like that, has more sugar in one cup of cereal than a Hostess Twinkie! Now that is gross.

This is a legitimate concern and frankly quite a disgraceful performance by the major food companies of America. However, the unspoken tragedy is that people are buying these products and eating them without thought or care for what it does to their health.

This news person then went on a tirade about needing the federal government to intervene in this situation. He lamented how the current regulations "have no teeth" to enforce the rules against marketing sugary products to kids. The fact that three times more children are obese today than just one generation ago was declared to be a travesty of justice!

Do you ever talk back to your radio or TV? I do sometimes. I wanted to say, and probably did, WHERE ARE THE PARENTS? I don't know about you, but I have no interest in the the federal or state government regulating the food industry any more than they already do. They are already doing a lousy job (in my humble opinion, more on that in the next post), so what makes us think it will get better with more rules? The lobbyists for "big food" are firmly in control of these agencies, the new rules simply harm the small local producers and keep their more wholesome products out of the hands of the consumer. Rules that often make it illegal or at least difficult to procure "real food".

So in summary, it is your choice. Big brother is incapable of doing this for you. YOU must choose your food carefully.

Health Journal - January 4th (toothaches)

2012-01-03T20:03:00.000-06:00

One night, in the wee hours of the morning, Ben woke me up with a toothache. He had a tooth that was loose, but it would not come out. He had been wiggling it and pushing on it earlier in the week, but to no avail. Now the gum surrounding the tooth was very red and swollen. The pain was keeping him awake, so he figured it was time to call on mom. :)

As I walked to the kitchen, cloves came to mind. Consulting with my herb books confirmed my plan. I grabbed my mortar and pestle and my container of cloves. After crushing some clove buds, I put them in an empty tea bag. I wet this down with a few drops of water and added ONE drop of Clove Bud Essential Oil. Placing the tea bag between his sore tooth and lip, Ben curled up on the couch hoping for relief. I decided to join him, and we slept together for a few more hours until it was time to get up.

When Ben woke up, he discovered that the tooth felt much better. I gave him ONE more drop of the E.O., this time on his finger, and he rubbed it on the gum. There were no more complaints. At breakfast, lunch, and dinner I gave him some Vitamin C and garlic to help with the swelling and possible infection. That afternoon the tooth came out and by the next day the gum had returned to normal.

Clove oil is anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, analgesic (pain-relieving), and antifungal. Because it is so potent, you should use it with caution for children under six years old.

Em and I have another great use for cloves....more about that in my next post! :)

Omamacare! :)

2012-01-02T19:50:00.001-06:00

Due to a lack of focus on nutrition by health care providers (and an emphasis on medication with side effects) and for reasons of self-sufficiency, we have tried to take charge of our own health by eating healthy home-grown foods and learning to care for our bodies.

I want to encourage moms to take care of their children's ailments. There are times that it is necessary to see a doctor, but most sicknesses and injuries can be taken care of at home. You know your child better than anyone else, and your love for them will motivate you to seek the best treatments for them.

It is not as hard as you think to be your own doctor! With every answer at your fingertips - the Internet, you can learn to handle almost all health problems at home, without medicine (pharmaceuticals). I hope, by doing some blog posts on natural remedies, to inspire you to take care of yourself and your family at home. With some knowledge of herbs and other natural remedies, you will quickly become confident in your own abilities! :)

Some of us have just gotten lazy. It seems easier to just go to the doctor, but the problem with going to the doctor is that you will likely come home with a prescription drug which will, in the long run, only compound the problems that you are dealing with.

My children with Whooping Cough, waiting for their "medicine". August, 2004

Mama, you can learn to care for your family! :) You don't need to depend on the government to take care of you! I will post some practical tips for you in what I will call, "Health Journals". In these posts, I will share with you the natural remedies that our family uses. In a notebook, I have documented our families injuries, sicknesses, and other health problems and what I did to treat them. I'll use this journal to help give you ideas of how you can treat your family too. (I've made sure my children know where my journal is, so that it can get passed on to future generations when I croak. :))

Omamacare...best care there is!!! :)

More Twins?

2012-01-02T07:23:00.000-06:00

Have you noticed lately that there seems to be an increase in the number of twins born? It seems much more common today than it did years ago. Well, there have been studies done that give us some answers as to why we hear about more and more women becoming pregnant with twins.

Many dairy cows are injected with hormones to increase their milk supply. In 1950, the average dairy cow produced almost 5,300 pounds of milk a year, today, a typical cow produces more than 18,000 pounds.  Not only does the hormone increase their milk supply, it also increases the occurrence of mastitis. Therefore the cows need to be given more antibiotics - yeah!

The hormone rBGH that is injected into dairy cows is causing much concern due to its link to breast cancer, prostate cancer, and other hormonal problems. Scientists have also linked the rise in twin births over the past 30 years to hormones in our food supply.

We cannot continue to manipulate nature through the abuse of chemicals and expect to be blessed by it!  As animals are pushed beyond their God given limits due to selfishness, we will continue to suffer for it. We need to make some changes!

Now...I think having twins would be a blessing! :) But I will pass on the hormone and antibiotic infested milk!  Make wise choices for you and your family! Know where your food comes from, and buy foods that you are not afraid to eat. :)

Goat Romance ;)

2011-12-31T10:16:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year when we start arranging marriages for the goats. ;) Belle was the first one to be bred, and Milly is bred now also (at least, we're hoping they are bred!) We rented a buck from a goat farm. His name is Kiow (kee-o). He's actually a pretty cute little guy, from Grand Champion blood lines, too! =)
Some photos of the happy couple...

KIOW

BELLE

Farmwife's Journal - December 29th

2011-12-29T20:28:00.000-06:00

The warm days have created some ice rink challenges, but the good news is there isn't any snow to shovel and when the ice is solid the weather is great for skating. And have been doing a lot of ice skating - family hockey! It's good exercise and a fun time with other families. Mostly fun...this past week, we had two adults get hurt (on different nights). :( The ice just get harder as you get older. :)

The puppies are doing great! Cute as ever! Princess just started barking at night, like Jackson does, showing that she is feeling the need to defend the place. :) Guess she is growing up. :(

I wasn't planning on taking this week off of school, but the weather has been so nice, and well...the kids talked me into it. :) Ben and Jonny got model ships for Christmas, so they have been very consumed with those this week. And Mike and I are trying to get our plans for next year in place. We have some new ideas for the market, and we are getting more excited for the coming season, which is a good thing! Every fall I convince myself that I don't want to do the market anymore. I just get so burned out. But the time off in the winter revives me! :) We are considering changing our hours though and not having such a long season. But we will let you know more about that later. :) Pray for us as we make decisions on how we can best serve you.

Happy New Year from the Farm! :)

Christmas Music

2011-12-16T05:21:00.000-06:00

Here are a couple pictures of my kids and their friends, the Mahlstedts, playing Christmas music for the residents of Dassel Lakeside Home.

Getting the Tree

2011-12-08T14:50:00.000-06:00

On Sunday afternoon, after church, we bundled up and headed over to Turks Trees to cut down our Christmas tree. This year a miracle happened! The first tree we examined was the one we cut down! :) Usually we search and search...and search for the perfect tree, which for our house means tall and thin!

Jonny cutting down the tree

Putting the lights on the tree

Decorating the tree

Eggnog

One of our traditions is to make Eggnog and sip it while we decorate the tree. Here is our recipe...Enjoy! :)

To our blender we add:

1 cup yogurt

1/4 cup maple syrup (We use boxelder syrup! :))

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. nutmeg

4 egg yolks

dollop of cream

and then fill the rest of the blender with milk! Yum! :)

The Puppies Are Getting Big!

2011-12-07T08:17:00.000-06:00

Pretty Princess

Calm Captain

Farmwife's Journal - December 4th

2011-12-03T20:58:00.000-06:00

AHHHHH....I feel all settled into life again. It's a good feeling! We had a week of "nothing major" going on and it was wonderful.

Today we decorated the house for Christmas. Now it's all warm and cozy in here with the glow of Christmas lights....and it's snowing as I write - perfect! :)

Other than decorating, it was just an ordinary work day on the farm. Mike and the boys wormed the puppies and the sheep, trimmed goat hooves, cut down the asparagus, and put lights up by the pond for skating time. Then they boiled deer heads...sound like fun? After dinner they took them to the car wash and cleaned them....cool guy stuff! ??? :)

Emily and I went for a walk this afternoon and on our way she checked in on her bunny and sure enough, Bella was in labor! By the time we got back, she had three bunnies. Emily is beyond excited...as you can imagine. :)

Before dinner, Em and I brushed all three dogs. Now that is a chore! Jackson is a pleasure to brush. He loves it! Captain is also fun to brush, but he is such a fluff ball, it takes forever to get through him. Then there is Princess. I love her, but she is such a pain sometimes. If she would stop biting at the brush, you might be able to get her looking nice. Often it takes two (some days three) of us to brush her - one or two holding and the other brushing. She has so much energy. Usually we run her around and get her all worn out before we brush her hoping that we can tire her out enough to get her to sit still, but it doesn't help. :)

We just laugh at how different Captain and Princess are. My friend, who is a breeder, says it's the difference between boy and girl dogs. Both of their pens are out the back door, on either side of the patio, so we can peek at them any time during the day. Princess is usually running around with her sheep hide in her mouth, swinging her head back and forth as if she is killing it. Or she is digging a hole, running around her dog pen doing lap after lap, or barking at Jackson. Captain is usually just sitting there watching her. :)

When we bought the dogs, we were told that the naughty ones are easier to train. We have found that to be true! Princess has been so easy to train, but Captain, well, he usually could care less. ;) But he is coming along!

After I finished brushing Princess today, I was putting her in her pen, and when I unhooked her collar she bolted for the gate. I went running after her. She ran between the house and Captain's pen and then around the corner of his pen. Running as fast as I could, I bent to grab on to her and she stopped and rolled over, thinking we were playing some fun game. At that point, I went sailing over her and rolled over onto the HARD ground. My first thought was, "I am so glad we do not have neighbors!". My second thought was, "Oh, my back!" Then when I got up and called Princess, she happily came to me, like nothing had happened. As I put her in her pen, I mumbled under my breath something about not getting anymore female puppies! :{

Housman Farms Goes on Vacation!

2011-12-01T15:02:00.000-06:00

Yeah! A vacation!!! Thanks so much to our friends, the Mahlstedt family, for taking care of our farm while we were gone. We are considering hiring them. :) We think they take better care of our farm than we do! :)

Here are some picture of our time together up at Breezy Point. We had a blast! It wasn't what most people would consider a vacation because we are not very good at sitting around and relaxing. We played soccer every day at the gym, went swimming all but one day, played hockey at the local arena one day for two hours, and did some hiking. Emily and I spent most of Black Friday shopping, which was anything but relaxing. :) I felt like I was able to get more exercise on vacation for a week, than I did all year. :) Yes, we are an odd group! :)

The pictures.....

