Jubilee Farm

harvest time

Well during this busy harvest season I just was missing my homestead buddies. So for I wanted to come back to keep up with my friends and to blog some more on farming.

Today I am harvesting corn to freeze, green beans to can, tomatoes to can. And Dh is butchering 15 chickens for the freezer. A big harvest day. I have already done many beans, tomatoes and froze 30 pints of corn. Oh and the peaches goodness I have 49 quarts from one tree. The other two aren't ready yet. I made peach jam also. I am loving all this creativeness with the food. It is really great to have a small grocery bill!!

Glad to be back and hoping to catch up soon on how everyone's harvest is doing. And if you have any good recipes for yellow crook neck squash I would love them.

Melanie

Charm Quilt, looking for squares

I have been reading some Quilt History and was intriqued by the Charm Quilt or Beggars Quilt. It sounded like a great quilt for a beginner such as myself. Simple squares, no applique or unique blocks. Just straight forward squares.  The harder part of this is that each square needs to be a different fabric. So I have to either Beg some off others or charm them into giving me so....

BEGGING

So PLEASE if you have any scraps that you can cut a 6.5 or even a 6 inch square out of would you pretty please send them to me. If you don't want to cut them can you send me your material that is scrap that would be able to get a square out of and I can cut it. Pretty Please with a cherry on top... I beg of you

CHARMING

I know you are so creative in your sewing and crafts. I sure wish I could make things as lovely as you do. I was wondering if you may have any scraps of material I could use to try to make a quilt. I thought if I had some pieces of your material than my quilt would look all the more creative as you chose such lovely fabrics. I am planning to use a 6 inch block so it will finish at 5.5 inches. I know you cut so perfectly square but if for some reason you run out of time i would be happy to cut them for you.

So if either way has worked for you.. Drop me an email at jubileefarm5@earthlink.net  and I can get you an address to send those too. I am trying to collect them this summer to start piecing by early fall. Some of my faithful friends have already donated and I am so greatful. I am looking forward to getting many unique fabrics to use to make this quilt a one of a kind project.

Blessings

Melanie

moving back to homeschool blog

I think for now I am going to concentrate on only maintaining my blog at homeschoolblogger.

I can't do two and the interaction between our farm and school just flow together so naturally so I really don't see the need to separate them out. Plus many of my 'friends' are in both places too. So for now if you want to visit me I will be at www.homeschoolblogger.com/melanieinoh

I will keep this blog open for awhile so I can see what my 'friends' are doing here, but I won't be posting here for awhile.

Blessings

Melanie

Ten on Tuesday

1) To relax- do you prefer a bath with candles or a walk by yourself?   walk by myself

2) On a windy day- blow bubbles or fly a kite?  fly a kite

3) Frank Sinatra or Harry Connick Jr.?  Harry

4) You are going out to dinner- Italian, Chinese, or Mexican food?  chinese buffet

5) What has been the most stressful job you have ever had?  Being a mom of 5 kids and homeschooling them

6) During the Civil War- would you have sided with the Yankees (North) or the Confederates (South)?    A Yankee, always lived in the north

7) Do a few laps at 200 mph on a racetrack or fly in a super fast military jet?   I would be content to watch :)

8) If you go to the shore- do you stay where there are people or do you go off on your own to swim?  I would prefer to be off on my own

9) Watermelon or Honeydew melons?  Honeydew

10) Italian water ice or ice cream?  Ice cream

What about you guys??

Melanie

Gardening

Our potatoes are doing wonderfully. Our soil is so bad though!!  Dirt should crumble, and be fine to some degree, it should be a color other than gray. I think we have a definate problem with some infertile ground. It was a field of weeds before, we tilled it many times. I think there is no black dirt, no top soil and a lack of humus in the soil. Next year we will have to mix some in. Does the County office on soil and water conservation help with things like that?

