Water, Water....

I checked the forecast last night.  It was supposed to be a high of 73 and SUNNY.  I had big plans to knock out a lot of laundry.  I hang my clothes out to dry, so when it's rainy, I can't do too much laundry.  Well, today dawned grey and RAINY!  I was so shocked.

A couple of days ago we received 3 inches of rain.  Actually, the past couple of months we have received a lot of rain in my opinion, about 8 inches.  The rain was late this year according to my farm journal, but it has been relentless.  I blame our building project.  It has been dry for about a year, but as soon as, we started building our house it started raining.  It does not bode well for the house, since it is not dried in yet.  I'll give it another month and I expect it to be, with the grace of God.

Anyway, the other day when we received 3 inches of rain, I explained to the kids with the planned square footage of the roof on the new house, we could have collected 2000 gallons off the house roof alone.  Additional water could have been collected off the barn.  It is on "the list" to have a rain water catchment system in place to help water the garden and animals during the summer months.

I am never sure if the kids are really listening to me, but they came in to tell me this afternoon, that they collected five gallons of water from the barn roof.  They had lined up all sorts of containers and then consolidated the water into the 5 gallon igloo water container.  They were able to fill up the chicken waterer with the rain they collected.  They were very excited.  I guess they were listening after all!

Another Sick Pig, More Goat Babies and Such

Went out this morning to feed our ZOO and Charlotte (one of our pigs) was obviously sick.  Tell tale signs:  #1 most important symptom is NOT EATING.  If a pig refuses food you KNOW something is wrong.  She was standing against the side of the barn, leaning on it.  She was kind of wobbly, like she was going to pass out.  The other two were eating away.  #2 sign - droopy head and droopy tail.  Overall "I don't feel good look".  I came back inside to get 2ccs of penicillin to give her an injection.  She wasn't so sick that she didn't struggle with that!  The first attempt the syringe and needle came apart, with the needle still in her backside.  I had to catch her to get it out, and go back and get another 2ccs.  This time I had PD#1 help me.  We grabbed her back legs, and she SQUEALED like we were butchering her alive.  I managed to give her the injection.


I finally remembered to give all the animals DE (diatomaceous earth) this morning.  I haven't noticed any signs of parasitical infection, but I gave some to each, and will leave it out free choice for the goats to "snack on".  I need to order a large bag so that I can dose the horses.  (If you decide to use DE, please use FOOD GRADE.)

**More later, I have to go into town, unfortunately.

**************************
Okay, I am back.  We had to run pick up eggs from a friend.  She is selling them for $2 a dozen, which is a good price.  I cannot wait until our hens start laying.  We only get one every other day from 14 hens.  They are just now old enough to lay, so we will have to wait for more daylight hours.  At our other house we had a light in the coop in the Winter, but here we don't have electricity at the barn, too expensive to run, so we are without eggs.  Then a trip to the feed store to pick up a saddle cover they had ordered for us, then dropping PD#1 off at her friend's for their birthday party.  Her friends are twins ;-)

Yesterday was a good day, we spent the afternoon at the barn cleaning it out, the coop too and I put the chicken manure and old hay in a pile in the garden.  I'll work on it this weekend getting it ready to plant in a few weeks.

We worked with the horses, and PD#1 cleaned their hooves.  She is interested in attending farrier school, so she works with the horses, as much as possible, to get the experience.  She may go this summer, if not, then next.  It is away from home, so her dad or I will have to attend the 2 week session with her to get her certification to clean and trim hooves as part of her business.  We have three horses.  One is a rescue and is difficult, the other two we work with, and PD#1 alternates riding.  We are working on getting them in shape to be transportation locally.  A small general store is about 1 mile away in a town of about 80, and the larger town of 4,000 is about 6 miles away.  Our closest MAJOR city is about 50 miles away, so way too far for the horse.  (We only go into the major city once a week for church.)  I'd love to have a family buggy or wagon to take into town for shopping, but that will have to wait until after the house is finished.

Today we arrived home to find that another doe, Hera, had two little boys.  I named them Poseidon and Ares.  (I keep the names of the goats in a "family" related so I know who belongs to who.  They are all boys so will more than likely be going in the freezer.  Here are a few pictures:

Poseidon (he was next to the water)

Ares

Hera and her boys

Poseidon

My seeds came in, yeah!

We'll be starting out seeds in egg cartons, before planting in the garden.  We will be planting, hopefully, 75 tomato plants this year.  We only planted 30 last year, and just wasn't enough, though I was overflowing with Romas.  We will also be planting cucumbers, onions, green beans, jalapenos, Mesculun, Corn, green peppers, watermelon ( 2 kinds), cantelope, cilantro, a few other herbs, pumpkin and squash (later in the year).

PD#2 - Waiting for Daddy

The view down the driveway, you can barely see the top of the house we are building

PS#2 helping daddy fix the coop door

Making Dog Food

This isn't something I ever expected to do, but I've read about it a couple of places, and thought I'd try it...someday.  Well, I was cleaning out my freezer (the one in the fridge) and wedged in the back behind bags of flour and cornmeal was a package of 2 pork loins that were TWO YEARS OLD.  I thought they would be okay for us to eat, they weren't freezer burned at all, but PH suggested I give it to the dogs.  After reading online about making dog food, I used what I had on hand.  I boiled the pork loins on low for a couple of hours, then added 1 lb of white rice, and a half bag of carrots that were starting to go soft.  Cooked it on low for another couple of hours, turned off the heat, and let it cool.  I then put it all in the food processor, took two batches to get it done.  I was then able to put it in canning jars.  It made 1 quart and 4 pints.  I used the jars I had washed today, so I didn't have to make too much noise in the pantry (it was already after 10 p.m. here). When we butcher the Freedom Ranger chicks in a couple of weeks, I plan to keep all the organs and make more dog food, and will pressure can it in pint jars for storage, so when I am out of store bought food, I'll have something on hand.  Here is the final product:

Homemade dog food

It looks and smells like tuna fish to me.  The reason I was prompted to do this, is that we were out of dog food.  Pet food is one area I don't stock up on.  I have limited funds and my family is more important to me than my pets.  Currently, we have five dogs (A Rott, Pyr, cow dog, rat terrier and a chihuahua).  They all serve a function.  The Rottweiler is a trained security dog and professional chicken killer (the last not something we advocate).  The Pyr, our livestock guardian dog, the cow dog, herds the goats where we want them to go, and sometimes where we don't.  The terrier is good at killing gophers and rats, and the chihuahua is our security alarm.  Yaps at anything, makes you get up and look to see what is going on.

