National Weed Your Garden Day

Can you believe it? It's true. Today is National Weed Your Garden Day, and it couldn't have come at a better time! In the north I know that your gardens are just starting to kick in and it's probably not so bad, but here, down south, we're getting to the end of many plants' ability to withstand heat, and the weeds are starting to take over - I'm afraid I'm the worst about weeding. I love to start seedlings, till, plant, and water,  but when it comes time to harvest and weed, I fall short. Thankfully, I love a challenge, and today is the day! 

This is what some of my boxes look like right now:

Actually, it's not all that bad.  Yesterday I started clearing one of the beds - a premonition perhaps? and I planted 4 pitiful hot pepper plants.

and the rest of the gardenhouse looks like this right now

So now, thanks to National Weed Your Garden Day, I'm off to do just that.  I may even get a few plants in the ground too!

Lately At The Homestead We've Been...

Blueberry Picking

Recently we've become friends with our neighbor who invited us to pick blueberries. He has a wealth of knowledge about beekeeping, gardening and holistic medicine, and currently he is helping Joel learn to grow herbs using aquaponics.

Making blueberry jam

Visiting Buttercup

We're having to buy a roll of hay for the horses every 8 days, so we stop and say hi to Buttercup while we're there. Still no definitive on whether or not she's bred.

Finishing the Gardenhouse

There are 8 square foot boxes inside as well as potted tomatoes. I'll use this gardenhouse primarily for taller, climbing plants; pole beans, cucumbers, snow peas, tomatoes, spaghetti squash... the shorter gardenhouse will be for lettuces, cabbages, onions, garlic, spinach, peppers, squash, bush beans, radishes... and I think I'll use large pots for carrots and potatoes.  We've been saving coffee grounds for a worm bed too.

Soaking Feet

Dixie's abscess has flared up again despite having her hooves trimmed every 5 weeks.  We've started soaking in epsom salts twice a day for 30 minutes and right now I'm waiting on a call back from the vet to see about antibiotics.

RIDING!

And finally, for the first time in probably two months (shameful!) I went riding. In the rain. And had a blast! My butt still hurts! (Which means I must ride MORE!)

Zucchini Tots

I'm STILL working through the buckets of zucchini and I imagine you are too if you garden.  Tonight I tried a new recipe  - Zucchini Tots. I didn't make enough.

This recipe makes one mini muffin tin so be sure to double-triple-or more it.

1 cup grated zucchini
1 egg
1/4 onion minced
1/4 cup cheese - (I used cheddar but next time I'll try pepper jack for a little zing)
1/4 cup bread crumbs - I used Italian

* Preheat oven to 400 degrees
* Spray mini muffin tins with non-stick spray
* Grate zucchini and blot dry with paper towels
* Combine egg, onion, cheese, bread crumbs and zucchini
* Spoon into muffin tins
* Bake 15-18 minutes until brown and set
Enjoy!

A few more loaves of zucchini bread and I will have finished these,

but yesterday we went to get a roll of hay and visited with Buttercup and the Beauchamps for a bit and came home with this blessing...

I foresee more squash recipes in the near future.
What's your favorite way to cook squash?

Guineas, Chicks and Lock-Ins

I feel like I'm caught up in a whirlwind!  A few nights ago our Boy Scout troop had their quarterly Court of Honor.  That's when each scout is recognized for their accomplishments for the past several months; they're awarded merit badges for the work they've completed and rank advancement as they climb the proficiency ladder towards earning the highest honor of Eagle Scout (of which only 3 percent of all boys involved in scouting ever achieve). The ceremony is always a fun family night as the young men are honored - we've become a close knit group of families with our troop, some of us having been involved for as many as seven years. After the awards ceremony we enjoy food and fellowship, so before driving into town I had to make Friendship Bread - it was long overdue - thankfully the starter is quite forgiving. You're supposed to make the bread on Day 10 and I think I was pushing 14! While I was at it I made two loaves of Zucchini Bread as well.

