Dogwood 52 Photography 2019 – Week 4

Posted on January 28, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Week 4 was a great challenge for me, I refused to have the basic idea of a hot cup of coffee, or feet by the fire.

The goal was to “tell a story that made you feel warmth”  Considering our weather, this made things quite difficult in a number of ways!  I finally snapped this amazing photo of my boy’s loving on each other in the afternoon sunshine (it was only -16)

This was my backup..  As anyone in my local area knows that as the sun comes out and the days get longer, the Asian’s start waking up.. this was the first one I have seen so far.

 

 

Posted in photography | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Farmgal’s All Seeing Eye 2019 – Jan

Posted on January 27, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Do you make money?

Ya but what did it cost you to raise that chicken?

But if you had to buy it, what would it be worth?

What do you spend to have what you have?

But it does not cost that much to keep those critters?

Why does it cost you so much to raise that lamb?

Why do you spend so much on seeds?

Its got to be cheaper to just buy it in the stores.

Ok folks.. I am going to break a unspoken homesteading rule.. I am going to talk numbers! AHHHHHH.. run for the hills.. stats, data.. hard costs.. Hauling costs, Butcher costs and more.

LOL, no really, now that I am done poking fun at things, lets get to the meat of things.

Those are honestly real questions I have been asked over and over again.

So the first thing we have to do is get a full grasp on what I have on the farm at this time.

We started the new year here on the farm with..

  • 3 dogs (two farm/house dogs and one adorable house dog)
  • 6 cats (mix of outside farm cats only and indoor/outdoor farm cats)
  • 2 Geese (bonded)
  • 1 turkey hen
  • 25 Adult chickens (breeding pen of four purebred) the rest mixed breed
  • 12 adult ducks
  • 2 adult breeding rabbits
  • 10 Grow out rabbit kits
  • 3 goats – Two Does and One Buck
  • 1 pig
  • 13 sheep
  • 2 horse’s
  • Pastures
  • Gardens
  • Hard Fruit Tree’s
  • Cane Fruit Garden’s
  • Soft Fruit Bushes

Now everything listed up there has their own roles on the farm, some of them are ready for butcher and will be done over the next while.. There will be changes to the breeding programs, the meat growing programs and so forth over the year.

This is my first year that I am totally pulling back on raising extra farm gate meat for sale.. the meat raised on the farm is for our own farm use only. If this changes, I will make notes on that.  Eggs however are open for farm gate sales.

 

All milk/milk products are for on farm use only!

Seeds/plants and plant productions are open to a point for use in farm gate sales

Photo sales directly related to the farm or farm critters will count towards farm income, however photography sessions and or sales not related to the farm or the farm critters does not count towards it.

The first thing to go will be the yearling sheep now that they are getting nice and big, they are ready to be done.. as I was growing them for my own use I prefer them to be larger/older then the “average” lamb. I very much like hoggart (over one year in age, but not older then two years of age)

The pig is ready for butcher as well.. its on the list but the weather must get better.

The intend is to grow less meat overall, but a wider kind of types and increase the amount of fruit/veggies/herbs we are growing.   I can raise livestock at a rate on the farm out pace’s our own needs very easily.   This is something that I need to pull back on!

So the out costs this month are in (I am early but I will not need to be buying anything more so I can round this one up ahead of time and get it out)

There are some things that were gotten before the start of the new year but I am not going backwards on this only forward, I will include it in the costs only if I buy it after 2019. Example, we are using straw as bedding, but its not being included in the costs until it comes in new bale for the new year.

I will do a different on the single critter cost out.. here is a beef example from years past.

Ok so here is our numbers for Jan

  • Hay Costs – $300
  • Feed Costs – $243
  • Vet Costs- $122
  • Ferrier Costs- $100

Returns

  • 21 dozen Eggs (at 5 dollars a dozen, which is the average cost for farm gate eggs Mix of chicken/duck eggs) – $105

So we finish the month of Jan in the hole LOL

In the Red by $660

What a great start to the year!

Honestly I am not worried, I know that the farm “saves” us money and that we get a yield back on our investment in a big way, plus we know how the animals are raised, the food grown and the processed.

I have tried to do a hard track year but things keep getting in the way.. the last time I did a full hard track year and was successful at doing so ALL year long was a while go.. I need to do so this year and get a firm grasp on where we were, and where we are.

