Tonight is another short update.
In the last week we finally had RAIN!! Much needed for these parts. Our part of the country has been ridiculously dry, so the rain comes with great sighs of relief. Until the night it flooded our chicks. Our lovely little Cochin chicks, two surviving turkey poults, keets and random silkies got flooded in their outdoor pen. We had a few unfortunate losses, and ended up bringing the whole lot of them BACK into the living room to dry off, warm up, and hang out until we had a better shelter set-up for a few days. I had a few weeks of barn-free living at least. While I don't mind the occasional inhabitant from the farm staying with us briefly to nurse wounds or as wee little babies, I really do enjoy when they can join the general population again outside. It also reminds me of how dusty chickens can be when they are in an enclosed space. It makes me sneeze just to think about it!
I also made a very stupid mistake this week. We had received a bunny (Holland? It is black with a white stripe) as a companion for Claire's rabbit. We were told it was another female. I didn't even THINK to check said bunny's anatomy to be certain. If it had been a castrated male, a male partner for a female bunny would be fine as long as they got along well together. A female companion for a female rabbit is fine too, as long as they like each others company. However, a MALE rabbit in the company of a female rabbit tends to produce baby rabbits. For some reason I didn't even think to turn this new rabbit over to check for dangly bits. I trusted this woman, who seemed to have more experience than I did, that it was a female. I am sure that by now you can guess what gender said new rabbit is.
As soon as I put him in the same cage, he jumped on top of our female rabbit and, well, did what boy bunnies do. I took him out after about ten minutes, as soon as my brain had enough time to process his actions and realize that it probably wasn't your usual domination efforts by a female rabbit. When I turned him over and saw the tell-tale testicles (after feeling like doing an immediate rabbit castration and thumping my own head against a wall for my ignorance!), I put him back in seclusion and did some frantic searching on the interwebs for information regarding what to do if your bun has a bun in the oven.
So, a brief lesson in rabbit gestation here, to fill in everyone so we are all a little more knowledgeable. Rabbits breed quite quickly and readily (hence the term, breeding like rabbits). A rabbits gestation lasts 28-31 days. Yikes! That means little Bunny-Foo-Foo can multiply a ridiculous number of times in a year. Ovulation actually starts about 10 hours AFTER the mating act occurs, as rabbits are induced ovulators. This means our little girl bunny is probably already pregnant. In a week or two I can probably palpate her abdomen to see if I can feel any babies in there. Usually folks will breed their rabbits around 9 months of age. Since she is not spayed, and already several years old, I am HOPING she does OK and survives this whole mess. Bugger all. I really didn't want baby bunnies until we had some large breed meat rabbits and were set up for them. Silly me. I will definitely be checking next time and NOT be taking anyone's work for it on a rabbits gender.
So much for a short update. Night all!
Showing posts with label homesteading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homesteading. Show all posts
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Mornings On The Farm
Sometimes the most interesting things happen during the day when we are doing the morning milking. Now, admittedly, I am not a morning person. My body would prefer staying up to the wee hours of the morning as opposed to getting up with the birds. Yet I can appreciate the utility of getting an early start on the morning chores around the farm, especially during the hottest months of the year. Rising at the break of dawn to milk means getting all the animals fed and watered before the great fiery orb we rotate around has a chance to scorch the very earth we inhabit.
Those early hours are also a window into the natural world that surrounds us, and gives us a chance to connect with it on a deeper level, especially if we are open to it. One recent morning, we headed out into the pasture where the milking does were grazing down the irrigation ditch (a great way to deal with ditch management that is low-impact and requires no heavy equipment). As we walked with the two dogs and chatted, a motion at the corner of the eyes stopped us both in our tracks. Three beautiful mule deer bucks in velvet were grazing about 50 yards away from us, on the other side of the goats. We stopped in our tracks, silent, as we watched them notice our presence. Two decided to trot across the pasture and a fence, and hide in the trees. The third took our measure, sized up the dogs and does, and went back to grazing. While it would have been great to watch them graze, we had to milk, so on we went with our task. The entire time we milked the girls, the bucks grazed; the two that had previously run returned once they determined we were not a threat. A meadowlark serenaded us as we worked and the deer grazed.
