Trudging Through the Snow...

We finally started adding a little Christmas around here.  First we went and found a tree.  That's Deer Boy hauling it home while his little sister carries the saw.
Next Little Sister did most of the decorating.

The more ornaments the better.
We baked a few different types of cookies.

And I packaged up some products to give as gifts.  My relatives get this stuff every year.  I sure hope they like it.

The woodstove is going, the tree lights are on, supper's in the oven and the Lord's blessings are evident.  Have a wonderful evening.

Frosty Farm

Well, this morning there's a nice, nippy feel to the air.  The thermometer reads -20, and thank you Lord, all the critters are fine.  A bit frosted up, but fine.
This is the view from the window by my computer this morning.

Going out to do chores, our Newfie is frosted over.

Here's my Angora buck all toasty with his sweatshirt on.  He was too busy eating his pumpkin to pose for the camera.

Here are some frosty heifers.

And last of all...the frosty farmer.

Have a wonderful day and a cup of hot chocolate.

Homemade Salami

This is so simple and it tastes great.  I was making out my grocery list and decided to make this salami instead of buying lunch meat for my honey's lunch pail.  I used to make it all the time and thought I'd share the recipe.

4lbs. ground beef-75% lean
4 t. sea salt
1 1/2 t. garlic powder
1 1/2 t. black pepper
3 T. Worchestershire sauce
1 t. liquid smoke
Mix all ingredients together and put in the refrigerator for 24 hours.  Then, divide into fourths and roll each fourth into a log-Make sure meat mixture is firm. Place logs on a rack in a pan and back at 225 for 4 hours.  Allow to sit for awhile when they come out of the oven.  Wrap up in foil and freeze or put in fridge.  My son eats this up so fast that I don't usually freeze it.  It doesn't taste like store bought salami, but it is good.

Good bye Mercy

I have had my sheep and my daughter's dairy goats for sale for 4 months now.  I had accepted that they probably wouldn't sell before next spring and then I got the email.  Someone wants to buy my sheep and the goats.  It's kind of a sad thing.  Those sheep are my friends and I'm having mixed feelings about this.  We have so much work around here and I know that this is the easy season for keeping sheep and goats.  Next spring I'll be complaining about having to shear, medicate, trim feet, etc.  A lot to do with the size garden I put in and all the calving and other stuff.  So, honey thinks this is a good idea.
So before she moves on, I'd like you to meet my friend Mercy.

She is dear to me and has the most wonderful fiber.  I saved her from being butchered and perhaps that's why she is so friendly towards me.  I sing to her...."Mercy came running, like a prisoner set free..."  She's so kind, she doesn't even comment on my singing ability.  As farmers, we're not supposed to get so attached to our critters, are we?  I guess we all have those special ones that stay in our memories.

Herbal Teas-Christmas Gifts

I've been drying herbs all summer in the hope of putting together some herb teas for gifts.  Yesterday I ground up my concoctions and tested them.
First I ground up the herbs and berries-

This is the strawberry tea, strawberries, strawberry leaves, red clover, currant leaves and stevia.

Then I put it in tea bags-

Ironing the bags shut-

I printed out some tea bag holders off of the internet.

Last, I put the tea bags in the holders and Viola! Christmas gifts.

I made peppermint, citrus, strawberry and licorice.

The Strawberry was great, I hope the rest taste as good.

These will go in the gift baskets that I plan to make up for Christmas presents.

Socks are so Exciting!

I've been working on some knitting projects for Christmas gifts.  Now, I'm more of a crocheter.  I usually crochet mittens, socks, etc.  for gifts.But,  I don't think they turn out as nice and warm as mittens and socks that you knit.  Mittens I can knit, no problem, but socks????They have always intimidated me.  No longer!  I have found a site that walks me through every step.  This is so exciting for me.  ( Doesn't take much :)  )  So... as soon as I'm done with these mittens I'm going to this knitting site and get started.  Want to come too?  We could all post pictures of our finished projects.  I bet we'd have some beautiful and colorful results.

