The Essential Herbalist

Recent Posts

  • Working Boys

    I can remember being in a group of people one time that were discussing chores for children. One father proudly proclaimed that his son, who was 10 at the time, had never had to do a chore in his life. Somehow he felt this was a good thing. It explained a lot to me about this child’s character, he was demanding, rude, uncontrolled….just generally a child you’d like to introduce to the woodshed.

    I have always felt it important for my boys to do chores. When we were city people, they helped clean house, fold laundry, work in the yard, paint rooms….whatever needed doing at the time. Because of this, I have also been accused of being an unfeeling parent who is depriving them of their childhood. Where does it say that you don’t have to do any work until you are an adult? And the BIG question is, if they haven’t done any work until then….how will they learn to? Why would they want to? I think this explains a lot of the “I deserve it” attitude we see today.

    Once we moved to the farm, the work really began. My boys learned to mow and weedeat a 1.5 acre lawn area, and to also do it for their Grandma’s lawn on the other side of the driveway, another acre. They bale hay, set out drip tape, weedeat the garden, plant, weed, harvest, extract honey, (sounds fun but involves a lot of cranking since ours is the old fashioned kind), work in the greenhouse, move fences, move cattle, milk goats and cows, curry horses, and scoop poop! This covers some of what they do!

    People are shocked and offended….I hear it all the time….”they don’t have any fun…poor dears!”.

    My boys also fish and row the boat around the pond, play in the creek, hike the fields, woods and mountains, hunt turtles, get to watch the miracle of birth (after 8 years we all still love it!), ride the horses, graze in the garden, eat the bounty from the work of THEIR hands, climb trees, build forts, spend time with family, have the pleasure of knowing they helped their Grandma, develop close relationships with their brothers, and glory in God’s creation (the stars and the millions of fireflies at night, the sky filled with eagles, owls, and hawks by day, the crisp fall days, the sleigh rides down the sledding hill after a snowfall).

    But the most important thing of all, they know they are integral to this family. They know this farm cannot survive without them, everything they do is important. This gives them great confidence, they are willing to tackle anything (some things just give me the shakes!) They know they are loved but they also know they are so important to our success. Their hearts are willing. Even the 7 year old knows that his chores, if left undone, means something will not run correctly.

    My 12 and 7 year old boys were given the chore this fall to catch up and bag leaves for the garden beds. I pictured two boys and a couple of rakes….but this is what I found. They took precautions to protect eyes and lungs, their idea not mine. I just went to investigate the noise.

    You can see the bags already filled behind them.

    My 7 year old could barely stand up under the weight. It was hard for both but they took turns.

    Cooperation! Working together! Relying on each other! What great lessons!

    I was so pleased with what I found. My 12 year old explained that by using the blower in reverse it not only picked up the leaves it also mulched them…. I had no clue it would do this.

    Now, don’t let me leave you with the impression that they jump for joy each time they do chores. There are occasional grumbles, especially when the weather is awful or they have to deal with a stinky buck. But their hearts are willing. Occasionally someone forgets something and has to be reminded, sometimes more than once. Then there are the odd experiences we have had.

    When my youngest was 3, I gave him the job of collecting eggs and feeding cats for his evening chores. He did a very good job. We usually had a dozen or more eggs each evening (I know my chickens are weird, we hardly ever get eggs in the morning!). Sometimes his little hands were to quick to squeeze and he would crack one. One time he forgot to take the egg basket so he filled his pockets with eggs (shirt, pants, coat) and tripped and fell down on the way to the house….now that seems pretty funny but I picked egg shell out of clothing for days! Each time he learned a lesson and did a better job.

    Then came the evening when he returned home with an empty basket and proudly called, “No eggs today!” Red flags went flying….”Elijah, why are there no eggs today?” “Cause I broke one!”

