Babies Are Already Here!

All of my children were born pre-term, so it makes sense that for me, shoats would come before spring.
Hubby came home last weekend with these two little girls.

Meet Link and Patty.
(Pork and Chop, our Tamworth crosses were sent to the butcher the week before.)

Nothing boosts the farming spirit like new babies!!

Hubby rebuilt their covered portion of the pen, and added the duck coop (the ducks decided to live with the chickens in the chicken coop for the winter) so these darlings could stay warm in our North Eastern Winters.
Hubby was able to get a truckload of loose hay to pack into their pen and hut to keep them warm.

I rebuilt their fencing so the little darlings don't sneak out, as naughty little piggies are prone to do.

I check them every day for frost bite and how warm they are.
So far, despite temperatures in the single digits at night and winds whipping about, they are doing well.

Victory Garden Guide

This is such a good guide.
And you can always substitute the vegetables you don't eat with more of the ones you do.

For example, while I like roasted parsnips, my family won't touch them.
So, I can replace the parsnip row with more peas or green beans.  We eat a LOT of those.

Don't Knock the Fair-Weather Farmers

We all go a little crazy in the spring.
One more goat won't hurt.  One more packet of seeds.  One more hatching of chicks'll be fun!

And so it happens for many greenhorn Americans.
They flock Tractor Supply and ooh and ahh over the chicks peeping away under the red lights.
And wouldn't that red and white pre built chicken coop look adorable in the backyard?

And so they buy.
They set up and enjoy.
All spring and summer long their little flock grows and it is cute.
Fall time the eggs start coming and it is amazing!
This is a taste of what it feels like to be self-sufficient.

But, the American Gothic, magazine cover idealism fades.

Winter comes.
Manure happens.
Predators.
Illness (human or animal).

And it isn't fun anymore.
The coop isn't cute anymore.
In fact, it's gross.

Some tough it out and find themselves back in the spring fever cycle.
Some just post it all to craigslist.

And that's ok.
Yes, I think it is ok.
They tried.  I think everyone who has the taste in their mouth for it should try.
They might discover something about themselves, whether it is a growing awe and love for farming, self sufficiency, or homesteading.
Or they discover that it isn't for them, and the animals move on to a new home with someone who is willing to trudge out several times a day in January's -20 temps to issue new water and check combs and feet.

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The Stork Will Be Visiting Us!

I just got word today that some time after Christmas I will be receiving a bouncing baby shoat!  Oh, so much to do before it arrives!  I want to make sure it is healthy and strong for winter.  Need to do research for wintering a young pig.

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How To Fatten a Backyard Hog on the Cheap

Without the luxury of an fenced in pasture, feeding a backyard hog for future butchering can get costly.  I am on my second year of raising spring pigs for December butchering, so I have been trying out and brainstorming how to fatten up hogs on the cheap.  This is a work in progress.

1. Try to get a recently weaned shoat.  I notice that the older the pig, the more used to whatever feed he's been getting he is, and the less likely he'll be to turn his snout up at certain foods.

2.  Throw everything edible into the pigpen.  If my beans got too tough and bulky on the plant, or the summer squash got too big and tough, I threw it into the pigpen.  Broccoli went to flower, I pruned the flowers and fed them to the pigs.  We threw in grass clippings (our lawn is untreated and organic), leaves (our current pigs LOVED fresh hickory leaves), cracked eggs from the hens, nuts that dropped from trees, fruit that dropped from trees, hay that the goats dropped and wouldn't eat anymore, etc.

3. Save everything in the kitchen.  I have a slop bucket in the kitchen.  In it goes crumbs, the water from rinsing out cans and jars of their food remains before washing, fruit and vegetable cores and ends, bread crusts the kids wouldn't finish, leftover that hadn't gone bad yet but weren't going to get eaten by humans, egg shells, plate scrapings, cooked potato peelings, the teaspoon or two of milk or juice left in the bottom of cups.  Every little bit is another calorie for the pigs.

4.  If you're not opposed to it, ask around for restaurant or bakery waste.  I personally don't like feeding my pigs unknown or unhealthy waste foods.  Once in a while, a donated bag of donuts I'll gladly throw in, but I won't make a steady diet of it for my pigs.

