Homesteading: A Woman's Journey

Today's Sewing Projects

Today, I finally got to do some sewing again.  I made a new baby ring sling for carrying Micah in.  I had some moss green linen fabric that I had originally bought to make a dress with.  The fabric was a perfect weight of linen to make the baby sling from as it is strong enough to hold Micah securely, yet light weight enough to not be too warm in the summer.  The sling instructions came from Sweet Things Baby Slings website.  Leah, the owner, used to make and sell baby slings as a home business but as of May, 2008, she has closed her business and began offering her sling instructions on the webpage for free.  She has instructions for making and using both the ring sling and the pouch type.  The ring sling took very little time for me to make.  I serged all the edges before hemming them.  Leah's instructions were very easy to follow and I now have a new sling for Micah that I can't wait to try out tomorrow.

Another sewing project was making a stack of new diaper soakers.  A while ago, I had been given an interesting diaper soaker.  Made of a doubled layer of terry cloth, the soaker was shaped like a cloth diaper buyt without elastic or closures.  The soaker had an additional rectangular piece or doubled terry cloth with rounded corners that was sewn down the center of the soaker to give additional absorbancy.  I love this soaker over any other type I have used.  I wrap it onto Micah, then wrap a diaper cover over top.  At night, I can use it inside of another diaper to give extra absorbancy as a night diaper.  Using the serger, I was able to sew up a stack of these soakers in very little time.  The one change that I made to the soaker was the way the extra layer was sewn in.  On the original one that I was given, the extra soaker layer was stitched down the middle with a single line of stitching that went down the length from one short end to the other.  When I dry this soaker in the dryer, it takes more than one full cycle to dry it thoroughly.  To solve that problem of drying time, I instead stitch the extra soaker across the short end at the back of the diaper only.  This makes a "flap" that will allow the soaker to dry faster, whether it be in the dryer or hung out on the clothesline.

Tomorrow, I hope to get some more sewing finished.  It seems that the list of clothing and other sewing projects never ends when you sew for your family.  I love it!

Crochet Wash cloths

Lately I have been crocheting wash cloths.  I love using them.  They are soft, yet have just enough texture to gently exfoliate the skin.  Normally, I make the square/rectangular ones.  They seem to be the standard type that most people like.  Last night I made a round one with a ruffled edging.  It looks really cute.  I may go ahead and make up more like it to see if they will sell also.

I started thinking about all the baby weight yarn that I have.  Today, I am making some cloths from the baby weight yarn to use for our little one.  I think it would work great not only as a wash cloth but also for baby wipes. 

This is opening up another whole area of possibilities for earning a little income from home.  I have already been sewing some things to sell.  These little cloths however are going to be a nice addition to the inventory I have on hand.

Homestead Update

It seems like it has been a while since I last posted an update on the happenings here so I thought I would go ahead and do that today.

My husband is loving his new job.  Doing landscaping and maintenance is not something he would have thought of doing before, but now that he has this job, he has found that he loves it.  He enjoys being outdoors and his job has him working outdoors doing tasks that are the same as what he does here at home.  The maintenance portion of the job is also enjoyable and is giving him experience in repairing things around the workplace and also the landscaping equipment.

The homestead is making changes.  It seems that each week, there is something new happening.  We now have a Hampshire ram.  He was born last February.  We also have chosen to not raise Dwarf Nubians as our milk goats.  After talking to others, we have decided that a much larger breed of goat would meet our needs much better.  Joe loves the Alpine goats, so we will be buying a couple of them hopefully next spring.

After several tries and twice having the garden flooded due to spring rains, our garden is finally producing vegetables.The beans are flowering, as are the squash.  I have more plants still growing that will give us harvests throughout the fall.  A long growing season is one of the benefits that we have here.  Our last frost occurs in late April and the first hard frost doesn't occur until late November most years, sometimes not until December.  I have started new seed for zucchini and yellow squash, brussel sprouts, and other varieties that will be transplanted in late August or early September.  Those will have just enough time to reach a harvest before the weather starts getting too cold.

We already have plans for next year's garden.  As with this year, the garden will be large in size and palnted in raised rows or mounds.  Raising the height of where the seeds are planted will prevent the seeds from being flooded during the spring rains.  I found a variety of corn that we will try growing for our livestock.  It also is great for cornmeal.  If it works out well, we will plant a larger amount in future years.  We don't expect to grow enough to feed our livestock throughout the winter, but will have enough to give them a good start and help in our feeding costs.

Abigail has a pair of new kittens.  A lady gave us the momma cat and a male & female kitten to have up at our stables as barn cats.  Momma is gone.  We suspect that a coyote may have got her when she was out hunting field mice.  The kittens are old enough that they have been able to eat dry feed for some time now.  They made their way up to the house and now have stayed close to it.  Each time Abigail goes outdoors to play, the kittens are with her.  Even our large orange tomcat hangs around Abigail.  She just seems to draw cats to her.  It is cute to watch as the cats follow her around as she plays.