    “Elijah…why did you break one?” “Cause I wanted to see what was inside!” “Ok”…taking a deep breath “What happened to the rest of the eggs?” “I broke them too.” “How many?” “10 of them!” “WHY!!!!” He looked at me so perplexed that I didn’t get it….his answer? “Cause I wanted to see if they was all the same!” Needless to say that chore was transferred back to an older sibling for a period of time. He learned a hard lesson that day.

    Chores help a child to grow, to learn lessons that they might not be able to learn any other way.

    They learn that work brings its rewards…sometimes it is monetary but there is something so much better. There is nothing like the feeling of working hard all day and then as the sun is going down, standing back and surveying what you have accomplished, a job well done. It is a wonderful feeling! It brings a joy and sense of accomplishment that money can never deliver!

    There is a saying I read recently that sort of stuck with me. All people need to learn this, and it doesn’t mean that your neighbors or Christian brothers and sisters should never lend a helping hand. But I think chores help a child to understand that, although people will be there to help you from time to time, “The only helping hand you should ever count on consistently is at the end of your own sleeve!”

  • Our first critters

    We moved to our farm in early January seven years ago. We were eagerly looking forward to our first critters. I envisioned horses, cows, goats, sheep…anything soft, cuddly and furry.

     

    By the time the middle of February rolled around, we were beginning to catch our breath from unpacking and trying to learn our way around the town about 20 miles away. We didn’t know anyone when we moved here so we were on our own.

     

    I happened to notice an ad in the local paper for a beginning beekeeper class. It was free! We knew that eventually we wanted to be able to produce our own honey – and the price was right.

    We attended the meetings, met some very nice people and learned a lot. Most of the people in this meeting were older than us and perhaps surprised to see us arrive with children in tow and babe in arms but they made us feel very welcome.

     

    The surprise came at the end of the classes – it was time to order bees. Yikes! We didn’t expect to make that commitment quite so soon. We ordered 2 boxes of bees. (Yes, they really do come in boxes).

     

    We had about a month to prepare for the arrival or our new critters. Never in my life did I think that bees would be the first critter on our farm. I had learned enough in the classes to loose my fear of bees. They are fascinating creatures and make a great homeschool project. Everything about them points to the existence of God. Their design, the society of their hives, their industriousness – it is all amazingly reflective of the Father.

     

    We ordered 2 hives and 3 head-to-toe bee suits (okay, I didn’t loose all of my fear!) two for adults and one for kids. We learned that you must build the hives yourself – so we began! Many nights were spent hammering little nails into wood, painting the outer hive body (be careful don’t get a spot of paint on the inside of the hive!), putting the frames together and filling them with foundation (a sheet of pre-pressed beeswax, sort of a starter for the bees so that they don’t fill your hives with a mess of wax going in all directions!).

     

    We waited impatiently for the phone call telling us our bees were ready. Finally it came – at about 6:00 am one morning. I was instructed to get to the Post Office as quickly as possible – they didn’t sound happy….but perhaps it was because it was so early. Now, it must be told that in the classes they didn’t mention how bees are shipped. A little oversight I am sure. So, I was not prepared….I am not quite sure what I expected…but it definitely wasn’t what I found!

     

    When I opened the door to our little post office (very little) I heard this strange humming…sort of like a bad fluorescent light. The postal person informed me that I had to go to the back door to get my bees. So, I went back to the car and drove around back. Once there they pointed to two boxes on the floor. I use the word “boxes” very loosely. There was a wood frame but the rest of the box was made from screen! Screen that appeared not to be attached securely enough in my opinion. Not nearly secure enough…and their little feet could come through…which meant immediately in my mind that stingers could come through.

     

    The boxes of bees weighed 3 pounds each. There are about 4500 bees per pound…do the math!

    I was looking at almost 30,000 bees…. swarming all over each other…moving constantly….and making the loudest humming sound! AND THEY WANTED ME TO PICK THEM UP WITH MY BARE HANDS AND PUT THEM IN MY CAR!!! Were they crazy? I just stared at them blankly as I slowly came to the realization that I would have to do that to get them home.

