Homesteading Question On Emmer Wheat

We have some Emmer wheat seed to plant and need to know when the optimal season to plant is.  Is it a spring planting or a fall planting?  A google search didn't reveal much info.  Anybody have any experience with Emmer?

Aslan Is On The Move!

There is this strange thing appearing all over my yard.  It is brown and matted but I do believe it is ground!  I could be wrong, though, since it has been so long since I've seen said item.

We've managed to have a few daytime temps above freezing and the snow is gradually shrinking away.  It is possible that spring may actually arrive.

The chickens are enjoying getting to be out and about after being cooped up all winter.  (Keeping chickens really brings that saying to reality.)

The Compost area and cold frame are peeking out.

Bulbs are sprouting everywhere the snow has melted.

And we have tapped a couple of trees to experiment with maple syrup making.

While I enjoyed my winter reading sabbatical (knocking off a good portion off my reading list) it is good to be able to get moving again.  Planting isn't too far off- as long as the weather cooperates!

Well, I'm off to make some cheesy potato soup for dinner, empty my sap buckets and collect eggs! It is good to be back in the blogging world and it is good that Aslan has returned to Narnia... er... Michigan!

God's Plan For Us: Ice Storm

Had an ice storm last night followed by a light snow.  The roads are treacherous today and church was cancelled but the beauty is incredible.

Shout with joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name, make his praise glorious! Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds!"

Psalm 66:1-3b

Slip Sliding Away

I love snow.  Blizzards? Bring 'em on. I love to watch it fall, I love to see piles of it everywhere.  I have been known to throw a snow ball, build a fort or snowman, sled down a hill or go for a walk in the silence that snow brings.  However, I have to admit, I'm really a snow bunny.  I prefer the lodge or in my case the living room couch where I can cocoon in a blanket and sip hot cocoa.

One thing I don't like to do in the snow? Drive!  I'm native to Seattle.  The PNW city gets some snow but not a whole bunch.  I never really had to drive in it.  By the time I was driving my dad was retired and able to give me a ride if the roads looked bad.  Then he passed the honor on to my husband.  When we moved to Idaho we only had one car so I never drove in the snow there.  When we moved to Texas... ha.... it snowed once and was gone in a few hours.  But here in Michigan... it snows and this year it started early.  I have teens who have to go to the dentist and the doctor and church play practice and guitar lessons and any number of social events.  And since Dad is usually either at work or in bed for these lovely errands guess who gets to drive them.  Me!  It is so not good.

Tuesday I had to drop off and pick up my eldest at a babysitting gig.  Of course this family has a long, steep, curving driveway up to the house. (With tons of trees lining the drive.)  I generally choose to stop at the bottom and let my daughter walk up to the house and down also.  But Tuesday, oh Tuesday, I forgot my phone at home whilst going to pick her up.  I didn't want to walk up to get her so I drove to the top.  I am an adult after all. This backing down a long, curvy, steep, tree-lined drive shouldn't be a problem.  Never mind that it is covered in snow.

Half way down the drive and "thunk".  In avoiding a tree, I failed to see the utility pole and backed right into it.  No big deal.  I was going slow. No damage.  I just put the vehicle in 4 wheel drive and drove forward. Of course what I couldn't see because of snow was the slope away from the driveway towards the tree I had missed.  The car moved forward and promptly slid down the slope and met the tree most intimately.  Okay, I'll just back up and be on my way.  NOOOOO... I end up digging the wheels down, down, down.  Now I am stuck and parallel parked between the tree and the pole. (Apparently the only time I can successfully parallel park is when I'm not trying to.)

Long story short, it took the grandfather of the kids my daughter was sitting, and my husband about an hour to dig and pull the car out.  Sigh... why do these things always happen to me.  Now I have a nice little dent in the front passenger fender and a busted tail light. Perhaps a move to Key West might not be a bad idea.

Now for the praises!  No one was hurt, the damage is small, both my husband and the grandfather were available to help, it was still light out and there was a break in the weather, they got the car out.  Big picture time. Big picture. Thank you Heavenly Father.

Lessons learned: Remember the phone so I can text my arrival to my daughter and not have to drive up to the house and if the phone is forgotten, don't be lazy. Park the beast and walk up to the house!

Snowing and Blowing

It's that time of year again.  The time when the tractor stops being a mower and starts being a blower.

Last year we couldn't use the tractor for blowing because it was broken down. But it was a light snow year and we made do.

This year Farmer John was chomping at the bit to test it out so yesterday he got it out (even though we only had an inch or so and began to plow our drive. Five minutes into it and the blades stopped rotating. Ugghhh!