It is very hard, and looks cracked like the desert.  The water pools and runs and then all soaks in quickly. I think we will add some topsoil around each plant, and some hay for a mulch to help hold the water on the plants some.

I ended up buying tomato plants and cucumber plants. I replanted seeds of green beans, planted seeds of zucchini and squash, and bell peppers.

I appreciate your advice sunny flowers!!!

Melanie

QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS

  ABOUT THE GARDEN...

Ok.... I was just in the garden and after 4 or 5 days of hard rain, I was finally able to see what is up with the growth. I live in southern Ohio so think about that when reading the questions..

Tomatoes were started inside, then unfortunately I think I scared them and put them   outside without getting them adjusted first. Out of 2 fairly long rows, I only have 7 plants still leiving and they don't even look like they are happy.  So the question with the tomatoes...

*Do i try to plant some seeds outside again in the rows where my plants failed, or do I buy plants from the store and plant those?

*I already have seeds, but is it too late for them to succeed? 

*Should I put hay around the plants or seeds to protect them some more?

*How many plants are ideal for a family of 7 for me to use to can?

Corn is looking good, 5 rows of corn growing,

*They are yellowish though... Is this normal? They aren't a striking green, but a little more on   the sickly side.

*What should I do with them ?

Green beans, out of 2 rows I have maybe 7 plants. I just planted seeds, not inside but right into the ground. Bush beans.

*Do I try seeds again, was it too early?

* Do I buy plants at this point?

Potatoes are doing fantastic!!! No complaints there, the best thing in the garden going fo   rme so far. I am so happy with that, may need to plant more if we can't get these other things going.

Herb garden still needs to be put in. I have chives, oregano, lavender, mint, maybe a couple of others.

*Should I wait to plant the seeds outside or is it time?

My other ventures with seeds. I have most of the other things that are common in seed form. Onions, pumpkins, acorn squash, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers (which I did plant some   and none came up), watermelon, canteloupe, jalepeno peppers, green peppers, carrots....

Am I going to waste my time putting seeds in the ground or is it just not warm enough yet? 

  This is a lot of work to not have a success of some sort at least. It isn't a lack of rain, we have had plenty.  Just curious if I should try these seeds first or not. I hate to have to buy plants when the seeds are so much more economical.

And another garden question on weeding, which will sound silly, but there are a lot of weeds...

* Do I just weed things in the row with the plants in it or do I do the in between areas too?

I appreciate the insight. I sure want to make this whole gardening experience a fun and succesful one :)

Melanie

Steps to Organizing

My friend Jeani is a very organized, resourseful kind of gal. I think she is wearing off on me

I made some chore charts for the boys, including compost, burning papers, taking care of the dogs, and feeding the chickens and other household things. Daily chores that they need to get done. I also made a bonus chore folder, with things that need doing in their spare time, which will be compensated with money. For instance cleaning out the chicken coop for $1, giving the puppy a bath for 50 cents.... additional things that they can chose to do or not.

Then I made a daily outline of a schedule for our day. With school roughly from 9-12 and then from 1-3. Adding in chores, devotions in the morning with the kids, prayer time in the eve, snack times, and 2 hours of free time for all of us in the afternoon.

My schedule looks like this...

Our Weekly Schedule

Monday -Thursday

6:00 am       Mom up Devotions & coffee

7:00 am       Mom get dressed, make bed

                   clean up kitchen, organize school

8:00 am       Chat with Jeani, emails, boys chores

8:30 am        Breakfast

9:00 am       Devotions , bible & prayer with the kids

9:30 am        School

10:30 am      Snack

10:45 am      School

12:00 pm      Lunch

12:30 pm      Mid-day chores

1:00 pm       School

3:00 pm       Snack

3:00- 5:00    Free Time

5:00 pm       Make dinner

6:00 pm       Eat dinner

6:30 pm        Eve chores

7:30 pm        Family Devotions/ Prayer

8:00 pm       TV or Game

9:00 pm       Kids to bed

10:00 pm     Mom to bed

On Friday's we will go to the library in the morning from 10-11:30, then home for lunch and nap for baby. Then we will run errands in the afternoon. While baby naps we will get some of the school things done we need to do.