     

    I grabbed the wooden edges of the boxes and placed them in the very back of my van. I was so thankful that I only had a 20 min. drive. I drove it quickly…very quickly…but in the middle of the drive I saw something fly past my rearview mirror….it couldn’t be….it WAS! There was a loose bee – actually there were two! Of course in my mind that meant that they had tunneled out of the box somehow and I was about to be surrounded by 30,000 bees! I drove home with one eye on the rearview mirror and reciting to myself all the good things I had learned about bees.

     

    I made it home without any further escapees – I left them on the carport and promptly called my husband to inform him that his bees had arrived! That evening we set the hives, donned the suits and poured the bees into the hive. Literally. The easiest way to do this is to spray them good with sugar water while they are in the boxes. They begin to groom themselves and each other to get the sugar water and you can actually pour them, just like water, into their hives then put the top on the hive and head for home!

     

    It was several months before we got to taste honey – but it was worth the wait. It tasted different than store honey but I wasn’t sure why. After some research, I learned that most beekeepers treat their hives with both antibiotics and chemical pesticides. Markers from both of these are showing up in honey now. The good news is that there are herbal alternatives to the pesticide and antibiotic routine.

     

    Most store honey is also pasturized – this affects the taste and also kills the beneficial organisms in honey. God gave us honey in its natural state and I believe that is how He intended for us to use it. It not only tastes better but it is more healthy. Eating honey that is produced close to home will help reduce your allergy symptoms. Bees also produce royal jelly and propolis which are extremely beneficial to our health.

     

    I encourage you to do some research and to think about keeping bees. At the very least, find a beekeeper within 5 miles of where you live and eat a teaspoon a day!

     

    But most of all, I encourage you to have a hive of your own. Now is the time of year to get your hive ready….and then wait for that early morning phone call!

  • Surrounded!

    When last I left you, my children and I were trapped in the house while strange and angry creatures were storming our door. They were small but very loud and apparently very angry that someone had come to live on their farm. I was bigger than they were but they out numbered us eight to one. How was I going to get past them, get my children in the van and then head back to Florida?! Who wants country living? Not if I was going to keep encountering unpleasant creatures on my driveway….let us not even think of the fields, streams, ponds and woods on the farm…not to mention the mountain ridge! Should I sacrifice our small poodle who was more than willing if I would only open the door? Should I open the door? Would they storm in? I began to bang on the door and yell, in fact all the kids began to yell and they took off….literally, into the air…and they all landed in the Catawba tree in the front yard. It looked like a tree from outer space…really weird! We have since learned that these were Guinea Fowl. Now look at the picture below and tell me if this bird doesn't look angry….how would you like 40 of these looking in your door and screaming at you? We did learn however, that the Guineas were not out to get us – they are just very vain…they love to look at their reflection and were using our sliding glass doors as mirrors! This is a mother with her baby….don't let this picture fool you….they are TERRIBLE mothers. They might hatch a clutch of 12 eggs…if 2 survive it is a miracle. They run through tall weeds at a break neck pace and loose their babies…the cats, coons, hawks and owls are quick to find them. Have you ever seen an uglier bird? The odd thing is that they are the cutest little keats. They make me think of chipmunks with wings. They are adorable! Then they loose the feathers on their heads and they turn into this!

    Here is an up close picture….really ugly. And the noise they make…sounds like a really old, squeaky hinge on a really old door in a really old house swinging non-stop in the wind. They say you can tell the difference between a hen and a cock by the sound….nope….they all sound the same to me….LOUD! And it is one of those sounds that just gets on your nerves after a few minutes. Guineas come in a variety of colors. They are good watch birds – they will scream at anything they don't recognize on your farm…but the best news of all is that they eat bugs. Think ticks! When we moved here the kids couldn't go outside for 10 minutes without picking up ticks. Sometimes we would pick 10 or more off of each child. We found them crawling up the walls in our house where they dropped off of clothes on the way to the showers. Once we learned about Guineas eating ticks, we picked up 4 Guineas of our own (our neighbor's Guineas weren't so neighborly once they found out we had moved in to stay!). We named then Fred, Ethel, Ricky and Lucy. They stayed for several months and then joined our neighbor's flock. Lesson learned: never buy full grown birds – always buy keats.

