Rachel's Reasoning

02:19, Tuesday, June 24, 2008

The 56th Homesteading Carnival - Just Around

Welcome to the 56th Homesteading Carnival. There are just some random posts in this one. :)

First, let's take a look at Mrs. Tiffany of Natural Family Living Blog tells about Freedom Gardens - Grow Your Own Food. She said that

"I have been reading about WWII Victory/Freedom Gardens lately. Iam not sure when the concept began but our history is rich with stories of people who used times of war and economic depression (like The Great Depression) to get proactive and start growing their own food. During WWII you could find posters encouraging you to start your own garden and avoid the restrictions of food rations and to become more self sufficient during those stressful times."

It's good to know how to grow your own food. You never know when that will be useful. And it's much more healthy too!

Now let's head over to erica.biz. She has some great tips on When Should You Buy Real Estate — And When Is It Better to Rent? 

She said that "by the time you’re done reading this, you’ll have an excellent idea of exactly when higher-priced houses will fall in price, and you’ll have an armload of data to assist you in determining when a house is priced correctly — no matter where it is or what its price."

Take a look if you are interested in buying a house or are going to be buying a house.

Let's take a look at someone else's life for a moment. Dora Renee'Wilkerson of  Y-2k Hippie tells about when her parents came down from Ohio.

Some of the things they did were made berry jam, fresh bread and cream cheese, made shampoo, and homemade vinegar.

Very good pictures, which you can see in her post, 06/19/08. Go check 'em out!


Next we will take a look at Dexter Cattle the Mini Cow with Larry Bogart of Measure Twice, Cut Once. Mr. Bogart asked in his post,

"Why Dexter’s? We have been great fans of the heritage breeds movement for sometime and we knew that we would be picking one of the older breeds, so that narrowed down the search. We first wanted a Kerry cow but we couldn’t find very many of those - a bit too rare. The next runner up was the Dexter, a very old Irish breed."

This is very useful information if you are planning on getting a cow or two. Check it out. :)

Speaking of farm animals, over at My Cup Runneth Over, Mrs. Chas gives a step-by-step, photos-included, called Our First Chicken Day on how to butcher a chicken. She said that

"Saturday was our first attempt at chicken butchering.  We got together with some dear friends of ours and did it together so they could teach us how and what to do."

We did not get to butcher our roosters this year, but this will be helpful in butchering them next year!

Mrs. Ashley of Jonash... Two of a Kind Working on a Full House also has some Sugar Info I think you might want to take a look at.

"Have you ever heard of Icumsa 45 sugar? According to estimation each person consumes an estimated 24 kilos a year – or 52.8lbs!! And most, if not all of the sugar you ingest is going to be Icumsa 45 sugar."

It's very good to know about the food you buy from the store and where it comes from. Don't you think so? :)

Now let's take a refreshing walk with Mrs. Ashley through her garden gate as she has some news about her growing garden in Updates In Gardening and More. She tells about

"My garden, half-tended to, is growing strongly. We should start eating green beans soon and will probably eat them as a staple most of the rest of the summer. Some of my beans are purple, which I find hauntingly beautiful among the dark green leaves of the plants and so unique!"

It will be so fun to soon be picking our own veggies from the garden and eating them. Mrs. Ashley  also has some more updates about her home in that post.

While we're still in the garden, why don't we hop on over to the flower beds with ZooKeeperCat. They have just been dug over at ZooKeeperCat's. She said in her post, First Dirt, 

"I spent two hours digging over a flowerbed today. For the last two years, my beds have suffered serious neglect in favour of the market garden. Now that I'm no longer doing that...well, actually, I feel like myself again."

I can't wait to see some pictures of her flowerbed when it is done. Go and read the rest of her post.

Stephanie of Stop The Ride has a question to ask -Would you eat that? She said that this question was -

"This question is for the meat eaters out there. We have a lamb that is butchering age. I like lamb and order it occasionally in restaurants, but cooking it myself is new territory to me."

I am not sure I would eat what she is talking about. But find out for yourself in her post. It may tingle your tastebuds.

Alright, to satisfy our tastebuds now, let's all have a piece of Berry Pie with Grandma Rosie of Grandma Rosie's Texas Home. It sounds great once you read the recipe. :) I can't wait to have this as a summer treat for my family!

Now let's go with GP of Innside Montana-Your Home at the Range, because has a question to ask you in Viva Simplicity...

"What is it about summer time that conjures up memories of childhood? Maybe it was because summer’s always were a return to simplicity.. more of a time to kick back and enjoy what life’s about"

She gives a list of things that were so simple that they could such delight to her. A wonderful post, I must say.

HowToMe shows us How To Make a Birthday Tablecloth. 

"The traditions my parents established for our home are a source of nostalgia for me today. My husband and I wanted celebration in our home to reflect the joys of our childhood but also be unique. The most unusual part of our kids’ birthdays is their Birthday Tablecloth. Guests write messages and sign their names on it, year after year. At three, our oldest jumped out of bed and ran to the dining room. With an excited voice I heard, “Mommy, it’s my birthday! I see my birthday cloth!” Joy! This is how I made it."

They give a complete list of the supplies you will need to make this. They give great sewing tips and  lots of how-tos.

And finally, Mrs. Amy from SimpleFolk has an interesting book in her library, called A Simple Woman's Daybook. Perhaps we should take a walk to her library and check this book out.

"Outside my Window...chickens pecking in the grass. :-)
I am thinking...about my week ahead.
I am thankful for...that my back felt better this morning. Thank you for the sweet prayers!
I am creating... a spot for all of our baking supplies to prepare for the baking contest we entered."

It's very interesting to read. Perhaps we should all have one of these books.

Hope you all enjoyed the Carnival!
Rachel

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