So Friday's allow us some more flexibility and more of an unschooling type of day.

I am hoping that by getting more organized it will make things feel less overwhelming.

Blessings

Melanie

Lifestyles... stream of consciousness

  I was telling DH the other day that they should have a reality show of   having people live in different kind of lifestyles.  Take a suburbia girl and have her be on a farm.

Or take a downtown NY city girl and have her live with the Amish. Makes for interesting thoughts doesn't it. Well I think that did happen to me. The novelty of playing on the farm is starting to dim as the work increases. I need to have a change of mindset I do believe. The life on a farm is much harder, and longer work than the life of living in the city. I used to just go to the store to get what I needed whenever I wanted because it was right up the road. Now we are trying to grow our own food and take care of chickens who depend on us.

If I compare where I was in life, to where I am now, it is just a funny sounding show.

Prior to having 5 kids, maybe when I only had 2 or 3 I worked as a stamping up demonstrator, did stamping crafts constantly, got my hair 'done' on a regular basis at the beauty shop, shopped at Kohl's for new clothes on a seasonal basis, went out with the girls for coffee and dessert in town, went to the mall to walk around, kept up on the latest Christian novels and had conversations with others about them.  The life of a suburban mom.

Life is surely different now, and I think potentially better... I just need to change my glasses that I am looking through.

Now I throw my hair in a ponytail, wear jeans and a t-shirt most days, haven't been to Kohls in a year at least, plan my menu's for shopping on a limited basis, wear mudboots when I go outside, feed chickens, weed the garden, sit by the pond and watch the ducks rather than meet up with the ladies for coffee... simplified, yet harder for now. Simple in the things that I do, and the life that it is, but a lot of work to be simplified. Does that make any sense??

There are things that have made our life easier I think that are good things. There are things we can purchase that will make my life easier for now. But there are also things that are rewarding to work at and benefit not only from the reward of the harvest, but in the toil to get there.

   I will probably never grow my own wheat and grind it into bread. When I can buy a loaf for under a dollar at walmart. I will probably not make the kids clothes, when I can buy them inexpensively and mend the ones that they pass on to each other. But I will can corn, because the fun of growing it, and picking it, and cutting it up and stacking those cans up are worth the effort. I know I can buy it at Aldi's for just cents a can, but there is more reward for me in growing it. I think God will provide those joyful things along the way.  It is a marathon, not a sprint as a friend told me the other day. She is right.

Melanie

Our chicks have arrived

Our new babies are here!! All 154 of them. We have 103 Rhode Island Reds and 51 White plymouth Rocks. We are having a blast spending time with them and listening to their little peeping noises. They came to the post office early this morning and we had to get their heat lamps all plugged in and then went to get them. They are adorable.

The RI reds are straight run, can't tell if they are boys or girls. There is some different coloring but not sure if that determines it or not. I did read it is very hard to tell. Then the bonus 51 are all boys. They will be our tasty meals later as well as some of the roosters of the RI reds.

We are enjoying them alot and our school day has shifted to being all about chicks.

Melanie

Tuesday Trivia

Who or which do you resemble or identify with more- just pick one:

Anne of Green Gables or Laura Ingalls Wilder?  Laura Ingalls Wilder

polka dot or stripe?  Stripe

Green or Blue?  Blue

Ocean or Mountain?  MOUNTAIN

art or music?  Music

dog or cat?   cat 

Sarah, Plain and Tall or Anne Elliot?  Sarah, Plain and Tall

scrambled or fried egg?  fried

turkey or chicken? chicken

Winnie the Pooh, Owl, Piglet, Tigger, or Eeyore? Eeyore

What about you???