 

If I had $$ for every time I've seen Farmer John in this position with our beast we could own our own tropical island.  We bought it used.  Hey, buy used and save the difference is the motto the Duggars use.  It seems to work great for them.  Not so much for us.  With all the time and $ we've spent getting this thing to work, it would have been worth it to purchase the shiny green tractor that comes with yellow words. Alas, this was the one we could afford and, really, having a tractor payment is kind of silly no matter how shiny and new.

 

Lucky for us, this time, the problem was an old stretched out belt.  Easy to fix and not too pricey.

 

Today we got a few more inches of "Lake Effect" snow. (Not a storm, just something Lake Michigan whips up for us.)  Farmer John had our drive cleared in no time at all.  And as we are supposed to get more tomorrow, he'll get to do it again.

 

He was even nice enough to plow me a path from the back garage door to the barn!

 

Of course he could have just been trying to make up for nearly backing the beast over me in the barn.  Lucky for me I was by the chicken enclosure so he didn't knock me down.  I just got a face full of chicken wire mesh. Good times indeed!

 

How do you all handle winter weather?

 

 

Let Frozen Egg Season Commence!

 

Yum! Found this little beauty yesterday morning by the pecking block on the barn floor.  My first frozen egg.  I'm wondering if it was because it wasn't in a nesting box which are probably more insulated. 

 

Good thing I have lots of kids to send out to collect eggs all through the day!  Love me the warmth of a fresh laid egg.  Hand warmers the natural way!

The Number One Fall Homestead Chore!

For us at least....

LEAVES!

We have a dozen or so trees that drop their leaves in the front "yard" part of our property.  They drop a heck of a lot of compostable material that we use as mulch for the flower beds and fence line (to keep weeds down) as well as compost for garden beds.

This year farmer John blew the leaves away from objects like the house, trees, decking etc. and then took a leaf vacuum to them.  The sad thing is that tomorrow you won't be able to tell that he did anything.  The ground will be covered again.

 

What is your number one fall chore?

Food From The Ground!

My "city daughter" wonders why we can't just buy our food from a store like normal people.  She did not get the "farmer" gene.  I however did and even though my gardens are messy (er, that means tons of weeds) there is just nothing like going out your back door and digging up dinner.  Here is a picture of the bounty we picked just the other day...

 

Zucchini, cabbage, carrots, jalapeno peppers, banana peppers, tomatoes, parsnips, beans, rutabagas, turnips, horseradish, dill, basil, patty pan squash and chard! Oh, and eggs from the chickens! So much more fun and rewarding to harvest your own rather then traverse the tiles of the grocery store under bad lighting!  I was going to say bad music too but then I remembered that the Musak playing now is from the 80's and were talkin' bout my generation!

Autumn Already?

Last summer was hot and dry.  We actually had to specifically water our trees because of the drought and we still lost one.  This year has been cool and wet. Given that we aren't using air conditioning this year (financial reasons) I have no complaints.  But today, while at the farmer's market, I noticed some of the area's trees are already starting to turn color. 

Wow!

We aren't even in mid-August yet!  If the trees turn early what does that mean for winter?  The last two winters have been very mild.  Will I finally get a decent winter?  I love snow!  Bring it on!

Any one else notice any changes?

Fighting Summer Colds

I think I found out why I was so dang-dog tired last week.  I was coming down with a cold.  I don't believe I've ever had a summer cold before.  Winter colds... check, spring colds... check, autumn colds... check, but never a summer cold.  I guess there really is a first time for everything.

Usually I get colds during the change in seasons where temps and weather are varying by large degrees.  That might also explain why I picked up this one. We had a week of 90 degree temps with really high humidity.  We didn't run air conditioning so we were HOT! Now we are having a week with mid-60 to mid-70 degree temps.  My body evidently couldn't process the change very well.

The virus that causes a summer cold is the same that causes any other at any time of year. The symptoms aren't any different.  You may be tempted to think that this is allergies but I've been fighting those all summer (and still am) along with the added dragged behind a bus feel of a cold.

How do you fight a summer cold?  The same as a winter cold:
1.Wash your hands often.
2. Drink plenty of fluids... I like Yogi's Echinacea Immune Support and cold season teas infused with lemon and honey.  Also plenty of water with lemon in it.
3.Get plenty of rest... supervise summer activity instead of participating.
4.Eat well... take advantage of the bounty of summer fruits and veges (especially berries) and the nutrition they have to offer!

There is one different treatment for a summer cold...
5.Lay out in the sun! (It's a rough life, I know.) Let the sun's natural vitamin D do its thing.

So while the kids are weeding today,  I will lounge in the sun and sip iced lemon water.  Perhaps this cold thing isn't so bad after all.

I Love Summer!