Micah loves being outdoors also.  I can't wait for the summer heat to lessen a bit so that he can be outdoors more.  I always feel hesitant to take a young baby out in the extremely hot temperatures.  He is growing so fast.  I am looking for patterns to make him some new clothing.  At 3 months of age, he is nearly big enough for size 6 months!  I would love to find a pattern for a broadfall type style pant in infant/toddler sizes but so far have been unable to.  It seems that most pant patterns for infant/toddler boys are either a sweatpant style with the knit cuff at the ankle or a bib overalls style of shorts or pants.  If I don't find a pattern soon, I may just get a pair of pants from a thrift store to cut apart and make a pattern from.

I have been busy as of late.  In addition to caring for the family & home, I have been baking loaves of bread to sell.  Last week, a co-worker of Joe's asked if I would bake cookies for him to buy.  I had not considered baking cookies, but find that it is much easier and less time consuming.  To bake bread, I have to set aside at least 3 hours of my day - longer if I am baking to fill orders.  It is also a process that once started, I am committed to having to finish, no matter what comes up.  With the cookie baking, I will be able to mix the dough anytime, then bake as I have time to do so.  I am setting a side 2 days a week (Monday & Thursday) to bake the cookies.  Surplus cookies will not go to waste since Joe loves taking them to work to snack on.  I also have the option of making dough ahead of time and freezing it to be baked later.  I am enjoying the fact that if the kids are more clingy and wanting extra snuggling on a baking day, I can be more available to them by baking the cookies.  I always felt bad if I was in the middle of mixing & kneading the bread dough and the baby would cry.  Especially when Joe was at work and there was no one else around to pick Micah up to hold him.

We have found a new use for our old storm shelter.  It is a stone structure built in the yard on the north side of the house.  The shelter is below ground with a stonework dome shaped roof.  The shelter has been unsafe to use for many years.  It is full of water most of the spring & summer due to a high water table.  Each spring, the shelter has nearly 3 feet of water standing in it for several months.  By mid-summer, it finally is dried out.  Joe has been considering tearing the shelter down and had even got a start on it.  Yesterday though, he turned it into a burn bin.  Our burnable trash was piled into the shelter and Joe lit the paper on fire.  It was great!  The stone on the outside of the shelter stayed cool, even though a roaring fire was built in the shelter.  Joe then added alot of small tree limbs that were too small to save for firewood.  The best part is that we will be able to burn trash in there even during a burn ban as the fire has no way of escaping the shelter.  In the early spring when the shelter is full of water, we can burn the burnable trash in a burn barrel with a grate covering it to prevent anything from coming out of the barrel and possibly starting a fire on the ground.  A side benefit to his using the shelter as a burn pit is that it destroyed the wasp nests inside the burn pit.  Hopefully the wasps will relocate somewhere away from the house this time.

Cloth Sanitary Pads

The reaction when many women hear the words "cloth sanitary pads" is ICK!  It is one of those topics that can bring shudders to a woman who has no problem cloth diapering her little one.  I think in part, the reaction comes from the fact that many women were taught as young girls that their "time" was nasty or dirty. 

Recently, I found a website that has alot of great information and styles of free patterns for making your own cloth pads.  What a great resource!  On this site, the author of the site breaks it all down for you.  She explains the advantages and disadvantages to each style of pad.  There are also printable patterns for making your own and links for those who want to buy them instead.  Of all the websites out there that teach about cloth pads, this has to be the most thorough one I have ever found. 

Of my own experiences with cloth pads, I have found them to be far more comfortable.  I have never had leakage problems.  The ones I make are the all-in-one type that have a water barrier fabric to prevent leaks.  The fastest & easiest way that I have found to make the AIO pads is to use the washable bed pads that you can buy at a store or hospital supply.  These are the quilted pads that have a water barrier fabric on the back that are laid on top of the bed sheets.  You can also find similar bed pads in the baby area for laying in the infant's crib.  The purpose in using these inside your cloth pads is that they are leakproof, washable, cheaper and much easier to buy than finding water barrier fabric online.  I sandwich the bed pad in between 2 fabrics and sew them together on my serger in moments.

Amish Sugar Cookies

Another window opens

"Where one door closes, the Lord opens a window in our lives."  Howe often I have heard that phrase during my lifetime.  As I have gone through the years, I have often found a great truth to those simple words.  Last night I received yet another confirmation of the truths in that phrase.

A few months ago when my Beloved was looking for a job, I started selling home baked breads.  They sold very well and at that time helped a great deal is providing the money we needed for Joe to have fuel for his little truck to look for work.  At some point after he was working, the bread sales slowed down.  While the income from it wasn't as desperately needed, it has been missed.

Yesterday, Joe took to work some molasses cookies that I had baked the night before.  He took enough for his own snack and also to leave some in the break room for the mechanics.  By the day's end, one of the mechanics asked him if I would be willing to bake him 5 dozen cookies and quoted a price that was very generous, yet still lower than what he would pay for specialty cookies at a store.  Of course, I am more than willing to bake them! 

I have always thought of my cooking & baking as simple farm fare.  My Gram and a Amish neighbor were the most influential in teaching me to cook & bake.  It is their styles of cooking that I do the most often.  Joe takes alot of pride in my cooking abilities and often shares the snacks and such that I make with co-workers.