However having said that, in many ways we are starting a lot of the yard/gardens over again because of what happened last year.  This will means many things will be up in the air in regards to what can and will get done.

Throw in the fact that we are in for a wild weather ride and we will see..

 

 

 

Posted in At the kitchen table | 19 Comments

Easy Heart Shaped Lotion Bars for Valentine’s Day Gift Giving

Posted on January 27, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Homemade Heart Shaped Lotion Bars are easy to make and are adorable gifts to give. These pretty little white hearts are just 2 oz each which makes them fit nicely in your hand.

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Lotion Bar Recipe (vegan)

  • 2 oz of Coconut oil
  • 2 oz almond oil
  • 2 oz of Coconut Wax pellets

I am leaving this a unscented bar but it will have a light coconut scent to it.

  • if you want it scented, you can add 4 to 6 drops of your favorite E0 at the end and mix in before putting into your mold.

Lotion Bar Recipe (Homestead)

  • 2 oz tallow or leaf lard (only leaf lard if using lard)
  • 2 oz almond oil
  • 2 oz beeswax

Get out your kitchen scale and measure the parts out.. Heat over very low heat till all melted, stir together, If you are going to add scent, now is the time, add in your essential oils, lemongrass, orange, lemon, or any other natural scent you find appealing.

I use a small pot but you could easily do this in a double boiler or in a bowl set over a simmering pot of water if you prefer.

Pour into your molds and allow to fully cool till firm, approx. 3 hours.

They sell silicone molds at a lot of stores now, you will find them at the dollar stores (they can be weaker/thinner there) or you can get better quality at Canadian tire or any good quality kitchen wear store.

They also sell a set with tiny hearts or shells, if you wanted to make lots of little ones, then give in a jar and just take a small one out to do you legs after a shower and shave for extra protection

Because this is all natural, you can wash your mold and use for food afterwards with no worries. If you think your gentleman would prefer just rounds, regular silicone muffin tins will give you lovely rounds.

Store these in paper bag, or glass jar or in a tin.  It does take a little time to warm up and get the bar to work as it needs to warm to you skin temp to melt a touch to be spread the thin layer on your skin and a bit of time to soak in.

The nice thing is it does leave a protective cover on your skin afterwards and for someone that works outside and gets wind on my skin, this has been a very good thing indeed.

Looking for other Valentine Gift Giving Idea’s?

Check out this great post on how to make a sugar scrub!

 

 

 

Posted in Carfts an Hobbies, Gift ideas | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Annoucing the Winner!

Posted on January 26, 2019 by Just another day on the farm


Tracy V! You have won the Canadian Draw!

I have sent you a email at the address provided and I look forward to hearing back from you in the next 72 hours to clam your prize package!

However I have another announcement, I have decided to also give a second smaller surprise gift package to the reader that entered the most times 🙂

By the way this was a close run, as I have some regular wonderful commenters!

Congrats to Craftytadpole! Please email me at farmgal1800 @ yahoo ca  with your mailing address and I will get your gifts sent your way..

THANK You for entering and a BIG thank you to Lisa for all her hard work on putting together the challenge! I look forward to finding out who the USA winner is!

Posted in 31 Day Self Reliance Challange | 4 Comments

Naturally Pink Sugar Scrub to be Gifted

Posted on January 25, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner.

A lovely homemade gift means so much coming from a loved one.  This is one of those easy to make gifts to give away.  Its also perfect for a little gift for yourself!?

Its winter and its a nice treat to give our skin a little extra care and this will not only help scrub away any dry winter skin but it will as leave your skin feeling so soft.

I have a all natural way to add some very pretty red flecks and pink hue to your Sugar Scrub without using any red dyes or red type food colorings. I could have decided to use the coffee grinder to make a fine powder which would have blended in more evenly. However I choose to finish the grind by hand to give me a bit rougher texture so that I can also have the cleaning power of the tiny bits of High Bush Cranberries seeds.

Ground Dried High Bush Cranberries the color on these are outstanding, I grow them here on the farm, make sure they go though there frost to sweeten them, then I use my steam juicer for getting that amazing healthy juice out of them. I save the skins/seeds and dry them and store them for making tea with them.

When I wanted to make Pink for Valentine’s Day Scrubs, it just made total sense to reach for them to color the sugar.