There are 12 precepts in the Scout Law:
A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent.  We understand that there is an unwritten 13th rule: A Scout is Hungry!

                                             And sometimes pretty silly!

This was also the last day of school for the year so a Lock-In was planned at the Scout hut following the Court of Honor to celebrate. Bob volunteered to chaperone overnight so after the ceremony I was on my own.
Earlier that day, besides making bread, on my way out to milk I was greeted by a multitude of chickens and a brand new Mama Chickie with 16 baby chicks!  I had Joel catch 13 peeps and bring them inside for safe keeping.  Too many chicks and the mama can't protect them. In our area there are many hawks, foxes, feral cats, possums and other predators that would eat baby chicks in a heartbeat.  My hope is to raise these hens and hopefully re-ignight the setting instinct in my chickens.

And then there are these - 13 brand new guinea keets.

Both of which are in the house right now and stink to high Heaven and their bedding has to be changed every day!  But they are darlin' aren't they?!

I'm finding myself so exhausted these days and I'm caught in a Catch 22: We're working hard getting many needed projects done, but we're so tired that we're not enjoying the farm. We'll never be as young and strong as we are today, so I feel a push to get the work done while we're able and get the farm set up and working the way we'd like.  These are some of the plans we'd like to see accomplished:

* Hydroponics system in the greenhouse using our tilapia tank
* Grey water system to water the "downstairs orchard"
* Finish the horse paddock and round pen
* Clean out and organize the three barns and semi to use the space more efficiently
* Year round gardening
* Hydroelectric system - power production to help become more self sufficient using the creek.
* Sheltered workspace and other maintenance and building projects: Honey House, Reloading Room, Outside Kitchen
...and on and on and on.

And then of course there's the daily maintenance
* watering
* keeping fences tight
* mowing orchards
* honey bee upkeep
* feeding, watering and milking of livestock
....and on and on and on.

There has to be balance. There's no sense working every spare minute and not taking time to enjoy what we have, so here's what we've decided - it's time to get Back To the Basics.

 “On the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made”  (Genesis 2:2-3)

So from Friday night until Saturday night - (...and there was evening, and there was morning - the seventh day,") we will rest. We will relax, we will do our necessary chores ie feeding, milking, watering ..., but we will take some time to enjoy THE HOMESTEAD LIFE.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God”  (Exodus 20:8-10)

Maybe now I'll get to enjoy Lucy and Dixie!

SHABBAT SHALOM!

Homemade Laundry Detergent - The Results Are In!

Back in March my friend Mary taught me how to make homemade laundry soap. I documented the process in THIS  blog post. She sent me home with a 5 gallon bucket of the liquid detergent, and yesterday I did my last load of wash with it. Here are my findings.

Using twice the amount I would typically use with store bought detergent I washed 45 large loads of laundry with one batch / bucket of homemade soap.

Cost analysis:

 BORAX

$3.38 at Walmart for a 76 oz box.

Each box will make 25 batches / buckets

Cost per batch - $ 0.13 per 5 gallon bucket (45 loads)

WASHING SODA

$3.24 at Walmart for a 55 oz box

Each box makes 12 batches / buckets

Cost per batch - $0.27 per 5 gallon bucket (45 loads)

BAR SOAP

$4.30 at Walmart for 10 bars

$0.22 per 1/2 bar














TOTAL COST:
$0.62 PER 5 GALLON BUCKET

1.4 CENTS PER LOAD OF LAUNDRY!

But WAIT, there's more.
Here's an easier way to make the same detergent:


Double the Recipe - MIX TOGETHER:
* 1 cup Borax
* 1 cup Washing Soda

* Place 1 bar bath soap (Ivory) on a plate and microwave for two minutes (very cool!)

* Let cool completely
* Crumble and add to Borax and Washing Soda
* Mix well

VOILA! Powdered laundry soap!


Use 1 TBSP per load of laundry.