Making Soap

After gathering my ingredients from far and near, I'm finally ready.  I had to get to a friend's to pick up my goat's milk, she was very generous and I have enough to make two batches.  I rendered the lard (previous post). And bought my lye and essential oils.  I'm ready to go.
Goats' milk soap is in much higher demand than the regular lye soaps that I make.  I just use the recipe off of Fiasco Farm.  This time I'm going to try to make a deoderant type soap.  One for my honey who says that regular homemade soaps don't cut the body odor.  I'm going to put in eucalyptus oil and tea tree oil.  And I'm making some "pretty" smelling stuff for selling and Christmas gifts.

We are almost done with the outdoor work.  God has blessed us with beautiful, unseasonably warm weather, (nearly 60 tomorrow), but snow showers on Thursday.  My Christmas gifts are getting done.  I have a pair of mittens, out of homespun, nearly completed and I'm going to do some socks after that.  I also have a t shirt rug that I'm crocheting for my daughter's dorm room.

What a glorious day!  Time to get out there and redeem the time.

Winter of our discount tent

The sun is coming up over the tree line in the east.  It's all pink and orange.  The days are getting so short now.  Once we change the clocks, it'll seem even shorter.  The sun is up about 8 am and goes down by 6. 
We had our first snow on Tuesday and Wednesday.  It's melted now, except for the remnants of my son's snowball.  He's hoping it lasts all winter.

Our Newfie loves the snow and would rather sleep in it, than in her new straw in the doghouse.

A few things are left to do to get ready for the winter.  Some posts for a new corral, more barn cleaning (always), insulating windows, doors and floors, and a couple of rafters to go on the new roof my honey has been working on. 

Then...time to get serious about getting some Christmas gifts done.  That's work I love to do.

Lord help us this day to please you and make you smile. 

Rendering Lard

In the oven??  On the stove?? I think I prefer on the stove. 
A man my husband works with, gave him a bunch of pig fat and asked if I would render it for him.  In return, he gets one jar and we get the rest.  What a blessing.
We don't raise pigs, (yet), so this is really helpful.  I use lard in all of my baking and in my goat milk soaps.
I cut the fat into small pieces, place in a roasting pan, keep the oven between 250 and 300.  Stir this occasionally so it doesn't stick and to help it liquify faster.Once it is all melted, check the temp to make sure it's above 212.  Strain and pour into jars and seal.
This oven method takes longer than putting it on the stove, so I'm doing the last of it on top of the stove.  You might want to pull out the cracklins(pieces of pork) from time to time.  I'm not fond of these, but some people like them.
Sit down today and count your blessings.  Don't let the cares of this world overcome you.  Christ has overcome the world.

Hay Ride

Well, just about all of the leaves have fallen from the trees, already.  They turned, we looked, they fell.  Nevertheless, we've had some beautiful weather.  It's been chilly, but sunny and the sky's been brilliant.
Hayride time.  Brrrrr. We went on Saturday and it seemed the longer we were out, the stronger the wind blew and the colder it felt---but it was beautiful.

Some of the trees with their leaves still intact.

We stopped to roast hotdogs.

A lonely maple still clothed in yellow.

Okay, so it's a tractor, no horses.  Still, such a nice day.  And a big thank you to Bob for taking us on this trip.

Answers to Prayer

Update to my prayer request .  Things are going much better, still not resolved, but God will do that.  This will all be to His glory.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

Super Snacking

Is it just my children, or are yours constantly hungry?  I don't remember eating this much when I was their age,(selective memory??).  Now that things are just about done in the garden, I'm putting up snacks for my hungry hordes.The  Pumpkin Chips recipe is one that I'm still planning on using.
Roasted sunflower seeds are another that I make for snack.  I soak the seeds in salt water, overnight, drain.  Place on a cookie sheet. sprinkle with sea salt and put in the oven at 250 for as long as it takes to get them crispy.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds are one of our favorites.  Scoop the seeds out of the pumpkin, I do this by hand as it gets less pulp this way.  Take off as much excess pulp as you can.  Spread them on a cookie sheet.  Dot with butter and sprinkle with sea salt.  Roast at 250 until crispy.
How about Corn Nuts ?  I dry some of my corn every year and this year I'm going to try these.  Soak dried corn in cold water for about two days.  Drain and pat dry.  Heat oil to 375.  If a test kernel bubbles and rises when tossed in, it's ready.  Put 1/2 cup of corn in the oil and cook until a nice shade of golden brown.  Test to make sure they are crunchy and not chewy.  Drain well. Sprinkle with salt, or seasoning of  your choice.  This recipe is from "Down to the Roots" magazine, a terrific read.
And then there's the ever popular Dried Apples .  Thinly slice apples.  I sometimes don't even bother coring them if they're right off of our trees. Place on cookie sheet and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.  Place slices on drying racks.  Dehydrate until crunchy and leathery.