    So, we bought 10 keats from a friend who raised them. We kept them in a chicken tractor until the "book" said it was safe to let them out (and we thought they were big enough to fend off our cats). We lost half of our little flock that first night to possums – at least we think it was possums since our German Shepherd brought us a dead possum that same morning The other Guineas survived, stayed around and hatched their first clutch last spring. I think out of 18 babies, 4 survived. Lesson learned: don't let the momma's raise the babies if you want to increase your flock.

    The tick population almost disappeared. The boys really have to be in a far field now to come home with a tick. This year we found the babies the day they hatched. There were 18 of them. We caught 15. Of those, 12 survived, a much better survival rate than with Mom, she lost the 3 we left with her. But Mom sat on a fence and called for them for DAYS! There goes that squeaky hinge. They hatched another clutch in late summer. We left them with Mom – there were over 20 babies. At last count, eight had survived – a miracle! Though they are terrible parents, they are actually very smart in other ways. They are almost impossible to catch. If you try one method and aren't successful, you will never be able to use that method again successfully with the same bird. They remember….forever…

    If they see you near their nest, in fact if they even THINK you were near their nest, they will move it. Over and over. You most likely won't find it again so be sure they don't see you the first time.

    Their eggs are delicious, sort of tear dropped shape, lightly speckled and the shell is extremely hard. The first time I cracked one I didn't notice the shape. I hit the egg against the bowl and nothing happened. I tried again, and again….I made a mental note to talk to my husband about the fact that we either had one strange egg layer or we needed to reduce their intake of oyster shell…then it rang a bell somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind. I had read about this years ago. I began looking through the egg basket and found some strangely shaped eggs…sure enough…guinea eggs!

    The Guineas and I get along fine now, although my seven year old got to close to some babies that were with Momma Guinea this year and was soundly disciplined by her….lesson learned!

    Thank you to guineafowl.com where I found these pictures.

  • Hang on!

    I haven’t abandoned you but we are having some computer problems and I can’t post pictures – will get the story and pics up as soon as this glitch is passed!

  • Our first few days on the farm…

    I wanted to share a bit about our first farm experiences. We moved from a very large, busy, noisy city in Florida to Tennessee almost 7 years ago. We moved in early January so this time of year I tend to think back to our beginnings here.

    We rented a large truck and moved ourselves. At that time our boys ages were 16, 8, 5 and a babe in arms not yet walking. The house had been empty and neglected for about 4 years. We rented a hotel room until we could get the house cleaned and the beds set up. Essentially, we unloaded everything we could as quickly as we could and my husband and oldest boy went back for the rest of the stuff. This was our first mistake! A man should never leave a city woman with 3 small children on a farm without explaining some basic farm facts!

    I found myself alone (no other adult) in a small hotel room with 3 kids and a dog. Our days went something like this: Get everyone up, nurse the baby, bundle up (a new experience for us Floridians!) and head to the house. Get to the house, nurse the baby, get the 8 year old to watch the baby and the 5 year old and then I commenced to cleaning. Nurse the baby, bundle up, go get lunch, come back , nurse the baby, everyone down on a sheet for a nap, start cleaning again. Everyone up, nurse the baby, give him back to the 8 year old and try to clean some more. Bundle back up, leave the house, get dinner, nurse the baby and everyone into bed. Needless to say the progress in cleaning was very slow and by nightfall I was exhausted. In our ignorance at the time, we lived off of fast food – now we never touch it. I recommend reading Fast Food Nation to find out why – it WILL change your life….you have been warned!