We also have four cats (down 2 this week, the coyotoes are relentless).  With the exception of Lily, our house Diva, they hunt primarily for themselves, keeping the barn and area free of rodents.  I do give them a little cat food, but....if TMHTF I'd stop feeding them in a heart beat.  The hold outs would be the dogs.  Realistically, I could probably feed two dogs on scraps, the others would have to go.  I'm not the type to let one starve, so in an emergency situation, we would have to put them down, which is sad, but those are the hard choices I'd have to make in a rough world.

The livestock pretty much fends for themselves.  We do supplement with hay in the winter (we get this free), if the grass has stopped growing.  So far, we have been blessed with rain this winter, then warm days so there is grazing for everyone.  We do put out a flake of hay for each horse and the calf in the evening.  The goats don't care for the hay often.  The pigs graze, and get all of our vegetable scraps, and the chickens free range for what they can find.  They are pretty fat and sassy, so I think they are getting enough.  The chickens did get a special treat tonight.  PH was leveling the "cabin" (AKA shipping container) and found these HUGE grub worms eating away at the large wooden beams he had used previously to level the place.  The chickens were beside themselves fighting over them. It was pretty gross!  Oh, we do also gather wild melons that grow along the road sides here.  The past few years, I've gotten a couple of rubber maid totes for the goats, but this year we took the small tractor and wagon and filled it up, and stored them in the barn.  Each night we cut open several and toss into the pigs.  They really LOVE them, and it's free food.

Grub worms and PH finger

 I made bread for last night's spaghetti meal, it was supposed to be a normal french bread round, but I left it a little too long in the heat of the wood stove, and it blew up HUGE, filling the entire pan.  We only ate 1/4 of it last night.  

Huge French Bread Loaf

We had SEVERE storms last night.  A small tornado was reported to have touched down in the small town 5 miles north of us, and ripped off several roofs and destroyed carports.  Also, the closest major city of San Antonio had a tornado touch down on the West Side and caused damage.  I am thankful the Lord spared us, we had started praying when the storm hit for the Lord to put a hedge of protection around our homestead, and He did!  We received a hair under 3 inches of rain (according to the rain gauge), and while I worry about the house construction, I am thankful the pond was filled.  The dry creek bed on our property funnels the rain that drains from the rest of the property into the pond.  I had noticed yesterday, it was quite low, and the horses had been walking into the pond to eat the cat tails.  Now, it's up quite a bit, though not overflowing.

It was overcast and chilly this afternoon when PH arrived home from work.  PS#2 feels it is his duty to help daddy out every day, even if daddy doesn't need help.  They were out for quite a bit when PH opened the door and placed PS#2 in the door.  He was really cold looking.  In no time I had him stripped and in nice warm fleece pajama bottoms, wrapped in a small afghan watching Scooby Doo.  I had water already on the wood stove hot, so he had hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies.  He was very happy to be warm ;-)

PS#2 and his dirty little face enjoying cookies and cocoa by the fire

It's a boy!

Mariama and her new baby boy

Mariama is my sole milk goat.  Her mother was Saanen and her father a Nubian.  She looks exactly like her mother (except Dolly was dehorned).  PH doesn't like dehorning the goats, he wants them to be able to defend themselves against the dogs/coyotes, etc.  They are effective at deterring our dogs and pigs.  PH was disappointed the baby was a boy.  We want girls so we can keep breeding them, as we need a certain number to keep our agricultural tax exemption.  But to me a boy means FOOD!  The last time Mariama had twin boys.  We butchered one, and sold the other to a friend.  I am thinking food for the freezer in 6 months time. 

After this picture was taken, PH added additional tin to the bottom of the barn.  He thought it'd be good to have air flow through there in the summer, but using it for the new kids in the Winter and when it's raining, well we need to keep the wind off the little ones.  I was thinking of asking him to do it when he arrived home, but he saw the need without me asking.  I am so thankful!

I reminded PH that in the Winter the wind comes from the North (which is behind the tin wall) and in the Summer it blows from the SE, and the open side faces South.  So, it shouldn't be a problem.

Here are a few random pictures:

Venison and Brocoli

Venison burgers

Homemade hamburger buns

Mariama, shortly after giving birth - in the RAIN

A plane flying over head

Emergency Preparedness Class for Kids

I will be teaching an Emergency Prep class at our home school co-op this semester. Here is my basic lesson plan: 

Emergency Preparedness 101 Class Description

We will learn the basics of being prepared for an emergency (wild fire, storms, accidents and more) away from home and at home. 

Discuss the three basic necessities: Food - what kind, how to store, how to prepare; Water - sources, how much and how best to store; Shelter - various types (from tent, rv and home).  Last class session will be to prepare a "Grab 'N Go" bag.  Items needed for this class:  a sturdy bag (duffel or backpack with working closure (velcro or zipper).  The bag does NOT have to be new, just sturdy and in working order.

Resources:

The West Ladies DVD - Canning
FEMA Website
Backwoods Home Magazine
http://www.ready.gov/kids
http://www.equipped.com/kidprimr.htm

Lesson 1: 

Proverbs 31:10-

Define emergency
Define preparedness

To start build an emergency kit and a family communications plan (this is who calls who, where to meet)
A disaster supplies kit is simply a collection of basic items your household may need in the event of an emergency.

