October Harvest Time

It has been a long time since I lasted posted.  We have been busy, and need to get busier.  Winter is upon us, and our wood is not even split.

PH started a new job over an hour away.  We will miss having him home so early every day.  It was very useful to be so close to home, and to have the perks of his last position.  We don't have that now, but thankfully his last employer provide an excellent severance package, plus gave him the company truck, trailer, storage shed, lots of scrap metal, lumber, an engine hoist (we plan to use this during butchering) and lots of other useful bits.

We received 150 bales of hay and are trying to find the time to get them into the barn.  We are expecting rain today, so we lost that battle for now.  We will have to use a tarp to cover the hay, though we are thankful for the rain.

We lost the meat chickens we were raising to "something".  It killed all except one chick.  Thankfully, we have had two hens laying consistently this summer, and have been able to add to our flock.

The current issue now is that we have a mountain lion in our neighborhood that is killing livestock.  So far in the past two weeks, four calves have been killed, a family dog, and two horses were attacked though escaped.  We are keeping a watch on the livestock, have guns handy, and are not going out after dark at the moment.

We will be canning this weekend, plus attending our favorite barter.  Can't wait.

Bees are doing great.  They have survived our hot summer.  I have had to feed them between honey flows.  Currently, the mesquite are doing great and the girls are loaded down with pollen.  I have had to replace the hive on it's uprights twice (stupid cow).  She keeps knocking it over.  We need to fence it in apart from her.  I thought it was in an isolated location, but Molly intentionally goes to the hive.  The first time I got stung three times.  I was fine at first, but the next day I was sick and was sick for a week.  Apparently, I am allergic (like my grandmother) and will be getting an Epi-pen, just in case.

The second time, I was smart enough to put my suit/veil on before picking up the hive.  The girls are usually very calm, but not when they get knocked over.

I have checked the hive and am discouraged to see that not all the frames are filled.  I thought after so long they would all be filled.  I am worried about them making through the winter.  I will continue to feed and watch them.  They are laying, I can see brood and the Queen is still energetic.  I'll try and remember to take pictures.  I have a way to take pictures and upload online now, so that is good.

Getting worried about the economy and the State of our Country even more.  It's irritating my kids that I am so protective, but I really would feel better about them staying out of crowded areas until my 18 yo PD#1 is able to get her CHL.  She is a knife girl, but I'll feel a little better when she has a handgun on her 24/7.

Well, off to get the homestead buckled down before the storm hits..

PD#1 cupcakes from her 18th birthday

Preparation in little steps

Wow! I was shocked to see it had been six months since I had posted anything.  Life sure flies by!

We have been busy cleaning up the property after the 20 inches of rain we have received this Spring.  This is the first year in 8 years we have been here that the creek bed has flooded out of it's banks.  Our entire yard was one big pond.  I am thankful my husband built the house on 4 foot tall pier and beams.  Kept the house out of the water for sure.

I purchased more Freedom Ranger chicks in April, only to have 25 of them wiped out by a possum last week (June 10).  Very upsetting.  That is my food.  This is the first time we have had this happen, and I am stumped as to how it go inside a locked building.  No holes or openings anywhere.

Pond is full, praying it will last the summer.  Sold most of our goat herd to purchase bees/hive.  They are in place and doing great so far.  Can't wait to learn more.  Thankfully, I have a good mentor to help me out.

We kept three remaining does.  So we ended up with four new babies.  One of the mamas (Bluebonnet, Age 9yrs) passed away last week.  No idea why.  She looked fine, but it could have been age.  Her little guy "Blu" is fending for himself (he's almost 3 months) now in the field.  His mama was a loner and kept to herself, so he is following her lead and staying away from everyone else.  Except at night, he comes and sleeps in front of our front door on the porch.  Who knew our front porch would turn into a barn?  We have chickens, a rat, a guinea pig, rabbits, cats, dogs and now goats living/sleeping on the porch.  I am scared to ask what next?

Our POA paint horse Samson has hurt his rear leg again.  Last year he broke it, and it appears broken again.  He kicked the dog for chasing him (left a good hoof shaped cut on his head too), but broke the same leg.  It has been swollen for about 3 months, nothing to do for him.  He still gets around the field, eats, drinks, etc., but it doesn't seem to be healing as fast as it should.  Since he is still eating, I don't want to put him down.  What a Quandry.....

PH job is finally at a close.  He is packing up the building and inventorying the equipment for the company.  He will be the last one out, and then we will have to worry about a job.  Very scary feeling in a way.I did manage to find another part time job with the USDA doing farm surveys.  It is a pretty good job, and I wish I could do it full time.  Maybe in the future. So, we aren't destitute.  Thankfully, we are debt free, and raise a lot of our own food.  We just need money for luxuries like electricity, fuel, books and travel.