    This routine went on for days while we waited for Daddy to come back! Imagine my delight one afternoon when the 5 year old called me (my head was inside kitchen cabinets cleaning!) to come see the furry animal on our driveway wall. I was excited! Our first contact with nature! I came running to the sliding glass door that looks out towards our driveway…there it sat….on the wall…it was HUGE…but what was it? It took me a moment to grasp the fact that I was looking at a very big, real life RAT!!!! ACCCKKKK! We have RATS!!!! I bet this thing weighed 20 lbs! I smacked the door and this thing took off for the barn! I was ready to burn the barn to the ground with all of its evil inhabitants!!! This was NOT what I had envisioned…how could I let the boys go outside with giant rats waiting to carry them off? Would God have sent us here? Did we hear incorrectly? City life was looking pretty good!

    Well, that was the end of cleaning for that day. We bundled back up and I decided to find a town somewhere and get some real food while I debated moving back to the city. We found we were about 18 miles from the nearest town so we headed out. I called my husband to tell him about the unwelcome inhabitants of the barn. He laughed…he actually laughed….this was hard for me to understand since there was NOTHING funny about giant rats. He explained that this was normal (NORMAL???) and that a few barn cats would take care of the problem. Cats? This rat was twice as big as any cat I had ever seen….besides…I am allergic to cats! And where was I to find cats? Is there a cat store? I had never even thought of shopping for cats but I was ready to purchase an army of them.

    After a good nights sleep (who am I kidding? with 3 boys and a contraband dog in a hotel room with cement beds?), I felt prepared to go back to the house…on the way the 5 year old asks if rats live in the house too…HORRORS…that thought had never crossed my mind! Arriving at the house, I locked the boys in the van and grabbed a downed tree limb – I searched the house – every nook of it looking for rats – it appeared safe so the boys were allowed to come back in….I diligently prayed that if there were rats they would not appear until my husband returned the next day.

    We were in the middle of our routine when we heard the WEIRDEST noise – we all dropped what we were doing and looked at each other trying to figure it out…it sounded like anguished screaming of some exotic animal. Our little poodle was going nuts, barking, running and trying to get out the door. The noise was getting closer and louder. It was a noise I had never heard before, and I spent years as a kid watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom (yes! I know I just dated myself!).

    I gathered all the boys and put them behind me (where did I put that tree limb?). I peeked out the window….I was shocked….I didn’t know what they were….but they were ugly!!!! And apparently very angry…..(I was, at this point, packing our bags and moving back to Florida in my mind – what was God thinking sending us into this horrible place? How could my husband leave us here with no weapon to defend ourselves?). How could I get everyone safely to the van?

    Tomorrow I will post pictures of these strange animals that were surrounding us and screaming at the top of their lungs…

  • Hens and Roosters

    The second animal we acquired after we moved to the farm were chickens (right after bees!). I don’t think I had ever been close to a chicken before. I had heard awful tales from my Mom about how mean they were and how they pecked people…none of which applies to our birds…well, there was that one rooster. I was fascinated with them. I still am. I love the gentle clucking sounds they make while foraging, while talking to their young and just generally when they are contented! And I love the eggs!

    We name our favorite chickens. Millie is my favorite chicken. She looks like a Dalmation dog. I have no idea what she is…she may have been a freebie from the hatchery or she may have been hatched by some of our banty hens. She is covered with perfectly round, black spots. She is conversing here with one of our Buff Orpingtons. We like Buffs. They are gentle, they haven’t had the nesting instinct bred out of them (yes they do that!) and they make good mothers. This point is especially important since we have 8 cats!


    Sometimes I just enjoy sitting under the Katawba tree in the spring and watching the hens in their sociable groups clucking away while scratching and pecking. They must be discussing something important…then someone makes a snide remark and she is chased out of the circle….she will walk around grumbling a bit and then return to the group with a much humbler attitude! I wonder if God created chickens not just to supply some of our needs for food, but to remind us of ourselves and how we tend to walk too much in pride!

