Just another Day on the Farm

Overdone.. Waste Not

Posted on January 26, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

This was the sauce.. half a cup of mustard, 1/4th cup of marmalade, 1 soy sauce, half a tsp of keen hot dry mustard and half a tsp of black pepper. So yummy.. it was put over a mix of older lamb cube stew meat with fresh onion, diced garlic.. all put into my good cast iron pot and into a slow over, this was to be served with a salad and mashed on side..

It will be made again, as the flavours melded very well.. BUT..

I left the house and asked hubby to check on it, I was late home, he was late coming in the house as he was outside working for an extra hour or more and it was burned. I mean burned to a black mess, that I had to scrape out, soak out and then do the baking soda boil twice to get it mostly clean.. my poor pot!

Now, thankfully I was able to throw together a quick supper thanks to my pantry and cellar, I just took a number of pre-cooked this and that, and made a broth with some fresh bits, cooked it and chopped some fresh greens in and voila.. supper..

that should have been the end of it but its been niggling at me.. worrying like a little worm in my head.. and I was not sure why.. took me awhile to figure it out.. its true that its very rare that anything is burnt in my house, I don’t go out that often, I could have put more liquid in the dish and it would not have happened.

But that is not what it was about.. it bothered me a pound of good quality lamb was wasted, that pound of meat if bought at the store is ten dollars a pound (if you bought it as whole lamb) buy it by the pound like that and it’s closer to 15 dollars locally.

Throw in how it was raised an its pretty much organic, local and grass-fed.. its my frugal side kicking in.. we eat well.. I mean we eat really well.. I will find a day to finish that month post on totals but if you had to buy the food that we raise on the farm, you would need to spend between 1400 to 1800 per month to do so.. or around 800 to 900 per person.

We don’t spend anywhere near that in raising, growing or harvesting our own food, in fact it costs us a fraction of that in direct funds.

Now don’t get me wrong, I can and do make very frugal meals in terms of costs, I can bring daily meal costs down to under a dollar but the farm and the land allows me to so much freedom and flexablity in this regards.

So I know that this seems so little in some way.. but I hope I am not the only one that feels this way.. Have you ever ruined a good meal or something that you have worked on, that has taken time to do and then not have it turn out?

I am mulling this one, still chewing on it in my head at times, I think it just that I hate waste.. that’s the bottom line for me.. it could not even more moved over to feed the critters. I wish I had taken a picture, but it never occurred to me that I should or that I would be writing about it LOL

Posted in frugal | Tagged cost savings, food waste, Frugal | 4 Comments

Getting your hens to lay in the cold dark winter months

Posted on January 25, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

How do you get a steady supply of winter eggs on the homestead?

I have gotten a few questions from local newer folks that are asking, how do I get my hens to keep or start laying eggs. This is a slight rework of a post I put up before. It covers all the big main points for you..

Most folks talk about Light and how it effects laying and it does, and its important for sure.. Darker hens have more trouble with this then lighter hens typically, they need even more light.. but all chickens if left to natural lighting and the shorter daylight hours that come with winter in Canada are going to slow down and in some cases stop laying eggs.

Yes, you read that right.. STOP LAYING eggs.. and if you are on a true natural cycle, you will just let them do that, they provide a glut of eggs in the spring, lay though the summer and slow down in fall and then they will after the age of two or three move from taking a 2 to 4 week slow down to a 4 to 6 week stop and break all together, my oldest hen on the farm is coming 8, she earns her way not by the eggs she lays but because she is one of the best sitters and hatchers and momma hens on the farm.

So what can you do about it?