Try to assemble your kit well in advance of an emergency. You may have to evacuate at a moment’s notice and take essentials with you. You will probably not have time to search for the supplies you need or shop for them.  You may need to survive on your own after an emergency.  This means having your own food, water and other supplies in sufficient quantity to last for at least 72 hours. Local officials and relief workers
will be on the scene after a disaster but they cannot reach everyone immediately. You could get help in hours or it might take days.


DO NOT RELY ON THE GOVERNMENT, LEARN TO RELY ON YOUR PARENTS AND YOURSELF.

http://www.ready.gov/document/family-supply-list

(BRING IN RED NOTEBOOK - I KEEP ALL DOCUMENTS IN ONE LARGE RED THREE RING NOTEBOOK SO I CAN GRAB AND GO)

Additionally, basic services such as electricity, gas, water, sewage treatment and telephones may be cut off for days or even a week, or longer. Your supplies kit should contain items to help you manage during these outages, or if sheltering at home have other ways on hand to get by.  Electricity is a luxury not a necessity.  You can live without it.  If your family has a generator, encourage your parents to keep it in good working
order, cleaned, maintained and stored to prevent corrosion or harm.  Fuel for the generator will also need to be stored for the generator.  Talk to your parents about how to do this safely (out of the weather, away from flame, fuel stabilizers)

FEMA website:

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) defines preparedness as "a continuous cycle of planning, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, evaluating, and taking corrective action in an effort to ensure effective coordination during incident response.  What types of emergencies should we be prepared for?  Ask student to list several they are aware of, and discuss others missed.  (natural disasters/weather, pandemic, terroist, nuclear, martial law, economic collapse, governmental issues)

- In our area we have had wild fires, train derailments, chemical spills, flooding, extreme drought/heat
- How do we handle each of these?  In most cases, listening the local authorities that call for evacuation is best, this will be different for each family, and how our parents want to handle it.  Children may be taken to a safe place, and the parents may stay to prevent home from burning by making fire breaks, clearing brush away from the house, watering things down, etc.  Check with your parents on their plan in the event of a wild fire.  In the event of chemical spills it's best to get out of the area, if you are stuck at home, it is best to turn off AC/heat, close windows, and cover with plastic and duct table to keep toxic fumes to a minumum.  While you may be worried about pets, if you can't find them, your safety comes first.  Don't go hunting for pets or livestock.  Most animals use their God given instincts to escape disasters, and will often run away and hide.

What does it means to be prepared?  Ready for anything.  The government suggests have from 3-7 days worth of food and water on hand, plus adequate shelter.  Sometimes they will ask for evacuation, other times it is better to stay home and shelter in place.  Another term for this is to "bug in", as opposed to "bug out" which means to leave.  In this class, we'll discuss the Rule of Three.  Meaning always have at least three ways of doing something.

Plan for the risks in your area.  We will be working on tailoring a plan for your family's own particular needs (disabled, city, country, etc.) Get your parents involved.

Homework:  Look at a map of your area and locate three ways to get home.  Think outside the box, sometimes roads are not the best way.  Cross country, walking or cycling may be a better/safer way then driving, but look for at least three or, as many as, you can find.

List three emergenices you want to make sure your family is prepared for.. The three I emphasize are:

1) Severe storms (tornadoes)
2) Wild fire
3) Economic collapse/governmental disarray (martial law).. The three I emphasize are:

1) Severe storms (tornadoes)
2) Wild fire
3) Economic collapse/governmental disarray (martial law)

http://www.ready.gov/kids
http://www.fema.gov/pdf/library/color.pdf

Lesson 2:  FOOD STORAGE

READ Patrice Lewis Intro on Food (www.rural-revolution.com) - her article is on the Backwoods Home website

We are going to operate on the presumption that we are "sheltering in place".  Who remembers what this term means? "General" recommendations are 3 days to 1 week worth of food, this is basic, opt for larger amounts

Main Rule of thumb is:  Store what you eat, eat what you store.  Make it balanced and nutritious, include comfort food/fun food to alleviate food fatigue and stress

Types of food I have:

store  bought canned goods
store bought grains, flours, basic staples
LDS
meat animals (chickens, coats, calf)
garden
home canned foods
dehydrated

3 ways to store food without electricity
1) dehydration
2) commercially canned
3) smoked
4) home canning
5) more?

**Try and steer away from keeping primary food sources stored in refrigerator/freezer)

3 ways to provide food in an emergency
1) garden
2) own meat animals
3) hunting (not a good long term solution, as others will be using too, and game will be depleted)
4) stock own tank with fish
5) store food (start now)

Bring and show examples of different types of food to store/prepare

1) LDS cans
2) home canned (canning supplies)
3) dehydrated (bring dehydrator)
4) garden seeds (can or packages)

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/lewis133.html
Baker Creek Seed catalog
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/clay55.html (has list of year supply of food for a family of 3)

Provide list of basics to have on hand (Backwoods Home prep book)

Example:
bread flour
corn meal
baking soda
cream of tartar
salt
sugars (white, brown, honey, etc.)
oils/shortening/lard
rice
beans
oats, etc.,

Homework: 
1) Discuss with parents on starting to prepare and store food and supplies for emergencies
2) Take an inventory of your home food pantry or freezer and make a list of TEN basic items needed for your pantry.
3) Organize at least one cabinet in your home pantry or freezer (get permission first).  Have a parent initial your basic food list and bring to class.
4) Read Patrice Lewis article online (at home or library) - I'll send link to parents, but please write it down as well.  If you can't get to a computer, please let me know.