    We have brown egg layers, white egg layers and blue/green egg layers. Some of our customers only want white eggs, some want brown eggs, and some don’t care. We have one customer that refuses to take a blue/green egg! Her reason….”it just looks too much like a bird egg!” Excuse me?! My youngest boy loves the blue/green eggs. This probably has something to do with his current delight in some of the Dr. Seuss books…..remember Green Eggs and Ham? He has begged me to make green ham….just can’t force myself to add a food dye (chemical!) to good ham!

    Then there are roosters! Our first rooster was a Rhode Island Red. He was one MEAN rooster with attitude. The day he went after my youngest, who was 2 at the time, became the day that he was turned into chicken soup. Thankfully Elijah had his back to him so that his spurs only damaged his coat. Chicken soup is delicious! We have never had another mean rooster. Maybe the story is passed down in our flock of birds so that every one behaves themselves! Auracana roosters are very gentle and the kids can easily pick them up to pet them.

    We have a rooster right now who is beautiful. We aren’t sure where he came from. We do incubate our own eggs from time to time and assume we hatched him. I take great pleasure in watching him strut about. I am not sure why he brings me joy….the beauty of God’s creation? The glory of his colors? He looks like the ideal farm rooster. His body is covered in bright gold feathers and his tail is composed of a thick plume of green/black shimmering feathers. Thankfully he does not know how beautiful he is…at least not yet. He is young and rather timid but he brings me pleasure as he struts around outside my kitchen window….who knew doing dishes would become enjoyable! The boys have named him Dapper Dan.

    We have learned there is much benefit to being stewards of God’s creation. We knew there would be benefits in the way of food, we never dreamed how it would touch us spiritually and practically. My boys have learned to be hard workers, to be responsible and to take great joy and satisfaction in tending the animals. It is a sobering thought to know that their lives depend on you doing your job correctly and on time. I thank God for giving my children the ability to experience life here on our farm and to learn the many lessons His creation gives us each day.

  • It all started last night…..

    It was such a simple request….no alarm bells went off, no red flags went flying. Last night my husband mentioned to the boys that because one of them left a portion of the electric fence off, Lizzie got out and was in the other field with her calf.

    Nora Mae and Lizzie are the cows in milk right now. Now, Nora Mae is THE perfect cow!! I wish I had 10 like her. She doesn’t spook easily, she is gentle, she leads easily, never kicks the milk bucket…if she even gets close to the bucket all you have to do is lay a gentle finger across her leg and she takes a step back. I LOVE NORA!

    Lizzie is a young cow (I keep telling everyone it will get better as she matures…). It doesn’t appear that anyone spent anytime with her before we got her. She calved this year for the first time. She NEVER comes – you always have to go get her, drive her into a corner and then you can lead her into the milking parlor. She is antsy on the stand, kicks the bucket frequently, and spooks easily. Please, one of you dairy farmers…tell me it will get better…or tell me how to make it better!

    This morning, between spelling and science, I asked the boys if it had been very difficult to get Lizzie from the bigger pasture. I was informed that they tried and couldn’t do it….she hadn’t been milked and it was 2 hours past milking time! My mind screams MASTITIS!! So, we all bundled up and decided to try a team (me and the 15, 12 and 7 year olds) effort.

    Do you know how quickly you can go from admiring your cow, being thankful for your cow and even caring for your cow to wondering how much meat she would produce if I just went and got the rifle? It took about 7 1/2 minutes for me today!