It was a magical setting, and an awesome way to start the morning. I was wishing I had brought my camera so I could capture the moment, but I would have to carry it with me everywhere to memorialize all the little moments we experience on a daily basis. And I am admittedly a little lazy in that regard; as well as not wanting to bust the technology while wrestling a pig or goat, or chasing down some cows. Maybe I will have to work on that, as well as other things in my life. I enjoy those mental pictures, and there are some I would love to share in a single image. In the end,I may not be a morning person, but I can certainly appreciate the beauty of the day.
Those early hours are also a window into the natural world that surrounds us, and gives us a chance to connect with it on a deeper level, especially if we are open to it. One recent morning, we headed out into the pasture where the milking does were grazing down the irrigation ditch (a great way to deal with ditch management that is low-impact and requires no heavy equipment). As we walked with the two dogs and chatted, a motion at the corner of the eyes stopped us both in our tracks. Three beautiful mule deer bucks in velvet were grazing about 50 yards away from us, on the other side of the goats. We stopped in our tracks, silent, as we watched them notice our presence. Two decided to trot across the pasture and a fence, and hide in the trees. The third took our measure, sized up the dogs and does, and went back to grazing. While it would have been great to watch them graze, we had to milk, so on we went with our task. The entire time we milked the girls, the bucks grazed; the two that had previously run returned once they determined we were not a threat. A meadowlark serenaded us as we worked and the deer grazed.
It was a magical setting, and an awesome way to start the morning. I was wishing I had brought my camera so I could capture the moment, but I would have to carry it with me everywhere to memorialize all the little moments we experience on a daily basis. And I am admittedly a little lazy in that regard; as well as not wanting to bust the technology while wrestling a pig or goat, or chasing down some cows. Maybe I will have to work on that, as well as other things in my life. I enjoy those mental pictures, and there are some I would love to share in a single image. In the end,I may not be a morning person, but I can certainly appreciate the beauty of the day.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
My Living Room is a Nursery
We have been very busy here at the farm, for the last month or so. Since I can't remember the last post I made, and I am admittedly too lazy to look it up, I will recap here. We started out with with three pigs (two gilts and a boar) that were in pig (such a funny term for being pregnant!), due to farrow any day. We had six goats, all does, only two of which were in milk. A few heritage turkeys, eight ducks, and a small (25-30) flock of chickens. We have expanded. And not in our waistlines either.
That being said, back to the title. Why on earth is my living room a nursery? Well...
First we had our two gilts/sows farrow. Each had nine wiggly little piglets, and they shared the same paddock during the entire process. All was going well, with mama #2 sharing the job of milk bar for the first little piglets. We thought it was an awesome thing for them to be sharing the job of raising the little ones all together. At least until the second farrow which happened about three weeks later. Since Mama #2 was already nursing babies from Mama #1, she wasn't as focused on nursing her own offspring, or protecting them from the larger piglets. The younger ones ended up suffering s lot of cuts to the head, with some injuries down to the bone. They were also not thriving as well as they should have, since the older ones were pushing them out of the way. So we had to take action. After much mulling over, we decided to remove the smallest ones from their mama and raise them on bottles. It was a risky gambit, since it is generally advised to remove the sow from the piglets when they are weaned. They were also only a few days old, so had a severely diminished chance of survival.
We went in with a plan. We would sneak in after the morning feeding to surround the moms and older babies with a hog panel fence around their favorite feeding tree (a story for later). We would feed them to keep them all distracted, and hopefully swoop in and remove all the babies as fast as possible before the moms got cranky. If you have ever been around pigs, you know why we would want to be fast. For those of you who have never witnessed a cranky mama sow, imagine a pissed off Sherman tank racing towards you hell-bent on protecting its offspring. A sight to make anyone a little nervous to be sure.
For all the planning we did, the act of removing the piglets went remarkably smoothly. Moms were distracted by food, babies were swept into a Rubbermaid tub with hardly an incident, and we trooped off proud of ourselves for a job well done. The next dilemma was to make sure they were well fed and would survive the next few critical weeks of development. For that, we needed enough goat milk, the universal milk replacer for mammals.