PD#1 graduated from our homeschool high school.  She was also (finally) promoted to 2Lt in Civil Air Patrol in May.  A huge milestone for her.

Cadet 2nd Lieutenant

PD#1 (left) with her BFF

Graduating together from HomeSchool

*We planted a small garden this year, primarily herbs to sell at the local Farmer's Market.  I have been drying the basil, as we have an abundance of basil.  Next will be the mint.  I've also been wild-crafting several medicinal herbs (nettle, spotted bee balm, algerita).

We use herbal remedies primarily, though I do have one or two homeopathic remedies, and we use essential oils, along with the rest, to treat illness.  Thankfully, no doctor visits this year, as we do not have health insurance.  Maybe PH next job will have affordable health insurance.  His last company we paid $350 a month, then it went up to $600 a month and we had to cancel because we couldn't afford the additional cost.  

The Demise of the Countryside

Today we attended the Basic Training Graduation for a friend of PD#1.  He has been in Civil Air Patrol with her the past two years, and they have attended several encampments/activities together. So we joined his family and girlfriend at the base to celebrate this great milestone in his young life.

On the way back home, we drove a different route through the countryside.  The number of derelict and abandoned homes were astonishing.  I counted 12 along a 5 mile stretch!  I was shocked.  This has all happened in the past year, because people were living in these houses last year.  It concerns me. I began wondering if it was economic issues or if the county officials somehow had a hand it.  These were all smaller homes lived in by lower income, predominantly Hispanic families in the past.  Has there been some ordinance passed about the square footage of a house? The number of people living in one house?  Historically, in the counties here people have been more free than living in the city, but all these abandoned homes have me worried.  I am going to keep my eyes open, to see if there is an increase in my area.

I have always made it a priority to notice abandoned homes, primarily for usable resources (ie., windmills, fruit trees, water, wells) and a back up location to head to in an emergency.  But this is entirely different. These homes are out in the country, but have really close neighbors and none of them have tried to be self sufficient in anyway, no gardening or livestock.  It still bothers me, as I sit here typing this post.

I miss the America of my youth. Was I blind? Did I not see or not yet understand what was coming? I remember the gas lines of the 1970s, but I don't remember the problems with the government being so bad, the nation on the verge of economic collapse.  Am I wrong? Did it exist even then?

I am also concerned over the possible consequences these families have faced? Where did they go?

End of an Era

After much thought, we have decided to get rid of a large portion of our goat herd.  Due to over grazing, the drought, cost of feed, and not enough money to cross fence properly it was time.  We managed to sell about 20 of our goats for almost $2,000.  We have taken some of this money and purchased our first bee hive and 3lbs of bees and a queen.  I will be taking beekeeping classes before our hive arrives, and attending local meetings.  We believe that this will help our land heal, while providing a few necessary resources we were lacking on the property.  We have maintained a couple of goats to provide meat this year, plus a milking doe. We can keep these three in a pen, which will allow us to finally plant a large garden, and make the most use of our property.

My FIL will be over soon with his tractor to disc up a couple of acres for our garden and wheat field. Cannot wait!

The weather so far this year has been cold, and February has not hit us yet.  Waiting for it to arrive this weekend, though not very cold.  We need it colder to butcher the hogs, and the chickens.  Plus, I need to purchase more broiler chicks. PH has split a lot of wood, and the stack is growing high!  Very happy to see this, and feel truly blessed by the gift of all these downed trees.

The coyotes are out in abundance lately.  Drives the dogs crazy!

I passed the test and am now a Ham Radio Operator! Yeah me!  I had purchased a handheld ham radio last year, and have been studying.  Praise God I passed!  It was way easier than I thought.  We also recently purchased a Uniden CB Radio to round out our communication desk.  It has a better range than I thought.

Many people in our homesteading group are getting better prepared, though honestly I feel it is a total waste of money to try and re-create grid electricity.  I tend to prepare for a total off grid, minimal electrical needs.  I have kerosene lamps, battery operated lamps (recharged while driving the car), propane cookstove, wood stove, wood grill, smoker and fire pit.  I have been working on the process for years, trying to refine it.  Still have the wood heated water heater on PH's list.  He is truly stoked about that one! LOL

We continue to harvest the wild edibles around us.  PH and the kids recently filled the pick up truck bed with wild melons for the pigs.  They love them.  We also harvested mustang grapes, prickly pear fruit, nopales, abandoned orange trees on abandoned homesteads.  There are many around here, which is kind of sad, but I do love abandoned houses for some reason.

Goals for 2015:

to obtain ham license - done
to purchase bee hive - done
to purchase Bison Pump for well
to can 1000 quarts of food by end of year
to purchase 100 gallons of fuel for storage
to purchase 55 gallons of kerosene
to attend 5 more births towards my midwife training
to continue herbal medical training
to plant and harvest wheat

That is about all I can think of right now.  Everyone keep up the prepping, time is short, keep up the fight.