I had not thought about making cookies and snack type foods to sell, but maybe this is a window that is opening for us.  Beloved was so excited about it.  The baking orders will only be on pay weeks, but that is fine.  It will allow me the rest of the time to spend on other tasks.

Today is a baking day here at home.  I am baking bread for our family.  There is a really easy Amish Sugar Cookie recipe that I am also making.  The recipe makes 12 dozen cookies.  I am making half of the recipe as the recipe calls for.  The other half is being made as a chocolate mint cookie.  Likely, Beloved will take some to work tomorrow.  Whether it brings new cookie orders or not, I am enjoying the baking.  Abbie loves to make cookies with Momma, so it is all good. 

My dream machine

When our washing machine needed a new belt last weekend, I kept thinking about my favorite washing machine.  It was an old Maytag Wringer Washer that I used at my Grandma's home when I was growing up. Years later, I had one that I used until about 1993.  I really miss that old machine.  To me, it cleaned much better than the machines that came around later.  You had control over the length of time the clothes were agitated, something that I really appreciated when cleaning heavily soiled clothing.  I never had anything come out stained. 

Grandma kept her wringer washer in the bathroom so that it could be moved closer to the sink for filling & draining.  I kept mine on the back porch in a mud room where there was a large utility sink installed.  I have watched some women with these machines using them out in their yard or on an open porch where they had a large metal tub setting to catch the clothing as it come from the wringer.  They had a clothesline set up nearby to hang the clothing on. 

It is interesting to me how in an age where there is so much new technology, it is the old ways that I long for.  The old ways were more work intensive.  The wringer wasn't called a hand masher for no reason!  In spite of the extra work and care that you needed to give the tasks, I find a comfort and peace in it. 

Recycling Update

A few weeks ago, we started on the endeavor to recycle 100% of our trash.  So far, it is going really well.  At the time we made the decision to recycle, we still had 2 weeks of trash service paid for.  We spent that time making the changes that we would need to do to prepare for the recycling.  We quickly sorted through the items that we have had in storage.  Anything that could not be recycled, Freecycled, or donated was put in the trash.  We set up our recycling bins and began putting the items in them so we could get a good idea of what we were getting ourselves into.  We also needed to prove to ourselves before our trash service ended that we would be able to recycle everything.

One of the lessons I have learned is to be very aware of the trash coming into the home.  Look at the packaging of your foods and other purchases.  What you bring in has to be packaged in something that you can recycle.  I also look at the wasteful/surplus packaging.  One example is my tofu.  The store sells 2 brands.  Both brands are good and are priced the same amount.  The difference is that one is vacuum-packaged in a plastic wrap material similar to the type used for packaging bricks of cheese.  The other brand is in a plastic tray with a plastic "lid" that you cut off.  I had been buying the one in the plastic tray, but now buy the one packaged without the tray.  If I had a need for the little trays, I would get that brand again.  For now though, I have no need of the trays and they are just more bulk going into our recycle bin.

Recycling food packaging requires a simple rinsing out of the containers.  Common sense here, but maybe some don't think about it.  If you leave the food residue in the containers, it can cause your recycle bins to stink, draw insects, and possible rodents. 

Our recycle bins are kept in the kitchen for convenience.  We are using 18 gallon sized plastic totes.  We leave the lids off so that it is convenient to just toss the items into them.  For now, we have bins for paper, plastic, tin, and glass.  Large items such as milk jugs are crushed before putting them into the bin to help save on space.   

All in all, this has been a great experience.  We've learned that there is very little that we may not be able to recycle.  The only things coming to mind are light bulbs & toothbrushes.  We are checking into it, but there is such a small amount that if the recycling center doesn't take them we can toss the small baggie into their dumpster

Washing Laundry by Hand

Over the weekend, the belt on our washing machine finally wore out and would no longer spin the clothes dry.  This meant that we had to wring out the laundry by hand that we had already washed. No big deal.  Then, my dear husband took the belt off so he can take it to a shop & buy a new one.  Everything seems to be going great ........until........

Today, I was faced with a situation.  Our 2 little ones are cloth diapered.  We only have enough for one and a half days of diapering for each child.  What are the chances that "Murphy's Law" will kick in and the store in the little town will not have the belt we need in stock?  Also, Joe has been getting a couple of hours of overtime lately which would put him getting off work after the stores have begun closing.

Today I am hand washing the diapers and the little ones' bedding.  Surprisingly, I am finding that I rather enjoy doing it. I am using far less water than the electric machine would use and by not using the machine, I am also saving money on the electricity.  Washing laundry by hand is not a difficult process, just time consuming.  I can easily understand why our fore-mothers did laundry one day a week.  It probably took all day to wash the family's laundry.  When you consider how many children the families had in those days, I can imagine that laundry washing was an all day event.  It was a benefit that they had less clothing than we are accustommed to today, but given how hard they worked, I can only imagine how dirty the clothing was when laundry day arrived. Realistically, I don't imagine that I will suddenly become so enamored with hand washing the laundry that I will give up the washing machine.  It is good to know that I can do it by hand though if the need arises.