Rest stop on our way to Breezy Point

Daily swim at 9am!

Playin' hockey

Fancy dinner at Antlers in Breezy Point

Ben and Jonny at the top of the fire tower in Pequot Lakes-yikes!

Coffee before shopping in Nisswa on Black Friday

Horse-drawn wagon rides

Awesome fireworks in Nisswa on Black Friday!

Farmwife's Journal - November 27th

2011-11-27T20:16:00.000-06:00

I'm back! In case you didn't notice, I took a much needed break from blogging because life was getting a little too full. :/ Fall is always busy on the farm. Then when you add home school, puppies, and deer hunting you start to realize that something needs go - blogging! :) Now that fall harvest and deer season are behind me, and our family has had a much needed vacation, I am feeling like I can handle blogging again. :)

Three Fridays ago, we butchered the last of our turkeys and some of our laying hens. Saturday morning we cleaned and organized the market building. It's all ready for winter and maple syruping in the spring. When I had gotten the last of the stuff out of the building, I grabbed the door to shut it and it closed with a loud creak and slam as the handle latched. The sound played over again in my mind. I stood there looking at the door and thought, "That's it, we are done until spring!" :) The Farmer's Market is a blessing, don't get me wrong! But every year, by the end of October, I am more than ready to be done. Next year we will probably change our hours and not go through October....more about that later!

We were blessed this hunting season to bag four deer! Only one hunter in our family didn't get a deer and that was me! :( We did not see a lot of deer this year, so I just didn't have the opportunity, plus I was mostly hunting with Jonny and since it is his first year, he got the first shot. :) Season opened on Saturday, November 4th, and Emily got our first deer on Tuesday. We spent the rest of the week hunting morning and night and never had the opportunity to shoot any deer, which is very unsual around here. As we walked out on Sunday morning, the last day of season, I was muttering to myself, "This is so ridiculous...we should have just bought some beef!" It was a long week! But the children really enjoyed it. ;) So there we sat Sunday morning waiting and waiting.... Then a deer came by the stand, and Jonny shot it! It was a spike buck. He was SO excited! It was so much fun to be there with him and see him shoot his first deer. Mike and Ben were together in one of our other stands. About twenty minutes later, Mike shot his deer, and again about twenty minutes went by and then Ben shot his deer. He got a beautiful eight-point buck! It was so exciting! Then they all wanted to get off stand and look at all the deer. I was thinking..."Hey, let's just wait twenty more minutes, so I can shoot my deer!" But I didn't say anything. :) They spent the rest of the morning gutting deer and hanging them in the garage. :) It was a great day! What a blessing! :) Here are some pictures...

Jonny first deer - a spike buck

Ben'sbeautiful eight-point buck

Many of you have met the newest additions to our farm...Pyrenees puppies! Jackson, our guard dog, is also a Pyrenee. We have enjoyed him so much that we have decided to start raising this breed. Captain and Princess have been a blast since the day we got them....a lot of work too! :) I forgot what it is like to have a puppy around! ...just like having small children again. We are training, training, trianing! :) They are growing too fast! Here are some pictures:

Ben and Captain

Princess

Farmwife's Journal - October 23nd

2011-10-23T20:55:00.000-05:00

Yesterday (Saturday) we butchered the rest of the chickens. These will go in our freezer. ;) Several families came over to butcher their birds and join in the fun! :) By about 1pm all the butchering was done, and everyone took their harvest home to store for the winter. :) After we had bagged up our chickens and tucked them into the freezer, we headed out to the ridge to clear brush and prepare for deer season. Because of all the standing water we had this summer, we had not groomed our trails at all this year. There was a lot of branches to pick up and tall grass to mow down.

While I was out there, I took the opportunity to pick burdock leaves, another thing I like to do in the fall. Spring would be better time to pick them, but I usually can't get to my burdock, due to water, until the slough dries up in the fall. I pick the leaves from the first year plants (ones without the burrs). Burdock can be eaten like salad, but we don't eat it. We have plenty of greens still growing in the garden. I stock burdock in case I will need it for wounds. It makes a great band aid! :) The nutrients in the leaves (which are more abundant in the spring) help to feed the wound, and the best part is that the leaves do not stick to the wound. If a person has a really large wound, it can be hard to cover with band aids or even gauze. Then when is comes time to change the bandage, it can get really painful because everything is stuck to the wound. That's when the leaves become a real blessing!

I hang the leaves in my garden shed from a clothes line and let them dry. When/if I need them, I just put them in hot water to soften them up and then they are ready to use.

Last fall Jonny sanded off part of his finger. It was a really bad wound. We used the burdock leaves on it and they worked great! He had very little pain, a sign of a wound that is bandaged well.

On the farm, you always have to be prepared for injuries! :( Just this weekend, Mike pierced (almost through!)his pinky finger with the edge of a cattle panel. I am not totally sure how it happened, but he and a friend were transporting the panels and one slid into Mike's hand. The point of the panel went right through the finger nail. He has a nice hole! I told him he should start a new fashion...finger nail piercing! :) One of the panels also poked through a finger on is other hand. At first, I thought I would need my burdock leaves, but we have just used band aids for this wound. Needless to say, I always need to be prepared! :)

Farmwife's Journal - October 18th

2011-10-18T21:14:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I was able to spend some time in my herb garden. There were still a few herbs that I had wanted to get harvested before winter sets in. I cut more parsley to keep in the refrigerator, for us and the animals. Parsley is good in anything and super good for you! My thyme was looking beautiful, so I cut some of that too. I just put it in bowls (3 large ones) and let it air dry like that. Then I'll crush it and bag it up to use over the winter. Collecting mullein leaves is something I do every fall. Mullein is great for any lung ailments. I like to have it on hand, just in case. I put those leaves and some comfrey leaves on screens in my garden shed to dry. Comfrey is a wonderful skin herb. Last year I used a ton of it when Jonny got his finger caught in the belt sander. There was one other herb I harvested yesterday and that was sage. It's the second time this year I have harvested a large quantity of it. I already have a bunch of it hanging in my kitchen. When I make soup, I just clip a few leaves and crush them into my soup. But this time I was harvesting it for the goats. They love sage! We are also getting ready to breed them and sage (along with raspberry leaf) will help the moms have healthy babies and easy deliveries. Sage also increases their milk supply.
Other than picking more parsley (it will still be there even with snow on the ground), I probably won't do much more with my herb garden this year. Not that there isn't more I could do, but I've had my fill for this year. :)

Farmwife's Journal - October 16th

2011-10-16T21:37:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday was spent preparing for our Friday farmer's market (in the afternoon) and butchering 100 chickens (in the morning). Everything HAD to be done by Thursday evening because butchering was starting at 6:30am!

I got up at 5am on Friday morning. Wanting everyone to have a hearty breakfast in their bellies before we started butchering, I ground some flour and made homemade waffles for everyone. Then I made a big pot of Italian Vegetable soup, knowing I would not have any time in my day to make lunch. Thankfully I had a loaf of herb bread in the freezer. This meal would serve as lunch and dinner.

Under lights, we started butchering on time. It was about 45 degrees. Gutting is not so bad on cold days because the chickens are warm and they keep your hands warm. Inspecting, the job Em and I do, was not super pleasant. :) The well water was cold, but the air was even colder. When our fingers were too numb to pull out pin feathers, we would stand over the wood stove in the market building and thawed them out. I kept thinking about a CD we had listened to earlier in the week called The Endurance. It's the story of Shackleton and his men getting stranded in the Antarctic. The trials they went through were unimaginable, and they made my apparent sufferings seem so foolish. Trying to keep my perspective, I was determined not to utter a complaint, but still a few managed to sneak out. :(

I try (and fail regularly) to be an example to my kids in this area, especially my boys. The last thing I want to do is raise wimpy boys! Thankfully my husband is a great example to them! It is pathetic to see a grown man who doesn't like to work and who won't just suck it up and do whatever needs to get done! When my children say, "I don't feel like doing such and such." I always say, "It's good to do things you don't feel like doing!" It makes us disciplined and helps us to grow in character. So obviously, I am still growing in this area! :)

We were done with the butchering by 10am. Then we hustled to clean up our mess and clean up ourselves. At noon we opened up the market and the day was a whirlwind. :) We were blessed with lots of customers! The day was filled with conversations with friends who we get to see weekly and those who drive out once or twice a year to pick up poultry. Visiting with friends it the best part of the day! :)

When I got up Saturday morning my whole body ached (see I am still complaining!). :) You would think that I would be used to busy Fridays by now, but not so! Friday morning was so cold and Saturday morning was even colder. Today we had another 124 chickens to butcher. Customers came from 2-4pm to pick up their birds. Once the market was over and everything cleaned up, we showered, ate, and crashed! :)

Honestly, there are some times when we wonder why in the world we are doing this! It's a lot of work! But then when we get letters or emails like the one below, we are encouraged.

I just wanted to thank you again for your hard work and care in providing us organic produce and free range chickens. Thank you feels so inadequate for the hours of love and labor you put in for all of us to benefit from. Yes, I know we pay you, but still I wanted you to know how appreciative we are of your sacrifices. Please share this with your children. I praised God with Emily for the business you had today! May it help supply for your needs. I pray after a very hard day emotionally and physically that you feel blessed and encouraged in doing good for God’s children!