Well, there are some ideas.  Soon you'll be rivaling the convenience store down the road. I'm sure you have many more and I can always use some new ideas.

Angora Rabbits-Post 2

I guess when you make up your mind to do something-Just do it-is a good phrase.  Upon deciding to get rabbits, we went and got them.  Two Angoras, brother and sister.  These are French/Satin Angoras.  Bred especially for their fiber.

This is Cordelia, the girl.  My daughter was busy brushing her out this morning.

And this is Edwards.  He got a good brushing too.
Now we're going to get them set up in the barn, in a temporay cage, until we get the hutch from my grandparents house.
These guys are so soft.  I can't wait to spin this fiber.

On a Personal Note

Things aren't always glorious on Glory Farm.  We tend to have trials and sorrow from time to time.  Now is one of those times.  Please pray for us as a family.  The enemy has used his lies to send heartbreak and rebellion into our home.
Thank you so much.

Angora Rabbits

I like to try new things.  So here we go...we've agreed to let our daughter get Angora rabbits.  We've been reading up on them and the lady we're getting them from is knowledgable.  We have Angora goats and Icelandic sheep for fiber, so we're adding a new fiber to the mix.  I hope this works.  It sounds like a lot of grooming, but my daughter wants to give it a try.

There are a lot of sites that have information on Angoras.  This one seems to have good information on all types of fibers and spinning.  So----anyone have some good advice?  Or just come along and learn with  us.

Yulia

Reading this blog about Yulia brought tears to my eyes.  Please read, pray, and if you can help, please do.

Pumpkins!!!!

Yep, we got 'em.  Been blessed with an abundant crop of squash and pumpkins this year.

Most of these are pie pumpkins, with a couple of Dill's thrown in.  There are a few Turbin squash, too.  What to do with this bounty.....

I harden them out in the yard for about a week, maybe more, before hauling them to the cellar.  It stays about 65 degrees and dry in our cellar and they seem to keep well down there. 
I can-
feed them to the goats and sheep during the winter (high in vitamins and the seeds are a natural dewormer).
Dehydrate them and make pumpkin flour to add to baked goods.  Makes them moister and higher in vitamins.
Bake pumpkin breads, cookies, bars, pies, dump cake...you get the idea.
Can the pumpkin.
Roast the seeds.
Make pumpkin chips.
I haven't tried pumpkin chips before, but here's the recipe and I hope to try these soon-
Pumpkin Chips
Peel a pie pumpkin and scoop out the seeds.  Cut into wedges and then cut the wedges into very thin slices.  You may want to use a food processor for this.  Heat oil to deep fry to 375 degrees.  Make sure it's hot enough or your chips will be greasy.  Fry in the oil and drain well.  Sprinkle with salt.  I'm thinking you could make different flavors.  How about some sugar and cinnamon, or a ranch flavor sprinkle? (Maybe not the ranch.)
So what do you do with your pumpkins?  There are so many ideas out there.  Pumpkin is very versatile.
Be blessed!

Horseradish Sauce

Time to make horseradish sauce, again.  Thought I'd show you how I do it, and the recipe I use.

Warning-this stuff is hot so wear safety glasses-no joke.

I dug up the horseradish yesterday and ended up with some nice straight roots this year-

Next peel these, either with a knife or a peeler.  I like a knife better-

Now chop these into smaller pieces.  You can process them in a blender or in a food processor.  I used my food processor because it goes faster and chops finer.

