God is generous!It's 8 above outside right now with loads of snow all over the place in farm fields as far as my eye can see. Kind of a Norman Rockwell if you please :-) Our Christmas tree has been taken down and set up outside the front windows with two bird feeders close by and the finches are flying in and out. Cows are meandering around out in the barnyard as they are kind of sick of hanging out in the barn when it's SO cold. Inside the fire is roaring and it's a balmy 72 degrees. The Yankee tart is burning Cinnamon Spice. The little kids are giggling downstairs at the movie Fievel Goes West. There is a beautiful sunset in the western sky - all pink and purples that God painted just for ME! Hubby is at work earning a good wage. The teenagers are about an hour away on a ski hill having the time of their lives (glad it's them and not me LOL) It's getting dusky dark here in my little corner of farm country. The diapers are hung next to the fire giving moisture into my dry winter home. And I sit here thinking I should get some mac and cheese going for supper.*big sigh* life is good! Thank you Lord for my quiet simple life here on my homestead!!
04:52 - Tuesday, January 5, 2010 - comments {2} - post commentNew Website for Freedom Acres FarmI haven't blogged in a bit because my daughter got the hairbrain idea to make a website for Freedom Acres Farm. Wow - what an undertaking! Lots of fun but.... lots of work..... mmmm sounds like a homesteading venture if I ever heard of one!! You can check us out at We've had a busy week bringing in 4 cords of firewood from a neighbors property. Hubby wants to get atleast 4 more before we get more snow. Guess how we'll be spending Christmas day?? LOL What was that about a homestead being a lot of work???? Christmas presents are all bought and/or made AND most are already wrapped - Yay!!! I decided to take a year off from sending cards. We've baked a few Christmas cookies but otherwise we're just laying low this year. No money to do anything with anyway. Every day we pray that God would help us stay strong and continue on wiping out our debt one dollar at a time. My prayer for anyone reading this is that you would NEVER be in bondage to debt EVER in your life!! Credit rating or no - - - debt is a curse and it can make your life a living hell!!! Cut up the cards people and have faith that God will get you through!! Merry Christmas to you and yours from all of us here at Freedom Acres Farm 02:23 - Friday, December 18, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentYea!!! My Lip Balm Worked!I have been working over the past couple of years on making home-made natural personal care products such as shampoo, toothpaste, etc... Most of them have turned out useable but just a tad to the right or to the left of how I wish they would have turned out. Today I made lip balm and it turned out perfect!!! I love it and even though there was a warning along with the recipe that it might not stay solid in your pocket my tube is staying just fine!! It is so wonderful and lucious and it was SO easy!! And...best of all it's all natural!! I got my recipe from www.notmartha.org I started with the recipe to make a very little: Beeswax - .38 tsp (I used a heaping ¼ tsp because I don’t have a 1/3 tsp) Shea Butter – ½ tsp Cocoa Butter – ½ tsp Almond oil (I used Apricot Kernel Oil) – ½ tsp + 3 extra drips (the recipe calls for .6 tsp) I melted these 4 ingredients in my double boiler. Then I added 4 drops of vitamin E and 4 drops of peppermint essential oil. I mixed it up real well. Tipped the double boiler to the side so it was in a puddle. Using a disposable eye dropper I sucked it up and put it into my roll-up tube. In about 15 minutes it was hardened and beautiful!!! I got all my supplies from www.mountainroseherbs.com An on-line friend introduced me to Mountain Rose Herbs about a year ago! I don’t know HOW I ever lived without them!! Thank you SO much Marianne!!!
03:06 - Sunday, November 8, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentA Typical TuesdayMy life always seems so humdrum and I frequently wonder why or what to blog about. My daughter assures me that a blog is a diary and to treat it as such - so, today I share my day with you :-) Washed 4 loads of clothes Changed a few diapers Ran to town to buy half a dozen things that we were totally out of and couldn't wait until payday on Friday to get Got frustrated with the cows as they dumped 30 gallons of water over a 2 hour period. And yelled at them that I was done hauling these darn 5 gallon buckets of water so they better behave themselves Questioned myself why anyone would want to homestead in the winter in Minnesota! Baked a double batch of chocolate chip cookies Started work on our website that my daughter has got up and running but now we're going to make it a family homestead website Did chores with my hubby outside while he milked the cow Read some Charlotte Mason stuff for homeschool Made tacos for dinner Watched Dancing With the Stars Read Miss Rumphius with my littles and kissed them good night :-) 09:22 - Tuesday, October 13, 2009 - comments {2} - post commentCanning Season 2009 is DoneHere are my garden notes for 2009: Planted seedlings in early March - this was TOO early! We repotted several times and had a forest growing in our kitchen. *Note to self - Remember to plant seedlings April 15, 2010!! We spent approximately $70 on seeds and initial potting soil. We added 3 more bags of potting soil at a cost of $3 each as we repotted several times. We planted too early in June too - lost lots of seedlings and purchased some more from a local gal for $30. Total cost = $100. We had near drought conditions and watered with gray water for the early part of the season. In late July we did see some rain and obviously it was enough. We put manure from our cows as top dressing around the plants. It was fine. Maybe a bit too green and we could have waited another year. In 2010 we will only put compost and will be putting the barn cleanings around our apple trees. Here is a chart of our plantings or gifts / yield / completed pantry shelves.