5. Ask around the neighborhood.  Surely neighbors have neglected fruit trees you could glean from, or even nut trees, acorns, garden waste, or even a pile of bread ends in their bread boxes.

6.  At picnics and parties, ask the host if you could bring a slop bucket for plate scrapings, dropped food, and leftovers to feed your pig.

7.  If you aren't opposed to feeding your pigs raw meat, ask your hunter friends for discards, innards, etc.

Every little bit adds up and whole lot of pig for a little money if you are diligent.  Do you have any ideas to share?

Has it really been almost a year?

Let's see if I can post an update in a nutshell.

We got a good jump start in the spring with some new baby bunnies and acquiring a few new rabbits for breeding.  My main breeding doe died during childbirth in early spring.  However, in September, the Mr. and I discussed it and we were both in agreement that right now rabbits aren't for us.  We sold all but 4, our 4 favorites we are keeping as pets, instead.

The chickens did well.  We had two different hatchings after the Mr. got me an incubator on craigslist!  The first hatching we got 5 roosters.  The second, we got 13 mix-chicks, some hens, some roos.  

We were given 3 bantams, 3 meat birds, 5 roosters, and 2 turkeys.  Unfortunately, we lost the turkeys and 3 chickens to the pigs.

We also bought 3 khaki campbell duck hens.

The meat birds went right to the freezer and the roosters have been slowly making their way to the kitchen as they mature and become troublesome.

I have not had to buy eggs in over a year and for that I am thrilled!  The birds more than pay for themselves.

It was later in the year, but we did eventually get two pigs, two Tamworth cross females.  They are not nearly as personable as our first pig, and the one has bitten me twice, but they aren't escapees.  I did have to double their fencing thickness to keep them from grabbing chickens by their tails through the fence and pulling them in.  I don't think I'll raise tamworths again.  I would like to try Durocs or Gloucestershire Old Spots.

We had two dairy goats this summer on loan again, and my friend was going to gift me the one goat, service her with her buck, and let me keep the baby(ies).  It was a remarkable gift, so generous, but after discussing it with hubby, we decided not to take on goats.  Our current barn situation and my time limits right now were making it very stressful on me.  I love farming and would love to do more, but I admit that I am a split personality.  A part of me loves the suburban style life, with a clean, tidy, stylish house, and smelling nice and wearing nice clothes.  I have to be able to divide myself between the two (as well as homeschooling and running some at-home businesses).

I also tried quail this year.  That didn't turn out well at all.  The little boogers kept dying on me.  We finally ended up with 10 males.  They lasted a while and started dying off.  We got 6 in the freezer.

The garden did fairly well.  I couldn't put in as much time as I wanted to in it and I planted way too much summer squash!  LOL!  Next year more beans and peas and less summer squash!!

The chickens devastated my tomato crop and edible flower garden.  Either they will have to be fenced in or the gardens will have to be next year.

We were able to acquire more cages for the rabbits, some for free, and I kept them because I would like to start breeding a rare meat breed in the future.  I also got a gorgeous large wooden hutch for free, which we used for the ducks this summer.  The best gain was a shed for only $30 from our neighbors.  The house was purchased and is being fixed up, so they wanted to update the shed situation.  It was a nice steal for us!

Next year, our focus is going to be on the birds.  They are the most productive and beneficial right now.  We want to get 6 more non-related chickens, and maybe a breeding pair of turkey. 

 My other focus is going to be on creating a prettier property.  For the last two years it was very utilitarian and well, it got ugly.  I told my neighbors that I recognize that our yard got ugly, and we are working on understanding what works best for our property, our ability, our animals, AND the neighborhood.  After all, while I do live in a rural area, it is still a town neighborhood of mostly nice little cottages, ranches, farm houses, and cape cods.  It isn't fair to the neighborhood when one property owner's place looks unkempt and trashy.  Ours looks like an unfinished project that got hit by a tornado (aka children who love playing outside.)  So, we'll endure and enjoy the sin-covering blanket of snow this winter and in the spring start anew with a plan for prettying up the place, hopefully with a cottage garden, too.

