Pursuing A Family Economy

The Lewis Family learning to butcher chickens last summer

Farmer John and I went on a lunch date earlier this week and I told him I was serious about earning money from our land this year.  Nothing grand- just keeping on top of the garden so I have excess to sell, adding another dozen laying chickens and trying our hand at some broilers for ourselves and a few to sell to friends.

Then, to my surprise, my husband said he really desires to leave his corporate job and come home to make a living on the land. This is the first time he said it as a definite goal not just a pipe dream.  We both shared our desire for a lifestyle of "needing" less and in the process freeing ourselves from modern consumerism and economics.

I laugh because we are both admittedly middle aged (44) and for our mid-life crisis we don't want to go buy hot rods or take early retirement to a tropical island.  We want to need less and provide healthy food and knowledge to our community.  It is a dream different from most.

Now, I don't think it will be easy.  We will probably have to work harder then we ever have. But I do think (if it is within God's will) that it is obtainable.  If we build our customer base slow without incurring debt and let God open doors then I do believe John could come home in three years or less and we'd be working for ourselves not somebody else.

Herrick Kimball over at The Deliberate Agrarian has been doing a series on Family Economies and his last post really captures our desires.  You can read it here.

We will be writing a proper business plan soon but our plans include: selling eggs, broilers, veges, herbs, flowers, bread, jams, and crafts this year.  Michigan has a great cottage food law that allows us to sell up to $25,000 worth of product from a home kitchen without needing any sort of license and because we don't want to be the next "Tyson" and want to keep things on a micro level we also weed out a lot of other government regulation. 

In the future we want to add animal fiber and goods, goat milk caramels and soaps, bramble fruits, and an orchard.  We aren't sure if we want to CSA or Herbal CSA but we will want to add educational classes and a green house for annual flowers and potted veges/herbs.  (The latter will require at least a $40 yearly micro grower state license.)  We want this to be a venture that our kids can add to with their own ideas and talents and I've always wanted to do a magazine and write agrarian non-fiction. (As well as the fiction I have in the works.)  But we aren't doing any of this with a get rich mentality or desire.  Our desire is to be closer as a family, closer to God, closer to the land and the rich, healthy heritage of agrarianism and be blessed with an opportunity to share it with others.

I'd love to hear the stories of others doing the same!

Plant Organic Potatoes!

For Christmas Farmer John gave me a subscription to the Magazine Mary Jane's Farm.  In the December/January 2014 issue there is a very enlightening article on potatoes: The Real Dirt on Spuds.

What stood out most to me was a quote by Wendy Gordon of The Wedge Natural Foods Co-op in Minnesota. "Growing potatoes... implies a clockwork schedule of pesticide application."

The article goes on to say that before potatoes are planted, insecticides are spread over the field. Tubers are then covered in fungicide. More poison is applied at "hilling" time and sink into the plant. During the entire growing time more insecticide and fungicides are applied and when harvest comes more chemicals are used. Once in storage the taters are treated to prevent sprouting. Gordon points out that potato farmers wear protective gear to keep them safe from the chemicals.

Really?  How much of that are we digesting?  That is just gross!

And then on top of all that... our wonderful USDA (U.S.Duh as Joel Salatin refers to them as) wants to approve a new GMO potato.  There is even a petition you can sign at www.FoodAndWaterWatch.org telling McDonald's (the U.S.'s largest buyer of spuds) not to go that route.

So while I've been chewing on that info, this video popped up on Facebook.  This lovely, little, third-grade girl experimented with non-organic, supermarket chain organic and health food store organic potatoes. It doesn't get more simple to see which one I prefer to consume. Eye opening!

Good thing I already perused Territorial Seeds new catalog and found that they offer at least 10 organic tuber options (not including sweets).  I plan on purchasing their kitchen garden collection of three different types. Yumminess awaits!

Besides not having to consume gallons of pesticide there is one more good reason to grow your own, which you can read about here.

Anyway you think about it, growing your own organic potatoes is a good investment!

Pondering Prepping

I'm an avid fan of the television show Revolution.  I love it's premise.  A world without power.  How would we survive? Could we?  Well, people have done it for the past 6,000 years so with a little prep. we can too. 

