Just another Day on the Farm

Happy Birthday Blog!

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

Wow, Six Years today on the blog, time is flying by.. So first thing I need to say.. THANK you! for being here, for reading, for commenting, for sighing yup in a number of ways, by email, by rrs, by twitter or by facebook regardless of the way you get and read the blog.. its great to gave you here!

I have written an shared 2, 496 posts with you over the 6 years 🙂 I have share big things and little things, I have share daily chores and trips out, I have covered bigger social views and share deeply personal things over the years, lots of photos, lots of recipes an food

I hope that I have shown many things about the farm, the garden, the critters, the cycles of nature and how it ties into the daily work on the homestead.

12 years on the farm, six years of sharing with you.. a unexpected journey but so worth it!

I lift my glass to the farm, the blog and my readership!

Posted in Life moves on daily | Tagged 6 years blogging, blog birthday, blogger, happy birthday, long lasting blogger | 4 Comments

Prayers if willing..

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

Hi Folks, Going to be a little quieter on the blog for just a touch, I am taking photos an will continue working on posts that will be coming up but Dear Hubbies Mom is currently in hospital an we are praying and hoping for the best, she is in good care and each day we know a little more medically info wise.. its one moment at a time right now..

if you pray, I would be grateful if you wanted to send a prayer for her health, thank you

Posted in Life moves on daily | 2 Comments

Rutabaga Stew

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

love this recipe for a great turnip stew.. hope you will too..

The Minnesota Farm Woman

I often think about my ancestors, most of them real Farm Women, and how they managed to survive on what they grew in this cold climate with such a short growing season. If the weeds took over the garden, they wouldn’t have beans to can. If the potatoes got blight, their children’s’ stomachs would growl. They always had rutabagas, though, to get them through the tough times. I even have a letter written by my great-grandmother who was worrying about the rutabaga crop one cold and cloudy summer. Rutabagas are the most versatile vegetable I know. You can boil them, roast them with olive oil and garlic, fry them, eat them raw or pickle them. Although I’ve never tried it, I’ve heard you can even eat the greens. They are easy to grow and are great keepers. I don’t think there is anyone in northern Minnesota who doesn’t know what a rutabaga…

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Last Trip out into bush, new land 2016

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

Well, its been a grand year out camping, hiking, boating an more, I had said to hubby last year, I miss camping, I miss getting out.. over 20 plus hikes, three bigger camping trips and yesterday, I got the most amazing day as a belated birthday present from a dear friend.. she knows me well!

My only trip this year into quebec this year..

it was a grand day and we could not have asked for better weather, we had rain an or snow for most of the week, and given that winter is coming on us, the day was good, but we did have cold damp, some sun, overcast, rain, sleet, snow, see your breath, and back again.. I was in two layers on the bottom including windproof pants over my jeans, four layers, I took a few layers off for photos quick but the jacket, scarf, hat and mitts were needed as was a big fire to warm up by

The official holiday season was closed, so we had extra hiking in an out.. and we had the whole area to ourselves, other then a few quads and hunters that were using a trail further up inland

There was presents an amazing food, this was my present from a awesome friend co-worked with hubby.. thank you guys! we were all in good moods lol

My man posed nicely, looking very natural, but we needed a pop of orange to be safe in the bush, he blended to well..

I on the other hand was less colorful.. but for my hunter orange scarf.. which I needed because I took some mushroom and beach walks..

Hope you all had a great weekend and enjoy seeing some of the beautiful country I live in 🙂

Posted in Life moves on daily | Tagged camping, good times, hikes | 2 Comments

Dry Skin in Fall.. A little help from the kitchen

Posted on October 29, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

The fall wind has been brutal.. cold, chapping and its been damp at time but not in a good way.. more of a its like I am living by the sea with a cold, hard damp wind..

Needless to say my skin has been taking a beating and I needed to step up my game and give it a much deeper drink of moisturizer.

So here is my quick and easy go to skin care recipe..

Are you ready???

Coconut oil and a few drops of EO..

So the trick is to start with the coconut oil in a solid state, I made enough to do my face, neck and hands for about a month.. I used 1/4th of a cup of my best coconut oil in solid state, I added in 3 drops of Pepperment EO and then you need your blender.

I am not sure you can do this by hand, but a hand turned blender or I guess if you really wanted you could blend and then whisk the heck out of it.. but I use my little hand held blender.. bet it till its about 1.5 to 2 times in volume..

That’s it.. beat till smooth, beat till fluffy, beat till it will hold tiny soft peaks, and then jar it up in a clean dry jar with a lid, store at room temp and a little of this goes a long way..

Now this is not a put it on and then go.. It needs time to soak in, it needs time to be gently rubbed in depending on how much you use, it will need between a few min to up to ten.. now I don’t mean that you need to do nothing during that time, just that it will be a bit wet, shiny and working its way in..

I find that beating it fluffy makes a big difference in how it goes on and how it soaks in.. its worth the tiny bit of time it takes to do it.. plus it spreads any eo that I want to use into it very evenly.

Posted in Life moves on daily | Tagged dry winter skin, homemade skin lotion, whipping coconut oil | 2 Comments

Fall Sheep Shearing.