I added a teaspoon of vinegar for each batch that I chopped.  If you're using a blender, you may need more.  This is the horseradish all chopped-

I ended up with about four cups of ground horseradish. If  you're using a blender, you can just keep the ground horseradish in there as  you add the rest of the ingredients.  Next, I ground up a bulb of garlic and added it along with about 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1 cup of cider vinegar, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/3 cup honey.  If you'd like your sauce to be more saucey, add more vinegar.

I don't can horseradish.  Just stick it in the fridge and it'll keep for months.  It does lose it's bite the longer you keep it. 

I use horseradish on all types of meat and on some sandwiches.  My dad loves it and I usually give him at least half of my harvest.

Enjoy!

Horseradish Sauce Tutorial

This is a post from a couple of years ago, but I thought I'd run it again, as this is what I'll be doing today.

It's one of those days when the list is longer than the amount of hours.  I HAVE to get to shearing today and no matter how nice it is out, we have to have school.  No more playing hookie.  Carrots need to be pulled and homes found for a few cabbages. 

I was up early and made some horseradish sauce, so you guys get another tutorial!  How blessed are you?

Warning-this stuff is hot so wear safety glasses-no joke.

I dug up the horseradish yesterday and ended up with some nice straight roots this year-

Next peel these, either with a knife or a peeler.  I like a knife better-

Now chop these into smaller pieces.  You can process them in a blender or in a food processor.  I used my food processor because it goes faster and chops finer.

I added a teaspoon of vinegar for each batch that I chopped.  If you're using a blender, you may need more.  This is the horseradish all chopped-

I ended up with about four cups of ground horseradish. If  you're using a blender, you can just keep the ground horseradish in there as  you add the rest of the ingredients.  Next, I ground up a bulb of garlic and added it along with about 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1 cup of cider vinegar, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/3 cup honey.  If you'd like your sauce to be more saucey, add more vinegar.

I don't can horseradish.  Just stick it in the fridge and it'll keep for months.  It does lose it's bite the longer you keep it. 

I use horseradish on all types of meat and on some sandwiches.  My dad loves it and I usually give him at least half of my harvest.

Enjoy!

Harvest Time

Apples, squash, horseradish, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, beets, rutabagas, plums......Don't you love harvest time?  I keep quoting "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few"  to my children. ;0)  So many jars to fill, so much time spent in the pantry just loving the look.
Today I'm going to put up some pineapple zuchinni.  Just preserving zuchinni in pineapple juice is supposed to make it taste like pineapple when you use it.  I also like to put up a few pints of horseradish sauce.  My dad loves it. (So do I.)  I like to put up V-8 juice for him too.

The birds are starting to get to the apples, so I think that we need to pick today.  That will be a fun job for the kids.

Not a good shot of the appletree outside the frontporch window.  It is loaded with apples this year.

May your day be blessed.

Beekeeping info needed

Yesterday was a beautiful day.  Cool, breezy, sunny-just perfect.  A great day for harvesting honey.
We have two hives that we've been caring for all summer.  This is only our second year trying bees, and last year our harvest was a bit disappointing because of the "drought".  Digging into the first hive looked promising, but the bees were a bit peeved at me and so I let them rest while I started on the second hive.  Surprise!  Hardly any bees were in the second hive.  I think that they swarmed about two weeks ago.  My son saw a swarm way up in a tree, I checked the bees, they looked fine and  healthy and like they were all there. (Couldn't see a queen.)   Didn't think anything of it until yesterday.  Live and learn?  The second hive had no capped comb on it at all.  All of the brood left in it was just emerging and very sluggish.  No new brood.  No sign of any disease.  So was this caused by a swarm?  I'm thinking the bee "thing" might not be for me.
Any bee keepers out there who could shed some insight?  Advice?
Thanks.

Happy Birthday Mel!

Next year she'll be leaving for college already.  So old, so fast.  Her birthday dinners have gone from chicken to Greek cuisine, which is what we had last night. 

I wish you would slow down, Mel.  Let me catch up.