Light: Yup, just like everyone else, I am going to say if you want your girls to lay thought the winter, you need to add light, but do not be afraid to think outside the box.. some folks are very successful at moving their hens to their unheated greenhouses during the winter, this helps you get every light bit you can, and keeps the heating (if you choose to heat) to a min and has the added bonus of them both cleaning and adding to the soil. but I recommend that if you can, take your chicken light needs to solar, We have a solar powered light that collects during the day (when the birds have light) turns on in the evening as it gets dark and runs for about 4 to 5 hours on a winter charge, this is the best of three worlds, I use what natural light there is at all times, The light turns on by itself as it gets dark and the extra hours means that my birds get at least 12 hours of light even in the dark of winter and third, I am still on the same solar powered lights for the chickens and the big barn coming on 7 years, given that I got them on sale for 29.. that’s at power cost of 4 dollars per year to power a building.. if I was doing that at my local power costs.. it would be a lot more.

Protein: that simple word that is just not so simple in real life.. you can go buy layer feed, it will have lots of protein in it.. mostly from GMO soybeans but its there.. or if you have a few chickens, you can pay though the nose for organic.. good for you if you can do so.. but most of us are on a budget.. So we are using a basic grain feed that is going to be a mix between 9 to 13 percent protein, it will get your birds though the winter but it will not be great that’s for sure.. and those lower protein will effect your layers. So you can do a number of tricks, you can grow fodder, if you have a small flock, its quick and easy enough to do and it will increase the basic amounts to the need levels, you can hard boil and chop back a egg into the feed to increase the protein count, if you are doing small critter butchering on the farm in the winter ,like rabbits, you can give the leftover bits to the chickens and they will pick them clean, you can grow meal worms or red wiggers and once a week toss a handful to them, crickets are another choice I know that someone grows for her birds, I personally do fodder, meat scrapes and meal worms. In a total pinch, I know folks that just toss them a handful of the dried cat food to give them that boost.

Age: this is a great trick and when done correctly it works like a charm, keep the ages of your flock moving, if you have spring hatched hens that are young pullets that are coming into laying in the fall, early winter, they will start and as long as you meet their feed and protein needs they will continue to lay all winter, but be aware that they will take a spring break and first adult molt. but if you have older hens, they will have done a fall moult, a winter slow down and they will cover for your young girls in the spring..

One more reason to love ducks : LOL, no really, ducks are so good in so many ways, when the hens hit that hard winter slow down.. no I will not lay for you if they are older, the duck hens are out in crazy cold but sunny temps and she will start laying weeks before the chicken will stop looking out at the snow and giving you the eye, that says, make it stop and put another layer of fresh hay out there if you think, I am going to even think about going out of my hen house.

Farm Gal Tip of the Day – Give your girls hay once or twice a week, just a touch will do, they will use it like bedding but not before they find every bit of seed head, and good stuff in it. It will give you a bit of color in your winter eggs a well.. Do you not just love how eggs change all year long in color and texture a bit.. from pullet to spring, to summer to winter eggs, good cooks know that they are not the same 🙂

I have 5 new 2016 born pullets of coming up to layer age and this week has been exciting, so far three of those little girls have started laying.

Did you raise up new chicks this year, are you heading into winter with a young flock that will lay for you, or are you heading into winter with a older flock of hens that are going to slow down a lot. If so do consider putting up some extra eggs while you have them for both eating and baking..

Beat a dozen eggs together till lighter in color, add a tsp of sugar for ones that you want to bake with a tsp (or half a tsp but please do add some) salt and beat it in and then pour into ice cube trays, freeze them hard then pop out, one cube is one egg, double bag them into ziplock freezer bags (it must be double bagged) and it will keep for three months with ease. Just take as many cubes out that you want, put them in a covered bowl in the fridge and thaw them and use.

For regular storage of eggs, just remember if you washed it, fridge, or freezer storage as above, but if you its a clean egg with natural bloom on, you can store it at cooler room temp for weeks (and per my tests, more like months) without much issue.

Question from a reader: what about if the eggs get frozen? if you bring them in a solid state, you can thaw them in the fridge for a bit and then scramble them to be feed to your hounds, purrpots or back to the chickens once cooled down. What you can’t do is, let them thaw and then hold them for use, because once frozen, they are cracked in the shell, but you can not waste them.