Garden & chicken coop

I am off to Florida tomorrow. My mom is getting married and baby girl and I are flying to see her for that. We will be gone from Tues through Sunday. DH is staying home with the 4 boys. And they are so thrilled. It is going to be a farm vacation for them.

Today we went to Sears and bought a rototiller. Just decided if we got that, we don't have to spray round up in the garden. I wasn't liking the idea of spraying anything. Anyone know how you can classify your produce as "organic"??  I am thinking of going this route for selling our extra's but want to make sure to be doing it right. Well I had posted earlier I think that we have a 1000 sq ft garden. Welllll... that is incorrect. We have a 1000 sq yard garden which makes 9000 sq ft!!!!!!!!!!!  Um, can we say GIGANTIC.

Dh and the boys are planning to get some things planted while I am gone. Corn, potatoes, my tomatoes I started. Maybe strawberry plants if they get to it. I am so excited to have such a huge garden. We have never done anything this huge!! 

Dh got all the materials for the chicken coop today too, including the cement mixture for the floor. We are going with a plywood chicken coop basically. An 8 by 7 size square box with a slanted roof. We are going to be able to have 50 chicks in there, and that will give us time to possible add a second square box room to the first chicken coop. Many of the chickens will end up in the freezer. We haven't decided how many layers yet, but were thinking about 15. This size coop can hold 19 from what we read. We will have a very large yard for them to be in so that will be nice for them to stretch their legs.  I am excited to get our chicks ordered when I get home from vacation.

Everything is just coming together for our new farm life, and it is so wonderful.

The only problem so far is Ticks!!!  I really hate them. And we have been finding them. I had to remove one from each of the small kids. We are spraying deet like crazy, but I hate it. I really want a natural remedy. Something they can ingest, or wear that isn't so harmful to their little bodies. We need to repel the ticks and mosquitos. I am checking  into the possiblity of learning to make some homemade repellent with citronella. If you have any good websites let me know. This is all so new to me. Just thought of another thing to add to the garden. Garlic, I hear that is a good repellent too.

Have a blessed week, and hopefully I will have some pictures to share when I return :)

Melanie

Friday Feast

Appetizer
Describe your living room.  

Deep Burgundy walls, 9 foot ceiling, top 3 foot of wall is beige, with a There is no place like home border running under it. Wood trim, and wood floor. Deep blue couch, recliner, and plaid love seat that is as old as I am!!  2 huge bookcases loaded up, our TV, VCR, etc.. Our house is brand spankin new :) Our LR goes right into the dining area and Kitchen, one great big room

Soup
Do you have a bumper sticker on your vehicle?  What does it say? 

We have the last Bush Cheney election sticker on the van, and a Christian Radio sticker from PA

Salad
What is the worst pain you have been in? 

Childbirth for sure!!!  I think the 3rd of the 5 was the hardest.

Main Course
What would the title of your autobiography be? 

Journey to Humility

Dessert
What time do you usually go to bed?

Usually around 10-11 

Busy Weekend

We have had a lot of fun on the farm this weekend. Now that spring appears to be here for real... we are getting busy with our farm living. We had a coworker of Farmer T come and plow up a parcel of land for us. In about a week he will come and till that area. It ended up being... ready for this  1035 sq feet!! Whatever am I going to do with such a huge garden :D  It is much larger than I thought we would do, but I am guessing we will fill it up fast. Besides our regular veggies we want to do a larger sweet corn section and potato section. Then we also want many strawberries, raspberries and possibly blueberries. So I am sure we will use the area quickly. And what a blessing the harvest will be!! 

I will hopefully post some pics soon of the ground being dug up though it is hard to really get an idea of how big the space is.