Pretty in Pink High Bush Cranberry Sugar Scrub

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup of light oil (Almond oil or grapeseed oil but any lighter oil will work) *
  • 1 tsp of Dried Ground High Bush Cranberry Powder or finely ground crumbles

Mix it up and into a wide mouthed jar or any other tub or pretty box of your choice as long as you can easily get it to come out in scoops for use.

This can easily be placed into a wide mouth small canning jar and you can add a ribbon or use a paper muffin liner under the ring as a added cuteness!

I made up this post, I tried the scrub and just love that the color does not bleed, and my poor hands that have been dealing with cold and wind feel so soft and lovely after their scrub and then I got to thinking that most folks are not going to have dried powdered High Bush Cranberries in their pantry like I do.

This would also work to color a salt Scrub the same way!

Looking for more great idea’s for homemade Valentine Days gifts, Check out this great post on how to make a heart shaped hard lotion Bar

Available for sale for a limited time

Farmgal’s Dried High Bush Cranberries Crumbles  – 1 oz – 4 dollars plus shipping

or

Farmgal’s Dried Ground Powdered High Bush Cranberries – 1 oz- 6 dollars plus shipping

These High Bush Cranberries have been grown on my own land (which has not been sprayed for the 15 years we have owned it) harvested by hand, dried for my own use.

I use them in my own homemade tea’s, they add a lovely flavour and color.

In very limited amounts, available only to a shipping address in Canada. Payment is required before shipping by Paypal or by E-transfer.

You can drop me a note using the comments (I will not publish it)

Posted in Health, Homemade Gifts | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Friday Rambles around the Table – Storms

Posted on January 25, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Come in, Come in.. shake off the snow and I will hang your coat up by the extra heater so it will be nice and dry by the time you head back out.

I can put the kettle on if you want tea but I have hot coffee ready for you, it’s a bit strong today, I need it to help wake up today..

Ya, I am moving a little slow today, I am sore, between the extra work by the storm, the extra work on the physio and then yesterday, the storm and bitter cold lifted but we ended up with an ice blockage and the rain found a way in and I spent way to much time removing water..

Its fine, the hubby stopped at the hardware store and got the patch for it, and the gentleman said, we are not the only one, I had friends on Facebook that had the same thing happen.

I am looking at it this way, while It made for a long day and I am sore today, better to find out now and fix it on this coming cold snap, then find out about it in the spring melt and have days or weeks of the issue before we can do the required repair work.

I am just glad that they have the right product for the job, it makes things so much easier when you can buy the right item brand new and carefully follow the directions, rather than winging it and then having to deal with it a year or two later when the “fix” breaks down.

Been there, Done that.. learned the hard way.. don’t trust it! Just pay the money to get it done right with the right product!

There was so much happening this week that went on my little note to talk about this week on the rambles around the table. I have the new Canadian food guide, a number of things happening world-wide, including prepping happening in UK due to worries, The China/Canadian brouhaha that is happening at the moment, the insane heat wave happening in AUS at the moment (I am so sorry that you are in the middle of this very hard heat wave!)

But the truth is… my mind is just not there..  out of all the posts I write each week, Friday Rambles around the table is one of my favorites to write but it also takes the most of out me.. Both of those are positives..

I am just tired today.. So I am going to keep today’s really simple and soft..  Hubby update, he is finished his physio for this time, I am so proud of him, he is doing his routine faithfully at least five or more days a week, and it really shows. His back has healed up really well and I am truly amazed to say that he has no knee pain.

There is a part of me that wants to just go “WHAT” I mean he has been talking about knee pain for years and I mean since I meet him. So the fact that a matter of weeks of care and the correct treatment has removed his knee pain is both a “WOW!” and at the same time, it makes me a little sad that we never got treatment for him soon..

I am starting my treatment now, I am not sure I will have as easy of a time as J, one because we are dealing with more damage done over many years in different ways than him but I am game to try.  So far, it just hurts lol.  It hurts to do it, it hurts afterwards and I wake up hurting..  I feel like I “woke” something up if that makes sense and its going.. dude.. Hey.. DUDE!!!!!  LOL..

The second thing that changed a bit is that I have stopped waiting for sales at the store and I am just setting $100 per pay-day to the side to stock up the pantry. I normally wait for good sales and then buy things by the case..

Its been months and in some case’s year plus since some of the things that were on sale have been and while my storage pantry has been doing its job, it’s not been getting restocked at the same rate as normal.