When dealing with older eggs.. I highly recommend these two tests that go together..

a) float your eggs if you are suddenly using a bunch of them, or if you found a clutch in summer, that has a unknown age into a bowl or pot of water, if they sink, fresh, if they half float, older but still good typically, and if they float, they are bad..

2) always follow my grandmothers advice, never crack a egg into a dish, always crack each egg one at a time into a bowl and check it 🙂

Posted in Chickens | Tagged chicken tips, Chickens, Egg laying tips for winter, Eggs in winter, homesteading with chickens, How to keep getting winter eggs, Keeping your hens laying in winter | 9 Comments

Freezer Camp 2016

Posted on January 24, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

Well, 2016 is officially done and its the first time in all these years on the farm that I have done ALL! the butchering.

From wee quail to 600 plus pound pigs to everything in between, all done by myself.. and boy did I find my groove and did I find my limits on tools, skills and gear!

I did some work arounds.. if you can’t cut the bones, section off the leg and debone it, don’t have a big enough grinder.. chop the meat, can it and then pull it apart will work in different dishes.

The beef is getting lower and lower in the freezer and cellar jars.. its now on ration till I do Marty in the late spring-early summer and yes, I am planning on doing him myself..

I am going to rate myself on skill set, fowl butcher.. its all there.. small critter, rabbit and such, fast and clean.. I can do a lamb now fast and easy, same with a goat kid..

Small pigs.. yup.. but still need work on the big BIG pigs, they are a handful and then some.. I much prefer to do them in the 200 to 300 range..

Tools, what I am missing is a bone saw (man, that is one thing I really do want a power tool on) and a big grinder.. I have hand grinders and they do the job well, I even have a small grinder and its not bad but I have out-grown it for the volume needing to be done.

I have worked it out that I like the best cuts for curing, or for the freezer, the rest are canned for other uses. I need a better smoker..

Roughly between hauling costs, kill cost, cut, wrap and cure costs, and tax on top, doing everything butcher wise in 2016 saved us around 5 grand.. talk about paying yourself well for time invested.

And while the savings money wise are huge, the working of skills is worth even more to me.. This is a area that we will see more posts on in 2017..

The goal in 2017 is to all my own processing but to expand my skills, knowledge and ways of preparing cuts and curing an smoking, sausage making an so forth

Posted in Charcuterie, On farm Butcher | Tagged homestead butchering | 6 Comments

Big Barn Prep-Lamb Watch 2017

Posted on January 23, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

The Big Barn is old, really old, its coming into it’s 90th year per the locals and its been repaired, its had add on’s done to it, and its also aging.. always aging, always being putter on, working on..

This is the main people size door to the front half of the Big Barn (or what would be called, the old barn” I love this door, its like stepping into a older time on the farm

The first thing that greets me is Bullwinkle.. as the hot line is off for the winter due to the heavy snow load, he decided that he could just hop, skip and jump the fence and meet me in the yard.. this will not do, so while he does get to have outside time in the corral, he has a big stall, its an nice loose stall but he is getting big enough now that he does wear a Cow Collar and when we do work in his stall, we call him over to his spot and he is clipped on the chain and he stands while we work around him and then we release him again once we are out.. (I learned my lesson well with Girl)

At one time this part of the barn was set up for cows and the big steel parts are there, but we took out the side metal poles and cut them down and ground them flat, so that its now two big stalls and one small sheep jug.. Bullwinkle is growing very well, he is already tall as the half way and his back is level with the metal bar. While I know its normal to use a tie stall for cattle, I just can’t do it, I feel that he needs to the freedom to move.

The big back double stall is Bojangles and he is still using it even with the gate open.. he self-stalls himself even if I don’t.. I had to laugh at it and groan as it adds to the cleanup load in the barn. Bojangles stall is kept cleaned regular, I don’t do deep pack with him, he likes to watch us clean the stalls, it amuses me, as he seems to think that he must be the judge..