I love electricity.  I love my clothes washer and my computer, my fridge and freezer, my water flowing to me, my toilet flushing etc.  but what happens if it all just stopped working.  Now, I'm not talking nano-tech like in the show but even a storm can wreak havoc on the power grid.  Ask anyone who was impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

My attention has also been drawn to what I have named the North American Power Grid Drill supposedly taking place on 11/13- 11/14/13.  Of course every conspiracy blogger out there has something to say about that. Check out here. But whether or not that turns out to be anything still leaves me questioning my own short term self-reliance preps.

Water- if the electricity goes, so does the ability to pump water.  Best to have some stored or at least have the bath tub filled if a bad storm is coming.  For long term, we have a creek that we can get water from.  Of course we'd have to boil and filter it.

Food- Even if you have a filled pantry, how are you going to cook it?  We are blessed with two wood stoves.  They aren't cook stoves but in a pinch we can throw our cast iron cookware in or on top of.  We could also cook outside if need be.

Heat- We have wood stoves and woods on the property.  We'd use the seal off the room technique. We never throw away blankets.  We have tons.

Light- We have lots of candles, matches, oil lamps, flash lights. etc. (Don't forget batteries)

We have a septic system... as long as we have some access to water we can still flush.  What would a person hooked up to city sewer do?  Best have a bucket and shovel on hand.  A stock pile of tp would be good too although rags, paper or leaves are available.

Also good to have on hand: basic tools, can opener (non-electric), first aid kit, battery or crank radio, needle and thread, paper and pen, fire extinguisher, and some way to entertain the troops.

On one of the prepper blogs I was reading it was predicted that without power in 90 days 90% of the population would die.  I don't know if that is accurate or not but if we were left alone I think we could make it 90 days.  I don't dwell on these things but I think it is common sense to at least ponder some simple preparedness.  You never know what weather is going to come your way.

What are your self-reliant plans? Do you prep?

Homestead Firsts- Little Eggs & Skinned Tomatoes

 

My little Barred Rock Hens (and one rooster) that we brought home from the farm store this spring have grown up.

 

 

We are now finding little eggs in the nesting boxes of the chicken tractor.  We even found one with out a shell.  It only had the membrane.  It is fun to hear the hens cluck after they've laid their first egg.

Also for the first time ever I de-skinned tomatoes.  My pretty batch of fresh tomatoes went from shiny and pretty to naked.

I was surprised how easy the skin came off.  Just a 45 second swim in boiling water and they just peel right off.  It was surprisingly satisfying!  I came away with 12 quarts of canned tomatoes with tons more waiting on the vines out in the garden.

I have a love/hate relationship with canning.  It seems like such a hassle and takes such a long time (Especially when you run out of lemon juice and have to wait till your husband comes home from work before you can go get more. Cough. Cough.) But it is such a feeling of accomplishment when you look at the finished product sitting on your counter and down in the larder.

What do you all preserve?

Eat This... NOT That!

Eat This!

 

Our tomatoes are finally coming ripe fast enough to warrant a bit of canning tomorrow.  I have already pulled out my trusted Ball Blue Book and will be canning a few quarts of tomato sauce.

 I no longer buy pre-made pasta sauces but in the past I have depended on plain tomato sauce for my sauce base.  What is so bad about that?  It's organic right?  Yep, however the acidic nature of tomatoes causes the lining of the can to leak BPA into the food.  Uncool!

Not That!

My budget is miniscule and I can not afford the premium sauce that comes in glass jars but I am able to make my own! I urge everyone to try canning tomatoes.  They're pretty easy and the taste is awesome! Not to mention kicking one more nasty chemical out of the house.  Hmmm... seems our great-grandparents had it good!

Bad Surprises!

Yesterday I had good surprises.  Today... not so much.

Bad surprises:

1. All those lovely tomatoes I thought I might harvest?  1/2 of them have blossom rot.

2. My smallest daughter got stung by bees... 4 times.

3. A predatory bird (hawk, falcon, etc.) tried to sweep down and steal one of laying chickens this evening as we were putting them away.