So I am switching gears.. I am adapting to the new norm and I am going back to what we tend to tell people to do when they are stocking up with limited funds.. if you use it, always buy the one for use and buy one or two more at the same time for the pantry.

I added to this, I also am starting to add in things that have great storage ability when done right but that I can see as open to issues to climate change issues in coming 4 years.

Examples of this is dried Coco.. It’s not been on sale in forever and I normally keep a couple tins of it in the house however my reading seems to show that this crop will be effected, it’s also one of the GMO gene changing plants coming down the pipeline and as you know in Canada, they do not need to tell you if they have made the switch..

Given this information, I have taken to adding in one more tub per shopping trip.. it add’s in ten dollars but it gives me two to three months worth of baking chocolate, I can use it for cooking, I can use it to make chocolate ice cream for hubby, I can make a sauce to be used for hot chocolate and more.  I want to keep working on this one till I have X years put away.

Like everything, if you don’t use it.. don’t stock it.. there is just no point.. if you do use it and its something that will store well.. why not..

Nuts are on my mind as well but they are not as easy to store.. peanuts can be grown here but they don’t produce much.. I think I will need to plant out a few new nut tree’s here on the farm, hazel nuts and heart nuts are the ones of choice for our zone and for our preferred tastes.

Anyone put the smaller Hazelnut tree’s into permaculture guilds on berms before? and if so, how did they do? I think I will do some in more traditional style but I also into the new hedge rows.

Its funny that they talk about eating nuts as a replacement for different kinds of meat protein (including egg) without seeming to be aware of the crazy amount of water required in some of the world biggest nut producing areas.

One more thing to work on bringing the production of into a local way and ideally a 0 mile backyard way..

Well that’s it for me today folks..  Here is a kitten playing with plants to lift your spirits 🙂

 

Posted in At the kitchen table | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

The Duck Plan of 2019

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

I raised Muscovy Ducks, they are not like other duck breeds. They hiss and wag their feathers like a dog would. They do not quack like the “other duck” breeds do. They are their own line..

If you breed a donkey to horse, you get a mule.. If you breed a Muscovy to “any Mallard duck breed” you get the same thing.. this will cross over on the first gen but they are mules.. none breeding second gens.

That’s how far apart Muscovy Ducks are from “Mallard Ducks” and I find the taste of their meat to be just as far apart. While if cooked with some skin on and collecting duck fat in this regards, its still fine eating.

But where the Muscovy Ducks truly shines is as a “beef” replacement. Once you breast out those big(much bigger on the males then the females) breast, you can consider each one to be the finest steak that can be used in all the same ways a high quality beef steak can be.

or  can be breaded like a cowboy steak.. O my so good!

but don’t stop there, it can be cubed to for use in stews, it can be corned to make Duck breast Corned Beef, it can be sliced for stir fry’s, it can be cubed and made into Salt/Pepper Chinese steak. It can be ground up and used in burgers.. which would be a total waste in my mind for the breasts but it can be done. (if you want burgers, use the other good meaty parts for your minx blends)  It can be made into the most outstanding jerky.

And that brings me back to 2019.. we have a limited amount of beef left in the freezer and we are not planning on adding a new beef calf to the farm until after our farm sitter does her gig.. its not far to ask her to try and raise a bottle calf into her daily chores.

Honestly, it might just be off the list all together for 2019.. we will see on that one..

What is on the list is the gathering up the duck eggs and filling at least two, maybe three batches into the incubator to raise at least 48 to 60 ducklings that will be raised in moveable pens, this will greatly reduce their feed bills. I have a few other tricks for cutting their feed costs down that will be shared in detail as we go though the growing season.

While a few female’s will be held back for breeding, most of them will be the first butchered for fresh eating, smaller whole duck or will be portioned out.. at around 10 to 12 weeks of age

The males will be allowed to grow a extra 2 to 6 weeks for the large sizes to be reflected in the end sizes of the “breast meat”

The very best grow-outs males will be held back for breeding as well. I will be watching for a outstanding sized male at the fall bird sale for new genes but I have what I need for this years breeding season.. we have three male’s and 8 hens.. pretty close to perfect numbers and as we have two male lines, most will be outcrossed but I will also do two females/one male on a in-breeding line.