While he was plowing the land, Farmer T was collecting night crawlers. The boys went fishing for the first time in our pond and caught 13 mini blue gill. Now these guys were about 1 bite size each. But Farmer T being the good Daddy that he is filetted those tiny guys and cooked them up for the boys. I think we each got about 6 bites worth, and it was delectible!!  Now to figure out what to feed those little baby fish so they get bigger. JaJa (Farmer T's Dad) said to feed them oatmeal or cracked corn. We aren't sure how many fish there are, if there are other kinds, or if there are any larger ones or not. The pond isn't that huge, but we suspect if the boys were able to easily catch those 13 that there must be many in there. So we want to fatten the ones up that are in there, and attract the ducks as well. JaJa said if we got larger fish to put in the pond they would eat up all the small blue gill. So we will just try feeding them and see. We also need to find a way to aeriate the pond, it is already getting algae in it. Little Farmer C calls it Ouchie instead of Algae :D  And he doesn't like it one bit!!

Busy weekend on the farm and it is getting so exciting being here!! My indoor plants are growing, my cucumbers had to be taken out of their little greenhouse unit as they were reaching the top of the lid. I am excited to think about providing for my family through the garden.

3 of our Fruit trees are blossoming also. 2 of them are white blossoms, and 1 is pink. I have no clue what they are. I suspect one or more must be cherry, but not sure... I know they are not the apple trees. What else blooms early in the spring like that?  It is a mystery as we bought the property after many of the the trees were done bearing fruit. We do know we have 2 pear, at least 1 peach and 2 apple. What the others are is a mystery waiting to be uncovered!!

Blessings today

Melanie

I got my seeds started

Last week I got some seeds started and they are already growing!! Cauliflower, mint, oregano, onion. Today I started my various tomato plants. I know I should have done it earlier but wasn't able to with the move and all that. So they may be later bloomers than others but still trying to avoid buying the plants. I used those cute little peat pot things that are all self contained with peat moss and dirt and you water then and put on the lid and have a mini green house. They are so good for beginner gardeners like myself.

I have 4 potatoes growing eye sprouts on them too. I need to get some more potatoes going and some onions to plant right into the ground. We still haven't decided where to put the garden. A coworker of Farmer T is going to work up the ground for us. We can't get a rototiller yet but we need it at least turned over and worked up a little bit. We need to decide soon. Some of my things can get planted soon I think. 

Where is the best place to get strawberry plants? Do I order them or find them somewhere? I need to get those soon too. I want lots of strawberries for  a great harvest in a few years.

Melanie

Scrabble Score

My Scrabble Score, lower than many, I was never that great at Scrabble

Pholph's Scrabble Generator My Scrabble© Score is: 25. What is your score? Get it here.

Quilting

I have been reading a couple novels called "The Sugar Camp Quilt" and "The Master Quilter" by Jennifer Chiaverini. They are about a group of friends and the theme is centered around a quilt. It has made me want to learn to quilt!  I have put together a quilt with some blocks that my Great Grandmother had made and I had to add to it. They were just large squares with what my grandma called "chicken scratch" on them. I didn't do much with the quilting part of it, just did some x's across some of the blocks.  Well I have bought one book on beginning quilting and I think i have a rotary cutter somewhere. Wouldn't it be fun if I could make a quilt for my bed?? I have seen some patchwork quilts at Target and the Bed Bath and Beyond store that I really liked but they were very expensive. I could maybe make one myself, with some inexpensive yet fun prints.

Now if I have a queen size bed, how many squares would I need? And if I did a patchwork is it just random squares? And what size are the squares. I know I should search online but there will be too much to filter through! And I have tried to get books at the library but they are too indepth. So how would I start a project like this?

Say I want pinks, tans, deep purples and blues as the base but want it to be a patchwork. How would I go about organizing and designing this quilt? And what kind of supplies would I need. I guess spring isn't the time to start thinking on this, with the start of gardening and all, but this is when i am thinking of it, so I could at least gather my supplies and maybe be able to work on it some while the kids play outside this summer. 

Any books, or websites that are your favorites that are good for beginners? 2 of my online buddies have been doing a quilt with squares reflecting the women of the Bible, and they are beautiful!!!  It sounds exciteing and just the thing a new "farmer's" wife should be doing.