Praises:

1. At least the chickens get to eat well.  Lots of tomatoes went their way.

2. Taylor seems not to have had an allergic reaction any more serious than some nausea and slight swelling around the stings. We are keeping an eye on her.

3.  The bird did not get my hen.  She ran for cover as I ran at the bird.  The bird aborted and landed in a tree on the property line.

Lessons learned:

1. Blossom rot can be caused by lack of calcium in the soil.  High amounts of nitrogen can also cause it. I don't know about the calcium levels but we did have the chickens in that bed before we tilled it and planted.  It is possible that the chicken manure was too "hot" for the plants.

2. Keeping baking soda, topical benedryl and ibuprofen handy is a good thing.  Also learned that nausea is part of an allergic action.

3. Must keep an eye out for predatory birds.  If anyone is gonna eat chicken it's me! Also apparently I will run toward a predator to save a chicken.  Maybe I should start carrying a sling and a stone.

Wow! What will tomorrow bring?! Tomatoes with noses?

To The GRAM!

The Grand Rapids Art Museum has just started free Tuesday admission!  So guess where John and I, the kids and Grandma and Grandpa Schuh went yesterday!  I can't pass up free admission to a museum! 

I was quite excited to go because one of the visiting exhibits featured the quilts of Susana Allen Hunter.  I was surprised to find out that Ms. Hunter wasn't an art quilter or hobbyist in pursuit of the perfect look.  She was a poor farm wife who made quilts out of necessity to keep her family warm.  She recycled bed sheets, clothing, and flour, seed and feed sacks.  Some quilts had no batting, some had homespun cotton batting and one even had batting made from lint.  She wasn't concerned with perfect lines and rarely used any common patterns but merely put pieces of cloth together to be functional.  I bet you she never thought that any of her quilts would be museum pieces yet here they are.

My husband was not impressed, but I was.  Here was a woman doing what she needed to do to provide for her family and she worked with what she had.  She didn't have an unlimited budget and a cute little quilt shop to purchase fabric from.  She didn't worry about perfection but time and love went into those quilts.  She probably didn't even have a sewing machine.  I can only hope that I serve my family with such dedication.  There was no photography allowed so I didn't get any pictures but I will remember those quilts for a long time.  Those quilts represent freedom to me.  Freedom from vanity, freedom from expectations and just a true humbleness.  We woman need more of that!

15 Years & A Movie In Production...

Yesterday was the birthday of my second eldest. Andi Rose Lewis has been blessed with 15 wonderful years of life and we have been blessed by her in return.

We spent the day celebrating as a family.  The other kids and I took care of her daily chores as well as our own and then, after lunch, she opened her gifts and then we partook in cake and ice cream. (Orange Soda Cake, Creamsicle Ice Cream, and Orange Soda). We then went to Barnes and Noble to pick her up two books that she wanted that were released on her birthday. We finished the day off by having her favorite dinner... Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and watermelon.  I am so thankful for this wonderful, Godly, young lady.

 

Also... I found out from reading The Deliberate Agrarian about a new Christian, Agrarian movie being made called Beyond Off Grid.  It looks really good and I am looking forward to it's release.  My husband and I have been working on self-sustainable living (though we have a long way to go.) and I hope this film will inspire us and educate us. I really hope the grid doesn't go down but it seems to me to be prudent and know how to live without it if needed.  Let's face it, we've only had around 125 years (ish) of electricity in history.  Seems foolish to forsake all the knowledge of those who came before us as primitive and not needed.  Our normal is actually not normal when viewed through the scope of history. 

 

The novel I am working on touches on these subjects too.  The Follower is set in post-peak oil and though electricity is still around society is very much changed and agrarianism is once again the main way of life for most of society.  Anyone want to donate the use of a weekend cabin and babysitting for me to write more?  Haha... just kidding... sort of.

 

Have a super Fourth of July! 

 

Can't Wait For Cherry Season!

You know why I can't wait for cherry season?  Because then my strawberries will be done.  Now don't get me wrong. I have a love for strawberries and I will appreciate all the hard work my girls and I put in harvesting and prepping them for putting up come say as soon as August but right now I am strawberried out! 