Little Egg Miracle

Everyone I know in the area who has chickens have been reporting that their hens have stopped or greatly reduced their laying for the winter.  This is fairly common as the birds use so much energy to stay warm and don't have the grasses and bugs summer provides.  Most farmers try to remedy this by adding a light bulb or heat lamp to their chicken coop.  Even so, those that do are still reporting great reductions in egg production.

I have 6 laying hens.  Since they only had a dog-house modified summer coop, we put them in the goat barn for the winter.  They have 4 nesting boxes and an old dresser turned sideways for a shelter.  I've littered the floor with layers of wood chips for the deep bedding method of keeping them warm.  The barn is windowless and has no lighting or heating.  In the morning, we open the doors to the barn and at night we shut it.  In foul weather they simply stay in the barn with the doors open, scratching, nesting, and burrowing into the deep bedding if it gets really cold or damp.  We've had it get in the single digits for a stretch of time and the chickens fared well.  So well, in fact that they are still giving us FULL EGG PRODUCTION!

That means, our birds are laying 4-6 eggs a day!  In one 24-36 hour stretch, we got 10 eggs!  And that was after a 3 day snow storm!

Every day I think, "this is it.  They must be done by now," and yet there's eggs sitting there waiting for us.  I am so grateful and I certainly can't figure out how those around me with more chickens and more ideal cooping situations are getting so few eggs, if any, while I am getting summer production in the winter.

I'm not bragging by any stretch.  It's a miracle in my book.  A promise from God to provide.  I still fully expect them to cease such production.  After all, that's what chickens do in winter around here.  But, every day there are eggs, and so many of them, I am thankful.  As we say in our church, all glory to God!

A New Resolve

Yesterday, I brought home the non-smoked round of meats from the butcher from our pig.  As I filled the freezer, my heart leaped for joy and my eyes filled with tears.  Beautiful, delicious, nutritious security that I raised!  I knew this pig.  I knew what he ate, I knew how he lived.  I was involved in his life every step of the way except birth and weaning.  And he provided for us.  It feels.....is there even a word for it?  Complete is the closest I think I can get.

Hand in hand with God and the land, we raised our food.  All that work, all that new and unfamiliar work for me mattered.  It makes sense.  It has reason and purpose.

Why have we as a people gotten so far from that lifestyle?  We must have felt the wealthy had it better than us and we pursued wealth and convenience.  To what end?  Frozen pizza, and ramen noodles?  Leisure apparently is worth more than fruitful husbandry?  I think so at times, as evident in my recent posts.  Who doesn't like to put their feet up and have luxuries?

But, now I have a new resolve.  My heart swells in anticipation for next year.  I did so much this year.  I stretched myself farther than I ever thought I could.  Imagine how much more I can stretch myself next year!  My children are older, too, and eager to help.  My husband is on board after our successful run.  We can really make Scott Family Micro Farm Work!

Who's to say God won't bless us with a real working farm?  Perhaps He will.

A Penny Saved # 4: Using Every Bit of Oven Heat

In my continuing quest to conserve not only pennies, but environmental resources, I became obsessed with using every bit of my oven heat.  I think I finally have it down pat.

I have an apartment sized electric range.  It came with the house.  I realized earlier in the fall that we have a lot of single-use appliances.  We have a furnace that heats water with oil and electricity.  We have an oven that runs on electricity for cooking.  And I'm running both at the same time!  That just eats up money and resources.

So, now, when I turn the oven on to cook (which is nearly every day since I do just about all my cooking from scratch), I add firebricks and a pan of water during preheat.  The bricks warm for residual heat in my cold kitchen (whoever built this house build the cabinets against the outside wall, so no insulation on the west wall), and the water I use for dishes.  I'll add another pan of water during cool down, too.

Now, I'm even more determined to get a Vermont Bun Baker.  Then, I could more effectively cook, heat, and warm water rather than over using all these single use appliances in my house that run on costly electric and/or oil.

T'is A Hard Thing

This past weekend we started wrapping up the meat-raising portion of our micro farm.  Slaughtering time.

