New Year's Resolutions?

I know, people usually don't want to admit that they do this, but it IS kind of good to sometimes have a "check" of ourselves, and re-evaluate how things are going in our lives and even in our homes and farms.

So I thought I would share a few (until now) unwritten and unspoken things I would like to change on my farm and home this year! 

As being relatively new to the "farm" thing, I think it is good to always question how I can do things more efficiently and even more naturally. I plan on being more "deliberate" with my garden this year.  As in, I am planting things according to their "freezability or can-ability".  So less of the cuccumber/ mellon thing...  More of the rotational garden that can be "kept" thing...  I am keeping with NO chemicals on my garden.  I am soon going to be ordering my seeds, and I am BEYOND excited about the thought of Spring again!  This year our strawberries will be ready, and I am so excited about those also.  Especially with NO chemicals.  I pick from a local farm that is surrounded by farm ground that sprays their fields.  So you HAVE to know there are chemicals there.

In the barn, I hope to keep things pastured.  And feeds being natural feeds, when necessary.  We really don't have the option of organic around where I live, with out a HUGE price tag and shipping...  I am excited to be having our first baby goats!  I will be letting them nurse from their mother for a week or a little more, THEN I will be milking the mother and bottle feeding the babies their mother's milk.  Bottle feeding will help with the friendliness of the goat.  Which will be GREAT for 4H.  I hope to shear my sheep again this Spring, and take in all of the wool this time to have it processed,  I am excited for the potential of my own yarn!  What to make, what to make....

In my home, I hope to keep with making cleaners, and to learn how to make more.  I am planning on more organic in my cupboards too.  I have been gradually trying to do that, so as to not break the bank.  I want to continue to  make things more in the kitchen.  My family loves it, and I feel SO much better about knowing the ingredients.

Overall, SIMPLE.  SIMPLE!  I am a simple, mother and wife.  I live on a farm.  I get my feet and hands dirty.  I want my boys to be healthy and HAPPY.  I ADORE my husband.  I am a child of God.  Beyond that, there isn't much else.  Keep it simple.  Keep LIFE simple.

What are YOUR resolutions for the new year for your home and farm?  Please share!!!  Let's encourage each other in this process this year!

DO It Yourself, Waterer Heaters

Last year, you MAY remember I posted a link for making your own waterer heaters.  I was reminded of this, when our chicken's water started to freeze this last week.  My husband asked if we still had those heaters.  And as far as I knew, we did.  Hubby found them, and they are STILL in great working condition!  Even after storing them in our barn this whole year!

We put it under our NEW chicken waterer, which is a metal one...

And it works great.  So far, with temps reaching to the near teens, I have yet to go down and find I have to chip the water out of their waterer. 

To find information on how to make your own waterer, go through my link HERE.

This year, we replaced the bulb, but didn't have to replace anything else! These, of course, are for smaller waterers.  But I have also used them under waterers for my sheep, the waterers were larger, and when it got REALLY cold out, it didn't work as well.  It works the best if you can get the same circumference of tin as your waterer....

Hope you enjoy this idea, and have as much fun making one of these as I did! 

Keeping Track of All Things FARM...

I told you last week about how I have started this year to keep track of our produce from the garden. I also started at the beginning of this year to keep track of everything going on here on our little farm.

It may seem a little silly to some, and some of you just may not care to even do such a thing. But I have found it VERY helpful so far, and I have a feeling I will be glad in the years to come, that I was keeping track of everything- from food we are feeding each animal to what they have produced (eggs, milk, etc), and how much. I keep track of everything in my Farm Notebook.

Here is a 10 minute video walking you through my Farm Notebook:







I have so far been able to look back at when we got our bees, when we got our 2 female goats, the actual production of eggs, and much more. I have used this for a reference quite often. And I am sure I will be glad to have it for years to come.

One thing I have added since I made this video last week, is a Canning Page under Gardening. I picked some strawberries from a U-Pick Farm, and I canned some Strawberry Jam, and now I can add how much I picked, how much it cost me, and how much I was able to can from that.

I am not a hyper-organized person, but I could see the need for this in the future. If you see the need, start with a simple 1 subject notebook. That's how I started. Then as I got too many pages I expanded.

If any of you have questions, feel free to ask in the comments. Do any of you do something like this? How has it worked for you? DO you think you would LIKE to try something like this?

Keeping Track of Your Food Production

To be completely honest, I had never thought about keeping track of the food production on our homestead. If if I HAD thought about it, I'm not sure I would have thought it was a good idea. But the more I read about it, and the more I want to save money and feed my family healthy, the more I thought it might be a good thing!

At the beginning of this year, I started to keep track of our egg production. It actually has been interesting to see the weather effect production; cold, snow, rain... And I'm sure it will be even more helpful in predicting what our production will be next year.

So, I thought, it might also actually be good to weigh produce from the garden. I have seen the Dervaes Family keep track of all their produce. I think it is awesome that they have produced over 6000 lbs of food in a year. I want to know how much I produce this year, THEN see if I can "up it" next year! I know, I like to do silly thing like that! I like to challenge myself and it really is fun for me!