Love you so.

I've decided to start another blog.  I won't be closing this one, but I'm just changing some things in my life.  I like this community  and don't want to lose touch with many here, but I needed something new.  I've been here for four years!! (or more)

So join me at www.glory-farm.blogspot.com for the continuing saga of a family renovating, rebuilding and restocking the farm.  (Dramatic music here)

That Other Season

It's Food Preservation season.  That season between summer and fall.  Very short and busy.
Yesterday I used up the last of the crab apples.  I didn't want anymore apple butter and we have plenty of apple jelly left from last year, so I made up some vinegar.  What I learned?  Crab apples  are drier than regular apples and it takes more of them to make juice.
I also dried a bunch of kale.  What I learned?  Kale dries very fast as compared to other vegetables.  I was able to dry it and package it within three hours.
We have a wonderfully cool morning-50 degrees.  The lawn has grown overnight.  I saw it last night and it looked fine, looked out this morning and it looks like pasture again.
Dear donkey Sadie had something spotted in the field at 5:30 this morning.  She bellers like a truck horn.  I'm sure the new neighbors have already developed a fondness for her. ;)

Dear Sadie

Have a blessed day.

I Can, You Can

It's that canning time of year again.  You wouldn't think that it would take so long just to put some food in jars, but I spent the whole day in the kitchen yesterday, except when we went and picked crab apples.  And I don't have that much to show for it.

Don't you love the different colors?

The cellar always looks so colorful at the end of summer. (Don't mind the hand painted counter, someday I'm getting a real one.)

I put up a couple of quarts of dills, six pears, a few spaghetti sauce, some apple juice (from those crab apples), and the apple butter is still simmering in the crockpot.  I have more dills and some apple pie filling to get done today, but I would like to spend some time in the sunshine.

Have a blessed day, in or out of the kitchen.

From Glory Farm

First day on the new blog.
I've been blogging for years on a different site and decided it was time for a change. 
Introductions-I'm a wife and mother.  My honey and I farm in Northern Minnesota in hopes of sharing our resources and knowledge with others and bringing glory to God.  (It wouldn't hurt if the farm helped to pay for itself, either.)
We have chickens, ducks, sheep, Angora goats, dairy goats, beef cattle and a couple of donkeys.  We've had horses, llamas and alpacas, also.  We've decided that the dairy goats aren't for us.  We do have a dairy heifer that we've had bred this summer in hopes of having our own milk supply next spring.
We have a garden of almost an acre.  We do some foraging, mostly berries. 
I started making soaps about five years ago and found I really enjoy it.  We also use the fiber from our goats and sheep to make yarn and felt.
The Lord has blessed us more than we ever imagined.  Our children are learning His ways and are becoming great farmers, too!
From Glory Farm

What is a Good Day?

A good day starts out with the opening of the front door  at 7 am and your daughter comes in after driving up to see you from the cities.  Then-our family of six sits down at the table for a breakfast of Finnish oven pancake, all together!  It's sitting and talking over coffee after the breakfast dishes have been cleared.  It's having your mom come to visit for the day.  Sitting, more coffee.  Snapping green beans together around the table and canning them.  It's having your husband get the day off.  A family day with three generations interacting and sharing.  An unexpected blessing of a day.  That was yesterday.  Thank you , Lord.

The Harvest is Plentiful

Rain in the forecast through Saturday.  But come Sunday the sun should be shining and, Lord willing, we’ll be combining our oats and wheat.  We’ve had a neighbor combine our oats before, but we have our own combine now!  My honey has been working on it, and it should be ready to roll. 

 I’m excited because I planted a plot of wheat and it’s done now.  I was going to hand harvest, but decided to try the combine.  Less work sounds like a much better idea.  Growing our own wheat should help with our grocery bill considerably.  I usually by my grain through the local coop and it's $45 for 50 lbs.  I'm hoping to harvest enough for us for the year, some seed for next year and enough grain for my parents, also.

Time to hit the garden.

Happy Harvesting!