T'is a hard thing.

For thousands of years man has been raising and slaughtering his own animals.  You'd think it would come rather simply and naturally with all that history behind it.  It isn't so matter-of-fact.  And it certainly isn't heartless and cold blooded.

Humble gratitude is how I described it on my facebook post.

My husband was a champion both in humane effectiveness and in vulnerable humbleness.  We did our pig and culled a rabbit that had contracted pneumonia.

It wasn't our first animal harvest.  We raised meat ducks a few years ago.  But, this was more poignant.  This was the first from our serious micro farming endeavors.  This was our first large livestock and our first babies born and raised for such a purpose.

I prepared myself for the harvest, finding that balance that every thoughtful farmer and hunter has to.  And as the deed was done, and some criticism from those around us fell upon our ears, I understood deeply that no one has any right to call a thoughtful farmer heartless, cruel, or inhumane.

In our forgetful and convenient modern world there is a place in between survival of the fittest and pet spas.  You can lovingly and carefully raise an animal, slaughter it, and eat it without a hint of heartlessness.  It is called animal husbandry, stewardship.

And it is teaching me to be more thoughtful, more heartfelt, more careful, more environmentally concerned, less wasteful, and yes, even less of a meat-eater.  When your meat comes to you that slowly, over months of care, you learn to ration it more appropriately than just grabbing chicken nuggets out of the grocer's freezer and gobbling up as much as you want.

It is a hard thing, but it is a good thing.

UPDATE:  My pig dressed out at 250 lbs!  Not bad for the runt of the litter!

One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.  The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them.  Romans 14:2-3

Vintage Charming Glarming

Among the farm girl pinups I looked for to use in my last post, I found this gem!  The Farmer's Wife magazine!

This is great!

It joins my two worlds.

Maybe Glarming is possible, even if just in little treasured snippets.

Like last year when my husband admired that moment when I was wearing my vintage yellow sun dress, strappy white sandals, had my hair retro-coiffed, and wearing red lipstick in preparation for a vintage flea market excursion while hanging out in the pig pen with our newest shoat.

Glarming?

Is there a such thing as glarming?  Glamour farming?  There's Glamping, so why not glarming?  Maybe because when you get down to brass tacks, farming isn't glamorous at all.  Open toed high heeled strappy sandals with white socks?  Girl, you ain't been in the pig pen, have you?

Growing up, I had girlhood dreams of classic Hollywood quality of that well-dressed and quaint housewife, tidy, airy, beautifully decorated farmhouse, abundant flower garden, neat vegetable garden, and a red and white farm beyond.  I dreamed of woodstoves, and mending, and the scent of rose or lavender or lilac.  I dreamed of preparing homemade meals for strapping boys and sweat-smiling husband coming in with the faint waft of hay behind them.

Then, I started micro farming.

I don't get to wear pretty dresses and hang out in the tidy farmhouse making meals and smelling of roses.

I wear torn, stained jeans, work outside, my cottage gets messy and tracked up, and I smell of pig poop and goat.

I don't have time or money for a decent flower garden.

I pass up the vintage dress at the flea market because I have to buy animal feed.

We can't earn sole income on a micro farm, so my husband doesn't get to wander in from the fields like a romance novel cowboy.  And even if he did, he wouldn't smell of hay.  He'd smell of pig poop, diesel fuel, and body odor.

Woodstoves are great and I do want one, but they are messy and make everything smell of woodsmoke or bacon, not roses.

And thus my cottage would get messier and I hate messy clutter, especially in such a small space.

The American Dream gets lost in the translation to reality.  And I wonder how much of this desire is based on true farming passion and how much is based on that little girl's fantasy world.

Can I have both?  Can I Glarm?

Considering Goat Dairying Full Time

Back in early November, the goats were returned to their owner to be bred.  I enjoyed having the goats, and I am enjoying not having the goats.  I am very grateful for the experience and the goat's milk, but I am wondering if full time goat dairying is really for me.