    I tired luring her with a bucket of grain – always better to lure than to chase. Lizzie looked at me like I had lost my mind. Those big brown eyes got squinty, she shook her head and backed off.
    Now, we are standing in the middle of a 3 acre pasture, along with 2 horses, 4 calves and 3 Jersey cows. EVERYONE is interested in my bucket of grain except Lizzie – Nora has suddenly become my closest friend (she only loves me for my grain!). So, I am trying to fend everyone off, lure Lizzie and make sure my 7 year old isn’t trampled (Elijah…get in the greenhouse!!). OK, forget the grain idea…

    We start trying to drive Lizzie to a corner where we can pull back a section of temporary electric fencing and let her into the right field. Do you know how fast a Jersey with attitude can run? I was quite surprised myself – of course when she started running…everyone started running – in all directions – except for Nora who continued to graze and watch us all calmly. Did I mention 45 minutes have passed? Did I mention it is 27 degrees outside – with a breeze? Did I mention that now everyone is in the wrong pasture except for 2 calves?

    The 2 calves commenced to bawling because they were seperated from everyone else but thankfully they were still in the correct pasture. Well, I thought… at least Lizzie is in the right place…I decided we could then reverse the process and begin removing animals that needed to go back into the first pasture. Hah! How naive I still am after 7 years on the farm. Are there farmer secrets that I am not privy too in reference to moving animals? Is there some book or magazine that tells how to do this easily? Is there a conspiracy afoot?

    First we move Gracie (another Jersey) out pretty easily – she then stood right at the fence line threatening to come through to get back where all the action was. Then Josiah was able to drive Dusty (a small, very fast, horse the kids love to ride) through the opening – after which he began to run like a crazed animal all over the other pasture…at high, thundering speeds, while calling to Angel, our Morgan Mare, that Jeremy was attempting to lead through the opening by her mane…where IS that bucket of grain? Ok, a few nibbles of grain and she is back in the right field.

    3 down, 3 to go….did I mention that we have been outside now for an hour and a half? And the breeze has picked up. We start to work on the calves, everything is going smoothly, the boys are driving them toward the opening when Princess bolts. Princess is Lizzie’s daughter – she is a beautiful Jersey. Her father was an award winning, pure black Jersey bull. Let’s just say that she got her father’s good looks and her mother’s personality! She makes a bee line for the temporary electric fence, which is off because I am holding the end to make an opening. She goes through it, gets it tangled in her feet and snaps too step-in posts off at the ground. Now the whole fence is down! “Quick” I yell…”get it standing up so it at least looks like a barrier”! I just knew that all the animals would go through it and we would be starting all over again….pictures of that rifle started dancing through my head again. Lizzie starts heading after her calf but Jeremy manages to turn her the other way with a great deal of hopping, swinging of the arms and making strange noises….is HooHaw a word?

    Quickly I send the 7 year old to find 2 more posts while holding up the fence and trying to make it look intact. All of the animals are suspicious now….they keep getting closer to the fence…more strange movements and noises from Jeremy and Josiah keep them back. Elijah gets back with the posts and we get them in the ground. Josiah quickly runs to the lower barn to turn the electricity back on. I think at that point I was secretly hoping they would try it…it must have been that sliding step into the cow pie that brought out the vengence in me…

    Did I mention that through all of this Nora just grazed contentedly and watched us? I LOVE Nora! Now we needed to lure Lizzie up to the barn to be milked….where is that grain bucket? I pick it up and head towards the barn. Nora has again become my best buddy….Lizzie is curious but not willing to trust me, but she will follow Nora. So Nora and I hobble up to the barn together and Lizzie follows. Then she walked right to where she was supposed to go and stood there calmly while the boys hooked a lead to her to take her around to the dairy parlor….I can’t tell you why that irritated me to no end but it did! Two HOURS of running around in the cold and NOW she decided to be milked? I told the boys not to bother to save it but to give it to the cats, it would be faster. After all, I was supposed to have 8 loaves of bread in the oven by now and they were 2 hours behind in school work.

    Turns out she must have been letting the calves nurse on her – she didn’t give a cup of milk….she would have been fine left out there all day….no need to have worried about mastitis….

    Oh, those other 2 calves we didn’t get moved? I think tonight I will mention that to my husband….

  • It’s Cheese!