Continue Watch Canning DVD (if time)

Lesson 3: Bring water filter, water jug, washer, solar shower)

Water (sources, amounts, purification, bathing, toilet, laundry - bring rapid washer)

Bring stuff to make a bucket toilet

procure and start filling 2 quart size soda bottles with water, rotate out every 6 months to keep fresh

water filter, Berkey Filter, bleach

Homework:  Draw a diagram of your home and outbuildings and plan a water catchment system for an emergency water source
           Find, locate and list three alternate water sources in your area, OTHER than water company delivery, share with class next week
           With parent's permission store 1 quart of water for each person in your family (you can use old soda or water bottles, clean bottles really well, and put 5 drops of bleach in each 2 quart container before storage


 *********************************************************************************************
         
Lesson 4:  Shelter  (inclues heat, light, sanitation, entertainment and security)
nclude games, generator, inverters, batteries, lighting and more)

3 different types of shelter
1) home
2) RV/Pop Up
3) Tent
4) Tarp
5)

3 ways to heat home - How do you heat your home? What would you do if the power was out? Cold vs. Heat
1) wood stove
2) fireplace (not efficient)
3) kerosene heater
4) propane heater
5) ??

3 ways to light home
1) candles
2) oil lamp
3) LED lamps (batteries/solar chargers)
4) Solar panels (see Harbor Freight, Ace or Lowe's for inexpensive solar lights)
5) generator (don't forget storage of fuel)

3 ways to provide sanitation:
1) bathng (tubs, outdoor shower, pond, solar shower)
2) toilet (own septic system, out house, camp toilet, compost toilet)
3) dish washing (kitchen sink, dish pans, paper plates, etc.,)

3 ways to provide security
1) be aware, guard duty
2) weapons (guns, knives, etc.)
3) lock doors/windows, clear brush from windows, fencing, dogs

Bring tarp, bungees, tent?
Inverter, lamp, solar light
Battery Charger
Mr. Buddy Heater
Games/Cards/Books

Homework:  Evaluate each area above and find one area of improvement and report on it

1) Heat or Cooling
2) Light
3) Sanitation (build outdoor shower?)


Lesson 5:  Safety and Protection (OPSEC, weapons, awareness), Important Documents

Talk to your parents about their safety precautions.  There may be some things they don't want discussed about your personal possessions outside of your home.  We call this OPSEC or Operational Security.  Gather important documents and keep centrally located. 


Homework:  Talk to parents FIRST and get their okay
1) Make copy of your brith certificate
2) Make copy of your health insurance card and doctor's name, number, address
3) Make copy of your Emergency contact information


Lesson 6:  Gardening

Watch West Ladies DVD on Gardening
Talk about what grows best in our area
Review Growing Zone (last freeze, first freeze, length of season)

Homework: 

1)Review the outlay of your property, discuss with parents the best location for a possible garden (this can be a real location
or just a plan)

2) Make a list of 10 types of vegetables, herbs, etc., that your family normally eats and that you would like to grow

3) Gather as many packets of seeds that you can find, inexpensively.  Don't worry about non-gmo, or hybrid at this time, the
importance is to start your own "seed bank".  Starting is the KEY.



Lesson 7: Preparing in your Community, Discuss using Rubber Maid Tote and larger preps for vehicle, Discuss items for Grab 'N Go Bag


What avenues are in our community for emergencies?
Where are our local shelters? Do we have any?
Do we have a food pantry in our town/city?
What can your family do to help?

Homework:

1) Gather items from list of needed items for Grab N Go bag, bring to next class.  DON'T FORGET WE WILL BE COMPILING OUR BAGS, and
making sure we have all needed items.



Lesson 8:  Compile items for Grab 'N Go Bag and complete packing bag

2 bottles of water
3 granola bars
3 small cans of spaghetti o's, ravioli, etc.
3 packs of dried fruit
3 candy bars
3 bags of chips
fork
flashlight
whistle
reading book
Bible
pad/pen
cards
3 pairs of sock
1 pair of underwear
2 clean shirts
travel size bar of soap, shampoo, kleenex, toothbrush, toothpaste

**Meal/snack made with food storage items for final class


A Few Survival/Preparedness books for Kids

My Side of the Mountain
Johnny Tremain
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
U.S. Army First Aid Manual

Update on "What I've done to prep this week"

This is my entry on another blog when the blog author asked the question of what everyone has done this week to prepare:

1) Ordered additional seed for our seed bank, and our garden from Baker Creek Seed
2) Worked on gun safety, loading and target practice with family
3) Ordered 2 DVDs (one Stargate Season 7 – okay it’s a stress relief, and a DVD “Homestead Blessings: The Art of Soapmaking”
4) Prepared garden
5) Purchased one item from each category on Master List
6) Made bucket toilet, been having everyone use it, then showing kids how to deal with human waste.

That's about it....what have you done lately to prepare?

Saturday Around the Farm

Today we were up early.  PH went out hunting with the help of our pup Duke.  We picked Duke up off the street thinking he was a Rott pup, but while he may have a smidge of Rott, he is more likely some kind of cow dog.  He is great at herding the goats.  We didn't even train him.  He's also a great tracker, and loves to follow PD#1 when she goes off on horseback.  He's kind of a fluffy looking short of Rott.  I'll try and take a picture and post it here, and if anyone can tell me what they think he might be that would be awesome!

Anyway, we basically hung around the house today.  I let the Freedom Rangers out of their tractor today (only 4 weeks left to butchering) to well...free range ;-)  They didn't like it too much, they stayed close to the barn, though a few followed me around most of the day, and I kept stepping on them.

The main flock of chickens, my egg layers, love to hang out around the pond.  I guess they find a lot of food there.  I took a few pictures of them today, and will post them below.

The Ladies Out for a Walk (the blonde ones are Buff Orps, and the others are Americaunas)

This is our BIG rooster Patton and his wife

 Patton is a Rhode Island Red (dad/Buff Orp X (Mama).  He is HUGE!  His daddy was HUGE, so he definitely took after his daddy, but he is odd man out.  All the girls like Napoleon.  He has way better manners when it comes to "courting".  Patton is more of an ambush kind of guy.  Patton only has one hen that likes him.  This one is a black sex link that we were given.  She had a sister, but she didn't make it.  This hen stays by his side, where the other hens RUN when they see him coming.  They hide behind Napoleon. 