When cherry season comes I will go to my u-pick farm.  Pick as many as I plan to need for pie filling, canning, jam, freezing etc. and then go home and put them up and be done with it.  I will not have to harvest for days on end because I'm unwilling to see any go to waste. This will change in the future of course because we plan on putting in cherry trees but for now I must u-pick off property and be happy for a bit of recovery from those blasted strawberries

Today Andi Rose and I picked for at least two hours and then Seven spent just as much time cleaning and hulling them. Tomorrow we have guests coming over for a quilting day so when we get a chance to pick again on Wednesday I imagine it will take us just as long. I guess the plants are making up for last season's miserable crop.

 Okay, I'm off to bed and hopefully I don't dream of strawberries!

Bubba Gump's Strawberry Co.

Yep, we're in the middle of strawberry season and we are feelin' like Forest Gump.  We've had fresh strawberries, strawberry shortcake, Oat-Fashioned Strawberry Dessert, strawberry ice cream and with today's pick I think the family is finally ready to let me make jam.  So tomorrow I'm jammin'! I believe I have enough for a batch of strawberry-rhubarb jam and just strawberry.  I might even try some syrup making.  I've never made a fruit syrup before. Hmmm....

Anywhoo... I would have never guessed we'd get so many strawberries from our two small patches.  We still have them coming.  We are picking only the ripest and then we let the patches sit for a day and then pick some more the next.  We may not have to u-pick many or at all this year.  (For berries to freeze for smoothies.)

The smallest patch is around two x four feet and is filled with Ever-bearing.  They fruited all through the summer last year.  The larger patch  is around three x fifteen feet and I believe these are June-bearing.  When we moved in last year they were already done.  But both patches are really turning out the berries.  I pull one of the kids out to pick with me because my back gets too sore to do it all alone purely because of the mass of berries and the time it takes to get them all picked.  (I have a new appreciation for migrant workers who do that day after day for very little $$.)

Even the chickens are getting a little jaded about the fruit.  They are getting all the too ripe or bird eaten, or wormy or any other reason that the berries are rejected berries. Tonight we went to put them in for the night there were still berries on the ground that they hadn't finished off.

I'm not complaining though, I have waited with anticipation for these berries and I will enjoy the "fruits" of my labor later this year when the season is done and I have put up berries sitting in my freezer and larder. I'm really trying to get out of the habit of buying things out of season so I know this strawberry window is short.  The it's on to cherries, raspberries, blueberries, peaches, apples and tomatoes.  There is also a farm about an hour north of me that does gooseberries, currants and a few other less known fruits.  I may be stopping by pick some of those goodies up.  I can't wait till I have my own.

What are you doing with strawberries and what are you planning on putting up?

Dead Heads and Oil!

For most of the spring I have been working on the vege gardens- planting, weeding, watering etc. but it is evident that my attention (now that everything is in the ground) needs to turn to our flower beds.  They are overrun with "wild flowers/herbs" that aren't supposed to be or weren't planted there. They looked good for a time but now I must do a massive weeding.

I started to today with dead heading my roses.  Most of the trimmings went into the compost pile but there is one particular rose that smells soooooo...... delicious that I take the old petals that I've dead headed and pull them apart to put in a vase.  They smell amazing even after they have dried and turned a bit brown.  I like to think of it as free, natural room fragrance and also "repurposing/reusing because that is, you know, trendy and all that!

I also made time to start my plantain oil.  Plantain is a common herb.  Most men with lawns would call it a weed. How ever is a great external skin soother.  It can also be used internally and eaten but I'm focusing on external right now.  I harvested it very carefully- NOT.  I just ripped the leaves off some of my many plants, took them inside to rinse them, pat them dry and then I let them sit overnight.  (Okay mine sat for a few overnights until I could get to them.) It is important to let them air dry for at least 12 hours to let some of the natural moisture leave them so mold or fungus doesn't grow while steeping. 

Next chop up the herb leaves.  I do not have "mad" knife skills so I just tore mine up.  I put them in a mason jar, poured olive oil over them until they were covered and poured a bit of vodka on top to keep airborne mold at bay.  I covered the jar and shook it and then removed the cover and rubberbanded cheese cloth on the top of it.  Now it will sit on my nice sunny warm kitchen shelf for two weeks to steep.