We already had two does in milk, but the milk they were producing was not going to be enough. I did some price comparisons on artificial milk replacer (sow milk replacer as well as goat milk replacer), and found it would be FAR cheaper just to buy another doe in milk than to buy the artificial replacer. So the search ensued. We ended up finding one in our price range that was pregnant; the first one we were shown had a large lump in her udder that we were not prepared to try and treat. We drove her home, and she ended up birthing a buckling in the back of the truck in a parking lot. Not at all what we expected! Her udder was massively congested, and she wasn't letting the baby nurse, so we ended up having to remove him too so he would have a better chance of survival. At this point, we had a baby goat as well as nine little piggies in our living room.
Over the next few weeks, we realized that we would need more milk for all the pigs, as we wanted to supplement the older piglets so they would be more socialized as well as having a better diet. Milk-fed pork. Yum! The search began anew. As the story goes, the person we bought the pregnant doe from decided to divest himself of almost all his goats, so we went to pick up another. We bought the one he showed us, and he threw in her two kids for free. He also had another doe (the original one we looked at with the lump in her udder) he would sell us for just a little more, and he would throw in HER kids as well. Yikes! We went out to buy one goat, and we came back with SIX!!
In the end, we picked up ANOTHER doe (and her kid who turns out to be fairly wild) so we could have enough for ALL the piglets and ALL the kids as well. I am hoping to wean the goats within the next few weeks so we can either freeze milk for the piglets as they grow or to sell as Goat Shares.
We also picked up some Large Fowl Cochin chicks who are also currently calling an old TV box home in our living room. They are good for eggs and meat, and have little feathered feet. Squee! I will try to get some good photos of them eventually. No promises, though.
What do I want next? A milk cow. Really. I swear, my husband and my son could both almost fully exist off of just a raw milk diet if given the choice. While we do have a source for some raw cows milk, we really just need to save up our pennies or find someone to help invest in our little enterprise so we can have our own milk cow. I never thought I would see the day when I would hear myself say that! It is amazing what happens in such a short span of time, when different opportunities present themselves. Some Guinea hens or keets would be nice too. While I am dreaming out loud, 200+ private acres in the mountains with pasture and irrigation or riverfront for our own would be awesome too...
Just Saying....
That being said, back to the title. Why on earth is my living room a nursery? Well...
First we had our two gilts/sows farrow. Each had nine wiggly little piglets, and they shared the same paddock during the entire process. All was going well, with mama #2 sharing the job of milk bar for the first little piglets. We thought it was an awesome thing for them to be sharing the job of raising the little ones all together. At least until the second farrow which happened about three weeks later. Since Mama #2 was already nursing babies from Mama #1, she wasn't as focused on nursing her own offspring, or protecting them from the larger piglets. The younger ones ended up suffering s lot of cuts to the head, with some injuries down to the bone. They were also not thriving as well as they should have, since the older ones were pushing them out of the way. So we had to take action. After much mulling over, we decided to remove the smallest ones from their mama and raise them on bottles. It was a risky gambit, since it is generally advised to remove the sow from the piglets when they are weaned. They were also only a few days old, so had a severely diminished chance of survival.
We went in with a plan. We would sneak in after the morning feeding to surround the moms and older babies with a hog panel fence around their favorite feeding tree (a story for later). We would feed them to keep them all distracted, and hopefully swoop in and remove all the babies as fast as possible before the moms got cranky. If you have ever been around pigs, you know why we would want to be fast. For those of you who have never witnessed a cranky mama sow, imagine a pissed off Sherman tank racing towards you hell-bent on protecting its offspring. A sight to make anyone a little nervous to be sure.
For all the planning we did, the act of removing the piglets went remarkably smoothly. Moms were distracted by food, babies were swept into a Rubbermaid tub with hardly an incident, and we trooped off proud of ourselves for a job well done. The next dilemma was to make sure they were well fed and would survive the next few critical weeks of development. For that, we needed enough goat milk, the universal milk replacer for mammals.
We already had two does in milk, but the milk they were producing was not going to be enough. I did some price comparisons on artificial milk replacer (sow milk replacer as well as goat milk replacer), and found it would be FAR cheaper just to buy another doe in milk than to buy the artificial replacer. So the search ensued. We ended up finding one in our price range that was pregnant; the first one we were shown had a large lump in her udder that we were not prepared to try and treat. We drove her home, and she ended up birthing a buckling in the back of the truck in a parking lot. Not at all what we expected! Her udder was massively congested, and she wasn't letting the baby nurse, so we ended up having to remove him too so he would have a better chance of survival. At this point, we had a baby goat as well as nine little piggies in our living room.