Napoleon - our banty rooster - dad to Buff Jumper

Buff Jumper (Banty/Buff Orp X)

Buff Jumper is about the same size as his dad.  I guess the rooster genes are stronger in our chicks. We hatched out Patton and Buff Jumper in our incubator. 

Here is a picture of Molly, our Charloais heifer calf.  She follows me around at night when it's feeding time.  She is very quiet, and waits her turn.  Her best friends are the pigs.  It's like they are family or something.  If she is grazing and looks up and they are gone, she panics.  She calls them and they come running, or she runs to find them.  It's pretty hilarious to see a scared calf looking for her pigs.

Molly

PH began the next step of the house, and was able to purchase about 8 plywood boards for the roof. We'll need to save up more money to keep enough to finish the front slope.  Once that is done, PH will ask a friend to come help him, as heights are not PH's strong suit.

PS#2 "helping" Daddy unload the few boards we bought

 Nothing exciting going on today just cleaning and laundry.  Made Venison steak for dinner, and am off to make cookies now.  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

A Bit of Excitement!

We had a bit of excitement here this afternoon.  We "think" someone was trying to rob us.  PD#2 (8 years old) noticed a red and white pickup at the gate.  A man was wrestling with the chain.  She came to get me, and I began walking up the driveway (Brown Bess was with me in it's resting place).  As I came up the driveway, the man jumped in the truck, backed up fast and took off.  I was too far away to get a good description or a tag number.

Sadly, we had gotten lax in our defenses and we are back to being armed and ready 24/7.  Our trained guard dog is back to patrolling at night, and the gate is double pad locked.  It will make it a tad more difficult for PH when he leaves for work in the morning, but the fact that someone would try to access our property through a locked gate in broad daylight says something.  People are desperate. 

We had a round of target practice this evening, and will continue this weekend making sure everyone from the 8 year old up is proficient in loading their weapon of choice, and can hit what they aim at on a consistent basis.

The honeybees were out in full force (I wish I knew how to find where their hive is, I am anxious to "borrow" their honey).  They were all over the stinging nettle, and their little legs were loaded down with white pollen.  I didn't even know that stinging nettle flowered!  Ever since I learned that nettle is good to eat and for medicinal uses, I have been making note of where it grows on the land.  We seem to have quite a bit.  It's funny the things you notice once you are aware of them.  For instance, the nettle, the mesquite beans, the cactus and tunas, the wild melons, the wild mustang grapes, wild blackberries and orange/grapefruit trees at many abandoned homesteads around our area. 

We will also be working in the garden this weekend, planting what we have, and waiting with baited breath for our Baker Creek Seed order.  It's so strange the things we get excited at ;-) New Seeds, new DVDs from Netflix, a fresh box of .22LR cartridges, a gift of venison and taking a trip down the zip line. 

We ran a few errands to pick up a couple of bottles of Kerosene, and to stock up on a few items on my Master List.  It isn't supposed to be cold, but we want to be ready for the next cold front, plus I need to refill the lamps.  It is a little chilly tonight, but not cold enough for the Kerosene heater.  The wood stove keeps the chill at bay just fine on it's own. 

Seed Order and More...

Now that the garden is ready, I have been looking through my Baker Creek Seed catalog and making a list.  Actually, I went beyond the list and placed the order tonight.  I should receive the seeds next week, because Baker Creek is usually FAST.

I went ahead and ordered hubbard squash, butternut squash, and Amish Pie Pumpkin for the Fall while I had money for seeds.

I made an extensive list of items to start collecting, or to check off that I already have on hand.  It's long, but here's the list. 

Things needed:

GARDENING - check yard sales and flea market
hoe (one more)
rake (one more)
shovel (one more)
mulch (use chipper)
compost (start compost)
Seeds:  hubbard squash, other squash seeds, jerusalem artichokes - DONE (Order Large southern package when income tax comes in)

shade cloth (2 more packages or use lattice)
pots/cups to start herbs - DONE
culinary herb seed
medicinal herb seed (one more set)

MISC. NEEDS

canning jars/lids - need more lids
pectin
pickling spices
vacuum sealer
fuel (gas and kerosene)
fuel tanks
firewood - DONE
car oil
tire patches/FIX A flat
hydraulic oil
fly paper
toilet paper (200 rolls or make flannel wipes)
needles
thread
fabric (denim, line, cotton, pillow ticking)
yarn
crochet hooks - done
scissors
paper
pens/pencils
pencil sharpener
berkey filter
pitcher filter (2)
duct tape
plastic sheeting
kerosene filter
tarps
nails
screws
wire
fencing
lumber
look for bicycles
solar lights from Harbor Freight
solar panels
candles - purchased from "O" family; buy DVD to learn how to make
matches - at least 1,000
batteries
lighters
kerosene/oil lamps
dish soap
Borax
Washing Soda
Zote soap
gill net
fishing poles
fishing lines/monofillament
magnesium fires starters
lures/bait
fish hooks
weights
twine
compass (good quality)
camp shower (have one need new hose)
work gloves (several pairs)
out door thermometer
mosquito nets (6)
fire extinguishers (4)
Can openers (2) heavy duty
razors
soap
shampoo or baking soda/vinegar rinse
foil
plastic wrap
stainless steel hunting knife
butchering tools (replacement blades)