But the main part of that pile, was in fact from a deep-pack pen, I love deep-pack pens, its so good for many reasons, it starts composting in place, creating a deep, softer pack for critters to lay on, as long as you keep adding to the top with clean bedding, its awesome.. the fact that it comes out well into its composting is great, if I had pig, they would have turned that even more for me.. what its not good for, is the heck of a work out you will get cleaning one out LOL

It took hubby and me a good while this afternoon to get it done, but it was a perfect day for it.. it felt very spring like.. Everyone was feeling it.. including the boy’s who were having a way to much fun goofing off in the pasture.. We finished with daylight to spare and a good sweat under our belts.

A perfectly cleaned and ready stall with fresh straw down just waiting for the first of the new lambs to come.. Carmel is the first one on my list to be due.. She could take upwards of at least another week but we have a big snow storm coming in and I find that often with rising or dropping pressure with storms, that we get new babies.. So we will see, which is why we did the push to get it ready today 🙂

The sheep were up on the slight rise, that was drained out well and gave them a nice drier spot to sit and chew their cuds.. The Nanny Goat will be moved from the little barn to the big barn very soon. She is due mid-feb and I need to start her routine for feeding and milking and I want to remove the buck from her area as I don’t want buck taint on the milk.

Lambing Season-Milking Season will on us very soon! I am excited to see it coming..

Posted in farm, homestead, sheep | Tagged barns, composting, deep pack method, farm, Farmgal, jugs, lambing, lambing prepwork, Mild snap in winter, old barns, sheep, working in barns | 5 Comments

Farm Puttering

Posted on January 22, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

A farmer friend said, you want some oats, I have to much for the bin, and so the extra are in the one ton bag and I said, I would be interested, I had gone off the farm and when I came back on a pallet was a ton of wheat.. we got it tarped and held our breath that it would stay dry for a day or two.. then we moved it by bucket ad filled up 5 plus 55 gallon drums in the little barn for proper storage an so we can give back the sack to the farmer..

The Rabbits are producing lots of poo for garden use and the piles are getting up there, I will have lots of work cleaning this out, the joy of rabbit is that its a cool poo that can be added directly in a light covering without first composting it.. the second reason I liked this photo is all the banged out circles from the frozen winter crocks..

The Roosters are enjoying the fresh air and sunshine, Big Red looks fierce and after his bad frostbite two years back o his comb, he healed so well an has never had a issue since.. big combs and very cold winters don’t mix well. The little Iceland rooster behind is sweet and soon I will move him an his hen to their own breeding pen for pure eggs.

The Sheep are making the best of the warmer but damp weather and are enjoying their outside time.. the damp is making their wool curl even more.. I adore this lamb, its a mini-me version of its father..

I made a promise to show more of the photo I take, I love this one because of his sweetness at gate begging and that adorable wet beard on him.. but normally I would not share as its got fence and rope etc.. instead I am just going to own it, the snow is so high that the fences are to low, the goats will just hope over, so they are in the big outdoor pen with hut behind the chain link and as they love to push on the gate, I have a dogs lead in place that winds though the top to give it extra strength.. it works and everyone is safe..

We had a broken open bale of straw and so it got moved to a tarp and the spring like weather for the past few days meant that the kittens- young farm cats were in fine form. Sofie is quite the hunting farm cat, she is a evening-bed kitten but each morning, she asks to go out and she will spend hours hunting the barns, buildings and so forth before coming to window and asking to come or running up to the door if it opens and come in, sometime with a present between her teeth.. but she is learning.. out.. out with it..

Her best kitty friend is Marble.. she is still the smallest of the kitten pride of 2016, but her colors are showing much more, she likes all the perks of being a indoor-outdoor farm cat but she does not give up the love or purrs for the people much, she is sweet enough around us but she is “the farm cat” so be it.. She had been held off to get a touch bigger but she will go for her spay within the next month and then Sophie after that.

I am so glad that all the boy kittens and the older bigger female kittens are fixed already, the single intact male tom that hanging around the farm is starting spring marking, but my altered boys are sweet and clean. One more kitty to live trap and get snipped.. I can’t stop the boys from other farmers stopping by on walk about but I can do something about them being intact.