Over the next few weeks, we realized that we would need more milk for all the pigs, as we wanted to supplement the older piglets so they would be more socialized as well as having a better diet. Milk-fed pork. Yum! The search began anew. As the story goes, the person we bought the pregnant doe from decided to divest himself of almost all his goats, so we went to pick up another. We bought the one he showed us, and he threw in her two kids for free. He also had another doe (the original one we looked at with the lump in her udder) he would sell us for just a little more, and he would throw in HER kids as well. Yikes! We went out to buy one goat, and we came back with SIX!!
In the end, we picked up ANOTHER doe (and her kid who turns out to be fairly wild) so we could have enough for ALL the piglets and ALL the kids as well. I am hoping to wean the goats within the next few weeks so we can either freeze milk for the piglets as they grow or to sell as Goat Shares.
We also picked up some Large Fowl Cochin chicks who are also currently calling an old TV box home in our living room. They are good for eggs and meat, and have little feathered feet. Squee! I will try to get some good photos of them eventually. No promises, though.
What do I want next? A milk cow. Really. I swear, my husband and my son could both almost fully exist off of just a raw milk diet if given the choice. While we do have a source for some raw cows milk, we really just need to save up our pennies or find someone to help invest in our little enterprise so we can have our own milk cow. I never thought I would see the day when I would hear myself say that! It is amazing what happens in such a short span of time, when different opportunities present themselves. Some Guinea hens or keets would be nice too. While I am dreaming out loud, 200+ private acres in the mountains with pasture and irrigation or riverfront for our own would be awesome too...
Just Saying....
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Late Nights
Tonight is promising to be one of those late nights. We (myself and the two little ones) have been at the in-laws for a day and a half, and are planning on going back to the ranch tomorrow. I haven't begun to pack yet, and just barely have things organized. Well, to be honest, I have a list. A list of things I need to remember to take back to the ranch, to be more specific. Unfortunately, said list is also on the same page as my list of things to remember to take TO the in-laws place (thankfully, crossed off). Said list also includes some items to look up on the internet as soon as I have the time (HAHAHA) on this less than 48-hour trip, as well as things to accomplish while I am here. Like completing our taxes. At least I can cross one thing off my list.
The dilemma I have at this point is: Do I succumb to my body saying it is dirt-tired after not sleeping last night (lack of husbands' presence and the cats sleeping on top of me so they would know instantly when I moves thereby being able to ask for petting at every twitch I made). Or do I try to stay up late and collect some of the items on my list, knowing that I don't really have a place to put them yet, and can't really pack the truck up just yet.
Plus, I just noticed that I *really* need to change out my NaBloPoMo icon for something less...dated. It only serves to remind me that I have way too much to do, and I really should focus on the details some time. I also need to order a bunch of seeds to plant, oh, last week. As well as pay some bills. Hard to do with the sketchy internet service we have out there, which amounts to using the little bit I get on my phone. It is a work in progress, for sure.
Speaking of a work in progress, we have running water! Well, *COLD* running water. The hot will take longer to figure out. Trying to hook up the gas to the stove (the stove top works, but the oven doesn't, Boo Hiss) is the next project. Then the electricity. Then maybe the internet. Then maybe the gas heat (by then it will be summer and irrelevant!).
Sigh. I am tired. I think I will just go to bed instead. OH! And one Mama pig had babies. Nine squiggly adorable little porkers. I'll got photos up soon (on that aforementioned list). Mama pig #2 is still holding out..
OK, I am really off to bed this time. Night all!
The dilemma I have at this point is: Do I succumb to my body saying it is dirt-tired after not sleeping last night (lack of husbands' presence and the cats sleeping on top of me so they would know instantly when I moves thereby being able to ask for petting at every twitch I made). Or do I try to stay up late and collect some of the items on my list, knowing that I don't really have a place to put them yet, and can't really pack the truck up just yet.
Plus, I just noticed that I *really* need to change out my NaBloPoMo icon for something less...dated. It only serves to remind me that I have way too much to do, and I really should focus on the details some time. I also need to order a bunch of seeds to plant, oh, last week. As well as pay some bills. Hard to do with the sketchy internet service we have out there, which amounts to using the little bit I get on my phone. It is a work in progress, for sure.
