They are here!

Fern and her new babies!

Fern started rooting around and making a nest last night.  She was due on Monday by my figuring, but I guess I was off by a couple of days :) 

I went out this morning to feed the chicks in the chicken tractor, and saw she had one dead piglet and one that had only been born, and was struggling to stand.  This was at 8 a.m. I had to leave a little later, and was worried about while I was at work.  I prayed during the day for her to not have any problems.  PH arrived home and then called me at the library to let me know we have 11 living piglets!  I was so excited!  Only one has an all black head like the mama, the others resemble Wilbur more.  With care, we are hoping a large majority make it.  We plan to butcher two in the Fall/Winter and sell the others in about a month.

Barter Days

We have recently joined some old friends and new friends in learning how to barter and trade in a cash less society.  This past weekend was our second month participating.  It is pretty fun :) It is about 1 1/2 hour away from home, and takes some preparation to figure out what your specialty actually is, and what is a a popular trade. PS#2 painted rocks and traded for soap, a plastic axe and a box of pencils.  Everyone's kids seem to love getting in on the action. It is really cute! A great social studies and economics lesson in living color.

We took dried herbs (culinary and medicinal).  I was able to actually wild craft horse mint, which I dehydrated, then placed in jelly jars.  I also made cheese, cookies, rosemary infused olive oil and rosemary infused organic apple Cider vinegar (for a marinade).  I had two dozen eggs, 5. lbs of wheat, bread, 2 lbs of ground meat that we harvested and packaged this past November.  I was able to trade for some really cool items, such as:  home made vanilla extract, 3 bars of soap, oolong loose tea, dried licorice root, two mint plants, one aloe, one spilanthes, and two lamb's quarters plants, goat milk, a Californian bunny 8 weeks old, chile pequin jelly, an antique bellows (for the fire), organic smoked paprika, an herbal extract book, one large soy candle, two smaller soy candles, a dozen pint sized canning jars,a wild crafted tincture made with Echinacea, bonset, and a few other herbs I can't remember.  I traded for some Swiss chard, fresh dill, and fresh mint too.  We are already planning what we will take next month.  (Here is a link to 27 useful medicinal plants http://odyb.net/discoveries/27-medicinal-plants-worth-your-garden-space/ )

I am planning to make marinated feta, more medicinal herbs, lemon-honey cough syrup, and apple mint starts.  Probably more items, but they will come to me :)

We are in the process of selling some of our doelings.  Too many to feed, and not enough grass.  So about six will be finding new homes soon, for either breeding or butchering.  We have made arrangements to trade 1-2 goats for chickens and ducks.

Fern, our sow, will be delivering soon.  Her due date was yesterday, but nothing, though her teats are almost dragging the ground and she is HUGE.  Very excited!

Harvested our first green beans the other day, which we had for dinner.  They were really good, though not enough for every one to have any, but the kids seemed okay with that :)

Yesterday, I worked in the garden for three hours (I am feeling it this morning, let me tell you).  I didn't finish weeding, too much to do, but I did get the tomatoes staked up, a few more seeds planted (more green beans and okra).  Watered everything well, this heat is hard on the plants.  We were having such cool temps, then BAM! the past week 100 degrees.

The nights are pretty cool, though a tad humid.  I wake up to the bed covers feeling damp, and even the couch feels damp.  We did end up putting the small AC in our bedroom.  It is a cool respite during the day, so if anyone gets too hot, they go rest in the bedroom.  We are keeping the bunny in there, to help keep it alive.  We lost all our rabbits several years ago to the heat.

We are expecting severe storms, and after that F5 in Oklahoma, I am very nervous about it.  I asked PH to rent a back hoe this coming weekend and get the hole dug for our storm shelter.  I hope he will do so soon.

Well, off to pick up around the place before the storm hits, and to head to work at the library.  Keep your eyes open everyone, keep safe and be prepared!

It's been awhile, and lot as happened

Well, we have had a lot happen since I last posted.  Nothing earth shattering.
Poppy (goat) and her little guy that survived are doing wonderful.  PS#2 named him Tarzan.  We were also given a young tarantula (that was found locally).  He was named Hercules, but we have since let it go, after studying it for a couple of days.