You see, I'm enjoying sleeping in on weekends.  I like having time in the mornings to exercise, read, shower, dress, and work online before the kiddos wake up.  I like getting homeschool started on time.  It's nice that I can keep up on the household chores.  There are days I don't even have to go outside because my oldest son is willing to care for the remaining animals.  I relish time for my hobbies.  Do I really want to give all that up again?  I don't really mind for a season, but for a good portion of the year?

While I cared for the goats, I wondered how I'd do this if I fell ill.  I occasionally get vertigo that either leaves me bedridden or bathroom-bound.  And it can be serious enough that I absolutely cannot muscle up and do basic chores.  What if that happens?

Plus, I was just babysitting the goats.  I didn't have responsibility for their medical care, hoof trimming, etc.  I just fed them, cleaned their barn, and milked them.  So, it was actually a savings for us to have them.  If I actually OWN goats, would it end up costing us?

But, oh, that milk!  The self-sufficiency.  The quiet, rhythmic times of milking.

The good news is, circumstances may dictate my answer, anyway.  We moved the chickens to the goat barn and they've pretty much taken up permanent residence.  So, unless we can afford a goat barn in the spring, no goats at all.  IF we get a goat barn, then I still have the option of goat-sitting rather than owning.

Perhaps the answer is not now.  As my children grow older and less dependent on me and more able to contribute to the running of the farm and household, perhaps goat dairying will be more lucrative.  It would be nice to have two available milkers.

I suppose we'll just see where life takes us in 2015.

Apple Juice Used Three Times

My children had apple juice as part of their lunch.  I gave them each a generous cup-full in hopes of using up the last of it in the jug.  I filled their cups with a bit to spare in the bottom of the jug...

You know that bit.  Not enough for a full cup.

And then I left the jug on the counter.

And when I cleaned the living room (they were picnicking), I found unfinished apple juice in the bottoms of cups.

All together, I had a generous cup of probably no longer safe to drink apple juice on my hand and a great pitying not to dump it down the drain.

So, I poured it into my tea pot along with a cinnamon stick and a few cloves.

It's been simmering nicely for a while now, ever so slowly reducing and filling the kitchen with a potpourri scent!

I found a second use for the apple juice.  Potpourri!

But, that's not all it's good for.  Once it reduces to 1/2 a cup of concentrated spiced goodness, it became a confection, apple cider donuts!

Not bad for some humble, old, abandoned apple juice.

Considering Butter

While grocery shopping yesterday, I encountered sticker shock when conventional butter was $3.99 a pound. For a family who can go through 1 1/2 lbs of butter a week, that's a huge chuck of our limited grocery budget.

Of course, being Nourishing Traditions-esque health-minded, margarine is an absolute no-no.  Crisco, vegetable oil, canola oil, corn oil - no no no no no!  But, if I can find ways to stretch our butter, I'm going to.  Here are some ideas:

1. Save the bacon grease from the nitrate-free bacon.  I rarely buy bacon because the nitrate-free is so pricey, but by saving the grease for frying eggs and potatoes, stretches both the bacon and the butter.

2. I look forward to lard.  Our pig will provide plenty of lard for biscuits and pie crusts, which I usually use butter for.

3. Cut back the butter portion just a little.  Yeah, I'm known to drop a full tablespoon of butter onto my oatmeal in the morning.  I can get by with a little less.

4. Coconut oil for pancakes and waffles.  (Hmmmm....maybe I should compare prices, though I tend to buy my coconut oil with free amazon gift cards and not grocery $$).

5. Applesauce for quick breads.  This is a great way to use up the bits and bowls of half-eaten applesauce my kids leave behind.

6. Speaking of quick breads, quick breads and muffins often take less butter than cookies (and less sugar).

7. I also save the butter wrappers.  There's often scrapings of butter left on the wrappers.  I fold the wrappers in half and stick them in the fridge to use when I need to grease a dish.

8.  A pound of local cream is often cheaper than a pound of butter.  I could make my own butter if it came down to it.

9. We have looked into a cream separator for goat's milk.

Do you have any butter-saving ideas?

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A Penny Saved #3: Heating Water

This is so minor, but that's what saving a penny is all about; teeny tiny little things that eventually do add up.