    I just have to share how my attempt at cheese making turned out! There was some question as to whether or not my Colby was going to be edible. With great encouragement from the Kansas Milkmaid, I waxed the cheese and aged it anyway. Faithfully I turned it each day, praying that it would not be a horrible mess when we broke it open. I decided to cut it for Thanksgiving even though it was a bit early (Ok…I need to work on patience) and we had cheese!! Let me correct that, we had glorious, creamy, taste-bud thrilling, cheese! It looked a bit funny because I did not use the typical food coloring found in cheese – it lacked that orange color. But, I could not believe the difference in taste! It was so much creamier… and the flavor was richer, fuller…..better! So now, I confess….I am hooked and much more of our milk will be diverted to cheese! I envision my little dorm refrigerator (now called the cheese frig) filled with all types of cheeses! After I get several wheels of Colby in there I think I will try Parmesan next (I use a lot of fresh Parmesan in cooking and baking) and then some hot pepper cheeses! Here is a picture of our wonderful cheese….take a quick look because I am sure it will be gone soon. For those of you with a local milk supply, I encourage you to give it a try….it isn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be!

  • Thankfulness….and Peppermint Ice Cream

    Just a short post today….I have been busy in the kitchen most of the day and am taking a quick break. It has been snowing off and on and I have enjoyed watching those lazy flakes drift across our fields. Soft music is playing in the background and I have been meditating on the many things I am thankful for…family, friends, a wonderful church, farm life, God’s provisions from the smallest to the largest need, this beautiful snow, and for the things God has been teaching me over the last few months. Truly we have been blessed! I am looking forward to tomorrow when we celebrate and give thanks for His provisions over this last year….He has been truly gracious! I have been baking cookies with the boys and am about to start some loaves of cranberry bread with Elijah (7). He has been anxious to begin all day. We just finished several batches of homemade ice cream! YUMMY! Peppermint, Chocolate, Old Fashioned Vanilla and Candy Bar – all of our favorite flavors. We burned the motor up in our last freezer and our good friends Michael and Julie have loaned us theirs to try as we are getting ready to purchase this model. I have been asked before about our recipes….here is our recipe for Peppermint Ice Cream:

    4 cups milk, 3 cups sugar, 1 1/4 tsp. salt,
    4 cups half and half, 2 tsp vanilla extract
    9 cups whipping cream, 3 cups peppermint candy
    2 cups peppermint candy (reserved)
    Scald milk until bubbles form around edge. Remove from heat.
    Add sugar and salt. Stir until dissolved. Stir in half and half, vanilla
    and whipping cream. Cover and refrigerate 30 min. While waiting
    place peppermint candy into ziplock bag and break into small pieces by
    pounding with a mallet or rolling pin. Stir 3 cups into cooled mixture and
    then freeze as directed for your ice cream freezer. When done gently fold
    the reserved candy into mix and place in your freezer – enjoy!
    The turkey is thawing, the cornbread dressing is ready, the pies are cooling….house sure smells good….the cats and dogs must smell it too, everyone is hanging around the door looking pitiful!
    I wish you could all come by for a piece of pie and a cup of herbal tea! I recommend you read The Deliberate Agrarian’s post on Thanksgiving for a great reminder of our Godly heritage and may you all have a blessed Thanksgiving Day!

  • Pictures of our farm….

    I have been asked several times recently to post some pictures of the farm. I think I have figured it out so I am giving it a try.

    This is a picture from this fall – it was an overcast day but I managed to get a picture while the sun was peeking out. You can see some of our goats and their guardian dogs.

    Here is a picture in the opposite direction. The ridge gives us a beautiful display of color during the fall.

    This is a picture looking toward the back of our property in the spring. The ridge runs at the back and there is a year round creek at the bottom of the ridge.

    I need to take some pictures in the other directions…when I have the opportunity, I will post them.

    Get your plant i.d. books ready again…tomorrow I want to tell you all about Red Clover – one of my favorite wild herbs!