Updates

Yes.  I'm into creative titles these days.

I can't believe my blogging has precipitously dropped off these past few months.  When I was homeschooling both kids, I would oftentimes take a few minutes in the morning to at least start a post.  Now that Akea is attending public school, it's a rush to get everyone out the door to drop her off, and she comes home with plenty of homework, most of with which she needs help.

And having Charlie at home, by himself, means he needs more attention from me.  It's just the way things are rolling these days.

From a homesteading perspective, things are slowing down, but I have been attacking some projects inside the house.  So right now, our life looks like this:

Outside
1. The steers go to the butcher tomorrow.  When we bought them, we knew they weren't pets, but because we raised them from their first week of life, we've grown a bit attached.

2. The younger hens are almost six months old and have been laying small, pullet eggs for about a month.  We're happy that the flocks merged without a hitch, and the goats are enjoying being pastured with them as well.  Our thought is that the goats provide a degree of predator protection for the chickens.

3. The garden has been done for a while.  The no-till idea didn't mix well with my fatigue and the drought this summer, so Byron will till it in the spring and we will try raised beds.  I have a bit of lettuce in pots.

4. We need to prep the hoop house for the chickens, which involves clearing it out, protecting the sides where they'd dug under last year, and making a small access door into the garden.  We want them to be able to go outside when they want, instead of being cooped up (literally) all winter.

Inside
1. I painted the kitchen and large common area at the back of the house, and have begun to work on re-upholstery again.  Soon to come is painting and/or refinishing a few pieces of furniture, then organizing.  Lots of organizing.

2. Byron plans to repair the floor and damaged joist in the downstairs bedroom, and lay hardwood flooring.  Part of the holdup has been figuring out exactly how to reconfigure the bathroom, but I think we have finally made our decision...we're keeping it simple and not tearing up and rebuilding walls.

3. My Nutrimill died!  I believe the motor burned up.  However, I have to give props to L'Equip, the company that makes the machine.  They told me to send it in, and they're fixing it free of charge.  Totally took my word for it that I'm the original owner, too, and told me not to even worry about sending in the receipt.  In all this, a big thanks to my friend, Katey, who has let me borrow her hand mill!

In all this, we are trying to figure out some ways to streamline the homesteading aspect of our lives.  Raised beds will hopefully be easier on me, and Byron would like to set up some semi-permanent electric wire paddocks for whenever we get more cows.  Any by the way, we are going to try to get a couple heifers (young, female cows) that we can breed, which will be much more sustainable than buying calves.

I will be back to update from time to time, but my guess is that it won't be as frequent as it has been in the past.  As our kids grow, they're beginning to show interests in different activities.  For Charlie, it's soccer and guitar.  Akea is interested in basketball and drama.  True, this seems contrary to the homesteading lifestyle to a degree, but we are trying to find that balance.

There's No Place Like Home (Processing)

Even if, at our best, we only processed six chickens per hour, it was so good to be home!

Over the past couple weekends - and a couple evenings during the week - we processed our last batch of broilers for the year.  With over 70 chickens that needed to make it into the freezer ASAP, we decided to purchase some low-cost equipment so we could process them in our own backyard.  In the past, we would have travelled about twenty miles to another farm with said chickens and two very bored children in tow.  Even though our equipment is more rudimentary and the going was slower, we had happy kids, happy chickens (well, up until...you know), and showers.  All that was missing was a pumpkin latte from Starbucks at the end of it all.

Here's our set-up, along with approximate purchase prices:

Stainless steel table, 2'x4', used for evisceration.  Approximately $125 on eBay.

Polar Ware 30-quart stainless steel pot from Amazon, $67.40.  Underneath is a Bayou Classic outdoor gas cooker, $51.80.

Drill attachment plucker, approximately $30 from eBay.

Large cooler, which we used as a chill tank.  I can't recall the price, but many people have coolers like these already.  And see the green bucket?  When we were only processing maybe five birds in an evening, we would just chill them in FREE food-grade buckets we snagged from Chick-fil-A.  Oh, the irony.

Grand total? $274.20, not including the items we already had on hand.  Not too shabby, when you consider the professional stuff can climb up to the likes of $8,000.