Here is how I am hand washing the laundry:

Start early in the day.  The early the better to give your clothing plenty of time to dry on the clothesline.  For the little ones' cloth diapers, I am finding that washing them every few changings is working great.  You will want to keep in mind with diapers that you want to stay ahead of the job as much as possible so that you don't run out of diapers while the laundered ones are still drying on the clothesline.

The first step is to have a couple of large, deep kettles or tubs for your wash and rinse water.  If you have a double sink that is deep enough, even better!  Use hot water if possible for both the wash and rinse. The only exception would  be if you are washing something that specifically calls for cold water.  If you are using deep kettles or tubs, have them at a comfortable working height.  It really makes a difference in saving your back from becoming sore.

I use a low-suds laundry soap (see my previous blog for the recipe) which helps a great deal when it is time to rinse the clothing.  The more suds your wash water has, the longer it takes to rinse all the soap out.  I let heavily soiled clothing such as my husbands work jeans "cook" on the stove in my water bath canner.  I put the jeans in the water with some laundry soap and let the water come to a slow boil for awhile. This will help to loosen the ground in dirt and things like grass stains.  While the jeans are on the stove, I wash the more lightly soiled clothing.  Wash the clothing in order of how soiled they are with the most heavily soiled clothing being washed last.  This will save you from having to keep changing out your wash water.

Taking one article of clothing at a time, rub them thoroughly between your hands.  If you happen to have access to a scrub board, all the better!  For the dirtiest areas, you can also use a scrub brush to scrub out the dirt.  I keep the laundry soap handy so that I can sprinkle abit onto a heavily soiled area if need be to scrub out the dirt.  Wringe out the wash water from the clothing before adding it to the rinse water to prevent getting the rinse water too soapy.  You can also add some white vinegar to the rinse water to help remove the soap residues from the clothing.  Wringe out the clothing as much as possible before hanging out on the clothesline.

There are benefits to doing laundry by hand.  One being that you can take the time to work on the heavily soiled areas and prevent stains.  Another benefit is that when hung on the clothesline, the sun helps to naturally bleach out stains.  The laundry comes off the line with the wonderful clean outdoors scent that no fabric softener can duplicate!  It is so fun to take the laundry outdoors and watch Abbie running around playing while I hang the laundry.  Sometimes she comes and helps hand me the clothespins or puts the dried clothing in the basket for me.  Micah enjoys being outdoors also.  I have him snuggled to me in a baby carrier.  He looks around, sometimes making his little cooing vocalizations, and just enjoys that time.

Whether I wash the laundry by hand or not, I am enjoying the clothesline and having that time outdoors with the little ones.  The washing machine being out of commission today is actually a blessing.  Had it not happened, I might have missed out on a wonderful opportunity with my kids.

Homemade Laundry Soap Powder

It seems that there is about as many variations to homemade laundry soap recieps as there are people making them.  I have found in the time I have been making my own laundry soap that there are alot of reasons why a recipe that works for one may fail for another.  Fabric content is a consideration as cottons and polyesters react differently in the way they hold on to stains and odors.  How soiled are you clothing? Here, our laundry can get pretty soiled from working outdoors and around the animals, not to mention the cloth diapers that can have their own laudering issues. The third consideration is your water.  The hardness or mineral content of your water can cause laundry soaps to not clean as well. In the case of hard water you need to add extra borax to your soap to soften the water.  Lastly, the performance of your washing machine's agitation in the wash cycle has a tremendous effect on how clean your laundry becomes.

One common complaint that I hear from people not used to making their own laundry soap is that the soap does not produce alot of suds.  They are under the assumption that the more soap bubbles, the cleaner your clothes become.  The amount of soap suds has little affect on how clean your clothes become.  From my experience, I have found that a soap that produces alot of suds is most likely to leave alot of soap residue in your clothing.  A good way to see how much soap is still in your laundry when they are being rinsed is to look at the rinse water when it has been agitated.  If you see alot of suds on top, you can bet your clothing has alot of soap still in them even after the rinse cycle is finished.  The suds, since they float on the water surface, are the last thing to touch your clothing when the water drains out and ends up laying right on the clothing.  During the spin cycle, the sids are drawn into the fibers of your clothing as the water is drawn out.

That said, here is the ratio of ingredients that through experimenting, I have found gives the best results for our laundry: 1 part soap, 2 parts borax, 2 parts washing soda.

I kept the ingredients in powder form as it is more convenient, takes less storage space, and it is easy to adjust the ingredients if needed if I see that the recipe needs adjusting.  I start by grating Ivory soap (I like the scent of it) on a fine grater.  I like the grated soap to be as small as possible as I find it mixes into the other ingredients more evenly and it will dissolve faster in the wash.  I use white vinegar as a rinse instead of fabric softener.  The white vinegar in your rinse cycle will remove any soap residue that may be left in your laundry.

Last night, I made a batch using 3 bars of Ivory soap.  The batch made enough soap powder to fill 2 large baby formula powder cans.  When presoaking diapers, I use 1 scoop (1 tablespoon) of the soap in the diaper bucket.  It works great to help prevent stains in the soiled diapers and the Ivory soap scent prevents the "diaper pail" odor.  For a large load of laundry, I use 4 scoops of the powder.  This amount even cleans the grubby looking jeans.

