Dogwood Valley Homesteading | |
Path to FreedomThis is a wonderful website. It is kinda like the Energizer Bunny, it just keeps going and going.It is encouraging to the small land owner. This family lives on a fifth of an acre lot. They have cultivated a tenth of it, that is half their land. They have raised 6,000 pounds of vegetables and produce on this tenth of an acre. Just amazing!! Go to www.pathtofreedom.com to see them. You can also download video!! I love this time of year!!!I've got all my pies done: 1 Pumpkin Pie, 1 Sugar-free Pumpkin Pie, 1 Dutch Apple Pie, and 1 Pecan Pie. The house smells so good and yummy. While I was cooking, I thought about posting some of the things for which I am thankful. I noticed that some of you have also done this.I am thankful for: My salvation Mr. Wonderful and my boys Being born in the USA (we have our problems, but there is no better country!!!) Being raised in the Bible belt of the world Having food to eat, clothes to wear, and a roof over my head Did I already say, Mr Wonderful? Friends Family My sight, to see the autumn leaves My nose, to smell the scent of burning wood My ears, to hear someone say, I Love You My taste buds!! (can't wait to eat that Pecan Pie) Life Oh yeah, and Mr Wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Angelamichelle How much water would you need to have stored, if your water supply was suddenly cut off?Lately, I have been reading "Making the Best of the Basics" by James Stevens. In the book, he gives ideas and formulas for figuring out how much water along with other staples you might need if some disaster took place.He says every person in your home needs 2 gallons of water per day. So if I wanted to store up enough water to last us for 2 weeks, there are 6 people in our household, 6 x 2=12, 12 x 14= 168. 168 gallons of water!!! Well, I've got 4 gallons. I guess that's a start. WOW!!! Has it been that long??I know I have not posted in a while, but I am shocked that the last post was March 9th. I am sorry to all those who have read my posts in the past.Well, we have our garden planted all except our cucumbers and squash. My chickens have finally stopped dying. I will post on this at a later time. We have started another unit in our homeschooling, Eli Whitney and his cotton gin. We will post weekly on our units. Well this is all for right now. Have a wonderful Friday evening. Angela Eggs, Eggs, and more EggsOur hens are laying so good at the moment. They, like everything, have their season. Here is a picture of our humble ladies, well only 3 of them. How do you store your eggs? I read that the egg has a protective coating but when you wash it, then the coating is gone. So, we place our eggs in a bucket just like we get them from the nest. Then we wash 18 at a time and place in a bowl. Both the bowl and bucket are kept in the frig.We do not have a rooster so we don't worry about getting fertilized eggs. We had a rooster with another brood, but we did not like him at all. He was a very interesting "bird", but very protective of his ladies. At times though he was almost sweet. We were given a hen that laid colored eggs. So we had to introduce her into the "family". The other hens did not like her. They would not let her get to the water, eat the feed, or get up on the roost. But this rooster took a piece of bread, and I'm not kidding, laid it at her feet. She ate and was a very happy hen. Every time one of the other hens would try to peck her, where do you think she would run? Yep, she hid behind that big, tough, yet sweet at times rooster. One more thing about eggs. How do you tell when you have a bad one? My pastor's wife gave me this poem: Can you eat that egg? By Scott Matthews If not sure you ough-ter, then place it in water. If it lies on its side, then it's fresh; eat with pride. After three or four days, at an angle it lays. But, it still is a treat, so go on and eat. Ten days, stands on end, in your baking 'twill blend. 'Cause it's definitely edible, in your baking, incredible. But, if it floats on the surface, that egg serves no purpose. 'Cause a floater's a stinker! Out the back door best fling 'er! Have a wonderful Wednesday!!! I'm done with dryer sheets!!!For the last 6 months or so we have not used commercial dryer sheets. I wanted to start making anything I could think of homemade, so we could take a little off of our grocery budget to pay on bills. So I went on a search for anything to that I could make to save us money. And I found http://www.thriftyfun.com. The article I read said: 1 part your favorite fabric softener (I use Walmart brand) 2 parts water Put it in a spray bottle (I used one I already had that use to have windex in it) Designate some old cloth (I use wholly socks) and spray the amout you want Toss in dryer I love this and never have static. While I was on there just a minute ago, I found a recipe to make your own fabric softener. I will have to try that next. Happy Laundry!! (ha, ha) Angelamichelle Homestead?I read on someone's blog that the definition of homestead was "to be steadfast at home". I have tried to find this blog again but I could not.We don't have a farm. We live in a subdivision at the foothills of the Appalachian Trail. We have a half acre lot, but some of that runs down into a gully. We have a little chicken coop with 4 hens. They provide us with all the eggs we can eat. We heat our home with a wood stove (by choice) that my brother gave us, and then he drove 600 miles the next summer to install it for us. (Does he love me or what!)  We mill our own wheat that we buy from Bread Beckers close to Atlanta, Ga. We buy our honey from a beekeeper down the road. We try our best not to go to the doctor. We use herbs and listen to the older men and women at our church. I have tried to make a lot of the things we use. I have been successful in that I only go to the store once a week now. Gas is high and I try to make it on $10 a week (this week I've used $20). In 2 weeks we have only ate out once!!!(yeah) Now we're working on 3. We help my dad with his garden (he's 75 and still plows his garden if we don't get there in time). He puts up frozen vegetables and I can what he doesn't freeze. This year we would like to have our own garden. Maybe one day, we can have pigs, cows, and expand our little homestead. But until then we will be "steadfast at home". Angelamichelle |
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