One thing we do want to change is the plucker.  The little drill attachment worked, but I had to pluck whatever it couldn't (wings).  Not an issue if you're processing about five birds, but when you run into a couple or few dozen, you really need something more efficient.  We may try finding something used or attempt to make our own next summer.

We also could have purchased an aluminum turkey pot with temperature control, but we're a little leery of aluminum and its leaching abilities.  So Byron kind of got into the groove of knowing when to turn the valve up to heat the water, and when to turn it back down.  We kept a thermometer on hand to ensure that the water would always be between 140 and 150 degrees.

And this all wouldn't have happened without the Cornish X chicken.  

However, we may try Freedom Rangers next time, as they are much more hardy. You can do everything by the book, but some of the Cornish X will develop leg problems and simply refuse to move. Leg problems are caused by anything from genetics, to a chicken getting scratched by his buddy, and suddenly deciding he just. doesn't. want. to. move. anymore.  

And that's when home processing equipment really comes in handy.  Just saying.

I'm linking up with the Homestead Barn Hop!

In Which I Make a Trendy Wreath

The primary reason for making a trendy wreath is this bizarre need I have to create things with my hands.  It's not pretty when I go for long spells without making anything.  Oh, sure, I make meals every day and bake all the time, but that just doesn't do it for me.  I need instant visual gratification.

So I made one of those deals with the yarn wrapped around and around and around a straw wreath.  The whole thing cost me about $4 since I had the fabric and buttons already.  I like to think of it as autumn with a touch of elegance (work with me here, okay?).

I found that it was a relatively easy project, but I did originally use a muted yellow for the "flowers" and found that to be too much color.  I also found that the glue gun was the best thing I ever bought and that along with Google Earth, winding yarn around a wreath gives me vertigo.

Made by me, inspired HERE by Homemade Ginger. 

Since this cost me all of $4 (hint: Joann Fabrics takes multiple, competitor coupons), I'm linking up with Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways #46!

Wake Me Up When September Ends

Maybe by then the dust will have settled a bit.

But in the meantime, here's a small peek into what we've been up to:

Making applesauce.  I think I had the heat too high in the pressure canner for this round, though I'm open to suggestions.

Freezing a bushel of corn, and now persimmons.



Inventing weapons.

Remember "business in the front, party in the back?"  Byron's beautiful landscaping, completed this summer.

Baby chick, growing up.

Our biggest change, and a tough decision...sending Akea to public school.  She's adjusting well.

This may not seem like much, but somehow, days are full with homeschooling Charlie, wrestling with finicky bell waterers, baking, cooking, more baking, preserving, homework, cleaning.

I'm linking up with Rural Thursdays and Farmgirl Fridays.

Table, Farmhouse Style

A couple weeks ago I donned one of those heavy-duty air filtration masks that made me look like a cool chick on a DIY show (minus the designer jeans that never seem to get dirty).  I wish I had a photo (maybe), but I do have a couple photos of the farmhouse table we had made, finally finished!

I used four coats of Waterlox, the final being a satin finish.  The center is the leftover heart pine flooring we couldn't use in the house; the frame is walnut from an old beam.

The legs are also walnut, reclaimed from an old table.

One project down...many more to go.

I'm linking up with Rural Thursdays and Farmgirl Friday!

Reclaimed Projects

Since we put hardwood floors in the back of the house in April, our renovation has been somewhat on hold.  I won't bore you with the details as to why, but if you've ever worked on your own home renovation, you probably understand.  Because by the way, this isn't exactly Sarah's House.  Sarah gets to hire contractors and go shopping for cool fabrics.  We do most of the dirty work ourselves and scrounge for deals to fit a very tight budget, so it's east to get burnt out.

Lately, however, we've reclaimed some of our projects.  And I don't use the word "reclaimed" lightly:



A reclaimed mantle we bought a couple years ago, and repaired and painted last week.  To be installed in Akea's room.

The new dining room table.  This was Byron's brainchild, after he struggled with what to do with the leftover heart pine flooring that had been original to the house. 