05:00 - Sunday, October 4, 2009 - comments {4} - post comment2009 Canning Season Has BegunDespite our lack of rain (until this past week) this summer our garden is doing quite well. In our garden this year we have 60 tomato plants, 2 fence lines of peas, 20 new strawberry plants, 5 new raspberry plants, 4 - 15ft rows of onions, a large pumpkin patch, a larger cucumber patch, 60 pepper plants, lots of carrots, and a small bean patch. All are doing well, however I'm still praying over my pepper plants - they have many blossoms but few have set fruit and it's getting late. So far the pantry has acquired: 35 quarts of peaches, 7 quarts of beans, 21 quarts of dill pickles, 6 quarts of apple sauce, and 3 quarts of spaghetti sauce. This is only the very beginning - I've got a good 6 weeks of canning season left yet!!! Here is my Dill Pickle Recipe that NEVER fails me!! Place 1 large slice of onion, 1 large head of dill, and one large clove of garlic in a wide mouth quart mason jar. Pack as many 2 - 3 inch cucumbers into the jar as you can. (Tip: men are really good at getting a lot in :-) Pour boiling brine in jar, leaving a half inch head space. Brine = 6 C water / 2 C vinegar with 5%acidity / 1/3 C canning salt (this keeps them crunchy). This brine may be multiplied but the proportions must be kept the same! Boil in a simmering water bath canner for 15 minutes. These taste JUST like store bought dill pickles. 10:28 - Friday, August 21, 2009 - comments {2} - post commentWe have a new dog at Freedom AcresThis past weekend we aquired 2 dogs to guard our Freedom Acres Homestead. The first one is a 4 month old Pyrenees/Border Collie mix - she's adorable and really really smart!! Calm too for a puppy of only 4 months! Her name is Dakota.
01:03 - Monday, July 27, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentHannah's Junior Year is mostly planned!I have spent the last few weeks (in between weeding) really buckling down and getting things ready, planned and prepared for Hannah's new school year. We are going with a complete Charlotte Mason method and it's been a fun adventure to get it put together. We're doing a new schedule too! Basically we're doing 3 - 12 week terms with a week break in the middle of each and a month break at the end of each. So we end up with 6 - 6 week sections. Her first term will begin August 24 and be done by Thanksgiving. If you're interested - here is a link to her weekly schedule excel document for the new plans: The first semester is complete but there's still a bit missing on the 2nd and 3rd. Hope it inspires some frustrated Charlotte Mason Homeschooling mom out there!! 12:48 - Monday, July 27, 2009 - comments {1} - post commentMy new shortsThis week I sewed myself a new pair of short. They turned out fitting really good in the butt but are a tad big in the waist. But....with a belt they work fine! Just hope I never fill the waist up!!!!!
11:22 - Wednesday, July 22, 2009 - comments {1} - post comment4th of JulyOur 4th of July found us having our traditional bumper picnic at the National Sports Center in Blaine and then watching their fireworks - they are always so spectactular! This year the big boys invested in some "small" firework to share with the littles - I'm not sure who enjoyed them more! Oh, and we baked a cake for our nation's birthday too - we needed a reason to bake and decorate a cake LOL
10:55 - Wednesday, July 22, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentShould, Could, Would.....Lately I've had the SHOULD, COULD, WOULD syndrome :-) Here on our homestead there are many things that I SHOULD be doing like.... weeding the potatoes, painting numbers on my new mailbox, etc.... and then there are things I COULD be doing like....making cheese, mixes from scratch, researching more Charlotte Mason homeschool methods, etc..... but of course I'm stuck on what I WOULD rather be doing LOL...... sewing!!!!! These are a couple of projects I've completed recently.
Here is a picture of my *new* to me sewing machine that I got a couple of weeks ago after my hubby sold a run down boat that his boss had given him. I got a 3 year old Husqvarna for only $700!!!!
I'm off to sew some shorts for myself and Sophia......