One of the advantages that I am finding with the powdered soap recipe is that if I find that my laundry is needing more washing soda or any of the other ingredients, I can easily stir the added amount into the soap without having to add the additional ingredients separately to each load. 

I remember my Grandma using powdered laundry soap for everything.  She used it for all of her cleaning, including washing dishes and wiping things down each day.  She also used the powder laundry soap in her mop bucket with abit of bleach added to clean her linoleum floors in the kitchen and bath. 

There are several advantages to making your own laundry soap.  The first being the cost.  The cost of homemade is less than half the cost of buying the cheap brands of laundry soap.  Another advantage is that you know exactly what is in the soap.  If you have a family member who has a sensitivity to the fragrances or another ingredient in the soap, you can leave it out.  I am able to use this soap on the baby's laundry without any concerns of the soap being too harsh for his tender skin.  You can easily customize the recipe to suit the needs of your own family. 

Laundry soap is one of the easiest soaps to make if you are new to soapmaking.  If you give it a try, or use homemade laundry soap, I would love to hear how you like it and what your experiences have been.

Angel & Cloe

Angel and Cloe are the first livestock that we got for our homestead.  Both were born in the late winter/early spring of last year.  Angel is our Hampshire ewe, Cloe is a Dwarf Nubian doe.  In the picture, they are enjoying one of hteir favorite treats - stale homemade bread.

When we got Cloe, Joe was still truck driving and was out on the truck for one of his 4-week long trips.  A woman who bred the Dwarf Nubians asked me if I wanted a couple of the does to raise as milk goats.  I ended bringing them home in the back seat of our family car since we don't have anything to haul livestock in.  What a trip!  I got thirsty on the way home (it was a 2 hour drive) and I went to the drive-up window of a Wendy's fast food shop to get a drink.  The girl at the first window where you pay for your order was shocked to see a pair of 2 month old goats in the back seat of a car.  By the time I got to the 2nd window where you pick up your order, there were about 5-6 employees all trying to get a look out the window to see Belle and Cloe.  Belle was a preemie and failed to thrive despite our best efforts and died within 2 weeks of getting her.  Cloe on the other hand has done beautifully.  She is a very friendly goat and loves to get lots of attention.  Typical of goats, she is highly social and loves to be around us or Angel.

Angel is a funny ewe.  We bought her from a neighbor who breeds registered Hampshire sheep.  She and Cloe have been companions from the beginning.  We got them about a week apart.  Unlike Cloe, Angel is content to be away from Cloe.  Sometimes, I think she longs to be away when Cloe is in a playful mood and head bumps Angel.  They used to play alot together when they were young.  Now that Angel out-weighs Cloe and is much larger, Cloe has learned that it hurts when she head-bumps Angel in the head.

Both of them are grass-fed and receive only the occassional supplementing with grain.  In the winter when grazing is scarce, they are fed hay and grain.  This gives them the slimmer appearance.  Grain fed animals put on weight much faster than animals that are solely grazed.  The meat from grass-fed animals however is extremely lean, which is our goal with our sheep.

This spring, we got a young Hampshire ram for Angel.  He is only slightly shorter than Angel in height right now.  Full-grown, Angel weighs about 150 lbs. and Midas (the ram) will weigh about 250 lbs.  With luck, we will have our first lambs in the spring. 

We are having to find a new home for Cloe.  Next spring, we are wanting to get a pair of Alpine goats.  They Alpines are a large breed that is more than double the size of Cloe.  The does give much larger quantities of milk than Cloe would give and the milk is a very creamy quality.  Having 2 little ones, we would have to milk several goats like Cloe to get the quantity we would need each day.  Given the size difference of Cloe verses an Alpine, we can't risk the buck getting to Cloe and trying to breed.  It may not happen, but we can't take the risk.  If the breeding didn't badly injure Cloe, the pregnancy would kill her due to the size differences of the two breeds.  It will be odd not having Cloe around.  She is such a funny little doe.  We just can't take the chase of her being harmed by a larger breed buck.

Play dough

Today, I read in the "Making a Home in Town" blog a Play Dough Recipe that brought back memories.  Years ago, I made this for little ones.  The recipe makes about 8 cups and was perfect for taking to the local Head-Start preschool or to a children's hospital ward as a donation to brighten the kids day.  This is one of the very few recipes that actually has the same texture and consistancy of the store bought play dough.  It also has a long shelf life, unlike many recipes that go bad within a couple of months.

For Abbie, I cut the proportions of the ingredients down to 1/4th of the amount given in the recipe.  It still made enough to fill a plastic marshmallow fluff container.  I use the paste type of food coloring as I find it is the most vibrant.  The results were great!  At 2 yrs. old, Abbie has never played with Play Dough before.  She was uncertain of what to do with it at first and barely poked at it.  We will be getting it out each morning though and I am certain she will figure it out in no time!

I am already planning ahead to helping Abbie make ornaments for Christmas with the dough.  I am going to test it out as I cannot remember if it shrinks or cracks during the drying process.    If it works out, it will be great to use in making the Jesse Tree ornaments.