The irony of the warmer spring-ish melt is that its clear I need to grab the big bucket and the scooper and spend some time doing horse poo pickup, because that is one that does need to be moved over and composted down.. the second thing it does is give me the urge to make some homemade paper..

I have shown you how to do it with cow and sheep, I think I should make Caleb and Bo paper this winter before it gets crazy busy..

Posted in homestead | Tagged billy goat beards, Chickens, farm cats, Grain, homestead mutterimgs, manure, rabbit poo compost, roosters, sheep | 2 Comments

Bojangles – footwork in training..

Posted on January 22, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

Bojangles is very well broke but he has not had a lot of ground work done with him but he is o so willing to learn and figure out what I am asking for..

I am still sick but I wanted to get out and do something in the fresh air.. the laundry is flapping on the line, its icy out there and just at the 0 mark.. not really melting but slippery..

So we trudged our way out to a filled in tractor tire that I use in training the rest of the year and we did all kinds of foot work.. given the snow was up to our knee’s in spots, it was not easy going.. and then we did work on the tire itself..

We did front feet, rear feet, three feet and then four.. we did walk offs, back offs and keeping front or back feet on, while moving the other feet around the tire..

It was a very fun way to time with him.. and at the end, I had him free standing with no lead in use, while I walked around him in the stand with all four feet on the tire..

I am looking forward to working on his standing to be mounted and mounting blocks very soon.. We have flag work and so much more to do..

Posted in draft horse | Tagged Draft horse, foot work for your horse, Horse cowboy obstacles, Riding horse, tire training for horse, working your horse in winter | 2 Comments

True Potato Seed

Posted on January 21, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

I had gone to bed very early last night, leaving a hot supper in the oven for my hubby and he said, there is a very thin padded package for you in the mail.. I said.. well, it’s either this or that.. but most likely seeds..

I was right.. my mixed True Potato Seed has arrived. I am quite excited about these because I have had great luck with some of my colored heritage potato’s producing seed balls but the truth is, I noted them but I didn’t collect them (I was always raised that you needed seed potato’s) so imagine my surprise when I started reading about people “breeding potato’s” and then I joined a group, then I ordered a breeding potato book..

What a new world that opened up in front of me on this area.. wow.. just wow.. so I ordered in my seed potato’s in 2015 and 2016 and I watched like a hawk.. and then I laughed and shook my head.. not a single seed ball to be seen among the hundreds of plants, I knew that I was pushing it because I growing kinds that were not as likely to be seed producers and that if they did, it would be few, but I also know that few is fine as each seed ball will give you many seeds.

I have not given up on working towards getting my favorite kinds of potato’s to produce a seed ball or two but I have decided that I am not willing to do another grow out year in the hopes that I might get some to learn with..

So this year, I ordered in a nice colored mix of seeds (there are white, red, pink, purple and yellow in this mix, all wild breed, not hand breed) and I plan on starting approx. 50 seeds and seeing what that gets me in terms of plants, and then this fall, what those plants get me in terms of hold over wee spuds to go in the root cellar and into the ground in 2018 for the real test of what turned out and should be held and what will end up in the compost pile.

I will be planting the TPS plants as far away from the main potato planting area as possible, so that there should be limited to no crossover if the other plant decide to give me seed balls this year..

It’s a interesting project and will allow me to learn much more about the potato plant and working towards breeding a landrace potato for my zone and farm..

Have you ever grown True Seed Potato’s? What kind of potato’s do you have that produce the most seed balls?

Posted in gardens | Tagged Breeding Potato's, growing potato's, Seed potatos, True Seed Potato | 6 Comments

Hay Costs Winter 2016-2017

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

For those that where reading my blog though-out 2016, you know that we had a major local drought.. not a little drought.. but a zone 3 bright red drought in my area with level 2 drought around us.. up and down the valley, creeks dried out, hydro dams were turned off, and farmers wells ran dry..

We were lucky enough to be loaned a 2000 gallon water cistern and a dear fellow farmer was kind enough to fill it x amount of times over the summer from their well and this allowed us with careful use to run the rest of the farm on the house well without needing to fill it.