The weather here has been crazy for late April and early May.  It has been pretty mild, and last night the temps were in the low 40s, and again tonight.  Normally by this time temps are edging up toward the 90s, giving us a dreaded feel of what the summer has in mind for us.  Not so this year.

I had already packed away the Winter clothing, cleaned out the woodstove, and put a basket on top of it.  We had no plans to have to heat the house again.  While, we haven't fired the woodstove back up, we have been using the kerosene heater to take the edge of the place during the late night and early mornings.

It has rained a little bit as well, the past few weeks.  We received a couple of days of really good rain, so here's hoping the pastures green up.  

I had bought 10 Americauna chicks to help go towards replacing all the chickens that the pigs ate.  Very frustrating to start out with over 30 chickens this year, and now only have four hens, one rooster and a guinea hen.  Unfortunately, one of the little chicks died last week during a thunderstorm.  Not sure what killed it, but the next morning it was dead in the chicken tractor.

Molly (heifer) has been bred (did I mention that?) I may have, not sure. I'll have to check back posts :) I am trying to not be redundant in my news.  Haven't noticed that she has come back into heat any, so I am praying she has a bull calf.  Please Lord!

Fern (our sow) was bred, and she should also be farrowing soon.  We weren't sure, and were making plans to butcher her, but we noticed her belly sagging this week, and her teats are elongated.  It should be soon, IF she is pregnant.

We went to our first Old Fashioned Barter Days in April.  A get together in a nearby town, where we all brought items to barter/trade.  I took several jars of a Kosher Dill Condiment (onions, garlic, jalapeños).  PH doesn't like the Kosher Dill we discovered, so these jars were a good thing to trade.  They were small, jelly jars, but I managed to trade for the following:  pure maple syrup (which I traded for an herbal cough syrup made by an herbalist friend), two bars of home made soap, a loaf of dutch oven bread, a jar of chocolate syrup, a really cool bread knife, a trash bag full of rosemary (which I have dehydrated and turned into rosemary infused olive oil and rosemary infused apple cider vinegar.

The kids and I are working fast and furious to put together items to trade this month.  I plan to take two doelings (one a milk goat 1/2 Saanen-1/2 Nubian).  Also my infused oils/vinegars, home made cheese, apple mint plants, dehydrated herbs, cutting boards (made by PH), canned food items, ground pork (from the wild hog we processed in November) and a few other items.

The girls are crocheting, doing bead work (necklaces, bracelets, earrings, key chains), and PS#2 has painted rocks to trade. Not much for a little guy to make I guess.  He wants to trade for seeds to plant his own garden.

Construction on the house continues, and PH will be putting sheet rock in the Master Bedroom soon.

The garden is coming along well, and I pray it will warm up a bit soon, so that my tomatoes might be spared.  I have a bunch of little tomatoes already growing, now I need them to just ripen, and the canning will begin :)

There have been a lot of burglaries around here lately. Our nearest neighbors was robbed recently.  He doesn't live on his property but stores his tractor and 16 foot utility trailer on the land.  Well, someone cut the barbed wire and stole the trailer.  We had no idea!  That is scary.  Three other homes were robbed this past Monday.  We are making plans to be extra diligent, and pray we (and others) will be spared.  I really do not want to have to shoot someone who comes onto my property either during the night or day.  I will, but would prefer them to move along.  We have Rottweilers, and gun signs posted, so maybe this will be a deterrent.  PD#1 has been given instructions to "shoot to kill" if necessary to protect herself.  I know this sounds harsh, but in todays society we cannot be too careful.  We have been having long discussions about personal safety, gun safety, and drills (home invasion, tornado, etc.)

I celebrated my 44th birthday in April.  (sigh) My life has gone by so fast. I am not ready.  I still feel young, but my body doesn't always agree with me.

We are keeping an eye on the economy, and government situation and are praying we are as ready as we can be for what could/will be happening. 

PH is job hunting, and will be starting college this summer to work towards a degree in Management.  Prayerfully, with his management experience, and starting management classes, it will give him the necessary qualifications to be placed in a great position. This is BIG, because PH has always maintained that a degree is a waste of time.  Yes and no.  For the most part, people do not need a degree to obtain a job to support them, but to qualify for higher level management jobs, it helps.

Time to get ready for bed, we have church and a funeral to attend tomorrow.

Keep safe and be ready.