MEDICAL

Nitrile Gloves (my size and one up) -DONE
Surgical Masks/Face Shields
4X4 gauze sponges
Gauze rolls
Vaseline Dressings
Co-flex (cohesive bandages stick to themselves) - need more
elastic bandages
band aids
butterfly
surgical tape
peroxide
EMT shears
Neosporin/Bag Balm
Petroleum Jelly - have some
Potassium Iodide tablets - DONE
Antibiotics (Thomas Labs)
Immodium
Tylenol
Ibuprofen (Adult and Kid)
Asprin
Bendadryl
Robitussin DM
Chloroquine
Primatene Mist
Cough Drops
Stool Softeners
Enemas
Eye drops
Betadine
Epsom Salts
Alcohol
Advil
Children's Motrin
Multivitams
prenatal vitamins w/folic acid
Potassium chloride
Emergen-C
Chlorine Bleach
Pool Shock
Bulb syringes
RescueVac
Hot water bottles (have 3, buy 3 more)
sports bottles
drinking straws
notebooks
teakettle - DONE
thermometers
blood pressure cuff
humidifier
plastic garbage bags
zip loc bags
syringe without needles and w/ needles
medicine dispenser
pill cutter
medicinal teas (variety)
herbs (tinctures,capsules, ointments and seeds)
Whiskey (for medicine and trading)
Child birth kit (2)
Midwife kit (2)

ANTIBIOTIC LIST

Amoxicillin
Ampillicin
Penicllin
Ciprofloxacin
Azithromycin
Cotrimoxazole
Erythromycin (for those allergic to Penicillin)
Metronidazole
Tetracycline

FOOD SUPPLIES

can veggies/fruit
tomato sauce
flour
wheat berries
yeast
baking soda
baking powder (short shelf life)
cream of tartar (store lots)
corn starch
cinnamon
spices (assorted)
sugar
cornmeal
tea (Luzianne, earl grey, mint, lemon, nettle, and other herbal teas)
cocoa
brown sugar
powdered sugar
pasta
syrup
dried onions
vanilla
white rice
brown rice
beans (all kinds)
salt
pepper
boullion
soup stock (canned)
salad dressings (ranch, italian)
bacon bits
powdered milk (whole and non fat)
olive oil
veg oil
honey
oats
pasta
canned meats? or can myself?
onion powder/salt
garlic powder/salt
oregano
basil
season salt
chili powder
red pepper flakes
Vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar
Lemon Juice
Bottle Juices (assorted)
peanut butter
butter or powdered butter
shortening (short shelf life)
Corn syrup

ANIMAL NEEDS

chicken scratch
sweet feed
hay
water troughs
hardware cloth

CLOTHING

jeans
tshirts
sweaters
light jackets
heavy jacket
gloves/mittens
socks
underwear
sports bras
shoes (flip flops, tennis shoes)
boots
ball caps
stocking caps
cowboy hat or hat with round brim for shade
cloth diapers - 2 more dozen
pens
rubber pants
baby clothes (assorted sizes and gender)

I'll be selecting one item from each section to purchase for storage, and try to knock things off as I can starting tomorrow.

Have a good weekend, and don't forget to prep!

Random Life Happenings

Ham and Bean Soup

It doesn't seem like it has been so long since I posted.  I really like to post every night, but don't want to bore anyone with the mundane activities here at the farm.  But I have a bad memory, and I like to post things for my mom to see.

This weekend was very productive.  The garden area was re-fenced.  Previously, I had attempted to relieve PH of the work and I used what we had.  I am a tightwad and didn't want to buy fencing.  There are some things that just NEED to be done, and fencing a garden to protect it from destructive goats is one of those things.  So, after a year, PH bought sturdy goat fencing and re-fenced the garden, putting in new posts and setting them in concrete.  I have a beautiful fenced area now.  I am so excited, and am busily planning what we should plant in another month.  February is normally our coldest month, so I want to wait until the chance of a freeze is done, but I need to get an early jump to avoid the extreme hot weather, and to ensure we get a good harvest to can for the next year.

Last night and tonight, PH completed tilling the garden.  I need to dump in the chicken and horse manure and rake it through and let it sit for the next month and a half.  I want to try the new "Back to Eden" gardening method, which is basically a no till method, but until I can come across a good source of mulch and start composting regularly, I'll have to continue the regular way.

PH and the kids did an excellent job of cleaning up the garden area.  I concentrated on "trying" to declutter and reclaim this container we call a home.  I am very overwhelmed with the lack of storage space, the need to continue stocking my pantry, and the dirt that is literally dragged or blown in here daily.  I sweep or vacuum daily, as the sand and firewood debris makes a big mess.

Other than church on Sunday, we spent the entire weekend at home.  I used this time to let the animals out of their pens to roam free.  So, we had a field full of goats, horses, pigs, chickens, and a calf.  It was beautiful.  The hawks were circling overhead and calling.  Probably, hoping for one of my chickens.  The cats were stalking the gopher holes, while the lazy dogs slept the time away.  Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day, with a high of 70!  The sun was out and it was perfect.  I was able to complete lots of laundry and hang it on the clothesline.  I LOVE being able to stay home and accomplish projects on our homestead.

PH is building a scaffolding to work on the upper part of the roof on the house.  Progress is low, and I am trying to be patient, it is difficult.

I am including some random pictures of life around here lately.

Buff Jumper, our young rooster

Wilbur (left), Fern (center), Charlotte (right)

PS#2 protecting his BumbleBee Boy from the Paparazzi (AKA Mama)

Mending a sweater with a yarn needle, the seam had come apart

Oil lamp, sewing baskets and a few of my Christmas gifts (candleholder and herbs)

A few of our movies

Getting Ready for Butchering Part 2

I was taking inventory of our butchering kit yesterday.  When I opened it I saw it HAD NOT been cleaned since we used it last.  Now, I KNOW I wouldn't have put it away with out cleaning, so that leaves TWO people (PH and PD#1) as the culprits.  I took out each item (knives, sharpeners, bone saw, etc.) and washed everything in hot soapy water, as well as, the case itself.  I dried everything, carefully, and thought I'd sharpen the knives before putting it back together.  Now, being a good TEXAS girl (formerly a Marylander) I know how to shoot, pretty well, I might add, so these piddly knives are nothing right?  SIGH

I cut myself.  On the finger next to my pinkie, on the left hand, right at the knuckle, a huge SLICE.  I didn't even really notice until I saw blood pooling on the counter.  I started thinking "what has spilled?".  Then I noticed my hand.  Great! Just what I needed, I hadn't even finished the dishes yet.  I had to take a break and get the bleeding stopped, then adding the liquid skin to keep it closed.