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

Well, I would like to say that I am getting better but I am not sure that is true.. I do like that I can do it so much faster with the new shears.. and Whiskey’s wool was looking mighty fine.. he had a very poor coat that I took off this spring, it was a mix of shell and matted wool, but he grew a very nice coat this year.. pretty clean, and over five inches since his last shear

The bad will be used for the garden use and the good will be a mix of cleaned and felted and for insulation.. its amazing how well it works when used that way..

Well, I clearly still have a lot to learn! but practise will improve how they turn out, and I did not clean him up, I could have but thought I would show you the real deal of this learning curve..

Anyway, I have one bag with good, one bag with garden-farm use and a ram that gave me the dirty look that said.. women, Its fall, and the wind is cold.. he has spent more time eating in the barn then normal and when at the big hay feeder, he tends to pull it out and then lay down and eat on the blocked wind side to the feeder, he is not a silly boy, he got it figured out.. and it will rapidly grow back enough to give him more protection..

I was pleased to see that under that wool he was in decent shape given how poorly our pasture was with the drought.. I have been struggling with making them eat their hay (when they want pasture) and their grains and extra’s and so forth..

All my ewes were flushed in aug-sept and they all were first time breed in oct.. so if they took and do not cycle again in Nov, I will have a flood of lambs in march but I also have one or two that are out of season breed.

I have a few extra wool lambs that I am going to butcher yet and will be working on their pelts, we will see how it goes..

Posted in Life moves on daily | 6 Comments

My Bucket List Blog..

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

Hi Guys,

I am still working on the months reviews of costs, no worries the meals are being written done and I WILL get it done for you! but the birthday bubble went before and after the day and now I am trying to catch up..

So I am taking turning 44 both in stride and with a bit of a AHHHHH at the same time.. and I have been having a interesting struggle, I have found myself wanting to write posts that just do not really fit this blog.. perhaps a bit to raw in tone, or about life’s more messy bits, or perhaps the odd swear word or two..

But I must write it out.. while my husband writes stories because they flow out of it.. I blog in the same way.. the words must flow, the photo’s will be taken!

So for those that want to do so.. feel free to check out Farmgal’s Bucket List.. its not going to have recipes, and while it will touch on critters, its not about the farm (but I am sure it will come in at times) it will be more personal in a many ways..

Feel free to pop over and have a look at it, I might let folks know about it a few time a year on this blog but otherwise, I plan to keep them apart, no regular link on this site etc

Farmgal’s Bucket List

https://farmgalsbucketlist.wordpress.com/

See you over there or not.. totally up to you 🙂

Posted in Life moves on daily | 2 Comments

Big Pot of Chili.. for when company is coming..

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

The weekend was so busy as I was my birthday weekend, stretching into Monday and it was filled with company, good times and much running after wee ones.

But I needed to feed a pile of folks.. fresh buns and chili to the rescue..

Three pound of beef, 4 diced onions, six cloves of garlic, six big stalks of celery, one box of diced mushrooms

Cook together till meat is done and browned, then add 1 quart (or largest can) tomato juice or v8, 4 peppers of different colors, 1 quart of diced tomatoes, 1 quart tomato sauce, one can tomato paste, 2 large cans mixed beans and two cans of baked beans, 1 cup to two of chill powdered, and 2 large tablespoons fancy molasses, stir, simmer on low till flavours meld..

This was the pull for my friend that is allergic to mustard stage, then I added the baked beans, and 1 tsp of keens to crank the heat a bit, good that day, good reheated, good cold lol, serve with sour cream, chopped green onions or chives, and if wanted grated cheese..

This is make a big pot of chili for company.. what is your favorite meal to make for bigger crowds?

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Old Chicken- Tough Free range birds

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

So folks love to talk about how full of flavour free range chicken is, and if you butcher young birds in tractors that are moved daily, you get full flavour young tender well treated chicken..

But what do you do with the three to six year old birds.. you can roast-simmer and crock pot them forever, good broth shoe tough meat..

There is one way to save the meat… butcher, age in very lightly salted water in the fridge 3 days and then pressure can it.. bone in or bone out.

depending on what the part is..

I never! cook the chicken ahead.. when it comes to taking old chicken and turning it into nicely pressure canned meat.. IMHO it must be done cold pack..

skinless, nothing but chicken.. an if you want a pinch of salt and then follow your pressure canner rules for your area, sea level and what size of jar you are using.

The end result.. outstanding.. the bone in thighs and legs are perfect to pull the meat and use in stir-fry or for mixed in rice or chopped and used for on salads and more.

The white meat is perfect for soups, stews and anything else you can think of.. This is my most proven way to take old laying hens, and or old roosters and turning them into very safe, shelf-stable tender meat to be used in future meals.

As you can see that I only did pints because we are after all only a two adult person household.. hope that this saves you some time in the future when you have someone tell you that either a) wow, this meat is so tough.. and or b) it made good broth but the meat is pretty much unusable.

Posted in Canning, Chickens | Tagged Canning, Canning old chickens, cold process canning | 3 Comments

Purrpot Pride of 2016

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

Its going to be a two post kinda of day.. but this morning.. it’s all about the pretty, pretty kittens.. they are growing so much now.. they are pre-teens.. so different in looks and temperaments.. Blue kitten is now altered, so now all the boys are done..

We have two short hair, two long hair, we have total in your face (blue) totally Laid back and going to be huge! (Patrick), Fluffy and Sweet, I am so pretty (Faith) and little tiny I am so a CAT, pet me, four on the floor (marble)