The local hay fields took a beating.. over 50 plus percent of the plants died, in some cases even more.. the first cut was less then 50 to 70 percent the normal, and everyone with livestock scrambled talking to suppliers and held their breath.. the second cut was about 50 percent of normal and then the rains came late in the summer and for many.. the still living plants did a push and with a longer cooler fall, most of those local to us did get a third cut (or in many a second cut) of a decent amount but of poor quality.. the balance is off, the plants are off because they need the volume and were racing between rain and fall temps.

Straw is harder this year to come by as well, but no where near as hard as the hay.. we have seen the fall out of the hay shortage in so many ways.. more livestock butchered out, more livestock being sold, horses being moved or taken to sales at prices that are at a faction of what they are worth..

Within the last week alone..

“I am taking a few squares of hay over to a friend, she is out and has X and Y and is trying to find a supplier with costs she can afford”

” my supplier kept saying.. yup, yup and then said.. I only have 15 out of the 60 I normally have for you.. why didn’t the supplier just tell me that he needed to raise the prices from our normal to the average and save the hay for me”

” I only have enough hay till feb and then I am going to need to be trying to bring it in from Quebec”

Now I am very lucky, I do have hay banked.. not just banked for the winter, I have hay banked for the spring as well, (because I need to dry lot my critters while we work to re-do and re-seed the pasture) but trust me.. without deeper then normal pockets this would not be happening as easily for me either.

I am beyond grateful that I have the hay, but I am also well aware each time I pay my hay guy, that this winter is costing much more then normal.. As you can see below, both my boys are very well fleshed, my vet said, they are at good range but she also informed me that both could use 50 to 100 pounds less on their frames..

The expecting momma’s are at the point that they need a bit of daily fodder-sprouted or fermented grains to give them extra calories in smaller packages as they have less room for the hay in their tummies as their babies grow bigger.

Which has lead me to doing a few different things.. Normally I get round bales in winter and I still do and will depending on what is going on.. but I have also been having large square’s dropped off, so that we can control the amount of hay going out, I have done math till my head spins, and then I use my eyes and my ears and my fingers 🙂

Math is the weight of the animals verse what they should be feed daily when figured out by 2 or sometimes being feed 3 times a day.. My eyes on what is leftover as waste by the next feeding, also if you walk up and the critters are all laying down content and chewing cud and don’t care that you popped by for a visit and there is extra to be eaten yet.. clean it up ladies.. (the horses are feed a bit extra in higher feeder) so the sheep can be out and the horses still have a bit to go yet.. very different tummies between these two critters.

My ears because they will let me know if they think feed needs to come a extra hour or two if they are hungry.. I will make sure they are telling the truth and not playing me LOL but its typically true.. and my fingers because you need to get your hands on them, feel their ribs, you want a light covering of flesh but when you run your hands down their sides you want to be able to feel their ribs.. its easier for the horses and goats as you can see it more so but with the sheep for sure, you want to feel their sides at least once a week or twice and make sure they are not hiding a thinning or a fattening under that wool coat of theirs.

I have taken to hauling the hay out onto fresh clean snow on banks and dips and other area’s on the farm that need to be re-seeded but will very hard to get done properly when we re-seed in the spring.. this gives them clean eating area, allows them extra feeding space and does a frost seeding in that area for the hay itself. as well as giving that area a light dose of sheep poo..

Normally, I don’t mind if they use a bit of hay as their bedding but not at this years prices.. they are getting light straw bedding with a lot more cleaning then normal. Even the straw is hard to come by, I was lucky enough to get oats straw and this means that when I put out the straw the critters flock to it, and take their time to make sure they get all the bits of goodies left in it.. the chickens get as excited about their straw as they do for their bit of hay..