04:09 - Thursday, June 18, 2009 - comments {1} - post commentGardening today!We worked hard today and I'm tired but it's a happy kind of tired. We got much of our garden in and hopefully will be able to finish yet this weekend. (Unless our muscles are way too sore tomorrow) Our rototiller is toast so we're having to dig each bed by hand. Our garden is rather large for this sort of thing as it's designed to feed all of us! The potatoes, strawberry dry-roots, rhubarb, radishes, peas, and carrots were already in a week or so ago. Today we planted cucumbers, green onion seeds, yellow onion sets, white onion sets, and dill seeds. Oh, and some more carrot seeds. Tomorrow we'll go to the neighbor who has offered us raspberry canes!!!! On Monday we'll plant out the tomatoes (all 85 of them) and then in a week or so we'll finish up with the 50 or so pepper plants. Hope you're all enjoying your holiday weekend!!! 05:27 - Saturday, May 23, 2009 - comments {1} - post commentBaby Maybelline (Mabel)We decided on a name. She has heavy black circles around her eyes that looks like eye liner :-) Hence, Maybelline (like the make-up) And we thought that Mabel reminds us of a good sturdy woman that's a good provider and worker that'll be around a long time. So she'll be Mabel which is short for Maybelline. Here is one of her and Hannah - they're trying to be best friends :-)
03:30 - Saturday, May 23, 2009 - comments {1} - post commentBaby Calf with No Name yetGuess where I was at 3 AM this morning????? Yep, in the barn! She delivered in just a few minutes with absolutely no troubles. The calf is smaller than last year's but she is also more Jersey than last year's calf, Reba. We haven't named her yet, it'll take us a few days to get to "know" her and then we'll pick a name. She has so much Jersey and she practically looks like a small deer with no spots :-)
We got a ton of Colostrum out of mama and are excited to have "real" milk again in just a few days!!!! 07:20 - Friday, May 15, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentBabies at Freedom Acres FarmWe have new babies here on our farm! First we have two baby chicks that a broody mama hatched out for us this past week. We had 4 eggs under her, 3 of which were fertilized but one little guy didn't make it. The other one was never fertilized and went into the compost pile!! Nothing better than "free" chickens! Happy Spring from Freedom Acres Farm! 07:07 - Friday, May 15, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentClothespin ApronHere is what I've been working on this morning. My new clothespin bag. I got the pattern out of Mary Jane Butter's "Idea Book". Check out her link in my sidebar!!! This will make hanging my clothes on the clothesline SO much easier!!!
01:17 - Thursday, April 23, 2009 - comments {1} - post commentThe Simple Woman's Daybook
FOR TODAY April 20, 2009 09:20 - Monday, April 20, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentIn Memory of DixieOur dog's name was not Jake but rather Dixie. This poem is in memory of her: after many years in our family, she was hit by a car on the road in front of our house today - we had to put her down. She was a good dog and loved farm life the most of any of us........... (I'll add a picture when I find one) Jake ( Ode To A Farm Dog )Jake oh Jake where have you been?
Chasing the cattle through meadow and glen? Or perhaps you've been out harassing the hen! Did you uproot a rabbit buried deep in its den? Jake oh Jake where did you go? Did you find an old bone and bury it just so? Were you down at the creek to flush a young doe? Maybe you fished in the pools down below. Jake Oh Jake the stories you could tell! Of old crows, vultures and fine bobwhite quail. With nose to the ground,straight up your tail Jake oh Jake the stories you could tell! Eric Nathan Jacobson
Copyright ©2009 Eric Nathan Jacobson
04:43 - Saturday, April 18, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentThe Simple Woman's Daybook
11:11 - Wednesday, April 15, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentOur Easter Family PictureWe were able to play around and have fun taking a family picture on Easter!!! We thought it looked fairly good so I'm sharing it
Wayne is holding Micah in the front row. Brenda is the mom in the middle. Hannah is the big girl over on the right. Across the back is Andy, Sophia, Nathaniel and then Ben in the gold shirt. Hope your Easter was relaxing and enjoyable like ours. We had some fun family time! 10:27 - Wednesday, April 15, 2009 - comments {1} - post comment
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Description A Bible believin, organic gardenin, raw milk drinkin, country music listenin, homeschoolin, egg collectin, toddler chasin, college counselin, cow milkin, cloth diaperin, bread bakin, book lovin, apparel sewin, off-grid livin wife and mom. 
Home User Profile Archives Friends A Homemaker's Daughter Ambleside Online The Family Homestead Mary Jane's Farm Radical Debt Elimination Simply Charlotte Mason Budgeting 101 Christian Homesteaders Charlotte Mason Help Recent Entries - God is generous! - New Website for Freedom Acres Farm - Yea!!! My Lip Balm Worked! - A Typical Tuesday - Canning Season 2009 is Done - 2009 Canning Season Has Begun - We have a new dog at Freedom Acres - Hannah's Junior Year is mostly planned! - My new shorts - 4th of July    Real Milk  |