Dinner in a Pie

This is a very hearty meal that is great for using up leftovers.  I had some ground venison on hand, so I browned it along with some onions, garlic, and bell peppers.  Next, you add assorted vegetables and just enough seasoned tomato sauce or a gravy to moisten the meat & vegetables.  You don't want too much liquid as it will cause the bottom crust to become soggy.

Make enough pie crust for a 2-crust pie.  I rolled it out abit thicker than I would for a fruit pie so that the bottom crust would hold together better when I served up the meal.  Line a deep dish pie pan with pie crust.  Fill with the meat & vegetable filling.  Top with the second crust and seal the edges.  Poke holes into the crust to allow steam to vent.

Bake in a preheated 350*F oven for about 1 hour or until pie is bubbly and crust is a golden color.

There are many variations to this pie.  Any combination of meat and vegetables that sounds good to you will work.  These pies can be made vegetarian style or with meat.  Try making the pie with a tamale pie filling and serve with cornbread.  Other simple variations could be: fajita mix, chili with cheese, loaded up with your favorite pizza toppings, chicken/broccoli/cheese mixture, beef stew leftovers, or philly steak/bell peppers/onions/cheese mixture.

For vegetarians, you can make any vegetable and grain combination that you love and bake it in the pies.  The options are only limited by your imagination.  You can use any vegetarian stew recipes and the pie would be great.

For those who do the once a month cooking, this is a great meal that can be frozen for later.  You can also scale down the size to use the small single serving sized pie pans to make your own homemade pot pies.  Prebaked, these would make a great meal to take to work and heat up in the microwave for your lunch.

Enjoy!

Home Canning for the lunchbox

I finally let go

Decluttering & Freecycle Weekend

Paper, Plastic, or Cloth?

"Do you want paper or plastic?" was once a common phrase heard in grocery checkout isles.  Today, most stores now have fully converted over to using the plastic bags.  There are 2 stores that I know of in the city that still uses paper bags.  I remember when plastic bags were first being used.  A local news station talked about the number of trees that were used each year to make the paper bags and how the plastic would save a large percentage of the trees.  Years later, when plastic was being used in the greater percentage of stores, there began reports of the impact the plastic bags have on the enviroment. 

A new trend is beginning to take place.  There are those who are now using canvas bags for their shopping.  These bags are easily found in any craft store and in many grocery stores.  Along with the canvas bags, grocery stores also sell the bags made for hot/cold use. 

Making the change to using the canvas shopping bags can take time.  It is a major change in habit.  The hardest obstacle for many being to remember to take them in the store.  Sounds silly, but it is true.  Another obstacle that some have spoken of on various forums has been the reaction they receive from the store's employees.  Some are very good about it, wile there are a few that see having to pack the groceries in a canvas bag is a nuisance.  To estimate how many canvas bags you will need, just count how many plastic bags you use.  Because the canvas bags are larger than a plastic grocery bag, you can fit more in them.    Keep the weight of the groceries in mind though if you buy alot of canned goods or other heavy items when bagging your groceries.

I have been working on taking the canvas shopping bags a step further.  At the dollar stores and discount stores it is easy to find the mesh fabric laundry bags.  The bags ae large enough that you can make 6 produce bags from one laundry bag!  I make a simple bag with a ribbon drawstring.  The bags are light weight enough that they don't add weight to my purchase. 

Another way to use less plastic is to make your produce bags from the very soft bridal veiling fabric.  These are great for buying products from the bulk bins such as grains, rice, or any other non-powder items.  The health food store has long twist ties for their plastic bags at the bulk bins.  The twist ties have a paper strip on them for writing the bin number.  I attach one of these to the bag to close it, just as I would if I were using their bags. 

For the powdery bulk items such as Stevia, sea salt, etc. you can recycle the plastic deli bowl with lids.  These are the clear plastic bowls that the salads and other deli foods are sold in.  The containers have almos no weight to them.  I have found though that it is best that you ask the store first if you can use them instead of their plastic bags.  For some reason, some stores are more receptive to it than others.  To label the bin numbers, you can tape a piece of paper to the lids to write the number and information on.  Another option would be to have a container for each item.  This is an easy thing.  Just keep track of what powder/granular items you purchase in bulk and have a container for each one.  To label the containers, I use a Sharpie type marker and write the item name on the containers.  You can use a dry erase marker then to write the bin numbers.  When I get home, I transfer the bulk bin items into other containers.

It may sound like alot of work to do this, but actually the bulk of the work is in the setting it up.  Once you have everything together, you can store them all in a tote ready to grab and take on your next shopping trip!  Using the re-usable shopping bags and bulk food containers helps so much in eliminating the amount of trash we bring into the home.

Home Pantry: Lessons learned in an ice storm

I have had a pantry/root cellar all my life.  Growing up, we canned our vegetables each summer and made jams, jellies, and pie fillings from the fruits.  We also had 2 freezers, one for meats and the other for fruits and other items that we not canned. 