Speaking of a work in progress, we have running water! Well, *COLD* running water. The hot will take longer to figure out. Trying to hook up the gas to the stove (the stove top works, but the oven doesn't, Boo Hiss) is the next project. Then the electricity. Then maybe the internet. Then maybe the gas heat (by then it will be summer and irrelevant!).
Sigh. I am tired. I think I will just go to bed instead. OH! And one Mama pig had babies. Nine squiggly adorable little porkers. I'll got photos up soon (on that aforementioned list). Mama pig #2 is still holding out..
OK, I am really off to bed this time. Night all!
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Chicken Butchering
Several years ago when we decided to get chickens, we knew that a consequence of having them would be that we would eventually have to butcher them. While we could have decided to keep them as pets, we felt it was important to acknowledge that while they were providing us eggs during their best years, they would eventually be a food source in their own right. After all that is an important part of our desire to be self-sufficient - being able to provide ourselves with fresh meat from the animals we have raised.
For years we kept the hens, talking about the eventual demise of some of them, and tried to find tutorials and information that would help us figure out how to most humanely butcher them. When we picked up the 25 roosters this spring, we both agreed it was time to figure it out and get past whatever was blocking us from doing the job ourselves. I have to say, while tutorials are reasonably plentiful online, it would have been nice had we found a mentor to walk us through the process. At one point several months ago, I thought we had found someone, but the moment to get together never occurred.
While a mentor would have been nice, when we finally decided on a day to slaughter our first chicken it actually wasn't as emotionally difficult as either of us had thought it would be. We decided to do one bird, and see how it went. I had read stories of it taking almost two hours your first time, because you don't know what you are doing. It seemed simple enough, though. Kill bird, pluck, eviscerate, clean up, cool/freeze/eat. That is pretty much how it went, too. As usual we split the work without really talking about it before hand. While both Greg and I are fairly sensitive people, we were able to deal with the whole chicken in about 30-45 minutes. We served him up for lunch the next day, and he was pretty darn tasty. I believe that Claire has decided that she wants nothing to deal with store-bought birds again as their taste was so poor in comparison. She turns her nose up at the paltry offerings from the fast-food place when her grandparents have offered.
Since that first time we have processed the rest of our extra roosters (we are keeping one who prefers to live with the goats), and all but two of our male ducks. We have plans to butcher a couple of the turkeys for the holidays coming up, which will be interesting. They are so much bigger than what we have handled so far, and considerably stronger. We also saved the duck down and feathers for making our own down pillow. I am so excited to be able to do such a project that brings a more well-rounded feeling to this whole experience!! I'll let you all know how that goes once I get the ticking for the pillow. But for now, goodnight.
For years we kept the hens, talking about the eventual demise of some of them, and tried to find tutorials and information that would help us figure out how to most humanely butcher them. When we picked up the 25 roosters this spring, we both agreed it was time to figure it out and get past whatever was blocking us from doing the job ourselves. I have to say, while tutorials are reasonably plentiful online, it would have been nice had we found a mentor to walk us through the process. At one point several months ago, I thought we had found someone, but the moment to get together never occurred.
While a mentor would have been nice, when we finally decided on a day to slaughter our first chicken it actually wasn't as emotionally difficult as either of us had thought it would be. We decided to do one bird, and see how it went. I had read stories of it taking almost two hours your first time, because you don't know what you are doing. It seemed simple enough, though. Kill bird, pluck, eviscerate, clean up, cool/freeze/eat. That is pretty much how it went, too. As usual we split the work without really talking about it before hand. While both Greg and I are fairly sensitive people, we were able to deal with the whole chicken in about 30-45 minutes. We served him up for lunch the next day, and he was pretty darn tasty. I believe that Claire has decided that she wants nothing to deal with store-bought birds again as their taste was so poor in comparison. She turns her nose up at the paltry offerings from the fast-food place when her grandparents have offered.