If you're new to the blog, we had to rip up the flooring in the hall, parlor, and dining room in order to repair some serious termite damage.  We were able to reuse the flooring in the hallway and parlor, but because of the termites, we didn't have enough for the dining room.  So we've been tripping over the extra flooring for two years, until Byron had this fabulous idea.  Why not use it for a 9' long dining room table?  So we contacted a carpenter we'd randomly met a couple years ago, and he used reclaimed walnut legs, an old walnut beam, and our flooring to make us the ultimate farmhouse dining table!  I just put the first coat of Waterlox finish on it yesterday, so more photos to come.

Reclaimed walnut legs.

On one side of the table, we'll place this church pew from the early 1800s.  Originally almost 10' long, the carpenter cut it down so it would fit the table.  The seat will be Waterloxed (hey, I made a new verb!) and we'll paint the sides and back.  Byron wants brown and I want an accent color.

Another view of the bench.

Remember my re-upholstery project??  Here's the chair I finished.  I never managed to get to the matching chair or the sofa.  But there's always next year...

A Very Small "First"

We've experienced a lot of "firsts" in the past year.  Byron and I didn't grow up homesteading/farming.  Heck, I don't even think I had a garden until I was married!  We've raised chickens for meat and eggs, are raising two steers for meat, were given goats, planted fruit trees, created The Biggest Garden Ever (which since has become The Garden of Everlasting Weeds), and the list goes on.  And didn't I just see that July was declared the hottest July in the history of Julys?

Sometimes, you can have too many "firsts" at once, even if they do take place over the course of a year. 

But then in the midst of feeling overwhelmed, you get a first like this:

One of our Rhode Island Red Hens got broody.  So we thought we'd stick a few (three) eggs under her and see what happened. 

Byron is great at telling when an egg is fertilized.  Basically, he grabs some freshly-laid eggs, a flashlight, and disappears into Charlie's closet for a few minutes.  It's a talent I can't mimic or explain.  He was right on all three counts, and here's how we know:

Egg #1: I accidentally collected Egg #1 and stuck it in a carton, in the fridge.  I'd had a brain fart and thought we had put two eggs under Broody Hen, not three.  Thankfully, Byron caught my mistake, and of course he had to go crack it open to see what was inside.  Let's just say that's not the only chicken I accidentally killed that week, but more on that later.

Egg #2: This egg hatched today, but the chick was dead.

Egg #3: This egg hatched today, and the chick was alive.  Here's Baby Chick with Mama Hen:

We placed them in the brooder, away from the other hens.  Any ideas on how long we should leave them in there?  Byron found the chick outside of the nest box initially, so we were a little concerned about leaving them with the other hens.

So we'll see how well Baby Chick does.  Mama Hen seems to be getting the whole mom thing.  She's even abandoned three other eggs we put under her to take care of this little one.  Okay, so maybe that's not optimal parenting, but we're talking about a chicken here. (UPDATE: As of last night, she was sitting on the eggs again and had Baby Chick tucked under her wing.)

Before I sign off, a lot of people have asked me what it means to have a broody hen.  Here's what I know about it:

1. Something kicks in (hormones??) to drive a hen to sit on the nest box ALL THE TIME.  She'll only get up maybe once a day to eat and drink.  This means she's broody.  She wants to be a mom.
2. When a hen gets broody, she clucks a lot, especially when she's off the nest.  It's like some sort of chicken paranoia.
3.  You'll also notice that her feathers get ruffled, literally.  She looks like a mom, and moms have no time to groom in the morning.  Kind of like this:

Mama Hen bristles at me and my camera.

4.  Eggs take 21 days to hatch.  They really do need to be at a pretty consistent temperature, so if Broody Hen gets confused and goes and sits on some other eggs, you may want to move her or the eggs so that the eggs can incubate.  Watch your fingers; she'll bite!
5. Mark the eggs.  We made a small "x" with a Sharpie, but it might be better to put the date on the eggs so you can know when to expect your little hatchlings to, well, hatch.
6. From what I've read, the death rate of new chicks hatched this way is pretty high, so don't be disappointed or give up if it doesn't work the first time.

As always, thanks for sticking with me through this rather busy season!  I'm linking up with Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways and Rural Thursdays!