* Can be used with High Efficiency front load washers.
* Non toxic
* Low suds
* No phosphates
* No fillers
* Safe for septic tanks

If washing with cold water, dilute laundry powder in hot water first then add to wash.

Raccoons and Eagles

Yesterday morning, just as the dawn began to break, Bob closed up ten of our hives and loaded them onto the trailer for transport.  For the next month or two they will be in town where there is an abundance of Chinese Tallow trees aka Popcorn trees that make a fantastic honey. We upgraded from baling twine to cinch down straps to keep the lids secure en route. Honeybees collect resins, called propolis, from tree sap and flowers,  and use it for a sealant for their hives. It is a very sticky substance which in colder climates becomes hard and brittle. They seal alternative entrances, and glue the lids to the hive body with this resin, allowing for more stability and less vibration of the hive, but because we have been opening our hives quite regularly we could not count on the propolis alone to keep the lids secure during transportation.

When we moved to Florida from Virginia we brought several beehives with us in the bed of the pickup. I remember pulling into a rest stop for a bite to eat and noticing that a particular lid had become ajar allowing bees to escape. I'm afraid that as we pulled away to resume our trip a cloud of bees remained in the Burger King parking lot in South Carolina wondering "Where the heck are we?"

When Bob returned to the farm we hurried to finish chores before driving back to town for a Boy Scout Eagle Ceremony.
As we were getting ready to head out the door, Joel spotted a raccoon on the grill on our porch eating the cat's food. It was drooling. If you read THIS ARTICLE about Rabies, you'll remember that I had spotted a raccoon very near the house several weeks ago and was concerned that the animal was most likely infected. An animal that has the rabies virus eventually loses the ability to swallow and will begin to drool. This has typically been described as "foaming at the mouth". The other telltale sign of rabies was that this nocturnal raccoon was wandering outside during the day.

Bob went outside with his rifle and though the raccoon did begin to run off, it only went a few yards before it turned and faced my husband. This is another sign of infection. A healthy raccoon would not have stopped but would have kept running. This raccoon showed no fear and appeared to be about to return either to the food or in aggression, so Bob quickly and accurately shot the raccoon and buried it.  I asked him later if he would have shot it, had it not stopped and turned and he said, "Probably not."  I think he made a wise decision. This animal exhibited all the signs of a rabid raccoon, and with our cats, dogs and livestock we could not afford to take a chance. Our concern now though, is - Did she have babies this spring, and are they infected?

We were able to get to the Eagle Court of Honor in time for practice before the ceremony. Joel introduced the Color Guard and led the Scout Salute, Pledge of Allegiance and the Scout Law,

and we were very honored to be a part of  the recognition of Austin's achievements and advancement to the highest level of Scouting.      

                                                         EAGLE SCOUT

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.     Isaiah 40:31

                        CONGRATULATIONS AUSTIN!

Hurricane / Disaster Preparedness

It is officially Hurricane Season (June 1 - November 30). In THIS POST I suggested some things you can do to begin to prepare for unforeseen disasters or emergencies.  Today I planned to have a list of items to have on hand in case of  a hurricane or other emergency.
As I was compiling this list and getting ideas from other sources I came across THIS website.  Though I haven't read completely each chapter, this is a GREAT resource for disaster planning. Well thought out and put in practice, the author includes chapters such as: Food, Water, Clothing, Energy and Shelter, with printable checklists and practical how to's for a variety of emergency situations.  I realize that imagining a horrific disaster situation takes us out of our comfort zone and seems unlikely, but as far as preparation, it's better to have and not need than to need and not have. Personally I plan to begin to put into practice many of the suggestions this author makes. I will compile necessary items and prepare BOBs (Bug Out Bags) to have on hand in the car and at the ready.
  Obviously there are many websites available pertaining to these matters. This is just one that contains information concerning a variety of emergency circumstances.
  This is a topic that I would welcome additional ideas and thoughts.