So, while I THOUGHT I was getting ready for the chicken butchering, it was really my own self I was planning to butcher.  I sure am glad I cleaned the knife before cutting myself.  After sitting in all that YUCK from the previous butchering, no telling what disease I would have developed.

Lesson learned? I'll leave the knife sharpening to PH.  It's much easier to doctor his cuts then my own.

**I happened to be at a friend's ranch today and we were talking chicken butchering.  She is a PRO at it, and I really wish she would come help me (HINT, HINT).  She started laughing when I told her how we were planning to butcher the chickens, and told me I had picked the bloodiest way to do it.  It figures!
PH made me the killing cone and all.  Well, we've never done this before, so we may decide next time to go a different route.  I'll keep you posted, once it happens, around Valentine's Day.  It may look like a repeat of the St. Valentines Day Massacre.  I'll try not to take pictures.

The Ten Year Plan

I thought I'd list my 10 Year Plan here, and back date it to the time we purchased our property in 2007 and if goals were met:

2007:  Look for 10-20 acres (mostly cleared), with a small wood lot, water feature (creek, pond, etc.), existing well and electricity (PHs requirement).

* purchased 10.5 acres on a land contract, dry creek bed runs through property, but when it rains it is bank to bank, and it funnels into the pond at the back of the property.  Natural drainage (two thumbs up), cleared with a small number of trees for shade.

2008:  Fence land, put up barn, move animals - DONE

*also started converting 45 foot shipping container to a cabin for weekend use, at first, then full time (this was unplanned and not in the goal)

2009:  Complete container conversion and move into container cabin. - DONE

2010:  Complete cross fencing, establish garden - DONE

2011:  Secure additional fencing - DONE
          Secure garden from goat - still working on this, they are wily buggers
          Produce 200 quarts of produce from garden (canning it) - managed to only can approx 75 quarts)
          Acquire more chickens (egg and meat) - DONE
          Buy Calf - DONE
          Buy Pig - DONE (bought 3!)
          Start house  - STARTED September 2011.

2012:  Keep working on electric fencing
           finish housing shell by June ??
           acquire turkey pullets in April
           additional calf or breed heifer in Fall
           butcher pig (around April)
           Breed  boar and sow (keep one, sell rest)
           Butcher meat chickens (around Valentine's Day)
           Purchase another group of Freedom Rangers (June)
      .    Pay extra payment on land,
           move into house and live in it while completing inside (by December)
           Plant pumpkins (end of July)
           Plant wheat (November)
          Set up fuel tanks on stand, and store a small amount of fuel
          Increase food storage purchases
 
         
2013:  Non-electric water source (solar jack pump, windmill)
Pay one extra payment a month on land. 
Butcher calf. 
Increase garden size. 
Harvest wheat, evaluate yield
Plant larger wheat field ??
grow field peas for cover crop and food source for animals.
Food storage
Church members to build own BO living space
2014:  Install solar panel (small at first to run a few items), move towards off grid living. 
Pay extra on land a month.
food storage

2015:  Be totally off grid, pay extra on land.
food storage

2016:  Pay extra on land
food storage

2017:  Have land provide enough income to pay yearly taxes.

I'll add more as I think of it, and as PH and I discuss our goals more.

Preparing for Butchering

We have 5 weeks left until our Freedom Rangers are at the age to butcher.  I am praying they put on more weight in that time.  They sure do eat a lot, and drink LOTS of water.

We are starting to assess what we need to accomplish the butchering of these chickens.  We have never butchered chickens before, so I am relying on advice from those who have.  I plan to set up the outdoor kitchen/butchering area behind the cabin.  I have:

a table
the grill to heat water
picnic table
sink to connect to hose
killing cone (PH made one from plans I sent to him.  I was so excited!  He said it was my Valentine's Day present ;-)
 butchering knives (I cut myself today cleaning the butchering knives and case - glad I have that liquid skin)
2 stock pots for heating water
2 gallon size Ziploc bags to place butchered birds in


I need:

large wash tub
tarp to catch feathers when we pluck
buckets for catching blood

I need to look back over my list to make sure I have everything gathered.  I don't want to wait until the last minute.   http://foodwaterandfire.ludlowsurvivors.com/chickenkill.html

The weather has turned chilly again.  I woke to rain this morning, so coupled with the cold it has been a frosty day, and required the fire in the stove to be burning all day.  I am thankful we have such a large supply of firewood.  I am also thankful that the barn is finished and that the horses and goats now have shelter out of the rain, wind and most of the cold.  I have worried about them for 3 years, though they appear to have done alright.

We are learning about the French and Indian War in our history study, plus we watched a documentary on Israel this morning.  It was very enlightening to me, and I learned a lot.  We also watched an older Disney movie called "The Light in the Forest" with Fess Parker.  It takes place around the time of the French/Indian War, though surprisingly PD#1 said the documentary we watched last week "The War That Made America" was much better ;-) I agree.  We will be receiving Part 2 later this week.  We were recently gifted with two boxes of VHS tapes, mostly educational/documentaries covering foreign countries, world religions, composers, artists, history with a few older Disney movies thrown in.  The school where one of my sisters teaches was getting rid of all their old VHS tapes and she brought me what she could.  We watch a lot of documentaries, and I spent three hours the other evening putting documentaries in chronological order in my Netflix account.

I've been baking a lot lately, and greatly need to replenish some of my food stores (like chocolate chips, baking soda, brown sugar and VANILLA).  Bread is on the agenda for tomorrow.  I fear the cold won't let it rise, so it may end up sitting next to the wood stove tomorrow.