Farm-Sitting

I guess farmers need vacations too.  And I guess I feel blessed that they should trust me to take care of their farms. ( one place only has dogs to care for)  I wonder, has anyone tried making a business out of farm sitting?  I can see that there's a need in my area.  I don't charge for helping out the neighbors (my closest friends are farmers ;o)  ), but if I went out looking for the work, I would charge.  This neighborhood that we moved into almost 4 years ago, has been so kind and welcoming to us.  I had a neighbor, whom I'd never met before, put up all of my hay for me last year, and never charged a thing.  God has taken us to a wonderful place.

Today I get to start taking care of a pair of emus.  Actually, the people that own them stocked their food and water all I'll have to do is check in on them when I take care of the rest of the critters.  Never done emus before.  Maybe I'll get the camera and get some pics of them.

Have a blessed day.

From Glory Farm

Violin Camp

My youngest two have had String Camp all week and ended today with a concert in the park.  My son has been in violin for three years now and my daughter for three months.

I'm going to see if I can upload a video of the high school orchestra that my son  plays in.  Here goes.

Didn't work, file's too big.

Oh well, here's a picture. 

Waving Wheat

Just a picture of our grain field.  The background is oats and the foreground is wheat.  I'm excited about the wheat, I've never grown it before.

What about Chuck?

Our hens go broody every spring and hatch out an abundance of little ones.  My daughter always ends up taking at least one of them in to mother for various reasons.  This year it was Chuck.  Chuck was over loved by a visiting child and couldn't walk for about three weeks.  After she recovered, we put her back with her mom who refused to have anything to do with her.  She was too young to be on her own, so we put her in the brooder with all of the ducklings and the mama duck.  They took to her like a duck to...well anyways..

Chuck thinks she's a duck.  We've caught her in the water bowl trying to swim with the ducklings.  Poor thing.  She still sleeps with the ducks, eats with the ducks and walks with the ducks all day long.  I haven't the heart to break it to her yet.

Rotational Grazing

It's up!  All of our high tensile wire and the dividing fences.  We are moving our beef cattle from paddock to paddock and hoping to extend our grazing season by a month.  We have eight paddocks and they graze them for about four days each.  We don't get back to a paddock for 24-36 days.  I still have a couple of water lines to bury and one more strand of electric to put up, a few gates, but the important parts are done.  My honey came home two weeks ago and put in the whole watering system!  He's awesome.

These are my son's cattle and he's the one in charge of feeding them, moving them and keeping records on them.  He took out a youth loan through the USDA and hopes to continue to build his herd.  He has three replacement heifers born this year and three steers to sell.  We'll see how he does making hay this year. ;o)

By George, I think I've got it

After playing around with this for awhile, I think I've found a template I can live with, for now. I like to change things and this too is only temporary. So here's my first post on our new format. Now to try a picture------


This is a picture of one of our new kids.

Rolled Oats Question

We grow oats.  I've been reading about how to dehull it at home and how to cook, etc., but I haven't been able to find any information on how to make rolled oats at home.  There must be a way.  Is there a special machine to do it?  We have so many oats and I think it would be great to use it for us as well as the critters.

Anyone know how to do this?

Thanks,

From Glory Farm

On-Line Beekeeping Class

I was navigating about the web and came upon this site, http://therenegadefarmer.com .  I signed up for the e-mail notification and am excited about an online beekeeping class that they're going to offer.  I need all the help I can get when it comes to my bees.  This will only be my second year with them.

I thought I'd just pass along the heads up.  Anyone else out there into bees?

Dandelion Egg Noodles

I haven't tried this recipe yet, but it's on my list.

2 cups fresh dandelion greens, washed, drained, stemmed

2 eggs

1 T olive oil

1/2 t salt

11/2 cups flour

Combine dandelion greens, eggs, oil, and salt in a blender until smooth.  Transfer to a bowl and gradually add  flour, stirring until a dough forms.  Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for two minutes.  Roll out 1/8 " thick  and dry 1 hour before cutting into noodles.  Cook in boiling water for about 3 minutes. 

This recipe comes from  Mary Jane's Farm site.

I like the noodles with melted butter, fresh garlic and parmesean cheese.