After it has finished steeping I will strain the herb out (the alcohol will have evaporated out by then) and I will have plantain oil to use for 1st aid and for salves.  Yeah!

Mosquito Part Three (Finale)

We've all felt the itch of mosquito bites.  Even with all the precautions mentioned in Part One, Part 2 A and Part Two B, you can still end up itching.  Lady mosquitoes (male skeeters don't bite) inject their saliva into your skin when they bite.  The saliva prevents blood clotting and allows the insect to feed uninhibited. It is the saliva that creates the bump and the itch.

The best method for relief is not to scratch but if you are like me then that isn't happening.  I have no will power in this area.  The options I choose from then are:

1. A baking soda paste- mix baking soda with a bit of water to form a paste and apply to each bite.

2. Bath in your tub with 1 cup of baking soda and 1tsp. lavender essential oil.  Soak for 15 to 20 minutes. (This is my favorite and feels heavenly!)

3. A drop of tea tree essential oil or lavender  EO dabbed on your bites will bring relief.

4. For a splash: 1 part apple cider vinegar mixed with 3 parts water.  Stand in tub and splash on areas that are causing you discomfort.

5. You can dab neem base oil onto your bites and also aloe vera.

Of course there are always the standard OTC remedies too: Benedryl (topical and pill), calamine lotion etc.

To purge your body of toxins from the saliva of the mosquitoes drink red clover tea.  It is actually a really yummy herbal tea with no stimulants. (Pregnant women or those having surgery should avoid drinking it.)

There ya go folks.  Have a great, mosquito bite free rest of spring and summer! I'm off for a baking
soda and lavender soak! Thank goodness these skeeters are only supposed to be around for a couple of more weeks. They are special type thanks to our spring flood. You can read about it here!

Mosquitoes Part 2 For Real This Time

This is the post that I tried to do yesterday and failed because of technology problems. And as I sit here typing I am itching something fierce!  Western Michigan has a small mosquito problem right now.  It's pretty bad everywhere you go.  So what can you do to avoid the itch?

1. Wear light colored clothing, long pants, long sleeves, collars high, and leave as little skin available as possible.

2.  Keep a smudge or smokey fire burning near you. To make a smudge tie together dried lavender stalks, dried peppermint sprigs, dried mullein and dried catnip sprigs and light on fire.

3. Crush a handful of leaves of a mosquito repelling plant (see here) and rub on your body as needed.

4. Watch what you put in or on your body.  Lotions, soaps, shampoos and perfumes can attract insects. Eating sugary processed foods attract them also.  Eat a wholesome real food diet rich in nutrients to keep your body chemistry from attracting interested bites.  You can take vitamin B6 supplements but it would be so much better to get your B6 from real food: Bananas, potatoes, tuna, beans. Mosquitoes are attracted to the carbon dioxide you exhale so eat lots of garlic and onions too.  This is a case of bad breath being great!

5. Use a natural repellent.  Repellents block your pores so the mosquitoes can't sense the warmth and moisture of your body.  Though DEET is the most effective repellent it is a chemical cocktail of yuck.  Would you rub nuclear waste on your body?

To make a repellent take 2 cups of witch hazel, 1/2 tsp. each of citronella, lemongrass and lavender essential oils and 1Tbsp. of apple cider vinegar, mix together and put in a spray bottle.

To make a rub on massage type oil take 1/2 cup base oil, (I think olive oil would work good.  I would avoid coconut oil unless it is unscented.) 5 drops each of lemongrass, geranium and catnip essential oils and 10 drops of basil and eucalyptus essential oils.  Mix and use.  I do not recommend a spray bottle because the oil will clog the sprayer.

To make a balm take 3 Tbsp. of base oil (olive again is my choice), 1 Tbsp. of neem oil and 1Tbsp. of beeswax and heat together on a low heat.  Cool slightly (but not too much for the beeswax to solidify) and add 20 drops of catnip EO (essential oil), 10 drops each of lemongrass, rosemary and thyme EO's and 5 drops of cedar EO.  Pour into a container and let harden.  Rub on.