Well, off to bed..

What have you done this week to prepare?

Ham and Bean Soup

I made ham and bean soup today, it's still cooking away in the crock pot.  You may not think this is significant, but it is!  I don't like beans.  I found this recipe online, and it looked good, despite the beans.  I even TASTED the broth to see how it was...I lived!

The "plan" is to have PH try it, if it likes it great, we'll have it tomorrow.  If not, I'll can it and it will become part of my emergency food, " if you are starving, you'll eat it" pantry.  It smells good, and the taste...needed more salt it was kind of BLAH.


PH is finished with barn construction, but has been welding a couple of hay racks for the horses out of scrap pipe.  Pretty cool!  I had mentioned to him I wanted to buy some from the local feed store, but FREE is always better. 

What have you done to prepare this week?

I've decluttered and gone through items to make room for more storage.
Inventoried the freezer
Talked to my FIL about hog butchering (he's a wealth of knowledge)
Started preparations to make deer jerky for the first time


More later, coyotes are prowling gotta go....

Goals for 2012

I saw this idea on another blog, and while I post every now and then what I'd like to accomplish I thought I'd put it in one place.


1.  Butcher first pig that we purchased in 2011 as part of last year's goals.

2.  Purchase turkey poults to breed and butcher

3.  Find a way to get water out of well without electricity.

4.  Finish house shell.

5.  Re-stock pantry, and first aid kit.

6.  Have PH bring fuel tanks from work and start to fill for gasoline preps.

7.  Purchase additional kerosene for oil lamps.

8.  Set up beehive.

9.  Can 200 quarts of food.

10.  Expand garden

11.  Purchase Berkey filter

12.  Purchase two solar panel kits plus solar lights.

How to Clean a Woodstove and Chimney

Due to severe backdraft issues we thought maybe (after 3 years ) it was necessary to clean out the stove pipe.  PH used a rechargeable drill to remove ALL the screws from the stove pipe.  Make sure to place these all in a  baggie so you won't lose them.


PH then removed the stack attached to the wood stove on one end, and the Magic Heat heat exchanger on the top.  Then he detached the Magic Heat from the elbow pipe that went out of the wall.  The piece through the wall he left in place.  He used the wire chimney brush while I held the bucket under the opening and rain the brush through several times.  We were SHOCKED at how much cresote came out of just the horizontal pipe.

Next on the list was removing the outside elbow piece, removing the bracket screws that hold the upright pipe and attached rain hat.  Once those were on the ground, PH carefully cleaned each piece.  He even washed the rain hat to remove all the creosote build up from the wire screen.

Once the pipe was clean, he reattached the pipes and screwed everything back together.  I then cleaned the inside of the stove, and replaced any broken fire bricks.  Next on the list (for another day) will be taking a wire brush to the outside of the wood stove and reapplying stove black to the stove.

It is wonderful to be able to sit here tonight with a fire (it is in the 30s here) without smoke pouring until the room.  Last night I kept a low fire burning, but had to sleep with the front door cracked so most of the smoke would go outside.  Much better to have ZERO smoke inside the house ;-)

Happy New Year!

We had a great time of fun, food, family, friends and fellowship New Year's Eve.  This was our third year to host a bonfire, and we had a good crowd.  About an hour before midnight  the guys headed to the bridge by the creek to set off the fireworks.  It was a pretty good display, and along with the neighbors setting off theirs gave us an exciting, fun night.

It's always interesting to see how I can host a party with as little money spent as possible.  Providing food for the pantry/freezer makes the night less stressful.  I made BBQ wings, wild hog sausage, nachos, bread, iced tea and everyone brought snacks like cookies, brownies, and more. 

The wood stove is smoking bad, and back drafting into the cabin.  It figures this happens when the nights are really cold.  In order to be warm enough to not freeze we have had the fire going, but I have to sleep with a fan blowing from one end, and the front door cracked to keep the smoke going out of the house.  I still woke this morning at 4 a.m. cold, and with my eyes burning.  Once it is light, I'll let the fire die out so that the stove and pipe can cool.  PH will take the chimney down so it can be cleaned.  We are quite certain that after three years this may be the problem.  Everything we read says to clean it yearly, but after 20 years of heating with wood we have found this to not be accurate for us.  The first time before we found out it needed to cleaned we went 10 years without doing it without any problems.  We only cleaned the chimney because we purchased a newer stove.  But I think it's necessary this time....

I purchased a few food preps, and focused on my medical preps to keep stocking my first aid kit.  Having an extensive first aid kit came in handy when PH sliced his hand open on the tin roofing while working on the barn extension.  He is adding another side roof structure over the horse pens.  Originally we were going to let the horses use the  first barn extension to shelter out of the elements, but PH had enough materials scavaged that he wanted to use them up, and not let them rust away on the ground.  So, instead of moving the pens under the first extension he is building another over the pens themselves.  The first extension will be used for church worship services, a work area for PH, and a shelter for the log splitter, garden tractor. etc. 
Back to PH's hand....it was worse then we first thought and really should have had stitches, but PH doesn't go to the hospital for such minor issues.  I was able to clean it, and use my "Liquid Skin" to close up the injury.  I bandaged it and he was on his way.  Because he was still working he kept breaking it open, so that evening it was seeping pretty  badly.  I doctored it again with peroxide, Neosporin and a bandage.  By yesterday afternoon, it was looking pretty good. 

PH and PS#1 (age 23) were able to get the framework up and will concentrate on finishing up with the roofing later today.  It's not even 5 a.m. and everyone else is still sleeping.  I LOVE the quiet of the house early morning and late evening.  Very peaceful.

I pray this new year brings blessings, and we are in much prayer for our nation.  It's going to be a bumpy ride for sure this year, but working on relying on the Lord for our provision and security is a never ending theme with our family.

Hope everyone had great Christmas and New Year celebrations in the loving atmosphere of family and God.