I am not planning on letting my duck girls sit their own eggs much this year, I will be collecting the eggs and hatching in larger batches. I want to control the timing of the ducklings to match up with the best time of the year for forage and feed rates savings.

I also want to be able to time out butcher days in a more controlled fashion. The past three years, two of them, I had issues with flooding springs effecting hatch rates and last year we have high heat and drought effecting hatch rates.

This year, I am taking those factors away and doing it myself to control the process better ideally!

I will be sharing setting rates, hatching rates, grow out rates and final cost per pound as well as many new recipes.

While I am very sure that I can bring my “ducky” beef in on a very good price per pound, we will see if I am right or wrong. I have great detailed cost outs on all the beef I have raised over the years so I will be able to directly compare them.

However I will not be able to compare as easily today’s current prices but I should be able to do a rough guess.

Posted in Duck | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Farmgal’s photography Jan 24th

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

I was zooming in to try and get those ears that were glowing with the sunlight coming though late afternoon, after I snapped the first picture, I realized that with a little bit of adjustment I could get a reflect.. it was just a fun time taking this.

Its been so cold and so much snow that I had to seek out indoor things to take and I was wanting to find creative views, I really like this one.

 

Before the worst of the storm came this pretty girl showed up and used the bird feeder for two days, sadly I have not seen her since the big storm has hit.

Bojangles is my grey ghost in the snow!

 

Posted in photography | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Food In Jars Challange 2019 -Jan Citrus

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Food in Jars is once again hosting an awesome canning/preserving challenge for 2019.

The idea for January is Citrus. I have been busy already this past month, I made a number of syrups, I had a enough marmalade that I just wanted simple syrups made at this time for different dishes.

I have put up six pints of lemon, 5 and pints of Lime,  5 pints of Lemon Crown Royal Syrup, I have made Salt Cured Lemons and I have two gallons of lemon Vinegar curing in jars as well as dried orange peel, dried lemon peel and dried lime peel.

Orange Marmalade is a tricky thing to make and you must use your temps correctly to learn more check out this full post on it.

kumquat are an interesting little fruit that’s for sure, such a different flavour. This recipe worked very well and this recipe has been made three times now to great success.

This was an outstanding mix of flavours with lime in the lead, I did have issues getting this to be as thick as I like. Its worth the working with it, and do consider using this one as a salad dressing on cabbage Slaw salad.. JUST YUM

This delightful blend of lemon and rose petals was a hit with everyone that tried it, so light, with just hints of floral undertones. I would like to make this next time with freshly done rose petals.. even though the lemon would be out of season I think it would be perfect, I also will try this with wild violets this year.

I do have one little more plan for one more marmalade, I am working on finding the right balance in the flavours so I am currently doing itty bitty test batches. I will have it figured out soon and up before the end of the month.

Are you joining the Food in Jars canning Challenge? I know at least one of my readers is, because I missed that this was happening until she posted about it 🙂

 

Posted in Canning, Food in jars | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

How to make a Carrot Based Soup

Posted on January 23, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Creamed Carrot Soup Recipe

  • One med onion- Peeled and diced
  • Two garlic clove- Peeled and finely diced
  • 1/2 tsp of fresh grated ginger (or ginger powder)
  • 3 large carrots, peeled, and cut into cubes
  • 2 medium Potato’s- Peel and diced
  • 6 cups of white broth, be it white meat bone broth or be it veggie broth
  • Salt and White pepper.

Add a touch of oil to your pot, cook your onion and garlic till clear and soft  at that point you can add your grated peeled fresh ginger and just let it brown a tiny bit

Add your broth, carrot and potato’s, spices and cooked on a med heat till tender and falling apart when tested with a fork..

Take off heat..

Allow to cool just a touch, it should not longer be boiling, very carefully then either mash very well or hit it with a stick blender for a very smooth soup.

  • if you want add a swirl of cream or a dollop of sour cream in the middle of the soup, if you want it thinner, add another cup of broth. If you want it thicker next time, remove a cup of broth to adjust to your own families personal taste.

This soup can be made with leftover roasted carrots and potato’s/onions/galic, if the veggies have been roasted it will add a lovely smokey/richness to the soup itself.

Carrots are one of those great winter veggies that are still reasonable priced in the larger bags in the store. This is a nice filling soup that healthy for you, easily made using only veggies and a frugal cost as well.

 

 

 

Posted in Soups and Stews | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments