End of September, Weekly Wrap-up

On Monday, I was able to process the box of pears I purchased. I put 12 pints of pear butter on the shelf and one pint in the fridge.

On Tuesday, I decided to can some lentil stew. So in the end I put 7 quarts on the shelf. We had lentils for dinner and discovered that the majority of people in our house do not like lentils. So lentils are probably not going to be fed to the family much in the future.

Tuesday night, the new moon was finally sighted and we blew the shofar for Yom Teruah.  Our little shofar is quite hard to blow and it can be quite painful for me to do with my inner ear problems. However, seems every time Day of Trumpets comes, I am able to go out and blow a beautiful steady note for YHVH.  One day the trumpet sound won't be from the trumpets of men, but of the heavenly hosts as they proclaim the returning Messiah.

On Wednesday, I worked away at the box of sweet potatoes I bought. I pulled out six or so for the pantry and processed seven quarts. One quart didn't seal because there was a defect in the jar. Yes, it was brand new from the case. I knew the flaw was there, but wasn't sure that it would be a problem. So that jar as well as a few extra blanched sweet potatoes were put into the fridge for a meal or two. 

After the sweet potatoes, I pulled out all the frozen greens and cooked them.  Then I put them into pint jars for the pantry. This was 15 pints. 

When I was getting greens out of the freezer the day before, I noticed a bag of frozen cherries that were well over a year old. So today I pulled the solid block of cherries and juice and made a batch of chocolate cherry jam. (And can I add that I LOVE Pamona's Pectin? I can use so much less sugar!) This puts four jars (half pint) on the shelf. There was a half jar for the fridge. 

For history, we talked about St. Patrick and Ireland. So some of the kids made Irish soda bread. While we don't celebrate St. Patrick's, as a historical figure he is still worthy of a little study. 

It turned out quite tasty, but was basically a giant biscuit.  The lesson also mentioned trying corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes, but I didn't do that because I knew the kids wouldn't eat it. 

Well, time to clean house and get ready for the sabbath tonight. We will have pizza since I completely forgot that Thursdays are pizza night.  

On Sunday we will be working to get the back chicken pen cleaned up, and hens moved. We also need to trim hooves on the bucks and baby girls. They will also need deworming as we go into fall. The dry weather does help, but I want them going into wet weather with a head start. 

Blessings to you all. 

Yom Teruah

"Speak to the children of Yisra'el, saying, 'In the seventh new moon, on the first day of the new moon, you have a rest, a remembrance of Teru'ah, You do no servile work, and you shall bring an offering made by fire to YHVH.'"  Lev. 23:24-25

This year marks our fourth year of keeping Yah's holy days. Two years ago, our son also came into this walk. 

Last night, my son sent this photo of him blowing the shofar for Yom Teruah. It is a beautiful picture and it fills my heart with joy. It is a joy I get as a mother seeing her son do the best he can to follow the commands of Yehovah, but it is also a spiritual joy as brothers and sisters in Messiah Yeshua sharing in a commanded holy day. 

But I want to back up a day...

We had planned to celebrate the day beginning sundown Sunday and Al had put in to have Monday off for the sabbath that follows the shofar blast. Unfortunately, the moon was not visible...at all. Our intentions were good, but our time was off.  Man's lunar predictions failed us. 

Monday night we went out to look for the moon as well, but we were unable to see it despite the clear night. Researching the internet quickly showed that it was only at .3% visibility - basically not visible. Once again, man's lunar predictions failed us. 

But tonight it is supposed to be 2% visible and able to be seen if we get out at the right time.  If we see the moon's sliver, we sound the shofar and truly it is Yom Teruah - Trumpets. 

I asked Andrew if he saw the moon when he sounded the shofar.  He replied with a "no". Clearly the sky was not offering any hindrance to the view of the heavens.  So why did he do it? 

Well, I am sure a lot of it had to do with "predictions" that fell short.  Another part had to do with a pre-planned calendar that is destined to fail.  Yet still another is that overwhelming desire we get to make a joyful noise unto the almighty.  

However, nothing comes close to the confirmed sightings that are made with our own eyes.  

So back to my explanation regarding times off.  We live in a world that does not accommodate the faith we have.  Most employers don't care what your feast days are, when you keep the sabbath, what hours start your sabbath, or whether or not you need a weird variety of days off that can't be determined until the month starts!  And even then they look at you like you have two heads because you keep a calendar month that isn't Roman and you don't celebrate the majority of holidays the world does.   Al requested Monday off for our Teruah sabbath, but it ended up our plans didn't work according to His plans.  (His ways are higher than ours - ALWAYS) He can't ask off another day so close to the Monday he mistakenly asked off.  

We do the best we can. That is what He asks.  He sees our willingness to do His things His way.  He knows my frustration when I try to plan accordingly and end up flubbed up, yet again, yet another year.  He saw my tears yesterday when I cried over getting it all wrong again. 

Andrew also asked me what you do when the moon isn't sighted.  I told him you look again the next night, but after a certain number you know the moon is there.  Even the ancient Israelites knew that.  But I am sure he is in the same predicament as Al.  Wrong days were taken off and there is nothing we can change about that.  

I think about how the gentile believers came into faith and the council had to "teach" them how to come out of idolatry and learn the ways of Yehovah.  I know they didn't get everything the first day, the first week, the first month, the first year, or maybe even the first decade.  But they made effort...and so can we.  

I asked Al to look into whether or not his employer would accommodate a slight change to days off.  If he will, then we will be able to adjust our other feasts and holy days accordingly.  If not, we can continue on as we planned knowing our days are slightly off and enjoying our time regardless.  

Blessings as always. 

**For more information on the moon and holy days, you can visit renewedmoon.com . This is the easiest way for me to know if the moon has been sighted when it isn't visible from my location either because of trees, busy life, or clouds.

A Better Way of Poultry

Well, day one of our fall poultry processing was a success. We decided to process 8 hens, 2 ducks, 9 quail, and Arnold, our aggressive turkey tom.  None of the birds were very large and and the hens were some of the smallest chickens we ever processed. 

Arnold weighed 12.7 pounds after processing which is an okay weight for a heritage breed turkey. I am sure he lost weight with all the back and forth walking he did after segregating him. 

It was such a blessing to have friends over to help out while they learned how to do all of it. The kids were all fine with it and no one was traumatized. 

But it raised an interesting question and thought...

What if everyone who bought and consumed meat had to be able to process the animal themselves?  

What if we ate less meat?

While the work of processing technically gets easier through experience, the actual task of taking an animal's life is difficult. While I caution others about watching videos of commercial poultry processing, I can't help but wonder if, like me, viewing the operation might be worth it in order to realize just what those animals go through to make it on your plate.  I was literally sobbing and it isn't just for meat birds, but egg layers as well.

Meanwhile, the birds raised on our homestead, while not the perfect set up, have a good life and only have one bad day in their lives. 

The righteous regards the life of his beast, But the compassion of the wrong is cruelty.

Mishlĕ (Proverbs) 12:10 TS2009

**Please note that I understand that not everyone can have a farm, raise their own livestock, and process them.  I am simply stating that we are to consider the life of our animals. I believe that we also should consider the lives of those we consume. I have seen how the majority of animals are processed and I personally can not accept the practices that put those animals at the hand of consumers. 

Poultry Update and This and That

I put my foot down.  

I said we will not buy another piece of meat from the grocery stores until we can be good stewards of what we have.  We will use what is on our land and in our freezer (or raised by a responsible farmer) and when that is gone, we eat a vegetarian diet until more of our animals are put into the freezer. 

Next week we start processing our birds because this is the life we chose.

So here is the plan:

• Use Black Australorps for our compost chickens and our breeding hens.  They will be put into a cage, fed compost (and feed), and hatch out new chicks for our future meat.  
• The remaining dual purpose hens will be used for meat. 
• Our Americaunas, Colored Eggers, California White, and New Hampshire Red will be used for eggs.  They will be free ranged and fed grain.
• We will chose three to four turkey hens and two turkey toms for our breeding program, and the rest will be processed, starting with Arnold and Mr. Snoot.  A friend is buying four turkey hens from us.  
• For now, a drake and a duck will be kept for breeding purposes, and the other three processed. One sooner than others because he appears to have injured his leg. 
• The quail are quite easy to tend to and the tractor is working for the time being.  The remaining ten quail will be processed this week if time permits.  

Once the birds are processed we can set up a new location for the turkeys.  We will also re-arrange the electric fencing around the "compost" chicken cage.  The "Lay Chalet" will have their electric fence redone to a smaller size and later joined up to the garden to allow them to eat bugs to their hearts' content. 

We plan to keep processing equipment in the detached garage and do the work on the driveway.  Then birds can be brought directly into the canning kitchen to be processed, bagged, and put directly into the refrigerator.  

And This and That....

We decided to make Smokie our house/basement cat because a mouser is always a good idea in the house when you live in the middle of the woods and great outdoors.  We did notice a few days in that he had a few fleas so we had to work on eradicating those.  He appears to be flea free now, and we are hoping we do not have fleas in the house.  So far, so good.  (We are also closely monitoring Alexandra's allergies to make sure her eczema does not come back. So far she has not had any issues.) 

Goat breeding season seems to have been a success.  We used Napoleon for everyone this fall.  If some of them do not end up pregnant, we will wait until next spring. It appears that all six does were bred and Napoleon has since been put back into the buck pen. 

I discovered a huge invasion of squash bugs in my main garden.  It appears they all decided to cross over to my cucumbers and they found their way to my scallop squash as well.  Cucumber plants went from absolutely green and lush, to brown and looking pathetic in just under a week.  I sprayed the plants with soap water and will see what happens over the day.  It is more than likely I may have to hand pick all the others off the plants.  

The local cattle farmers in our area were quite worried early in the summer that they would not have a second cutting of hay, but this past week was a flurry of activity as a few off our neighbors went to work cutting and baling hay.  This, I am sure, is a huge blessing. 

The fall feasts are coming upon us rather quickly.  Day of Trumpets is just around the corner.  Ten days after, we have Day of Atonement.  Then, the second week of October, we will celebrate our fourth Feast of Tabernacles.  The kids are so excited!  I have some craft ideas that I think they will enjoy.  Last year we painted shirts, but this year I thought it would be fun to do placemats and make little sukkahs with things found in nature such as sticks, leaves, berries, and flowers.  We planned our menu last night and the plan is to buy as little as possible for this.   Scripture says that Torah should be read during this time and I think that would be such a blessing to learn more of what pleases Yah.    

Of course we can't forget that Alexandra will celebrate her 14th birthday on the 6th.  She asked me a while back if she could have her ears pierced, but has also been asking for mascara.  Oh, the age of the teen girl!  I love her innocence though and I am so glad I have remained firm in my strictness.  She asked me weeks ago why she feels like she is the only 14 year old who still plays with Barbies.  I told her it was because I don't allow her access to the world like so many 14 year olds have.  Her innocence is protected.  Some other requests for turning 14 are to "drink coffee" and to have a cell phone.  Well, there is absolutely NO WAY she is getting a cell phone for ANYTHING.  Coffee might be a negotiable thing, but only on occasion.  

The kids have really started doing much better in their help with animals.  On most days, they are out there doing it all on their own.  Of course I do need to go behind them and make sure the job was done right.  Most of the time, the problem is that water bowls aren't rinsed and filled with fresh water.  

I am sure I mentioned it before, but the lack in the garden is being filled by bulk orders through Azure Standard.  The order due this week is supposed to contain 50 more pounds of potatoes, 20 pounds of sweet potatoes, 25 pounds of beets, 10 pounds of onions, 20 pounds of pears, and a few other items. So I will be busy in the next two weeks preparing food for the pantry shelves.  I enjoy canning, so it isn't a burden.  

I had a bit more here, but for some reason even though Blogger said it was saved, it wasn't.  Bummer.  Let me try to figure out what it was I said. 

I was pondering the fact that only in the last century did people get away from growing and storing up their own food.  For nearly 6000 years, man had grown his own sustenance and perhaps accentuated the menu with other foods another farmer grew.  But here we are today, the masses relying on the few to feed the world.  It really is quite insane!  

Recently I was considering the proverb about the ant who works so hard to store up food for the winter and when spring comes back around gets right back to work.  Consider the ant!  What a goal to achieve!

The other day I was talking to the kids while we were driving.  We discussed the amount of dairy we use in our home and how it shouldn't be!  I ponder how much dairy was actually consumed 150 years ago and beyond.  It would be an interesting research project to see just what the average home had which came from their own cow or goats.  Meanwhile, I would like to work toward the goal of producing as much of our dairy as we can.  Granted, it may take quite some time to get to that point - if ever.  None the less, a worthy thing to achieve.  

Well, I have rambled long enough.  Until next time...

Full Time Farm...

UPDATE COMING SOON! 

I came to the realization, which stemmed from sheer frustration, that running this homestead is a full time job. It is like a machine with so many components and when one part doesn't work, the whole engine or machine stops working. (Or it runs so poorly you want to disassemble the whole thing and build up from parts again.)

It became evident that our farm goals are failing miserably due to one simple fact: it is full time work for two. And so long as one of us is working full time outside the home, we will fail at our goals. 

And we are.

It isn't that what we need to do is too hard, but it wastes money and resources when it isn't done in a timely fashion. It also can not be done alone. 

That is why this last week, I took it upon myself to attempt to sell off the majority of our birds rather than process them. 

The saying, "I have more time than money", does not ring true on our farm. Time must be what you have plenty of in order for animals to be healthy and well cared for. Otherwise you become poor stewards of what you have. 

There are certain tasks around this farm I can do myself or with the help of the kids.  We can manage 98% of what needs doing in the garden.  We can feed and water the animals as well as tend to their basic needs.  

But despite all the areas I have both skill and knowledge, I do not have the ability to assemble a place to process chickens and turkeys.  I said weeks ago that it would be so easy to process animals if things were set up and it wouldn't even need to be fall/winter to do it!  I have a kitchen in my garage that would be perfect for chicken and even turkey processing.

Yet all the plans we can make to provide our own meat are pointless if there isn't time to do it.  With one person outside the home full time, that leaves only one day to work on the farm.  With all the other things that need doing, we become bankrupt on time. Farming doesn't work like that.  It is full time work.  You need more than one day to do all the things that need doing or else the farm falls short of its purpose. 

And that is exactly where we are at...

I think sometimes we put the cart before the horse thinking that things will go smoothly and everything will be in place when times comes.  But that is foolishness!  Or is it ignorance?

So my plan is to get rid of most of the poultry (except quail) and hold on to enough to reproduce them in the future.  Perhaps some day we will have our acts together and get this show on the road the way it should have been from the beginning. 

Maybe some day, we will have our priorities straight.

Garden Clean Up

Today was garden clean-up day for us.  It desperately needed some edging and mowing.  The grassy strip between the garden and sheep pen also was over knee height in grasses and weeds.  I couldn't get to my grapevines unless it was trimmed.  

So this morning I started pulling up the electric fencing in order to allow the mower to get as close to the raised beds as possible. 

It is amazing how different it looks when we aren't wrestling with the overgrowth. The weeds weren't everywhere because I had cleaned up a lot of it the other day. Al had also gone out and trimmed some of the tall grass since the push mower couldn't cut through the thick growth. 

Al and I were able to get the larger tractor put together and the breeding quail were put in.  When we put the fence back up, we made room to accommodate a larger tractor.  We used the bottom half of a dog kennel for their shelter from wind and rain.  We are hopeful that the males won't attack each other now that there is competition.  

I forgot to mention that Caleb and I did some work in the garden in the late morning.  We trimmed the tomato plants and harvested some produce.  Caleb even cut some flowers to bring to the house. 

I was able to harvest my first tomato yesterday.  One.  But I am thankful none-the-less.  This morning, I noticed a lot of worm damage on the tomato vines and Caleb and I started pulling off what worms we could find.  I have never noticed cut worms on tomatoes before, but they are very much there this year.  I did pull off about six horn worms as well. 

Caleb and I were able to harvest a large bag of green beans with promise of so many more, Yah willing.  The plants don't look the greatest because there are bugs nibbling the leaves.  Regardless of the damage, the plants are producing quite a bit of green beans.  

The cantaloupe patch has proven to be one of our greatest producers this year.  With four more left in the garden, we have harvested 15 so far out of 6 plants.  To be totally honest, the two plants in the pots, have only produced one that was harvested and there are two small ones still growing. The remaining 14 have come from four plants. 

The kitchen garden is doing amazing despite pests eating all my broccoli starts as well as my cauliflower.  It is quite discouraging, but it just wasn't meant to be.  The baby bok choy are nearing time for harvest.  We have never eaten bok choy, so it will be a new try for us.  The seed was free, so it won't be a big deal if we don't like it.  Lettuces seem to be growing after months of struggling.  There is also a raised bed of more green beans that are looking very lush and green.  The zucchini plant?  It is HUGE! I was quite surprised to see I had three zucchini this morning.  

The trellis has purple beans on it and there are young beans already growing.  And can I just say the butternut vine is WOW!??

 I mean look at it! It is even growing outside of the fence.  I have it growing here because I only had two seeds left when I planted.  So I wanted to save the seed.  I am impressed that despite the squash bugs, it just keeps growing, and growing.  Just this afternoon, I looked in and noticed that a few brown leaves had swarms of squash bugs sitting there waiting for me to dump them into a bucket of soapy water.  So I obliged.  They are no more. 😂

The loofah perked up after I added a shovel of goat manure to the pot.  It was looking pretty lame for a while.  Can you see the loofah gourd in there?  I am so excited!  If I can grow enough of these, I won't need to buy those lame dish scrubbers any longer.  Instead, I will have something I can throw into the compost when I am done.  

Meanwhile, I have some seedlings on the porch slowing growing.  I need to get them into the ground, but worry that the heat this week will demolish them.  (and the worms that eat my seedlings)

Meanwhile, we have been harvesting a lot from the garden and are thankful for His blessings of provision.  It is a lesson of thankfulness and learning to like the food put in front of us.  

 

In my research, I have found there are certain types of squash that can handle the squash bugs better than others.  We have definitely found that butternut squash does.  We are trying the lemon squash and white scallop to see how they do.  Last night, I prepared three different types of squash to see what the kids enjoyed. (lemon, white scallop, and I believe the other was a crookneck) Alexandra liked all of them.  Abigail and Hannah liked crookneck and the lemon squash.  Caleb didn't like any.   I liked all of them, but preferred the crookneck.  Al didn't try any but the crookneck, but said he liked it.  

I processed another 50 pound box of potatoes.  That makes 100 pounds of canned potatoes for the pantry.  One quart is what we eat in one meal.  I was able to can 28 quarts and 9 pints of potatoes out of 50 pounds.  It was so nice to have Alexandra join me in peeling and cutting most of the potatoes.  

I have also been working on making jams and jellies for the shelf using what we have in the freezer and garden.  With the Pomona pectin, I am able to make jams with far less sugar which is a win for me.  So far I have made cantaloupe jam (which I call cantaloupe lemonade jam), zucchini bread jam, spreadable blueberry, and an interesting orange banana jam.  All are delicious!  

I have also been fermenting some foods.  Our neighbor brought me some peppers and tomatoes from his garden (I gave him eggs and cantaloupe).  So I made a half gallon of fermented salsa and a quart of fermented banana peppers. The cucumbers are from our garden, so more pickles!  The other day I made a fermented jalapeno hot sauce.  It is simply a jar of jalapenos with some garlic.  We enjoyed it on our turkey tacos tonight.  Spicy, but soooo good!  

And of course there is sourdough bread.  I'm still working on making a good loaf.  I am also trying to get my recipe adjusted for regular whole wheat bread that doesn't use as much oil or honey.  So far, I have had trouble although all the bread is devoured by the family despite it not being the same. 

And...what else could I add?

The weather is cooling and we look forward to celebrating our fourth Feast of Tabernacles coming up in October.  We have some more work to do out back to prepare the yard for the festivities.  When the trees were felled months ago, the grounds took a beating.  The fire pit was destroyed even though it was just a ring of rocks.  The kids have done some work getting sticks picked up and even hefted the stones out of the way so the leaves and debris could be removed.  

I think I am going to wrap this one up.  It is long and I have said enough.  Love to you all.  

The Reality

It is one of those weeks in which I really don't have much to show for all the work it seems I have done. 

I am weary.

I don't want to wake up in the mornings. (Well, I do, but I don't want to do chores.)

It isn't that I don't like gardening, or animal husbandry, or even homeschooling. The problem lies in the overwhelming feeling I am destined to failure. 

The realization that "the rains fall on both the righteous and the unrighteous" has hit even harder. The constant question of "why me?" seems to be the question of the day...week...and season. 

I am reminded of Ecclesiastes when we are told that everything is meaningless. In the end what really matters? 

“Futility! Futility!” says Qoheleth. “Futility, futility, all is futile!” What does man gain from all his labour in which he toils under the sun?

Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) 1:2‭-‬3 

It is so hard not to feel discouraged when bugs devour, heat withers, hands bruise, children fight, and disrespect prevails.  

Hardship in life as we journey this walk on the narrow path is so unbearable at times. We struggle to see the silver lining on the cloud as the storm rages around us, trying to pound us into the ground. 

Oh, Yah, open the eyes of my heart so I may see You. 

Faith is the evidence of things unseen. 

In those moments I don't see evidence that He is here may I have faith, believing His presence is often such a small voice within me, that I won't hear Him until I shut off my complaints long enough to realize He is testing me. 

Do I realize that I am loved despite my failures?

Do I know that am His in my weakness and humility?