Blessings

Melanie

Living frugally

Time for me to learn to live frugally...

Not something I am used to for several years. With owning 2 houses currently I need to reduce my spending as much as I can.

We do have an Aldi's for groceries so that helps. Buying meat will be the tougher part. My family enjoys meat, especially Dh. I rather cut in other places instead of the meat.

Some frugal ideas I am going to try to implement

*I turned the heat down to 68, I know a lot of you go lower, but I have to do it in increments or the family will balk.

*No picking up a quick dinner at fast food. Plan ahead and have sandwich fixings and potato's for quick meals

*Either rice, or potatoes at each meal for filler food

*get the newspaper for sale flyers on meat

*try to find books I am interested in from the library rather than purchasing them, and the same for magazines

*Make homemade pizza rather than buying it each week

*limit the amount of milk the kids are drinking, have them drink more water

*start seeds for my garden now so I don't have to buy the more expensive plants later

*continue making homemade bread

*get a clothes line to hang clothes out to dry

*empty our storage unit so we don't have to pay for that anymore per month

Any other suggestions? We are doing ok with clothes, i will need to get some sandals for the kids and would like to plan ahead for that. 

If I can find a way to cut about $300 a month we will be doing great. We can coast on paying for the 2 houses for a season, but will definately need to find favor in selling the house in town.

I appreciate your thoughts and ideas on being frugal :)

Melanie

Whimsical Wednesday

Play it again, Sam... and again.... and again.... and again...

Name one song that once it gets in your head you can't get it out?

Big and Little and short and tall

some are in the middle some are very small\

they come in all shapes and sizes

hey diddle diddle

their big and their little

and every size in between

BIG, LITTLE, BIG, LITTLE

--Barney :)

Mud, Mud, Mud

We have been inundated with rain for the past 8 days straight. There have been little breaks in the clouds here and there, but wow, it is very muddy around our place. With just building a house in the pasture we are surrounded by mud. The kids mud boots need mud boots!! It was comical to see my little boys the other day struggling in the muck and mire. They got stuck in the mud and when they went to pull their foot out, that was all that came, the boot stayed in the mud. So they ended up in their stocking feet trying to pull their mud boots out of the holes.   I have been on overload with the laundry lately as everything they wear tends to acquire mud.  Praying for some sunshine to dry us up a little bit soon.

I have spent a little time trimming my fruit trees, trying to catch them before the buds start. Unfortunately the trees have been neglected for years and I am not sure how well they will fair. When we bought the property we did see that they had some apples and pears on them, though pretty chewed up from the bugs. I have other trees too and I am excited to see what kind they are. Maybe cherry? I am not sure, I also think one is a peach. The plum tree didn't make it, the whole tree died and I didn't even touch it!! Must have gotten diseased? I am not really sure how to care for them but hope to get a couple books and be in touch with the extention office to find out what kind of pesticides to use, hoping for an organic form.

We are just about ready to list our house in town, hoping by next monday.  That will be a burden lifted to sell that. Right now the farm things all seem to be on hold waiting for getting the old house ready and sold. I know Dh is anxious to get a rototiller to get our garden started, to get our fences up and get some cows, to get our chicken coop built and get the chicks. We are ready to make the transition to only having one home!! 

I am hoping to plant some seeds indoors here before too long. I have been getting information from my friend at rosehillramblings, she has recently listed the things that you need to plant your seeds inside if you are new to all this as I am. She has some great pictures lately of all her plantings and some of her great home cooked meals!!  She has inspired me to try homemade bread and rolls. I will have to get my digital camera fixed so you can all see my handy work.

Best time to get chicks?

I want to get my chicks ordered pretty soon but not sure the best time to get them. I am in OH and was thinking the end of April as that would give Farmer T time to make a coop. Is that too late? Is there a good window of time I should look at this spring for the chicks to come? I am ordering them from a hatchery near by.