Since that first time we have processed the rest of our extra roosters (we are keeping one who prefers to live with the goats), and all but two of our male ducks. We have plans to butcher a couple of the turkeys for the holidays coming up, which will be interesting. They are so much bigger than what we have handled so far, and considerably stronger. We also saved the duck down and feathers for making our own down pillow. I am so excited to be able to do such a project that brings a more well-rounded feeling to this whole experience!! I'll let you all know how that goes once I get the ticking for the pillow. But for now, goodnight.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Pessimism and Pride
A short post tonight. We have been watching some movies lately on Netflix, streaming them on the computer. The kids really like watching Dinosaurs (lots of National Geographic) and various Nature/Survival shows. We also watched King Corn and Food, Inc. Although we already knew a lot of what these movies talked about (CAFOs, Monsanto, the revolving door of the food industry/government), it just is such a reminder of what we find so important about food for our own family. It was frustrating to watch the shows on one level, because I feel so impotent to fight against the system as it is set up right now. Buying wholesome, organic, and REAL food for the family can be costly at times (especially for meat). Taking the time to plan healthy meals for ourselves and two growing kids takes thought and effort. Researching which animal feeds, plant seeds, etc. are going to be the best investment for our eventual self-sustaining future takes a lot of time and energy. It is exhausting work!
Then you watch movies like these and find it easy to feel sad and disheartened. Why try to fight the system when the system is regulating itself?
Yet I still hold out some sort of hope that it can all change for the better. I suppose I am an optimist at heart. I want to believe that people can actually change the system for the better by simple customer demand and desire. I want to see a day where instead of monster-sized corporate farms that spread filth, pollution, and disease like it was a desired commodity, we have a return to smaller family farms providing wholesome food to their local areas. I truly want to see that happen. But I fear that I never will. It is so easy to see how the reliance on technology to save us will probably be our downfall.
What do we do when the bounty the earth could provide us all (yes, even the current 7 BILLION of us right now)becomes so poisoned that we literally cannot sustain ourselves? It is easy to believe the science fiction writers of years past, as we see the fiction turn to fact in our daily lives. Yet I am struck with the puzzle of not only how to make this a viable change not only for my own family, but for other families as well? Do we have to start our own intentional Eco-Community to see the changes that I believe are important to our survival as a race? If he with the most money wins in this race for the feeding of American stomachs, then we must surely be the losers as we get by with a pittance of an income.
Yet I don't feel like a loser at all. I feel strong and proud that we have chickens who provide (most) of our egg needs. We have goats that give us their milk. Pigs that will eventually provide us with all the pork that we could need. We have turkeys, ducks, and chickens who feed and nourish us. We can grow a bounty of edible plants. We really want to get a few cows for milk, cheese, and beef. We are on our path to self-sustainability, even if it is only the beginning of our journey. We have gained such wisdom about ourselves and our world through this process, and the journey is far from over. Even when these movies make me sad, angry, depressed, or revolted, I still carry my inner kernel of calm, peace, and pride knowing that we are doing our best at this time to provide good, nourishing, REAL food to our family.
Maybe not as short a post as I was expecting after all.....
Then you watch movies like these and find it easy to feel sad and disheartened. Why try to fight the system when the system is regulating itself?
Yet I still hold out some sort of hope that it can all change for the better. I suppose I am an optimist at heart. I want to believe that people can actually change the system for the better by simple customer demand and desire. I want to see a day where instead of monster-sized corporate farms that spread filth, pollution, and disease like it was a desired commodity, we have a return to smaller family farms providing wholesome food to their local areas. I truly want to see that happen. But I fear that I never will. It is so easy to see how the reliance on technology to save us will probably be our downfall.
What do we do when the bounty the earth could provide us all (yes, even the current 7 BILLION of us right now)becomes so poisoned that we literally cannot sustain ourselves? It is easy to believe the science fiction writers of years past, as we see the fiction turn to fact in our daily lives. Yet I am struck with the puzzle of not only how to make this a viable change not only for my own family, but for other families as well? Do we have to start our own intentional Eco-Community to see the changes that I believe are important to our survival as a race? If he with the most money wins in this race for the feeding of American stomachs, then we must surely be the losers as we get by with a pittance of an income.
Yet I don't feel like a loser at all. I feel strong and proud that we have chickens who provide (most) of our egg needs. We have goats that give us their milk. Pigs that will eventually provide us with all the pork that we could need. We have turkeys, ducks, and chickens who feed and nourish us. We can grow a bounty of edible plants. We really want to get a few cows for milk, cheese, and beef. We are on our path to self-sustainability, even if it is only the beginning of our journey. We have gained such wisdom about ourselves and our world through this process, and the journey is far from over. Even when these movies make me sad, angry, depressed, or revolted, I still carry my inner kernel of calm, peace, and pride knowing that we are doing our best at this time to provide good, nourishing, REAL food to our family.