:)

THE CHASE - by emily

2011-10-04T20:35:00.000-05:00

It was just an ordinary afternoon on the farm.  Mom, Ben, Jonny, and I (Emily) were all in the garden digging, washing, and crating up carrots to store away for the winter. I was standing by the sink as mom was washing some carrots and she thought she saw a ladybug on my neck (eeeeek!) and told me to look the other way. I turned my head, and to my unsuspecting surprise found myself looking straight at a great big grayish/brown rabbit! He was hopping along the fence, looking for a way to get out. I started hollering to my accomplices, "EVERYONE! QUICK! A RABBIT! I'M NOOOOOT KIDDING! RUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!!!" I excitedly raced to the end of a row, grabbed up some wooden stakes used for marking rows, and raced towards Peter Rabbit, the boys on my heels.  Peter then realized his most dangerous situation and began frantically attempting to go through the fence. It didn't work. The screaming, wooden-stake armed ruffians were dangerously close to him. We chased him up and down the fence. At times I was only about a foot away from him but never had time to strike...
finally we got him cornered, and Ben, who was the closest, gathered up all of his almost-12-year-old might and swung with a tremendous whack, hitting squarely on the ground next to the so-far-fortunate Peter. Oooops! Realizing the gravity of the situation all the more as the stick whacked beside him, the bunny dogged through us all and raced towards poor unsuspecting mom, who was watching discreetly from a distance, while cheering us on. It really looked like he was trying to attack her as she jumped back, screaming. He then decided to try out his luck in the asparagus patch and raced into the thick plants. We were surrounding the patch when I looked and saw he had already gone through it and was bounding across the garden in great leaps. "RUNNN! HE'S GOING TOWARDS THE PLAYHOUSE!" We raced furiously after him. But before we caught up with the garden robber, he had dodged UNDER the PLAYHOUSE! By this time, Dad had come hurrying up with a gun, wondering why we were all screaming bloody murder. He commented later, "I thought it was something at least more dangerous than a rabbit!" So... back to the action... my bright homeschooled mind immediately came up with a solution. The boys guarded our prisoner while I raced up to the house, grabbed Lady & Charlie, our trusty cats, by the scruff of the neck, and with one in each hand, raced back to the scene of action. I set them down by the playhouse, hoping they would catch on. Charlie, not understanding what this mad ruckus was all about, raced away like he was being chased by a bunch of country ruffians. Lady, however, was the smarter (or maybe hungrier?) of the pair. Her tail was switching back and forth and her ears were pricked up as she peered under the playhouse. Then, she wiggled under and all was silent. We waited, the air tense. Then suddenly "SQUEEEAK!" Then a little later there was some scratching, and again all was quiet.
It was probably a good 20 minutes before my wonderful cat, Lady, crawled out from under the playhouse. How did we know she really caught the rabbit? Well, being the wonderfully smart detective that I am, I picked her up and looked at her paws. Uh hu. Yup, just as I thought. Although I'm sure she washed her hands well after her meal, there was still some fresh blood in between the pads of her paws, and .... some very incriminating evidence... grayish/brown bunny fur! Yeah! Good job Lady! I immediately took that fur and put it in an envelope and wrote the story and date on the envelope. The reason for that? Next time one of my unnamed male relatives accuses lady of being a good for nothing, lazy cat, I have my evidence to prove otherwise! :)
So in conclusion, it was a wonderful day! I just LOOOVE living on a farm in the country!  I love the unexpected, exciting, crazy fun things that happen that put a twist into a "boring" (not that digging carrots is really that boring... it's just not overly exciting) day! Like bunnies showing up in the garden!  It was definitely a wonderful end to an otherwise ordinary day.

THE END.

    :)

Oh... and I might want to mention... some of the Great Huntress Lady's kittens will be for sale in about a week! $20.00 a piece and worth every cent! =] Will be great hunters,just like their mother! Not to mention they are absolutely adorable and the sweetest things ever!!! :)

Organic food - full of good nutrition! :}

2011-09-28T20:12:00.002-05:00

This morning I put homemade granola on the table for breakfast. Since our raspberries are still producing, I also put a beautiful bowl of them on the table to eat with our granola. Whenever Emily eats raspberries, she inspects each one for bugs. This morning was no exception. Mike chuckled while he watched her carefully scan each berry as she dropped them into her bowl. Everyone else just piled them on and chowed down. :)

After breakfast, we were sitting around the table reading and suddenly Emily screamed! She happened to look at the bowl, which still had some raspberries in it, and to her horror, saw a bug crawling inside a raspberry. "See...I told you guys they have bugs!" We all just laughed. I said, "Emily, think of the added protein and nutrition!" Everyone else chimed in, "Yaaaaa". Then just to make my point, I pluck the offensive berry out of the bowl and proudly popped it into my mouth. :) Emily, with eyes like saucers, let out a scream followed by a questioning laugh. :) It was a great joke! ... if I do say so myself! :)

Yes, organic foods do sometimes have bugs...it's a fact! But what you have to ask yourself is, "What is more harmful...a bug or chemicals? We can't see the chemicals, so we like to just convince ourselves that they are not there. The bugs we can see, unless of course we eat without looking! :) Don't you wonder how many bugs our family ate for breakfast this morning? With crunchy granola, who would know? I guess I would rather feed my family bugs. :) Really, if the bugs think the food is worth eating, it must be good stuff! Believe it or not, there are animals that turn their noses up to some of the foods people readily eat. They are smarter than we are; they know that it really isn't food at all. :)

So next Friday, stop by to pick up some organic produce! :) When you get home, throw away your vitamins and just enjoy some healthy food knowing you are getting the best nutrition nature can supply! :)

OK....soooo the truth is....I didn't actually swallow the raspberry with the bug in it, but in retrospect I really wish I had had the guts to do it! :) Maybe next time! :)

The Mad Rush to Beat the Freeze

2011-09-15T20:34:00.006-05:00

Tuesday afternoon we started getting emails from "My-Cast" weather service warning of a FREEZE overnight Wednesday through Thursday morning. Not just a frost, but a freeze. Ug! As low at 25 degrees was the prediction.

We are pretty used to dealing with the frost that usually starts sometime in September for us, but a hard freeze takes things to a different level. We did some double checking and decided that we should pick the apples - depending on the variety, 25 degrees is just too cold. All the other usual victims of frost like peppers, tomatoes, basil, etc. needed to be dealt with too.

Things started kind of slow in the morning as I sorted out onions and garlic that were crated up in the garage so I could free up those crates for potatoes and apples. We picked pumpkins, peppers, a few more cukes, some beans, and lots of lettuce. Then Mindy found out that a freeze this hard could actually damage the potatoes, so we started digging those too. That is when we decided to call in the reinforcements. Our good neighbors the Hendricksons. Barb and the kids came over and helped finish up the potatoes and then we started in on the apples.

Wow, did we have apples. The harvest was so much bigger and better than I expected. We filled up crate after crate with apples. Soon I was dragging out boxes and plastic bins from the garage. And THOSE were filling up. I called my sister and told her to bring boxes. We were still picking apples until at least 7pm best I can recall... it is a just a blur to me now. We didn't weigh anything this year, but based on past experience of what the various containers hold I'm sure we have well over 1000 pounds of apples!

Now we just needed to cover what we could with frost blankets and tarps. We were able to cover most of the lettuce, some peppers, and some beans. The rest we just chose to let it die. Oh well.
After some photo ops with the apples and potatoes we hauled them into the garage and root cellar, out of reach of Jack Frost. We went in the house with our family and friends and had homemade chicken vegatable soup. Then we headed over to the Hendrickson's house around 9pm to help THEM get ready for the freeze. We cut and hauled all the squash into the garage, covered peppers, tomatoes, etc.

We got home some time after 10pm and fell into bed exhausted. The end.

Spud and his potatoesApple picking crew

Just Eat Organic!

2011-09-14T09:45:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCA6P9lsEfw

Farmwife's Journal - September 13th

2011-09-13T21:22:00.000-05:00

When I got the forecast this morning I found out that we are under a FREEZE warning for Wednesday night through Thursday morning. I had been looking forward to some FROST, but I am not prepared for a freeze! :{

The kids had an etiquette class this morning. It was their second class, they will have two more. Their teacher drives out from the cities. They love the class! There are 11 students total, and the class is held in our market building. I'll write more about that later.

After class, we had lunch and then headed outside to try to prepare for the freeze that's coming. We may end up picking some apples, so I cleaned and organized the root cellar. That was a job! It took me about two hours! Mike and Jonny pulled the onions. Then when Mike was off getting poultry feed, Jonny and I picked peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, beans, kale and spinach leaves, sage, and some apples. Can you guess what Ben was doing? Yep, digging potatoes!! :}

While we were working outside, Emily was busy with her first official babysitting job. She watched a two-year-old little boy, named Gabe. She had a blast! We met his family through our Farmer's Market. She is hoping she will get to watch him again! :)

Well, I just finished cutting up the spinach and kale leaves, they are in the dehydrator out on the porch. Most everything else is out there too...I am trying to keep it cold until tomorrow. I have tomato sauce cooking on the stove. I need to google for a pizza sauce recipe. Em and I think the recipe that we used last year needs improving. I also have a bowl of elderberries in a stainer on my counter. Once I squeeze the rest of the juice out, I will put it in refrigerator until I get around to making my medicinal syrup....sometime after the freeze! :)

Well, Em wants to trade back rubs (she is still sore from her accidents yesterday :}), so I better get off this computer before she goes to bed! :)

Farmwife's Journal - September 12th

2011-09-13T07:53:00.000-05:00

Yesterday after church Mike and the boys went to get a second load of hay. It was another hot day, so Em and I made sure they were well stocked with bottles of chocolate milk. :) Once they were finished with that, they went over to Mike's parents house to pick up some logs that his dad had cut. Whew! Long day!

This morning, when Mike and I got up, I noticed that the cushion on the couch was lifted up. Since we were the last two in bed last night, I figured that a child must have been up in the night. Mike laughed and told me the story. He had heard Jonny getting up to go to the bathroom, and we know from experience that when Jonny is really tired he's usually not fully awake when he gets up, and we had better hurry and find out where he is and what he is doing. Sure enough, the two days of throwing bales of hay had caught up with him. :) He had walked in the living room, lifted the couch cushion, as if it were the toilet seat, and just in the nick of time Mike stopped him and led him to the bathroom. Whew! Jonny remembered nothing of it this morning! We laughed and laughed at the breakfast table remembering all the different places Jonny has gone to the bathroom over the years. :) Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox. Proverbs 14:4 :) (This story was shared with permission from Jonny.) :)

Knowing that there may be some pretty cold mornings coming this week, we decided to skip school and work on garden stuff today. I made a bunch more pesto today, since Basil is one of the first plants to die off from the frost. We picked more tomatoes and put them in the dehydrator. Then we ran our larger tomatoes through the food mill in preparation for more BBQ sauce. Ben, of course, dug potatoes today. :)

This afternoon I told Em and Jonny to take a break and go out and enjoy the beautiful weather for awhile. As I was putting the ingredients for pesto in my blender I heard Emily scream. I went flying out the door and found Emily on the ground crying and holding her head. The kids explained the story...all at once! Jonny had decided to pull Em in the wagon behind the four wheeler, but as he was driving he noticed Ben (who was supposed to be digging potatoes) wanted a ride too. Seeing the opportunity to leave Ben behind, Jonny hit the throttle while he was rounding a corner and sent Emily sailing through the air. I scolded Jonny in the most mournful voice I could muster up ...."Jonnyyyyyy, you have to be careful with girls! They are fragile!" He said, very sincerely, "Ya, I just thought of that!" :) Then I scolded Emily, "You might have had a little more sense than to get in a wagon that is tied to a four wheeler with baling twine, and pulled by a nine year old!" :) She assured me that they had done it before and that it was great fun! So after a hug and an apology from Jonny, she was back in the wagon and off they went! :) About half an hour later, Emily came in holding her head again. I had no compassion. :)
(This story was shared with permission from Emily) :)

Farmwife's Journal - September 10th

2011-09-10T22:17:00.000-05:00

Today Mike and the boys mowed the fence line and fixed some fencing that was down, so the sheep and goats could graze that area. After that, Mike and Jonny went to get a load of hay and got that put up in the barn, which took most of the afternoon. Spud (Ben) worked on digging his potatoes. His new business venture has been really enjoyable, until now. Planting the potatoes, hilling them and watching them grow was the easy part. :) But digging them all up....that's a different story! It was hot today and he worked really hard and got really dirty (Ben is good at getting dirty). He didn't have time to finish because we had a party to go to, but all work and no play makes Ben a dull boy...Right?! He will probably spend a few more days digging before he is done. The good news is, he has someone waiting to buy his potatoes when they are all dug. :) In all labor there is profit! :)

I picked 9 lbs of elderberries today. I got about half of them cooked down, will do the other half tomorrow. Then I will make some more elderberry syrup. I also got the tomatoes, beans, and cucumbers picked today. Em washed and chopped the beans and put them in the dehydrator. We gave the cucumbers away and the tomatoes will get processed into pizza sauce and barbecue sauce....another day.