Then I was talking to a friend, Andrew Odom, and he is getting a scale too. I thought, maybe I wasn't the only one wanting to do something like this, this year. So, that is why I thought I might bring it up today~

I actually had a postal scale. It measures pounds to a little over 10 lbs. And it shows ounces up to 0.00, which will give me a pretty precise reading. I had pulled that out, and have been measuring the amount of lettuce that we have got out of the garden so far. So far, that is our only product out of the garden... And boy! Is it producing! It's awesome! I have also been weighing our milk produced from our new goat! Looking at milk in a jar is different then actually SEEING the amount on a scale!

Another cool thing, is I can weight my lettuce, then figure how much I have just saved by spending $1 on seeds and how much at organic prices I would have to pay for what I have just produced! AMAZING! So far on JUST lettuce, I have saved over $12. And there is MORE in my garden to cut!!! And we are FAR from the lettuce being done!

I have been keeping track of all of this info in a notebook. You could also keep track on your computer.

I keep track of other info in my notebook too. Like what I am feed the animals, any crazy dips in temperature, extra "treats" that they get, etc. Tomorrow, I will show you my farm notebook!

A great way to get yourself a scale, if you don't already have one is Amazon.com. If you do your searches with Swagbucks, it could be free! Also you could enter the giveaway here for $50 towards anything on CSN.com. And you could get you a very nice scale!

How many of you have a scale? DO you keep track of what is produced on your farm/ homestead? Would you like to start?

Trying Something New- Sprouts!

My mother-in-law will REALLY think I've gone off the deep end now, but I am trying to grow sprouts! (I say that in love! She knows I love her!)

I have read MANY places on the healthy benefits of sprouts and how there is a huge concentration of vitamins and nutrients, packed in the tiny little sprout. These sprouts you can throw in a salad or on a sandwich.

Sprouts are the only plants that after harvested, actually INCREASES in vitamins and nutrients! Because it continues to grow! Even after you stick some sprouts in your salad and put some salad on your plate, they are growing right there in front of you! Well, maybe not so you can see, but it IS growing!

I ordered some sprouting lids with my seed order, but you can also MAKE your own lids with a screen cut to fit the top of a jar.

Basically with sprouts, this is all you do:

Soak them for several hours (depending on the type of seeds you have).
When they have soaked, drain off the water (why you need the screened lid!). Then rinse with water.
You then leave the jar tipped upside-down, so it can drain.
You rinse the seeds/ sprouts 2 times a day for a few days.
Then, depending on the type of seeds, harvest (after about 3-5 day) by taking out of the jar and refrigerate and eat!

You can also save the "extras".

***Depending on the type of seeds you have, you need to follow specific instructions on soak time, grow time, etc. These will usually come with the seeds when you purchase them or any screens that you purchase for your jars. Info can also be found via the Internet!

I have chosen alfalfa sprouts. They are said to have a VERY high amount of several types of minerals, protein, Vitamins A, B-complex, C, D, E, & K.

I will keep you posted on how these turn out!!! This is something new to me! But, I like the fact that I am growing something that there are no chemicals & hardly any work needed! Plus, they are PACKED FULL of the vitamins and minerals we need, naturally!

Cold Weather's Comin'- Make Your Own Heated Waterer!

We have animals, and I remember the last 2 winters of having animals, what a PAIN in the caboose it is to have a water bucket or bowl FREEZE... I mean, there is no more important time that an animal needs water then in the winter!

So how can I make this winter different, we have even MORE animals now! Well, I found THIS post on how to make your own heated waterer! I know there are LOTS of heated waterers out on the market, BUT they can cost you $40 or more for a decent one. And it you have 3 or more water dishes that need them, well, it's gonna cost you!

But, THIS waterer costs only a few dollars to make! We WILL be making this heated waterer in the NEAR future! One for Boy sheep, one for girl sheep, one for Girl dog & the cats, one for Josh (My hubby's Brittany Spaniel), one for our laying chickens, and one for our Banty chickens.... 6 heated waterers at $40 each would be $240. OR 6 homemade ones at $6 each (or less!).... That's right... Now we're thinkin'!

Want to Clean Up???

Starting next week, I am going to be hosting Spring Cleaning... one week at a time! Where we (Yes, You and Me...) will work on one room each week, to get those things that gather, to re-organize, to throw-out (or to get ready for a garage sale!) or to just clean thoroughly through each and every room... And get ready for spring!!!

Like I said, we will be going room-by-room, each week, and tracking the progress (and taking pictures!). I will also have verses to encourage you (and ME!) each week. Please join me Monday HERE, and we will get started!!!

Teaching a Child to Ride a Bike

There is a hard way, which I have done with 2 boys so far, and apparently there is an easy way (I'll tell you about that in a minute)!

My experience as a trainer, well, there isn't much experience really. I just remember how my parents did it and now I have tried to break my back- er... show my kids the same way.

So, what I do is run along behind them as they peddle and balance ( or try to!). This, for anyone who has ever tried it, is HORRIBLE! It throws your back out of whack, and the kids are just plain frustrated! FUN TIMES FOR ALL!

So, here's the easy way... and if I could get my hubby to help me with this tonight, Caden may be learning how to ride his bike real quick! Here is where I found it. Here is what a person had written in and suggested:

Take training wheels and the peddles off the bike. Lower seat all the way. Put child on bike making sure feet touch the ground. Let child move bike with feet on ground to catch himself. Get balanced, let child feel balanced, ride bike with feet off of ground and get balanced. Do this for as long as it take to get the balance. Put peddles back on bike. Child should be riding within minutes.

I'm so gonna try this! I'll let you know how it works!