Maybe not as short a post as I was expecting after all.....
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Parachute Cord Bracelet
This was our exciting project for the day: A woven parachute cord bracelet.
A few weeks ago, my husband asked me to look up the knot that makes a particular type of survival belt. It is an easy way of having a sturdy cord with you for times when you may need it. It is often made of parachute cord (also called para cord) which comes in a variety of types. The most commonly used for this application is Type 3 or 550 (it has a 550 lb breaking strength). If you are planning on using it for a life-saving application, be sure to test its strength first, or use something like Spectra cord (often used by climbers and backpackers, it has an 800lb breaking strength) which has greater abrasion resistance.
We decided to start with a bracelet, as a shorter and simpler project to get used to the process. In all, it probably took 20 - 30 minutes to make the first one for my husband. The second one took about 15 minutes or so to make. We used some parachute cord we had lying around from a previous project.
Rather than trying to create my own tutorial, I will point out some of the sources that I used to figure out how to make one.
This one on the lanyard knot, used to make the knot or button that is part of the closure, is excellent:
http://www.homemade-gifts-made-easy.com/lanyard-knot.html
I am pretty happy with how they turned out, and am planning on making some more out of a variety of colors. Then I'm trying the belt, but using the slightly more complicated "Slatt's Rescue Belt Knot" as seen here: http://www.tacticalintelligence.net/blog/slatts-rescue-belt-part-2.htm
and here:
http://www.orionn49.com/slatts_rescue_belt_knot1.htm
We decided to start with a bracelet, as a shorter and simpler project to get used to the process. In all, it probably took 20 - 30 minutes to make the first one for my husband. The second one took about 15 minutes or so to make. We used some parachute cord we had lying around from a previous project.
Rather than trying to create my own tutorial, I will point out some of the sources that I used to figure out how to make one.
This one on the lanyard knot, used to make the knot or button that is part of the closure, is excellent:
http://www.homemade-gifts-made-easy.com/lanyard-knot.html
I am pretty happy with how they turned out, and am planning on making some more out of a variety of colors. Then I'm trying the belt, but using the slightly more complicated "Slatt's Rescue Belt Knot" as seen here: http://www.tacticalintelligence.net/blog/slatts-rescue-belt-part-2.htm
and here:
http://www.orionn49.com/slatts_rescue_belt_knot1.htm
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Fowl Thoughts
Owning and caring for fowl can be really interesting, and I have learned a lot over the past 4 years or so. It really takes caring for a number if different breeds before you discover what you like and what you don't, as well as what you really want to look out at every day that makes you happy. I think I have come to a certain point where I can say what birds I really want to have on our farm of the future. So, here is our fowl story so far...
Several years ago we picked up a dozen chicks, after talking about it for a few months. We have always had an interest in heritage or unusual breeds, so we decided on some Dominiques (heritage breed) and Americauna (beautiful colored eggs) hens. We originally wanted Auracauna hens, but had discovered that they are super rare and expensive after doing a lot of research. The vast majority of hatcheries that supposedly have Auracauna chickens actually have Ameraucanas, which still lay blue, green and even pink eggs (they are also called "Easter Egger" hens, a name which I personally find irritating). The trait for the colored eggs seems to be dominant enough for the Ameraucana breed to stand alone. Plus they are a pretty bird with a wide variety of corporation and features that I find attractive.
We lived with them in our tiny suburban backyard for about 18 months, before deciding that we loved our chickens, but didn't want to live WITH them any more. They really needed more space than what we had, so we moved half of them to live at my in-laws place, on their half acre. Unfortunately, several months later, they were killed by a couple of dogs. It was so sad, especially because Claire raised them from chick-hood, carrying them in a sling like little babies. Truthfully, it was almost a year before I told her about it since I knew she would be devastated.
Some time later, we moved the rest of the chickens (and a few more we got from friends) to the in-laws as well, and reinforced the pen so they were more protected from dogs. Along the way, we picked up several other miscellaneous laying hens from a friend, as well as from someone who was moving and couldn't take his hens with.
Then, this spring we picked up a group of 30 chicks (Americauna and Barred Rock), supposedly all girls. Plus 25 free chicks (all boys, of course) that were Rhode Island Reds, some ducks (we adopted 3 runner ducks and their Buff duck buddy), and a group of heritage turkeys!!