 Because of the way I cook everything from scratch, we shop at a grocery store about 35 miles from home.  There is a store closer, but it does not carry everything that we need.  We also buy from a health food store that is located 75 miles from home.    Because of the distance the stores are from us, we do the bulk of our shopping once a month.  I drive out to the health food store and buy enough for 2 or more months.  On the way home, I stop at the grocery store and buy everything else we will need for the month. As money is available, I buy extra of the staple items to build up the pantry.

 Each winter that I have been here in Oklahoma, we have had a major ice storm that made travel very difficult for a period of time.  One year, we were unable to get our car out of the drive for 6 weeks.  Thank the Lord, we had a good pantry and neighbors who had 4-wheel drive vehicles that could pick up what we didn’t have on hand when they went to town. For the most part, we were well prepared, but there is always room for improvement.

 I learned a lot during that winter.  Lessons that I now use to be better prepared.  Each spring, I begin the process of building up the pantry for the next winter.  I plan to purchase pantry storage items each shopping trip.  Once we are getting fresh vegetables from the garden, I am able to use that part of my grocery budget also to stock the pantry.  One of the things that I now store is powdered milk.  Not only can I use it in my cooking & baking, it is great to have on hand for our daughter just in case we run out of milk & can’t get to a store.  Likewise, I have extra cans of baby formula for our infant son. 

 It is also wise during the summer months to stock up on things like charcoal for a grill.  During a power outage, if you have an electric stove the charcoal grill may be your only means of cooking.  If your grill is propane, you may want to try and store an extra tank of propane for the grill for emergencies.

 Something that many people never consider when setting up their pantry is to have a section for non-food items.  Unless your family uses the flannel family wipes, you will find storing toilet paper very important if you get snowed in!  Likewise, you will want to store feminine products and extra packages of baby diapers/training pants if you don’t use the cloth versions.  Other non-food items would include soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, deodorant, laundry products, dish soap, candles or oil lamps, oil for the lamps, matches, extra batteries for flashlights, and bleach or water purification tablets.  Aluminum foil is essential if you plan to use a grill as your emergency back-up cooking method.  You can use it not only to line the grill, but for making the foil pouch dinners.  Foil can also be used to make a makeshift solar oven.

 If you have never stocked a pantry, some quick tips to keep in mind.  Only store what you know that you will use.  On the Internet, you can find lots of websites that have food storage calculators that will tell you how many pounds of wheat & other grains you will need per person.  If you don’t cook with the grains, nor have the means to mill them, storing the grains would be a waste of money & storage space.  A very simple way to start your pantry is to save your grocery receipts for 1 month.  Make a list of everything purchased and record the quantity of each item you purchased through the month.  This will give you a starting point.  Many people do not immediately consider their cooking styles when planning their pantry, only to be frustrated when an emergency happens.  If you mill a lot of grain for flour, cracked grain cereals, etc., consider having a small non-electric grain mill that you can use if there is a power outage.  One lesson that I learned the hard way was that while having an electric grain mill was a blessing most of the time, it was useless during a power outage.  Another common mistake that I have often seen made is people who store a lot of store-bought canned goods and only have an electric can opener.

 First aid supplies are vital in any home storage.  If there is a severe storm such as tornado or other natural disaster, the first aid kit will be essential.  One great way to store it is in a large fishing tackle box.  You can use the sections in the box to keep various items in an organized, easy to locate manner.  Be sure that you check the kit every 6 months to note expiration dates and restock anything that has been used from the kit.  If anyone in the family is on prescription medication, you should always have extras in the kit.  Keep a close watch on the expiration dates. 

 If you have family pets that require special feeds, you will want to store up a supply of that also.  While most animals can live on people food for a short time, you don’t want to have them eating it too long.  A medium to large sized dog will eat through your food supply rather quickly, for example.

 One family that we visited when I was a child had a great system for rotating their food storage.  They turned their garage into the storage area.  In the garage, they had metal freestanding shelves that were far enough away from the wall that a person could step behind it.  When they put away new supplies, they brought all the stems on the shelves forward, and then stocked the shelves from the back.  They also had some custom built shelving for the store bought canned goods.  The shelves had just enough space between them to allow 1 inch above the cans when laid down on their side.  The front of the shelving was ½ inch lower than the back and had a small strip of wood across it to prevent the cans from rolling off the shelves.  They stocked these shelves also from the back.  They used labels on the back at each opening to identify what product went in each slot. 

 I find it important to keep a written inventory of the pantry.  List each item you plan to store, the amount you will need for 6 months or a year depending on your intentions, and the amount you currently have on hand.  This makes your shopping list so much easier to plan.  It also helps you in not over or under buying pantry supplies.

Thanks & an update

I first want to thank everyone who contacted me and left comments with ideas for helping to soften the clothing dried on the clothesline.  I will give the ideas a try and see what difference they make.

I decided that because I need to make new diapers for Micah, I will make them with line drying in mind.  I am making covers with a flannel lining in them.  I am also going to make prefold diapers large enough that he will be able to use them for quite a while.  This will allow for fast drying on the line.  This winter, I will set up a drying rack near the wood stove to dry diapers overnight.  If I do end up having to run the prefolds in the dryer for a couple of minutes to soften them for him, that will be fine.  The main purpose of cutting back on the dryer usage will still be achieved.  The dryer is also a benefit in the winter as it helps to heat teh back of the house.  If I can find a soft fabric to use in his diapers that will dry on the line and still remain soft, I will let you know as this may be useful for others to know also.  I am going to take advantage of the windy days and try to do whatever laundry we have on those days. 