I was making scones for breakfast the other day and wanted tea, so I considered stove top or microwave to heat my water.  Being more of a traditionalist, I poured water into my little kettle and set it on the stove.  Then it dawned on me.  Why turn on the stove when the over is already on and still empty as I worked the scone dough?  I grabbed one of my little enamel pots, put the tea water in it and placed it in the oven.  By the time the scones were ready to bake, the water ready for tea!  One less burner on, one more penny saved!

This is where I really wish I had a Vermont Bun Baker.  One stove, one source of energy consumption would heat the house and cook and bake and heat water!  Some day, perhaps.  Some day.

A Wuss About the Cold

The crisp, Autumn air came early this year.  Many fires around the area have already been lit.  The smell of woodsmoke, like incense, wafts through the air.  We're relying on sunlight through west facing windows and an electric fireplace to keep us warm in the mornings and evenings.

As I venture out every morning to tend to the animals I remember something about myself.  I am a wuss about the cold.  I could tolerate the cold somewhat before, but since I got pregnant with my 3rd child, I have been hopelessly intolerant of the cold.  It is painful and all-consuming to me.  If my bones get cold, only a long hot shower and bundling up tight helps.  I have times where every inch of me is shivering under covers, with a hat on in bed.

But, my animals need my care and I hope that I can acclimate my body as I go outside every day to tend to them.

Considering Solar Lights

The back corner of my local Target store had a box of two solar lights for a drastic clearance price.  I bought the box and it sat in my kitchen for two months.  I finally installed one near the pig and goat pens and one on the chicken hut.  And I love them!  They don't last terribly long into the night, but are perfect when we're still doing chores past sunset.

Those little lights got me thinking about how I could harness the sun's energy for my little house.  There are a lot of solar energy incentives these days, but Mr. Scott isn't fully convinced at totally converting our house to solar.  But that doesn't mean I can't do something on a smaller scale indoors.

I came across THIS article for a bit of inspiration.

Also, we have a garage/driveway light that burned out years ago and we never replaced it because it cost a lot to run it.  But I found THIS solar light and I'm seriously considering it.

In addition to those ideas, I'm wondering if I could rig up a solar light for inside the barn.  Right now, I just use a flashlight for evening milkings.

What other ways can we harness the sun's energy on a micro scale?

Another Freebie: Magnetic Paper Towel Holder

While I use a lot of cloth products in the home, sometimes paper towels come in handy, anyway.  Since we moved into this little cottage 9 years ago, the paper towels either were shoved into a drawer in the kitchen, or got tossed about the counter top, always in the way, falling over, and so on.  I tried eliminating having paper towels at all and I was moderately successful at it for a while.  But, paper towels are back in my life and back on my counter top.

With space limited in my small kitchen, I wanted something I could mount under my cabinet.  Unfortunately, finding cabinet mounted pt holders is hard enough.  Add in the complication that my cabinets are 1950's enameled metal, and I need something magnetized...even harder to find!

I held off for all these years and finally had enough this week.  I'm on an organization spree and I wanted that pt holder!  I found what I was looking for online, but I had the choice between $20 plus shipping and get it sooner, or $5.00 and free shipping and not getting it until next month.  Neither seemed reasonable to me.  So, in my quest to get what I want NOW and not pay a dime for it, I scoured the shed, garage, basement and junk drawer and found everything I needed right here to make my own magnetic pt holder:  scrap wood, dowel, finishing nails, semi gloss white spray paint.

Voila!

Considering Beans and Ration/Depression Cookbooks

Times of lean and times of plenty occur throughout life as well as times of examining the health and well being of one's family.

I believe in a well-balanced, omnivore diet based on what is available locally, what our ancestry tells us, and what is on sale.  *wink*

As we seek ways to burn smaller holes in our wallets and keep our health, I consider the humble bean.  I'm sure we could sustain ourselves quite nicely on a day or two a week of beans.  But, cooking them in delicious ways escapes me.

I seek answers to the bean question and other frugal meal solutions in old Depression Era cookbooks and World War 2 Ration cookbooks.

If you have a recipe or suggestion, please share in the comments.