In between all the garden work and the work of keeping everything running smooth around the house, Em and I work at making healthy meals from scratch for our boys. If a man does not work, he should not eat...right? Well, our boys work hard, so we feed them good!! We try to keep some fat on their bones, but as you can see by looking at them, we are not succeeding! :) But the frost is coming....soon there will be much less to do....maybe then we can fatten them up! :)

Farmwife's Journal - August 29-30th

2011-08-30T21:19:00.000-05:00

We started school Monday, so the days are busier than ever! After school, we picked blueberries, grapes, plums, beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, and basil. Jonny helped me make pesto, while Em cut the tomatoes and filled the dehydrator with them. Then we filled the other dehydrator with the beans.

Today after school, the kids (and some friends) played music for the residents of Dassel Lakeside Apartments (independent living for seniors). They had a great time and the residents really enjoyed the music. :) We hurried home when they were done because Emily had a bunny customer coming over. She sold another bunny to a good home! :)

Before dinner, we quickly emptied the dehydrator with the beans and filled it with beet slices-beet chips! ...mmmm! :)

After dinner, there were, of course, chores to do, but when they were done, we popped popcorn, made grape juice and played a game. :)

Tomorrow Grandpa comes over after school to teach a fishing class. The kids can't wait! :) Right now, the house is quiet! And I have barely seen my husband for the past two days- he's had meetings. So I will get off this computer now and spend some time with him! :)

Cider Pressing last Friday

2011-08-25T20:35:00.000-05:00

Last Friday we had a good time picking crab apples and turning them into delicious apple cider. Quite a few of our customers (friends) were able to try their hand and turning the crank on the grinder and on the press.

Picking the apples

Grinding

Squeezing

Relaxing in the shade

Yum Yum!

The Obstacle Course

2011-08-23T20:15:00.000-05:00

Starting at the top of the root cellar, Ben and Jonny attempt to make it through the maze of buckets, boards and boxes in the poor little old wagon....will they succeed? :)

Farmwife's Journal - August 18th

2011-08-18T22:03:00.000-05:00

The phone rang this morning at about 6:50am. When that happens I am usually saying, "Who is the world....?" Then I remember...the post office! :) Yes, we had 300 baby chicks arrive this morning! Come out tomorrow and you'll get to see them. :)

This morning we picked wild grapes. I don't know what it is about picking wild grapes, but it's an activity we all love to do! There are usually several places on our property that we find grapes. We picked from two different spots today. Emily was busy baking for the market tomorrow, so she wasn't with us, but we will go hunting for more in a couple days.

Joshua and Caleb...I mean Ben and Jonny ;)

extending the ladder as far as it will go...exciting boy stuff! ;)

After we were done picking, Mike got out the cider press and the boys helped him pressed the grapes. Voila! Grape juice! :) I put the juice into 2-cup containers and froze it. When we mix up a batch of juice, we just add sugar syrup and sometimes club soda. It sooo yummy...and healthy! :)

putting the grapes through the press

containers of grape juice concentrate :)

P.S. Does anyone have any ideas for what we should do with all our grape seeds? I hate to compost them because I know they are so good for you, but I don't know how to make use of them.

Afraid to eat?

2011-08-18T09:35:00.001-05:00

When you hear about food recalls, remember us...

...We're producing foods you're not afraid to eat! :)

Foods that are not genetically modified, not sprayed with chemicals, and foods that are organically grown! We care about the foods our family eats, therefore when you buy our foods, you can be assured that we are doing everything possible to give our family and your family the highest quality foods available.

If our children get sick, we treat them naturally without drugs that could harm their bodies. In the same way, if an animal gets sick, we don't give them chemicals or drugs because we don't want to eat food full of that stuff!
Even our baked goods are made is made out of the best ingredients. A lot of times I think people buy our foods because they taste good (unprocessed foods always taste better). They don't realize, with my bread for example, that it's made with freshly ground organic wheat berries. And maybe they don't realize that I use the best organic extra virgin olive oil, raw honey, and natural salt. When I make my Orange Cinnamon Raisin bread, I use ground orange peel from the peels of organic oranges that I bought last winter, dried in front of the fireplace, and ground into powder.
It's OK if people buy our products just because they taste good. :) At least I can sell my products with a clear conscience, knowing that they are the BEST! But it is for those of you who are looking for products like ours that I write this post! :)

Farmwife's Journal - August 10th

2011-08-10T22:26:00.000-05:00

As usual it has been busy around the farm. We have been picking cucumbers and making pickles about every other day. Today we canned some dill relish, a family favorite.

We picked garlic about two weeks ago. That will now be available at our Farmer's Market. I have also been making some garlic braids to sell.

garlic drying

garlic braid

some garlic drying in the market building

The guys have been remodeling the barn. They made the main pen bigger and put a loft above all the animal stalls for more hay storage. It feels much more roomy in there and looks neater too. I am sure the animals are happier. ;)

workin' away

handsome and handy just like his daddy! :)

Once the guys got the loft done, they spent a couple days getting loads of hay and stacking them in the barn.

almost finished

We picked our first tomatoes yesterday...cherry tomatoes. They lasted about 2 minuets. We lost half of our larger variety of tomatoes to drowning and the rest are not looking so hot either. It's been too soggy and the leaves are getting spotty. :( It has been a tough year for gardening...lots of storms with strong winds and tons of rain, plus a spell of extremely hot weather. But has finally cooled off a bit. We even enjoyed a campfire last night.

coffee and cookies by the campfire

Internet again!

2011-08-05T21:56:00.000-05:00

It's Friday night, I am tired from a long hot day outside serving customers and doing tours, but we have INTERNET, so I had to do a quick post! Last Monday morning we had a bad storm go through and we lost our internet service for the week! We have all been going through withdrawl! :( It's kinda sad how much we depend on it. But the farm keeps up plenty busy, so I tried to enjoy the break from it and resisted the temptation to go to the coffee shop and write a post. :)

More tomorrow......

Farmwife's Journal - July 25th

2011-07-25T21:16:00.000-05:00

Today we did a lot of picking...cucumbers, carrots, beets, broccoli, raspberries, and blueberries. By the time we were done it was pretty hot out, so we decided to go for a four wheeler ride to cool off.

It's funny, when Em and I go for a ride, we just cruise along enjoying the countryside and the breeze. Not so with boys! They have to do fishtails, create dust, ride in the ditch, stop to look at things, put their four wheeler in neutral and try running along side of it while going down hill, and anything else out of the ordinary! What should have been a peaceful drive felt like chaos!

As we were driving back home, I was thinking about telling them that next time I am going to leave them home and go alone with Emily. I figured that would motivate them to just drive along nicely, like us girls. But as I continued to mull this over in my mind, a smile came to my face. "They are boys, Mindy!", I said to myself. How could I squish their "boyness"? I would be disgusted if they acted like girls, so shouldn't I celebrate the fact that they are acting like boys? :) They weren't being naughty...just being boys! :)

I love boys! Yes, they are peculiar creatures, but they are so much fun, and not at all boring! :) So when we got home, I said nothing. Just went on with life as usual. :) Boys will be boys! :)

We had an awesome lunch today....even my kids thought so! A fresh garden salad, carrot sticks (picked fresh), farm fresh hard boiled eggs, sliced cucumbers, and homemade strawberry ice cream for dessert! :) There is nothing better than eating the food you grow! :)

Friday on the Farm - July 22

2011-07-24T21:01:00.000-05:00

We hit the ground running on Friday morning!!:)

Mike woke everyone up at 5:30am, with the exception of Jonny. He set his alarm and got up on his own! :)

Ben having breakfast

Everyone quickly grabbed breakfast and gulped down some coffee as the sun was rising over the garden.

By 6:00am, Mike and the boys were getting the chickens crated up, and we were ready to butcher by 6:30am when my sister arrived. We had 100 chickens to butcher!

Nadine considering gutting

Still thinking about it? :)

The inspectors :)

Jonny holding the runt

Nadine's last butchering day at Housman Farms :(

the butchering area

Everyone worked hard! We were done butchering by 10:30, but the day was just beginning! We had to quickly change out of our soggy, smelly butchering clothes, get cleaned up, and start setting up for our Farmer's Market which opened at noon. And it was very hot and humid!!

Mike and the boys cleaned up all the butchering equipment while us girls started picking produce and getting all the food ready.

Mike power washing the equipment

Emily packing up her raspberry lemon tarts ;) YUM!!

We were barely ready by noon. As the customers came, we bagged up chickens, gave tours, picked more produce, and spent the afternoon talking with people (which is the best part). :)

tours

Our last customer was gone by 5pm, and we were cleaned up by 5:30pm. WOW! What a day! We were all exhausted, but it was a good day! :)

Flooding

2011-07-20T08:34:00.000-05:00

We never imagined when we planted our garden this year that we would have to be concerned about the garden flooding. In the spring, yes, it can flood, but in the nine years that we have lived here we have never had flooding in the summer!

In the picture above, you can see the corner of the garden is flooded. We lost about 6 tomato plants, bean plants, and some corn. The cucumbers seem to be enjoying the soggy soil. Our raspberry plants, on the other side of our property, have just about quit producing. We were puzzled at first because they looked so beautiful a couple weeks ago and we were expecting tons of fruit, but we just realized that they too are drowning in soggy soil. :(

Here you can see all our squash and zucchini under water.