Just a few birds around here this summer. Several weeks ago we started to butcher the extra boys (an altogether different story!), and I think I have a few tentative conclusions to make. I love my Americauna and Dominiques chickens. They are colorful, have good personalities, and are fairly mellow. Barred Rocks are ok, but the boys are a little loud. Rhode Island Red roosters are obnoxious - they are push toward the hens, and are rather mean to each other. However, they taste really yummy baked in the oven.
As for ducks, I love my little Runner Ducks. They walk upright and are sweet, but not really to have for a dual-purpose bird (eggs and meat). The Khaki Campbell are ok, and the larger Blue Swedish ducks are ok too, especially on the dinner plate for their size (the males, that is).
And I love my turkeys. They are hilarious to watch and listen to (and for the record, turkeys really do say "gobble, gobble".) Unfortunately we ended up with only two girls and about 8 boys!!!! So, obviously, several will be invited to join us for the holidays.
YUM.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Farmer Brown
I have had this post running through my head for several weeks now, and figured I should get it written down before long. It is funny how the little decisions you make along your life path can lead you to a totally unexpected place. When I was growing up, my great grandmother, Omi, used to grow her own veggies, make her own sausage, medicines, and liquor. She was born of the Volga Germans, and brought her daughter and grandchildren to this country in he 1950's. She was one tough lady (and quite crazy), but she lived a remarkable life. I wish she were alive today, because she would have been such a tremendous source of knowledge! Sadly, she died when I was in my 20's, before I was fully on this path of being self-sufficient. But I will always carry the memory of sitting in her kitchen, smelling her fabulous foods, eating her amazing desserts, and drinking her very potent cough syrups as long as I live. She planted a seed, which eventually terminated into where and what I am today.
When I was in middle and high school, there was a boy nicknamed "Farmer Brown." He was a small fellow then, quiet and pretty unassuming. Yet he had a passion for growing things. We were never really friends, but were among the same group of kids who had gone to school together since elementary school, so we knew each other well enough. I remember he once came to my house (I think he had a crush on me at the time, but I could always be wrong), and he gave me a gift of some of the peanuts he had grown. It seemed so surreal at the time, this boy farmer living in the middle of suburban Florida, with a penchant for growing crops in high school. Oh well, he is probably a corporate attorney or accountant by now. But I wanted to say thank you, Farmer Brown, for your peanuts and your strangeness way back then. I'm not sure it influenced this path I am on, but you were on my mind as part of a greater strangeness as to how one decision or piece of information can lead you on a different path than our ever expected. I really want my own farm and homestead in the woods. And I'm sorry for any teasing I did towards you. Apparently the gods have a sense of humor.
Land Shares and Homesteading
I found a great article on Homegrown.org recently that really highlighted for me the problems we (as a family as well as a society) are facing right now. I'll try to pull up a link, because I think it is important to share it. Essentially, we have been trying to figure out a way to buy property so we can homestead on it, without really having any extra money to put towards it. We DO already own a house, a decent enough one in the suburbs, but in a town we don't want to live in. With no room to breathe and space to call our own. We could sell the house, but would then be homeless, without the excellent credit needed these days to get another mortgage. But if we sold it, we might have enough to put towards the property we want. A conundrum for certain. Here is a link to the article. I think you will find it interesting.
One idea we had to resolve our dilemma was to put out essentially a wanted ad for a farm or land that someone had that wasn't currently using it. Does that make sense? We are farmers without land, looking for a farm without a farmer. I did a lot of digging around the interwebs, and discovered some promising programs for people like us, but there is no quick fix. We were hoping to find someone that had land we could use to grow some crops for the animals and veggies for ourselves and the land owner to share. This way we all benefit - their land gets used creatively and sustainably, and we get the experience and products of our labor. It has been variously called a land share or garden share, and is a great way to bring people together for their mutual benefit.
And in a roundabout way, we may have actually found someone to land share with us. We are currently working out the details, but I am pretty hopeful we will get something going in the next week. If I can find some other folks to form a co-op to help us out and work the land as a larger collective, it will be even better. This will hopefully (fingers crossed) be a good intermediate step for us while we figure out the monetary issues for funding our own homestead in the hills.
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