By Daisy Luther
What a brisk and beautiful morning it was here! This week on the Friday Farm Blog, we’re going to embrace the chaos.
Well, it was beautiful until I went outside and saw that last night, Thor, our guard dog, had protected us from a throw pillow that had formerly graced our garden chairs. (He’s saying, “Don’t worry, Mom. You’re safe now!”)
Clean-up in Aisle 4.
In news from the henhouse, the babies are now fully feathered and integrating with the bigger chickens and the ducks. I’m still feeding them separately to be certain that they get enough to eat, but aside from that, they’re part of the flock. Behold Snow White, Aurora, Belle, and Jasmine. (Are you sensing a theme here?)
No goat babies, but there was some goat mischief. I brought my Jeep inside the gate while they were out to take a coat rack into the house. I was only inside for a couple of seconds and came out to them atop the Jeep yet again. I took a picture at the request of my oldest daughter, and then I turned on the alarm to scare them off. Note that there are two goats on the Jeep. The pregnant one is well-camouflaged.
As the days get shorter and the weather gets cooler, more of our time is spent indoors. I jazzed up the front hall with some homemade decorations to celebrate fall.
I’ve also been crocheting new dishcloths for the kitchen. I really like to stay busy, and the only way I can make myself sit still and relax is to have my hands busy with something while we watch the occasional program or movie on Amazon Prime or Netflix.
My daughter made a rather astonishing use of her new sewing machine. With no pattern, nothing more than a cursory lesson on how to use the machine, an old pillowcase, and some random fabric and ribbon, she whipped this up in a couple of afternoons. I couldn’t believe it! I think she’s a natural.
It makes me so happy to see my kids interesting in more than the latest video game or TV show. I love that she can do “Home Ec” with me. This is the beauty of homeschool, right here. We can focus on true life skills, instead of the silly stuff that the government considers important.
This weekend, I’ll be doing my own “book reports”. I got a little care package from the publishing company so I’m planning to curl up with these two books, hot off the presses. I’m going to be checking out The Penny Pinching Prepper by Bernie Carr (of Apartmentprepper.com) and Prepper’s Survival Hacks by Jim Cobb (of SurvivalWeekly.com). Because their websites are so awesome, I’m 99.99999% sure these books will be too! I’ll report to you guys and let you know all about them.
It looks like the harvest is really winding down, even here in California. I do still have access to mountains and mountains of zucchini though. Zucchini chips are our new favorite snack, and I’ve had the dehydrator running all week with them. Simply slice them to about 1/4 inch or less in thickness, dip them in the flavoring of your choice, and dehydrate at 125 for 12-14 hours. Our favorite blend was this (in equal parts):
- Smokey barbecue seasoning
- MSG-free seasoning salt
- Organic sugar (trust me)
They taste similar to barbecue potato chips, without all of the junk ingredients. (I use and recommend the Excalibur 9-tray economy dehydrator and non-stick dehydrator sheets.)
Let’s hear it!
So, how was your week? Are you winding down the harvest too? What kind of indoor hobbies do you enjoy as the weather gets cooler? Please share in the comments section below.
Daisy, did you get a chance to dig any drainage ditches around your house? Every time I see a NOCA weather forecast I think about you and wonder how you are doing! In addition to strange weather and many more natural disasters, we live in precarious times. There are so many unbelievable things going on right now I wonder how much more this country can take! It really does scare me how fast our constitutional rights are being disregarded and even disappearing.
Food prices have skyrocketed. This week ALDI had a sale on several items I wanted to stock up on so I broke my once a month shopping commitment to get the sale items. While I was there I saw that 1 pd of sweet cream butter had gone from $2.39 (last time I bought it) to $3.39! I was so shocked I asked the clerk if the price was mismarked; she shook her head and said no, it was correct!
Anyway, back to the homestead… Middle TN has been blessed with warm fall weather so my garden is producing well. I am still canning collards, swiss chard, sweet and hot peppers and the last of the zucchini. I am going to do a dehydrator full of your z-chips after the mint and oregano are dry. The cabbages, cauliflower and winter squash can stay in the garden for another month. The last of the tomatoes were picked yesterday so lots of canning to do this rainy weekend. The potatoes and carrots did not do well this year so I’ve been buying them from the farmers market and doing canning and dehydrating.
Last week I had a problem with chick feather picking. I separated them and applied a topical ointment on the bloody parts, which has improved the situation greatly. Yesterday I moved the larger chicks to the main coop and began separating the young group of chicks into various cages. All except the silkie and bannie chicks, which should go in the main coop within 3 weeks. I am considering building a small coop only for the silkies. Hopefully I can find the time!
May you have a blessed and productive week!
Nice Jeep Daisy
Thanks, T. It’s sure nice to have for some of these unpaved mountain roads. 🙂
Last of the tomatoes will be made into juice tomorrow. That’s it for the garden.
LOL! I Love the dog protecting you from the dastardly pillow.
I always look forward to reading your farm blog. You share your homesteading adventures with humor.
Your daughter did a great job on her sewing project!
Hope you have a great day!
The pic of your daughter reminded me of my sewing summers. One summer, around the age of your daughter, told me that in order to have new clothes for school, I must sew them myself; our finances were strained. I have always been a life long learner, and took up the challenge. I had already learned the basics of sewing. In those years the average home did not have air conditioning, and we were no exception. The sewing machine was in the basement, and the area was cool and quiet. I spent the entire summer blissfully sewing in the cool and calm, and continued this practice for quite a number of years. They are good, fine, memories for me, and I hope the same for your daughter.
I, too, have restless hand syndrome. My method of choice is knitting. and carry yarn and needles to make…dishcloths! I can get quite a stack deepening on how much “therapy” I need. I give them to family and friends with a note. They have always been received well.
I’ve been making dishcloths too. 🙂
Being housebound with poor weather raging outside gives one the opportunity to take life a bit slower. I have some wool I would like to spin; it has been years since I have used my spinning wheels. It is also a good time to pull out some of our favorite games setting on the shelf. Hope our, and your winter is a good time to hunker down and hibernate!
Oh lucky!!! A local friend of mine spins and I’d LOVE to learn.
Daisy,
If you are able to purchase, or have access to fleece, the start up costs can be kept to a minimum. (Mohair goats?)Drop spindles are are inexpensive compared to spinning wheels and they accomplish the same results. I am no expert at it, and due to the number of years I have not been spinning, I feel that I must learn all over again. I am hoping that it will be like riding a bicycle, you really never forget.
If you wish to try using a spindle there are resources for you. For example, there is Abby Franquemont (just an example.) Unlike spinning wheels, spindles are portable; you can spin anywhere at any time! How cool is that? Just like knitting and crochet! I have no bias concerning the best book/DVD/or author.
I finally finished with my mountain of tomatoes, and have started canning some squash to make some pies with later in the year. The kids didn’t plant any pie pumpkins, just jack-o-lantern type and I don’t like them as pie very well.
How do you dehydrate buttercup squash? My two books on dehydrating don’t say any thing about it, nor online.
Cindy – since the plants are so similar, check out this method for dehydrating pumpkin. I think it should work for you.
http://momwithaprep.com/dehydrate-pumpkin-make-pumpkin-pie-smoothie/