For the more adventurous herbalist try Joyce A. Wardwell's repellent salve from her book, The Herbal Home Remedy Book. She uses fresh plantain, lavender, peppermint and thyme to make infused oils which she then turns into salve with the addition of beeswax and cocoa butter. (Again, I would recommend an unscented cocoa butter.)  The entire process takes a couple of weeks though because the herbs need to soak in the oil.  It is a plan ahead project.

Well, I'm off to make some bug spray and soak in a lavender bath with baking soda.  I'll share about the bath on Monday.  Here's to an itch free summer!

Mosquitoes Part 2 (Friday Read & Write)

I am a little bit of a natural cosmetics freak and I had an entire long post written about natural mosquito repellants but wouldn't you know that my internet disconnected during the writing of it so nothing saved and when I went to add photos I lost most of the post. (I have a love/hate relationship with technology.)  So in keeping with Friday's theme of reading and writing.  Here are some of my go to books on the topic and tomorrow I will try again with the real post.

 

The Herbal Home Remedy Book by Joyce A. Wardwell

The Herbal Body Book by Stephanie Tourles

Organic Body Care Recipes by Stephanie Tourles

Making Aromatherapy creams and lotions by Donna Maria

Natural Beauty at Home by Janice Cox

I'm Back!

Oh My Gosh!!! I still exist!  Getting serious about a great many things.  Farming... got chickens!  Bees are next. We've had our top bar bee hive for two years.  This is the year to finally get bees for it!  Also getting serious about writing and selling artisan products from the homestead.  More soon...

 

Reagan holding one of our "Little Peepers"!  12 Barred Rock Pullets.

The End Is Near!

I apologize for missing a day but the peaches had overcome me.  I am happy to say, though, that the bottom of the box is visible and I have my last 6 quarts processing as I type.  I have a few left that I will need to be creative with.  A friend told me about a wonderful peach bread recipe that I plan to investigate.  If it is any good I will share it.  Tomorrow should be the last day of peach processing.  Then it is on to Salsa!

Picking Peaches Was The Fun Part!

I love being out in the orchards picking fruit.  I just go wild.  Hence I picked over 80 lbs of peaches on Monday.  It didn't take long.  The trees were laden with fruit everywhere.  Big, ripe, juicy peaches!  Can I tell you how much I hate those 80lbs of peaches right now.  A few went towards peaches and cream for dessert but the rest are in the process of being canned.  I've canned 16 quarts and now at almost midnight I've still got 8 more quarts in a hot water bath. I canned peaches on Monday.  I've canned peaches today, Tuesday, and I will can more tomorrow.  Ohh... those evilly good peaches.  I am so thankful that God created such a wonderful fruit and I'll be so thankful for all this canned goodness this winter but right now...  I hate peaches!

My Favorite Thing About Summer!

God is so good!  He gave us wonderful, tasty, sweet fruit!  My favorites are berries but cherries and peaches are close behind.  I love summer fruit picking and in my little area of West Michigan we have wonderful u-pick farms close by.  Some day, when we have property, I'll to be able to grow my own. (Well, we do have a small strawberry patch- our landlords are awesome- they let us garden.) But for now I have to get my fix at the u-picks.

Strawberries and raspberries get picked at Beaver Creek Farm- they are organic growers and their prices are affordable! Besides yummy things like strawberry shortcake and homemade ice cream, we also freeze berries for year-round smoothies and make homemade Jam! So much better than store bought.

It is such a good feeling of accomplishment to see these pretty little jewels sitting on my counter!

Cherries come next.  (About the time we are starting to get Zukes from the garden... see background.)

We can sweets for eating straight out of the jar and pitted sours for pies and other baking.

Blueberries at Dykstra's are next!  Their farm is just right down the road.  I can walk or bike to it.

I make some jam with the berries, but mostly freeze them for smoothies and baking.

Lastly, for us, come peaches... I'm sadly remiss of peach picking pictures... sigh... but we like to can them up for eating and also for pie making.  Picking your own and canning/freezing is a great, affordable way to keep your family in fruit for the year.

You can check for farms and u-picks in your local area here.