The flooded area beyond the vines is our soccer field. Soccer is one of our favorite summer activities. We usually play Mike and me against the kids, and any time we have company we love to play against other families. But this year the soccer field has been flooded since the snow melted! Guess we will have to take up water polo or something. :)

Bunnies For Sale!

2011-07-18T18:31:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone, Emily here! :) Just wanted to let you all know that I have three adorrrrrrable little dwarf bunnies for sale! Visit my blog here and email me if you are interested! Thanks!

Soap Class

2011-07-18T17:07:00.000-05:00

We had a great soap class on Saturday! Barb has so much good information to share and a great method for making soap. It was simple and easy to duplicate. I am anxious to hear about how everyone's first attempts at making soap go!

Barb showing how to use a stick blender for mixing the soap.

Soap made with natural ingredients is not cheep, if you are buying it in the store, and if you have a large family. Learning how to make Barb's shampoo bars is a fun, easy, and an economical skill! One batch will make about 25-30 bars!

Barb had all the students gather around to watch and get involved in the process.

Watching for the "trace".

If you missed this class, we are considering doing another one in the fall! Stay tuned to the blog for more details! :)

Farmgirl's Journal - July 12th

2011-07-14T10:46:00.003-05:00

I sold a bunny today to a friend of mine, Gabrielle. While she was here we had fun putting chickens to sleep! To put a chicken asleep you tuck it's head under it's wing and hold it for a while until it starts breathing heavily and it's feet sorta' curl up and it's asleep! It's really hilarious! :) Then we put it on the ground and watch it until it wakes up! Sometimes you can even lay it down on it's back and it stays sound asleep. We had great fun with it! ....even had some contests to see whose chicken would sleep the longest.

Today we started picking raspberries! Yum! We will have some for sale this Friday.
We also put up the blueberry netting (a family project). We are starting to get a few blueberries, so we will probably have lots of those soon!

"Sleeping" Chickens

Soap Class This Saturday

2011-07-12T13:49:00.000-05:00

This Simplified Soap Making Class will show you how to make natural healthy soap for your hair and body.

We will be teaching the Simplified Cold Process Method of soap making and in addition, another technique of soapmaking called "remilled soap"(easy too!). Each student will be given a notebook with all the instructions and also a free bar of soap.

There will also be available for purchase some of the ingredients and a soapmaking book that we would highly recommend. Hope you can make it! You may never need to buy store bought shampoo again! :)

Barb's Shampoo/Body Bars

Super Simple Soap Making

Saturday, July 16th

9am - 11am

Cost - $15.00 per person

Email me at mindy@housmanfarms.com if you are interested in attending the class.

Farmwife's Journal - July 6th

2011-07-07T19:55:00.000-05:00

Mike and I started picking strawberries at about 7:30 this morning. The kids went out to do chores and when they were done, we took a break for breakfast. Then the whole family continued picking until about 12pm. In all, we picked about 66 pounds of strawberries!

We had four customers show up today. One wanted milk, another was paying for two seats in the soap class, and then two people wanted strawberries. One person bought 30 lbs of strawberries and the other bought 20 lbs. I put the rest of the strawberries in the freezer and that was that! I was somewhat glad that I didn't have to can them all! :) We'll pick strawberries again tomorrow.

Mike and the boys spent some time weeding today. It won't be long and the weeds will be under control and we won't have to do much more weeding.

We enjoyed some peas from the garden today. We made a big salad with the peas and a bunch of different greens from the garden. We had it for dinner with Emily's delicious herb bagels! Yum! :)

I continue to work on processing herbs. There is usually something to do every day. Today I ground up my chamomile and got it put into bags, and we worked on processing the dill, which means we pulled the leaves off the stems and put them in dehydrators. From there it will get crushed and bagged.

The children were all excited this morning because a broody hen hatched out a couple of chicks. She had been sitting on some eggs for about a month. Of course the chicks are already named and the children will be showing them off this Friday! :) Unfortunately the eggs that didn't hatch have made the chicken coop smell horrible! :( ....just a warning for those of you coming out on Friday! :)

Around here, the end of a hot work day usually means a trip to the gravel pit to swim. Sometimes we take a bar of Barb's soap along. :) So at about 8pm we got our almost daily swim in. :)

Farmwife's Journal - July 1st

2011-07-05T10:52:00.000-05:00

It was a hot "Friday on the Farm" today! We were surprised at the people who were still willing to come out and endure the heat. :) As soon as the market ended, we could see the storm clouds coming. We quickly cleaned up the market and headed for the gravel pit. (We had told the kids we would take them swimming after the market was over.) As soon as they hit the water it started raining, but they had enough time to swim around and cool off before the lightning started. By the time we got back home, the storm was heating up. We stood on the porch and watched it until the hail started blowing onto the porch. Then we stood in the kitchen watching the trees in the yard bending down from the wind, and wondering if we should head for the root cellar. But Mike was as cool as a cucumber (as he always is :) ), and said we'd be fine. :) So we watched the storm rage and prayed for protection over our property.
After it was over, we went out and looked for damage. There were various limbs and brush on the ground, but the buildings and gardens were fine...a little stressed looking, but fine. We did have one apricot tree go down in the orchard. It was a sick tree, so it was probably weak anyway, but it did have fruit on it. Dassel was in the center of the storm and we heard about a lot of damage in the area.

Apricot tree

We are still picking strawberries daily. The harvest does seem to be coming to a close though, as the berries are getting smaller. We may not have berries next Friday...we'll see.

The herb garden is growing like crazy and we have been trying to keep up with it. Em and I just harvested the dill (should get one or two more cuttings) and more chamomile. We just started cutting the lavender, and it looks like the cilantro is ready to be cut again. I really should plan for another "Cooking With Herbs" class, since people have expressed interest in it...maybe when the soap class is over. :)

A large basket full of dill

The soap class is July 16th.
http://housmanfarms.blogspot.com/2011/06/learn-more-about-our-soaps.html
Email me if you are interested. mindy@housmanfarms.com

Farmwife's Journal-June 29th

2011-06-30T07:23:00.000-05:00

The farm has been berry busy for the past week! We have been picking strawberries every morning. Along with selling them fresh, we have made some strawberry syrup and have frozen lots of berries for those bleak winter days when we need a kefir smoothie to boost the immune system and brighten us up! :) I will be making jam tomorrow...at least that is the plan. (On the farm, you never know what a day may bring!)

Does breakfast get any better than this? ..strawberry shortcake, homemade sausage, & coffee :)

Jonny and I have been working in the herb garden this week. We've been harvesting oregano, lemon balm, calendula, and yarrow. Since the calendula flower is what is harvested, we put those on screens to dry, but we have been hanging the rest of the herbs up to dry in the market building.

We had a great day last Friday! The weather was beautiful....a nice change! :) As usual, we enjoyed visiting with all the people who came out to the farm. The kids had a blast playing music! They were only going to play for an hour, but ended up playing for most of the afternoon.:)

Just a reminder...we are open every day (June 24- July 8, except Sunday) from 12-4pm to sell strawberries. We will also have other items for sale during the week.

Happy Birthday, Emily!

2011-06-28T22:28:00.002-05:00

Today my baby girl turned fifteen! I took this picture of Mike and Emily this morning before they left for Cricket Meadow (a cute tea shop in Litchfield) to have breakfast. Emily is always excited to go on a date with her daddy; she is head-over-heals in love with him! :) We have taken two days to celebrate her birthday, since we are having "Strawberry Daze" and need to be home from 12-4pm.
Ben and Jonny were so generous towards Em on her birthday! They both agreed, on their own, to allow Emily to kiss them as much as she wanted all day. :) You see....normally the boys get SOOO irritated with Emily because she is always kissing them. They can't stand it!! But she just loves them so much and thinks they are soooo cute! :) So... throughout the day I saw them sticking their necks out to allow Emily access to their cheeks. :) She said (laughingly) it was the BEST birthday gift they could ever give her!
Mike and I are exceedingly grateful for such a sweet girl! We couldn't have asked for a better daughter! The fifteen years that I have had with her seem so short, and I know that I don't have that many more years before she will be living somewhere else, running her own home. I've got to enjoy every minute I get with her!! :)

Learn more about our soaps!

2011-06-16T20:23:00.000-05:00

This Friday, the lady that makes our soaps, Barb Hendrickson, will be here at the farm giving people information on the soap that she makes and answering questions.

Hendrickson Family in 2003

Barb lives in Kingston with her husband, Charlie, and their two youngest children (they have seven total).
I wanted to have natural soap at our market, but struggled to find the time to make it, so I asked Barb last year if she would make soap for us. Our family has been using her shampoo/body bar for well over a year, and we haven't bought a bottle of shampoo since! :)
Stop by this Friday, meet Barb, and try her wonderful soap!

We will also be offering a class on how to make soap here at the farm. Barb has a desire to teach people a method of soap making that is simple and easy for anyone to do.

Here's the class info:

Super Simple Soap Making

Saturday, July 16th

9am - 11am

Cost - $15.00 per person

Email me at mindy@housmanfarms.com if you are interested in attending the class.

STRAWBERRY DAZE!

2011-06-16T11:12:00.001-05:00

Due to a cold, wet spring, strawberry season is running about 3 weeks late this year, but the good news is that this will not affect the crop.

Here at Housman Farms, we will be having "Strawberry Daze"!
Our farm will be open daily (12-4pm) through the strawberry season (probably two weeks...starting Friday, June 24th through approximately Friday, July 8th.)

The three "Friday on the Farm" days during "Strawberry Daze", we will be having live music by the Mahlstedt and Housman children.

Mahlstedt Children (minus baby Elisabeth)

Please join us for a fun afternoon on the farm! :) ...and get yourself some good organically grown strawberries! " :)

Our schedule will be as follows:
Open daily June 24th -July 8th
12-4pm (Closed Sundays)

Fridays- June 24th, July 1st, July 8th
12pm -1pm Music
1pm - 2pm Free Tour (this will not be an educational tour, just a look around)

Pricing:
$4.00 per pound

Here is a video of the kids practicing for "Strawberry Daze".

Building update

2011-06-13T09:59:00.005-05:00

Mindy just stopped into my office (in our garage 20 feet from the house) to see if I would post an update about our building since I know more about that kind of thing.

Its been just over two weeks since we started construction. Work has gone fairly well given all the OTHER things that need to get done besides pound nails. Last night I put on the last of the steel on the roof, all that is left a bit of flashing and trim on the roof edge and that will be done. While I'm waiting on the special order items for that, I am going to get started trimming out and installing the windows, as well as getting the "batten" strips installed over the gaps between the boards on our "board and batten" style siding.

We "moved in" to the building last Thursday evening you can see from the picture that my wife is already having lots of fun "making it cute".

Farmwife's Journal - June 6th

2011-06-08T06:03:00.000-05:00

The past five days have been a whirlwind! Spring is a busy time on the farm!
Last Thursday we hired some boys to come and help out with the weeding. Boy was that a huge help! :) They did a great job!
Friday we had our market, in our garage...again, but the roof is on the market building, so we will be able to start having the market in there now. :)

Saturday the guys worked on the building all day. Em and I finished planting a few herbs and flowers.
Most of the garden is in, but planting is something we continually do throughout the summer.
Sunday, after church, we enjoyed a much needed break with friends. The kids swam in their pool while the adults visited.
Due to the heat wave we are experiencing we spent a lot of time watering yesterday....and of course weeding...there is always weeding to do on an organic farm. :) Then we took our overworked bodies to the chiropractor for a family visit. :)
Today was filled with more watering, weeding, and working on the building.
This morning, we were excited to picked up our turkeys at the post office! We don't have to worry about any of them getting too cold today. It got up to 102 degrees here! Emily has been so worried because the number one cause of death for bunnies is heat stroke. :( They are currently enjoying fans blowing on them and ice packs in their cages. She also took it upon herself to put Jackson in the entryway of the root cellar where it's about 50 degrees. She is such a good mother. :)
Here is a picture of what Jonny and I found in the asparagus patch.

As I was picking asparagus, I saw something go hopping across the ground. I thought it was a large toad. Then it flew away. I looked in the straw on the ground and found this sparrow's nest. I didn't know that sparrows would nest on the ground.

Farmwife's Journal - June 1

2011-06-02T10:33:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling a little "baked" this evening. :) ...spent the entire day planting in the hot sun, but thanks to my After Sun Spray, from Daisy Blue, I'll go to bed feeling fine! BTW, their exfoliating bar is great for gardener's hands too! Check out Nadine's Daisy Blue Products! :) She will also be bringing some of her products to the market!!
We are not quite done planting....one or two more days should do it!

Mike's Dad came over today and helped Mike and the boys with the building. It's coming along!! :) I am really hoping that we will be able to use it this Friday, even though it won't be done.

Farmwife's Journal - May 31st

2011-05-31T10:19:00.002-05:00

The past few days the focus has been on our building project. Mike and the boys started putting the walls up on our market building/sugar shack Saturday afternoon, after we got home from a fun trip to the flea market. :) They worked out there until evening.

Menards delivering our materials

Getting started

Again on Sunday, they worked all afternoon and into the evening.

Yesterday some friends came over (they have a bunch of boys) and they helped with the building too. Their boys, like ours, wanted to learn more carpentry skills.

After the work was done, we had dinner, and then the guys set up a huge jumping house for the kids. :) That was a hit! :) ...and a fun reward after all the hard work in the hot sun.

Later in the evening, the bigger kids got out their instruments and sat out on the porch jamming away. The adults (and eventually the smaller kids, who were still jumping) ended up joining in, and we sat out there singing and listening to the kids play. It was great fun! :)

The building- Monday evening

Farmer's Market At Little Red Hen

2011-05-28T22:58:00.000-05:00

Little Red Hen is a home decor (and more) store in Dassel. They have occasional sales, which means they are only open once a month for three days. A couple of years ago, Brenda, the owner of Little Red Hen, asked us if we would want to have a farmer's market in the street in front of her store, and we have been doing a market there ever since. It is the only market we do, other than the market here at our farm every Friday. This market has allowed us to meet more people in the community and of course invite them to our farm. :)

Here is a little video from our day at the Little Red Hen (last Thursday).

A special thanks to my sister, Nadine, for the help with the video! :)

Farmwife's Journal-May 24th

2011-05-25T07:04:00.000-05:00

The children were up at 6am this morning. There were chores that needed to get done early. Today was a special day - more chickens arrived at the farm! :)

The post office called at 7am to let us know that our chicks were there waiting to be picked up.

After weeding the asparagus, I decided to take a stroll down "White Way Delight", as Anne (with an "e") would say. If you are not a fan of Anne of Green Gables, you may feel confused right now. :) Anyway, we have about 60 flowering crab trees on our farm and they are all in bloom right now. It smells heavenly outside! So this late afternoon I walked slowly down the driveway, taking in the fragrance from every tree. :) What is the point of having all this beauty if we do not take time to enjoy it? :)

(Blogger won't let me put pictures in right now, otherwise I would publish pictures of the trees.)

FarmGIRLS Journal - May 19th ;)

2011-05-20T10:47:00.000-05:00

Today the concrete people ;) poured concrete for our new building.

Ben and Jonny watching every move and probably asking 100 questions! :)

Whenever there are guys here working, Ben and Jonny get the day off of school to go watch them, so they have the opportunity to learn something new.

There ended up being some extra concrete, so they were able to try their hand at concrete work! :)

Home school at its best! :)

Mom and I went out and ran some errands in the morning and when we got home I began baking up a storm. :) I made Lemon Curd, Cinnamon Raisin Bagels, Herb Bagels, Scones, and Rhubarb Bars. :) Later in the afternoon, Ben and Jonny set up the garage for the market. It will be so nice when we can have it in the building... set up and tear down will be MUCH easier!

My bunnies are doing really wonderful and getting SO big and SO cute. My poor family... all I ever talk about is bunnies, just about! :)

Aloe Vera Plants for Sale

2011-05-20T09:15:00.000-05:00

We have a whole bunch of aloe vera plants for sale! They are $6.00 each. Aloe is wonderful for sunburn, skin disorders, burns, acne, bug bites, good for healing wounds, helps prevent infection, and lots more! :-)

Farmwife's Journal-May 18th

2011-05-19T10:22:00.000-05:00

Another beautiful day! The ticks appear to be enjoying the weather too. :) It seems like we see one or two a day on someone. Thankfully we rarely find them attached - just crawling on us.
Today we got more of the garden planted. Em and I put the beet seeds in, and then we all worked together to plant our onion sets.
Mike pulled out a honeysuckle bush with his skid loader and tilled up some more grass to expand one of our gardens. We will plant more onions there.
Today we broke ground for our new building! :) Half of the building will be used for a sugar shack and the other half we will use for our farmer's market. There will be a concrete slab behind the building that we will use for chicken butchering.
Today a guy came out and got the slab formed up. Tomorrow he'll have a crew of guys working to pour the concrete.

Strawberry Plants For Sale

2011-05-17T10:32:00.002-05:00

Organic Totem strawberries Crowns for sale

June bearing plants. They are a firm, conic-shaped, bright red fruit that turns very dark when ripe. Extremely cold hardy, vigorous, and disease-resistant. If soil pH is above 7.0, soil amendments such as sulfur or mature compost will optimize growth.

We are selling them for $1.00 a crown (plant).

Farmwife's Journal-May 16th

2011-05-17T10:14:00.000-05:00

Finally sunshine!! :)
At last it is dry enough that we could get a few more things planted. Today some more lettuce and carrot seeds were planted, and we were finally able to till part of the garden that has been so wet it hasn't gotten tilled yet this year.....ahhh...it's starting to feel like spring! :)
Unfortunately the nice spring weather also brings on the weeds! We have been weeding and weeding! Getting the weeds under control now prevents having to do tons of weeding all summer, so we plug away at it. :)
This evening we sold Buster and Bandit. The people that bought them live on a hobby farm and have other animals. The goats will help keep their pasture mowed down. Seeing our animals go to a good home is always rewarding...especially for the children. :)
Here are a couple videos of Jonny and I. We had been weeding in the herb garden, but we got a little side tracked. :)

Farmwife's Journal-May 14th

2011-05-14T21:44:00.000-05:00

Another cold rainy day!
Spent the day shopping for farm gear - Carhartts, work boots, work gloves...etc. :)
Goat kids have been dehorned. An unpleasant job! :(
Trimmed goat hooves this morning.
We are set up and ready for the chicks that will arrive in a couple days.
We had a call today from someone offering us peacocks. Does anyone know anything about these birds? We are trying to decide if we should get them or not. What do you think?

Raw Milk

2011-05-12T10:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a field trip day - off to the capital! :) Gathering in a parking lot, a number of families met to take a bus (that our friends own) to St. Paul for a hearing on a raw milk bill. The hearing was much later than scheduled, and we ended up doing a LOT of sitting, but it was great to hear all the people testifying...and very educational for our children. :)

On the bus

Mike making good use of his time on the bus. :)

My boys and some friends, in the front row, waiting for the hearing to start. :)

The bill is about making raw milk more accessible to the consumer. Right now, in MN, consumers need to go to the farm to buy their raw milk. The bill would change the current law to allow farmer's to deliver to the consumer and also to sell at farmer's markets.

I do think it's important that consumers go to the farm where they are getting their milk, but I also think that people should be free to do as they please. If people want to take the risk of buying milk from a farm that they have never seen, that should be their choice. The bill is really a freedom issue, not a raw milk issue. But of course it ended up being a hearing about the legitimacy of raw milk. While I firmly believe in raw milk, there may be times when pasteurization would be a better option for human consumption.

One of the testimonies yesterday was from the president of the Dairy Association. He was trying to convince the board that pasteurized milk is a better product. He said that, on his farm, his calves were having so many health challenges that he has been pasteurizing the milk he feeds to his calves and now they are living happily, without all the health problems they had previously. Can you imagine?!! Then he went on to say that he and his family have also stopped drinking raw milk (for the past year). First of all, his cows must be really sick if he has to pasteurize the milk he feeds to his calves. Secondly, it's a GOOD thing his family quit drinking it!! In this case, pasteurizing their milk before they drink it may be a safer option for them.

Some of the people at the hearing, who were supporters for the bill, were concerned about a label people were wearing to promote raw milk. The labels were from real milk cartons, sold in the state of California, in a retail store. The label contains a warning, which states that raw milk can have harmful bacteria in it. They felt that this would shed a bad light on raw milk and ruined our message about how healing raw milk is. The problem is that it's true that raw milk can contain harmful bacteria, but it's also true that it has helped many people recover from terrible health problems and it is far more nutritious than pasteurized milk. The bottom line is...... people should have the freedom to choose what they want to buy, who they want to buy it from, and where they want to buy it!

Representative Ron Schimanski gave our group a tour of the capital

Farmwife's Journal-May 7th

2011-05-07T21:18:00.000-05:00

This morning Mike and the kids put out our first chicken tractor of the season, so now the chicks are enjoying fresh grass every day! And the sheep and goats were put out on pasture today too.
Today we had to get some chicken feed (over 1200 lbs.) and corn.
We planted broccoli, two varieties of cabbage, and kale in the garden...all plants that we had growing in our little green house.
In the herb garden, I planted comfrey and transplanted some echinacea that was coming up.
Mike and Jonny put up two new gates today. Mike made them. They are so pretty (white picket fence gates)! :)
Once in a while Mike and I will do all the evening chores alone without the kids...we did that tonight. We call it our "milk date" since most of our time is spent milking. It's a good opportunity to have an uninterrupted conversation. :)
We have so much milk right now!! I'm getting ready to put yogurt in the oven overnight...second batch this week! Yum!

Farmwife's Journal-May 6th

2011-05-07T09:28:00.000-05:00

Today was the beginning of our Farmer's Market that runs through October...and usually the first couple weeks of November. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day- sunny and in the 70's! Visiting with customers that we have not seen for months was the best part of the day. I overheard Ben this morning telling Jonny how he just loves Fridays and how they are so much fun! :) Here are some pictures from our day.

Farmwife's Journal-May 5th

2011-05-06T07:11:00.000-05:00

Baked bread today for our Farmer's Market tomorrow.
We got the garage set up for the market....will have it there until our building is ready.
Ben made his famous Organic Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies today. He will be selling those tomorrow.
Jonny designed a wooden stand (and painted it black) to display his butter knives. He did a great job! :)

Emily has been in bed with a fever all day. She is rarely ever sick and is bummed that the day before our market she isn't feeling well, but she has been a good patient...taking all my concoctions! :)
She also has baby bunnies in the barn that she is longing to be with. :(

Farmwife's Journal-May 4th

2011-05-05T15:49:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday, Farmer Mike!

Emily's bunny had babies today! Happy Day!

Farmwife's Journal-May 3rd

2011-05-04T10:31:00.000-05:00

Mike and the boys went to the saw mill this morning to pick up the lumber for our sugar shack and market building.

We enjoyed warm sunshine today while we worked in the garden. The parsley I had growing under lights was planted, and we got some pea and cilantro seeds planted. Three dozen strawberry crowns were transplanted to pots....just getting started with those. Emily started some flower seeds and put them in the cold frame.

I canned some of our boxelder syrup today.

Emily made lip balm. She is going to sell it at the market.

All the goat kids are doing well.

Another Blogger Writes About Our Herb Class

2011-05-03T11:48:00.000-05:00

April attended our first herb class last summer. She published a post about the class on her blog. If you would like more info about our class check out this link:
http://naturewood.typepad.com/naturewood/2011/05/cooking-with-herbs-class-august-2010.html

We are planning to offer this class again this summer, once the herb garden is in full bloom. :)

Farmwife's Journal-May 2nd

2011-05-03T09:37:00.000-05:00

It took every ounce of will power I had to make myself go outside and work in the garden today. Strong winds, clouds, and 35 degrees just don't make for a nice time in the garden. I put on my winter hat before I went out, but quickly realized I needed my scarf and winter gloves too. :(

Ben and I added the last load of manure to the herb garden. After that, Ben tilled some of it in, but then realized that it was still too wet, so we started working in the big garden. Ben and Jonny worked together to till it up. I think they would have tilled the whole yard if I had asked them to; they were really enjoying themselves! :) I love this picture of them tilling with a sandbox full of toys nearby. Who needs toys when you have tillers? :)

Not that they don't enjoy playing....they spent about two hours riding four wheelers this afternoon and shooting their pellet guns. But work can be fun for children, especially if you do it with them!

I got some lettuce that I had growing under lights planted in the garden today, and I also put some more spinach seeds in.

Mike took Emily to the Chiropractor today. :)

Farmwife's Journal-May 1st

2011-05-02T09:39:00.000-05:00

While Mike and I were cuddled up on the couch together taking a Sunday afternoon nap, a call rang out from the front door.."She had twins!" Emily and the boys had been checking on Claire all afternoon, knowing that she was in labor. Following the pattern for this year, she had a BOY and a GIRL. Claire is proving to be a wonderful mother and a good milker.
Mike and Jonny got up in the middle of the night to feed the four goat kids.

Buster and Blondie

2011-05-01T16:16:00.000-05:00

Buster

The twins: Buster & Blondie :-)

Buster again

Farmwife's Journal-April 30th

2011-04-30T21:04:00.000-05:00

More rain today! :( Hopefully this week we will have a few consecutive days in the garden. Wind advisory here this afternoon, evening, and into tomorrow....that should help dry things out.
Millie had her babies today. Ben discovered them when he and Mike were working in the barn. Another boy and a girl. Jonny named the boy Buster, but the girl remains nameless. They were both just over 7lbs. Mike and Emily will be getting up to feed them throughout the night tonight. Claire is due tomorrow; she is a first time mom.
Today I experimented with a new bread recipe - cranberry orange. The boys and Mike ate almost a whole loaf! :) I guess they liked it! I want to adjust a few things with it, but am planning to make it along with all my other breads for the Farmer's Market.
Mike and the boys also painted the two new gates that Mike made, and they put wire over the windows in the barn to protect them from goat hooves.
Emily has been complaining of a back ache today. I think her tumble in the yard is going to land her in the Chiropractor's office.

Farmwife's Journal-April 29th

2011-04-29T23:01:00.000-05:00

This morning the children and I uncovered the rest of our strawberries. As Emily and I filled the wheelbarrows with the straw, the boys ran the loads to the asparagus patch where the straw got dumped to use as mulch. The boys were having a great time racing back and forth. They would bounce their empty wheelbarrows on the bumpy garden dirt to "catch some air". As Jonny was running along, he called out, "Hey Mom, watch this!" (I have learned that this is a dangerous statement coming from a boy) :) Then he bounced his wheelbarrow, and since he was going a little too fast, the wheelbarrow flipped over and he landed on top of it! Jonny's lips turned white and he had a look of horror on his face as he lay there on top of the wheelbarrow trying to figure out what just happened! The three of us tried not to laugh....very unsuccessfully! :) Once Jonny realized he was OK, he was laughing too! :) As I wiped the tears from my eyes (from laughing so hard), I was reminded of yesterday....when Emily had me laughing so hard I was crying.
Emily and Ben decided to race down to the garden. As Emily was cruising along, going very fast, determined to beat Ben, she hit some uneven ground and toppled round and round until she finally came to a stop. Ben, glad for her fall, cruised past her and won the race to the garden. :) I wanted to scold Emily because she had on her good skirt, but I was laughing so hard I couldn't. And as much as Ben should have shown concern for his sister, I was glad he kept going, as he missed the "show" when Emily was rolling across the lawn in her skirt! :)
Another crying episode....this morning....Mike, who likes to be Mr. Practical Joke, pulled a great one on Emily. If there is one thing Em hates, it's bugs! She can sit in a goat or sheep pen, assist with labor, and be covered with blood and goop and be perfectly happy. But if a lady bug or spider is within a few feet of her, she will run and scream. Well... when Mike was coming in from doing chores with her this morning, he found a very large bug (some kind of beetle, I think). Emily didn't see him pick it up. When he came in he set it on her chair. Mike was playing with his new phone, and Emily knew he was video taping with it, but she didn't know why he was video taping! As we gathered around the table for breakfast this is what happened..... :)

....oh did we laugh!! Even Emily laughed...eventually. Who needs TV with such entertaining children? :)

We also spent about three hours weeding and tilling the herb garden this afternoon. My chamomile likes to come up EVERYWHERE, so we dug it up (like I do every year) and planted it in a row. Em and Jonny hauled in a load of manure, which was put on a newly tilled section of the herb garden. Then I got some dill seed planted, just before it rained...AGAIN! :( There is still plenty of work to do out there, but we got a lot done! :)

The BUG!!

Farmwife's Journal-April 27th

2011-04-27T21:27:00.000-05:00

Another cold rainy day here in Minnesota. :(
Got behind on watering and may have lost some basil plants. :(
The spinach in the cold frame is growing really well...and it tastes great!
Have been working today on updating our farm tour information.
This evening, Mike and I sat together with our laptops and worked on our blog. We updated links, added pictures, and made some changes that were long overdue.....still more to do.

Farmwife's Journal-April 25th

2011-04-26T14:18:00.000-05:00

Today we had our sheep sheared. Two other families brought their sheep over and joined in the fun. :)
One family stayed for lunch, games, and four wheeler rides.

amazing sheep shearer

precious cargo

Jonny and Eddie

country bumpkins

My plants got to enjoy another day out in the sun, but more cold rain is coming. :(
Spud did more tilling in his potato patch and even got some potatoes planted.

Spud

We uncovered one of our strawberry patches (500 crowns) this afternoon. The straw was transferred to the blueberry patch for mulch. Lord willing, we will have organic strawberry crowns for sale this spring and lots of strawberries for sale this summer.

Emily gets the family award for the first tick of the season!

Farmwife's Journal-April 23rd

2011-04-23T22:30:00.000-05:00

The weather has been so cold and rainy here that all of our outside projects have been on hold, but today the weather finally cleared up.
Mike and the boys hung our new root cellar sign.
The asparagus crowns were side-dressed with composted manure. Then an older asparagus patch got transplanted into the garden.

The rhubarb was divided and transplanted.
Ben (recently nicknamed Spud) has been itching to till up some ground so he can plant his potatoes and today he finally got his chance.

Em and I milked together tonight. All the animals are doing well. The chicks are getting so big! Emily is hoping Bella will have her bunnies soon...preferably on Easter! :)

Farmwife's Journal-April 20th

2011-04-20T20:02:00.001-05:00

The past few days have been busy. I spent one day and part of another at the hospital with a friend. Our children did an awesome job holding down the fort while I was gone. All the chores were done well, and they even did some they didn't have to do. I have great kids! :)
Since I haven't been around much, I don't have a lot to report on about the farm. One good thing, a near mangled chicken has recovered and was put back in with the rest of the flock. She almost became lunch for a neighbor's dog (that's a country neighbor...they live about a mile away). Fortunately Mike and the children were outside working when Jackson starting barking aggressively. They saw the other dog in the yard, who then took off running toward the chicken coop. He was fast enough to grab a chicken and then continue running away through the neighbor's field. Emily was screaming and crying as she frantically chased the dog through the field. Mike and the boys then hopped on four wheelers and went tearing down the road. They eventually caught up with the dog....and the owner, who had started walking down the road looking for his dog. The owner suggested that Mike shoot the dog, which he declined to do. Although he mentioned that it might have to come to that if the dog does this again. The owner was very understanding and offered Mike some money, which he agreed to take considering the fact that this same dog killed about 20 of our chickens last fall.
Emily, being completely traumatized, found our chicken along the ditch in a puddle of water. She brought it home, disinfected its wounds and put it in a separate pen, hoping it would not die. And sure enough it recovered, thanks to Emily's TLC.
We are hoping that the owner will be able to keep his dog on his own property, but when a dog gets a taste for chicken it can be hard to keep them away.

Farmwife's Journal-April 16th

2011-04-17T07:22:00.000-05:00

Ben's potatoes arrived this morning. Now we will have another variety of potatoes growing on our farm.
The milkroom window got primed and painted today, and a countertop was installed to replace what we had in there.
We finished painting our new root cellar sign. That was a fun family project!
The new chicks are all doing well. Goats are due in about two weeks.......rabbit too.
I went to a classs on making sourdough bread.

Myrtle

2011-04-15T20:16:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday our friend Myrtle died. We met her at Walmart in December of 2007 and instantly became good friends. One of her favorite things to do was to go shopping, so we did a lot of that together. If we weren't out shopping, we were sitting at a coffee shop or donut shop visiting.
Myrtle loved to get out of the house, and she especially loved music. She was amazing on her accordion! When we had the chance, we would take her to a concert in the community. She loved that! Emily played the piano for her all the time. She would play at the different apartments and nursing homes that Myrtle lived in. Sometimes we would go and sing as a family and all the children would take turns playing the piano. Myrtle also had a keyboard in her room, so Emily and the boys would play that for her too. Emily and I really enjoyed the time that we got to spend with Myrtle. She was an inspiration to us!

I think it was late last summer when she was moved to the nursing home. She became a little more unstable and had a harder time walking, but she was still determined to get out of that place and move back into her apartment. :)

Then last fall the doctors thought that Myrtle was going to die when she came down with pneumonia. They gave her only days to live. We went to say our last good-bye to her, but Myrtle has never been one to give up. She pulled through and was back to her old self in a matter of weeks. We were grateful to have more time to spend with her.

Last Saturday, Myrtle died suddenly. She was not sick, her body was just worn out. She was 102 ½. (She would not want me to forget that half a year! ;) She lived a very full life.
We will really miss our special friend!

You will find her obituary here:
http://www.johnsonhagglund.com/_mgxroot/page_10780.php?id=917136

Farmwife's Journal-April 13th

2011-04-13T20:42:00.000-05:00

Today our neighbor finished putting the windows in the barn. He and his family joined us for lunch and spent most of the afternoon here.
I got half of my elderberry and echinacea syrup bottled up....will finish the rest tomorrow.
The last of the sap buckets got put away today, and the last of the wood was stacked. We still need to clean the evaporator and disassemble the sugar shack.
I made a batch of sauerkraut today.
We spotted our first tick of the season on Charlie, our cat. :(

Syrup season wrap-up report

2011-04-13T09:20:00.005-05:00

Well, we are done with making Maple (Boxelder) Syrup for the year. It was a bit of a disappointing year due to the lack of good sugaring weather. It needs to get above freezing (40+ degrees is nice) in the day, and below freezing (25 degrees is nice) but not to cold overnight in order to get the sap to run real good. There were only a couple days like that this year, the rest were either above freezing temps during the day and night, or below freezing day and night, so the run was very weak.

That said, we still did process close to 700 gallons of sap on our new (used) equipment. It was a lot quicker this year than two years ago when we processed 700 gallons. That time it took three weeks running the evaporator day and night. This time we only started the evaporator when we had saved up at least 120 gallons to process. So we only ran it five times, and only kept it going for around an eight hour stretch before the sap would be all gone. Sunday we drained the remaining "almost syrup" out of the pan and finished it on the stove in the house.

Currently all the syrup is in buckets in the garage "settling" -- letting all the sugar sand settle to the bottom. We will can it in a week or two, as time permits. All total we made about 13 gallons of syrup, which is about a 1 to 50 ratio. The nice thing about our new setup is that I was able to be more precise about when it was syrup using the built in temp gauge and our hydrometer.

So when you come out to the market this year, make sure you look for our jars of pure Boxelder Syrup! Yum!

Farmwife's Journal - April 12th

2011-04-12T21:37:00.000-05:00

Our first batch of broiler chicks arrived this morning. All seventy-five of them are doing well. They were checked on throughout the day today.

We finished washing the sap buckets and barrels this afternoon. It was such a beautiful day - almost 70 degrees! The boys re-stacked the wood that was in the sugar shack to a new location down by the cottonwood tree. In a few days our make-shift sugar shack will get taken down and replaced with a building for the farmer's market, which begins in May.

All our plant that are growing under lights got to bask in real sunshine today. It was a little windy, so I didn't leave them out all day. I will continue to set them out when the weather is nice, and in about a week they will get put into the cold frame on the driveway. Then mid to late May they will go in the garden.

Our neighbor came and installed four windows in our barn today. Tomorrow he will put in two more - one in the mechanic's shop and one in the milk room. I am not sure if the critters are excited about all the extra light in the barn, but me and Em sure are! :) We are planning to repaint the milkroom and put a curtain on the window. It will make milking even more enjoyable ....for us girls anyway! :)

Farmwife's Journal - April 11th

2011-04-12T09:15:00.001-05:00

After baking bread, teaching school, and doing house chores, we headed out to remove the sap buckets and pull all the taps from the trees. Once the buckets were collected, we rinsed them out and set them in the sun to dry. There are some more to wash tomorrow, along with the taps, but the bulk of it is done.

The season of "remembering to water" has begun again. First it started with the plants in the cold frame, then the plants started from seed and under lights, and soon it will be the gardens and flowers. Watering is a huge responsiblity! All the time, energy, and money that has gone into the care of plants can be lost if watering is forgotten about! :)

Diggin' in the Garden!

2011-03-31T20:55:00.003-05:00

Even though the temperature was only 14 degrees when I got up yesterday morning, the garden is looking great! Here is a pictures of the spinach that is growing in my cold frame.

spinach

We set the cold frame in the garden last fall. The spinach grew back from a late fall planting last year, but today I planted more. It was great fun! I threw on my overalls, grabbed my garden tools, crawled inside my cold frame, and tilled up the dirt. It must have been 80 degress in there. It really felt like summer, as long as I didn't look around at all the snow surrounding the outside of the frame.

Our cold frame consists of 6 glass patio doors. They are screwed together, except for one end, and that end is held shut with a bungie cord. When I need to get inside the cold frame for watering, I just slide the one door out of my way, or if the weather is really warm, I will slide it open a bit, so I don't over-heat my plants.

Try to find someone who is either remodeling or working in construction and get yourself some used glass patio doors or windows. It's a very simple way to extend your growing season.

cold frame

Here are some pictures of our plants growing under lights.

lettuce mix

tomatoes

This year we decided to try starting seeds in our own garden dirt. Who knows what is in those potting mix bags....I don't even trust the organic ones. So last fall we put some dirt in 5 gallon buckets and stored it in our root cellar. Notice how green my plants are? We didn't bake the dirt, like some do, so there are a few weeds here and there, but overall we are hoping to have healthier seedlings to plant this spring.
Mindy

Lucy

2011-03-30T20:35:00.001-05:00

The buck goat kid and the lambs that were advertised on Craigslist are all sold, but we still have our doe kid, Lucy, for sale.

Lucy is the cutest thing! She is very tame and friendly. The children like to take her for walks around the farm because she will follow them wherever they go. Her mother, Belle, is our sweetest milk goat, with a very easy going personality. Belle is easy to milk (even for an adult with big hands) and her milk tastes great! I would expect much of the same from Lucy.
Call the farm if you would like to schedule a time to see Lucy.

P.S. Don't forget your mud boots! :)

2011 Order Form is available

2011-03-28T09:10:00.002-05:00

A couple weeks ago I finally got around to sending out our chicken, turkey, and lamb order form for 2011. All of our existing customers recieved either an email or "snail" mail with the form. For those of you that would like to order but didn't get an order form, you can now download it from our blog. Just look for the link on the left side of the page, near the top.

Lambs For Sale

2011-03-28T08:48:00.003-05:00

For those inquiring about the lambs on Craigs List, here are some pictures. I just snapped these quick this morning while doing chores, so it doesn't really do them justice. Email me to get more details or to schedule a time to take a look.

Sugaring season is here

2011-03-19T21:53:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures of our make-shift sugar shack that Mike and our neighbor put together. We got a new evaporator this year, but with the ground still frozen we cannot build, so the sugar shack will get built this summer.

We came very close to doing a sugaring class this year, but with all the commotion involved in getting the new system and setting it up, we canned the idea. But if you would like to come over some afternoon and see our operation up, give us a call. We may even put you to work collecting sap. :)

We have collected sap twice now, but haven't started boiling yet (probably tomorrow). It takes our family about 45 minutes to collect all the sap, an activity that we all enjoy. Who doesn't want an excuse to go outside in the spring? :)

The water in our slough has risen considerably with the thawing weather and some of our trees are in standing water. My two adventuresome little boys had to take the wooden boat out in order to collect some of the sap tonight....they didn't have to be told twice! :)

Goat Kids

2011-03-16T20:12:00.001-05:00

Here is a picture of Lucky by the chicken coop and one of Lucy getting fed. Lucky (a buckling) is for sale, if anyone is interested. We put an add on Craigs list yesterday and there has been lots of interest, but he is not sold yet. :)

Belle had her babies!

2011-03-15T07:44:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Belle had her babies. She had twins - an 8lb. boy and a 6lb. girl. They are both doing well and are so adorable. We have not named them yet. Any suggestions?

Butter Knives

2011-03-07T09:34:00.000-06:00

We finally finished getting Jonathan's Etsy sight put together. You can check it out by clicking on the link found on our "Jonathan's Workshop" page. :)

Seed starting, a sure sign of spring

2011-03-05T16:00:00.002-06:00

Well today we setup our growing area in the garage and got started planting seeds. Most of our veggies we can direct-sow in the ground, but a few things need a head start. So today, we planted onions, tomatoes and parsley. We also are experimenting by planting some various lettuce greens in a large flat, hoping to get some fresh salads while there is still snow on the ground. :-)

We are trying something new this year. Last fall before the ground froze, we hauled five-gallon pails of dirt out of our garden and stored them in our root cellar. Rather than trying to find a decent organic potting soil mix (that may be an oxymoron) and then having to feed the plants, we thought we'd just try the real deal -- good organic living soil.

Apparently that is how they did it in the old days before potting soil was invented. I suspect we'll hit some pitfalls - the first of which will probably be WEEDS. Oh well, we will let you know how it goes.