I feel for everyone with livestock this winter, I know that many are making the hard call on adding more to the freezer, many are cutting out even more basic’s from their own budgets to make this happen for their critters (example, I have a girlfriend that normally goes on a once a year winter trip to a warmer area and this year, no trip, as that money is going into keeping her critters fed, and trust me, she is a frugal person and saves all year long for this one trip)

Many people had to buy hay from out of the area, and then pay the hauling costs on top of that, I know of a number of folks that got their hay from Quebec as even with the hauling costs, they just could not find hay to buy in their own area.

So if you are local an see someone posting that they are selling this or that, in order to keep these ones feed this year, or to make sure that everyone is kept in good shape.. be kind to them.. while there are some that are just using it to their advantage, there are many more that are buying less, eating less and wearing more layers in order to keep their critters feed and looked after this winter. the average large round hay bale runs between 30 to 50 on a normal year.. this year, if you could get it in the fall it was between 80 to 100 and right now, they are between 100-140 with about 120 being the average.. Small squares that are normally 3 to 4 are 7 to 10 per bale.

May everyone looking find the hay they need and may they find it at reasonable prices..

Posted in frugal, Real Life | Tagged hay, Hay costs, haying in a drought, increasing hay costs in ottawa valley, poor hay crops | 6 Comments

Colds.. and some of my homestead helpers..

Posted on January 19, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

Well, I was going to post a recipe today, then I started a post about how awesome my hubby is in the fact that he got up early and did all my morning chores so I could sleep in, and not need to go out and get chilled with my cold.. (such a great guy) he even brought me hot tea, oranges and breakfast in bed and then said.. get some more sleep dear.

but then it got long and went off topic so it got moved over to the Bucket List Blog.. which is fine but it didn’t give me a post for the farm blog 🙂

My hubby caught the cold at work, and tried his best to not give it to me and he is on the tale end of it, I am going straight into it..

washing my mouth out with salt-water rinses
Using my nette pot for my nose with the bought mix, I like the pre-done mixes
Elderberry tonic, 3x a day.
High Bush Cranberry Tea and or Lemon-Crown Royal Tea (both are either syrup or Jelly that is mixed with hot water or into regular tea’s for a boost.
Sprouts (I am up to eating six cups of fresh sprouts daily for a next while.. split into two or three times a day)
Nettles – O yes, dried nettles in so many ways.. as a green, steeped in tea and more..
Pepperment salve on my feet and warm socks
Pepperment and Lemongrass oil in my steamer for when I got to bed..

Lots of water, and lots of rest.. sleep is so important.. so far, I am doing pretty good and if I needed to, I could pull myself up by the boots and getter done.

Instead, I am having a take care of me day, I am resting, I am drinking lots of hot things, I am napping, I am snuggling the hounds and the purrpots.. I have leftovers for supper, and I cooked a lovely sweet potato for lunch, mashed it well with a bit of herbs and butter and it was so yummy.. good for you, soothing and orange fleshed is always a good thing.

The perks of doing the work when you feel good is that with a little helping hand, you can take the day to heal if you need it.. today is day 3, typically the hardest hitting day.. if you need it, maybe you find the time to rest today..

Posted in Health, Herbs | Tagged colds, eating Stinging Nettles, Elderberry for health, Health, High bush Cranberry Tea, Nettles, resting when sick | Leave a comment

Moaning breeds Content

Posted on January 19, 2017 by Just another day on the farm

this post is worth the read.. read it slow.. its a thinker.. and today, like all days, I will grab it with teeth, worry it a bit, give it the eye and figure out how to get that stone into my pocket 🙂

The Kitchen's Garden

When we don’t see the sun for weeks and it is cold and wet and the winter looks like lasting forEVER and we have moaned our arses off about it in every available social media, we might realise we are actually craving Vitamin C as well as Vitamin D but we can actually do something about the Vitamin C. And the first thing we think of when we think of Vitamin C is bright yellow lemons.

When we were children at the beach we had lemon trees and if we ever visited my grandmother who lived in Christchurch way down in the South Island of New Zealand we took lemons. They could not grow lemons down there so when we visited and we visited often, Mum always packed a few lemons into the folds of our clothes for Grandma. Lemons were gold.