Friday night I was up late, until nearly 1:30am, getting the food ready for the weekend.  Friends are coming for a BBQ today and I needed to bake bread & some burger buns.  I ended up making cinnamon swirl bread to have with our breakfast.  Abbie loved the bread.  She kept walking around and showing it to us in between bites.  She seemed especially fond on the spots where there are abit more brown sugar & cinnamon.  I may start making this bread more often.  I am thinking that I may start my baking before dawn now that the days are getting so warm.  

On Saturday, the BBQ went very well.  We had a lovely visit with our friends, Kyle & Christee.  They brought us 2 A/C units that they no longer needed.  They had already replaced these with new ones.  Kyle and Joe put one in the front room and the other in the kitchen.  What a blessing!  They are keeping the house so much cooler.  Micah is doing much better now as he was having alot of problems with the heat.

While Kyle & Christee was here, our neighbor and his sons brought over a young ram for our ewe, Angel.  We had bought Angel from Mr. Maples last spring when she wa a couple of months old.  We had thought to have her go to "visit" one of his rams in the fall for breeding.  He had alot of new rams born this year, so he called and offered to sell us one of them.  They picked out the best one for us.  He breeds registered Hampshire sheep that his sons take to the livestock shows.  We have no plans of showing the sheep we have.  Ours are strictly for meat.  Next spring, I would like to get one more ewe lamb from him.  We will then have 1 ram and 2 ewes for breeding.  We want enough ewes to allow us to control the frequency of breeding as much as possible.  The lambs that we get from the ewes will be butchered in the fall/winter to provide meat for our family.

Our dwarf nubian goat, Cloe, who runs with Angel has been playing with the ram.  She bangs her head up against his and chases him around as she used to do with Angel before Angel reached full size.  Right now, the ram is slightly taller and much heavier than Cloe.  It won't take long for him to play too rough for Cloe and she will settled back down again.

Today has been a quiet & restful day for us.  We had planned to go have a family picnic at a park next door to where Joe works.  His boss is giving him all the scrap pallets, wood, and tree prunings to bring home for use in our wood stoves and some mulch material they have no need of.  We all ended up sleeping in this morning so we stayed home.  While the kids are taking their naps, Joe is out picking up a load of the wood & mulch to bring home. 

I am starting more seeds in little planters.  I hope to get a good start with them for my fall garden. Our current garden is very water-logged at this time.  We had alot of rain 2 nights ago.  Luckily, the plantings were done in raised rows which will prevent the plant roots from being too wet.  The garden is gaining alot of weeds starting to pop up.   With the ground so wet, it should make it easier to weed through the garden.  We have some weed barrier plastic to put down in the garden again.  Between the weed barrier and the mulch, we should be able to get the garden set up for little to no weeding.

Among the wood scraps Joe is bringing home, there are pallets and other pieces that are serviceable enough to be recycled and used for building our chicken coop and chicken tractor.  I am sure as time goes on, we will find alot more uses for them.

We are beginning to set our goals for next spring.  It is funny how in homesteading or farming, you have to set your seasonal goals a year in advance!  We are planning to add to our livestock next spring.  As mentioned before, I am wanting to get a 2nd ewe so we can stagger the breeding between the 2 ewes and hopefully prevent over breeding 1 ewe.  We are going to get the coop & chicken tractor ready this summer so that we can buy new chickens, guineas, and possibly turkeys next spring.  Another addition will (hopefully) be a pair of Border Collies.  Since we are planning to turn our homestead into sheep & goat farm, having the border collies will be a great asset.  Joe will train them to help in herding the animals.  We will have a pair so that we an also breed them. 

One of the primary goals, besides being able to support our family's needs through the homesteading, has always been to get ourselves set up in such a way as to be able to help others who are just getting started.  We have been greatly blessed by the Lord through the generosity of others who have given to us or have sold at a discount to us livestock to get our homestead started.  We would like to be in position to do the same for others just starting out.  As we gain knowledge in how to do things more simply and self-sufficiently, we hope to be able to share that information to teach others how to do it for themselves. Each season, I am seeing us becoming closer to reaching that goal.  There is so much yet to learn and do before we will be in a position to truly help others as we desire to do.  By and by it will happen though.

Clothes Drying questions

I am trying to keep from using the electric clothes dryer to cut down our expenses further and have a couple of questions.

When I dry the clothing on the clothesline, some of the clothes (jeans for instance) come off the line very stiff and rough feeling.  I notice that it happens the most with the clothes that have a high percentage of cotton content.  Unfortunately, nearly everything we wear is cotton.  How do you avoid this problem?  I am having to put the line-dried clothing in the electric dryer for a few minutes to soften them, which completely defeats the purpose.

My other question is for the cold months.  Do you know of any way to dry the laundry without using the electric dryer during the fall & winter?  If I put them out on the line in the winter, they will simply freeze.  Our house has small rooms which prevents using a clothing rack to hang the clothes on.