Flaming Phoenix Family Farm

King Jack... Too Funny

2013-09-24T20:16:00.001-05:00

We have several chicken feeders that came out of an old chicken house. I use them for all kinds of things. Well one got drug out into the yard and when my hubby was mowing he threw it over the fence into the goat pen figuring it would keep them busy. Well busy it did. My billy goat decided to crown himself!

I have no idea how he managed to get it on top of his head so perfectly, but he did!

Now we just need a couple painted tennis balls for the tips of his horns and some garland and we can have a Christmas decoration!

Representation or Dictation? Time for our country to evolve into the modern age!

2013-09-23T11:18:00.000-05:00

Usually I stay away from politics but to be honest I am just getting sick and tired of all this nonsense. I see surveys that I answer and the majority is completely opposite of what Obama stands for.

The most recent example was what the republicans are doing with the budget. According to a survey on Hughes net 81% of the population agree with them

I have seen surveys that ask if obamacare should be repealed the majority says yes

Surveys on tighter gun control the majority says no

Surveys on if Obamas speech changed your mind on gun control that was an overwhelming 91% said no.

It seems as though the politicians have forgotten why they are elected. To represent the majority whether it is what they personally want or not!

Obama wants his health care program that is a dictation onto the people, not a choice. But yet overwhelmingly the majority of the population he is supposed to represent does not. These politicians need to remember why they are chosen and to quit with their own personal opinions!

Maybe we should have voted on Obama care.

Maybe we should have voted on every single executive order!

With the technology of today every single person could use their Drivers license number and vote electronically and the time lag would be less than the senate and house voting. That way we really would have a country that is of the people, by the people and for the people. The reason our politicians and the electoral college were set up was because of the inability at the time for every one in the country to place a vote. I think it is time to do away with it and move on to a more technologically advanced way to run our country without all the Drama politician's thrive on

They all seem to be just a bunch of whiny little girls that need their drama parties in order to function!~!!!!!!

There is my Nickel or dimes worth (inflation from 2 cents)

home made and canned barbecue sauce

2013-09-15T07:03:00.000-05:00

I am tomatoed out! I have been putting up tomatoes like crazy. and then I brought in more!

The one thing that I buy but have not made was barbecue sauce. I like mine thin to mop on rather than the thick sticky stuff so I usually buy Head Country and then "fix" it. So I was on a mission.

First I halved, de-seeded and squeezed the tomatoes. Then chopped some onions and bell peppers to go in. Then on the stove to cook.

After they were nice and tender I put them thru the blender and then thru a sieve to remove any remaining seeds and bits of peel. By not peeling them I save time and end up with more yield than I would if I peeled them.

What I had left was a nicely flavored tomato puree. Back in the pot it went with some seasoning. I had about 42 cups of puree so I added 4 cups of apple cider vinegar, 4 tablespoons Paprika, 2 tablespoons black pepper, 4 tablespoons salt and 4 cups Brown Sugar.

Then I let it simmer until it was the right consistency, while stirring frequently. It still did not taste right and so I put on my thinking cap of what it is I fix sauce with so I added a small jar of prepared mustard and some maple syrup.

Ahhh ... Perfection... then

Then in the pint jars and with my Tattler lids of course. I pressure canned it at 10 lbs for 20 minutes. ( I could have water bathed it but I prefer to pressure everything I can)

I ended up with 25 pretty pint jars of barbecue sauce. I won't have to buy any for a while!

Trimming Goat Hooves

2013-08-24T03:39:00.000-05:00

Goats can be persnickety creatures. They are smart and they are stubborn. And mine HATE getting manicures!

I have been asked how to trim goat hooves. Well here is how I do it. Goats have a outer hoof like a fingernail and they have a soft inner hoof for gripping. If they were living with rocks the rocks would keep the outer hooves rubbed down. But my pasture has no rocks so I have to trim them. They also have a heel part that can grow up.

First put them on a stand with some grain to keep them busy,

Then you will need a pair of trimmers. They need to be sharp and pointy. You can either go out and buy a pair of hoof rot trimmers which was kind of pricey or a nice pair of rose bush trimmers will work also.

In the next picture you will see the hoof which the outer covering has grown up and curved over. That is what needs to be trimmed. Also the heel gets a little long so I will trim that down also.

The next picture shows the hoof after the trim

You can see the light colored parts where I trimmed off the excess.

If you cut too deep you can hurt them and also cause bleeding the same as cutting your own nails too short. So go easy and just take off a little at a time. If you start to see any pink then stop. Mine like to fight and argue. Usually grain or soft words help. I also will sit next to them and lean my back up against them while I do it. This seems to have a calming effect on my girls.

I usually trim their hooves about every 3 months.

Pigging... What fun! Meet our 12 new babies!

2013-08-18T05:23:00.000-05:00

Pigs do not mess around on the whole due date thing 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days and she popped! I knew she was due yesterday by the calendar so I went to go check on Monster our pig. We had been pulling grass out of the garden and the girls had given her several loads of it. That pig carried the grass all into her house and made a nest.

So as the day went on I went to check on her every little bit. The kids and I started trying to dig some potatoes one of the times we went to check on her we found her laying down breathing hard and looking miserable

Now mind you we have never had a pig give birth and did not know really what to expect. So I got on the trusty Internet and looked up the process for farrowing. It said 30-90 minutes from the time they lay down and be still. Well at 2 hours I was getting worried and still no pigs. I decided I would give her 30 more minutes and then go get my neighbor who used to work in the hog farms.

30 minutes later I went out to check on her and this is what I found

Twelve year old daughter got called out to help we got the birthing bag and put pads down behind her to contain the mess and those baby pigs just started coming out. One every few minutes. We were wiping baby pigs down as fast as we could! They are feisty little buggers when they are born. We did not expect them to be running around the pig shed as soon as they were dried off!

I like this one. It has some interesting colors on it! And it is a girl so we are probably going to keep this one to replace her mother!

Monster is a good mom she was being careful not to lay on any. If she heard a squeal she moved. Except they were only squealing because two wanted the same nipple!
We ended up with 12 little piggies in all. 7 girls and 5 boys!

Our pigs are mutt pigs so we ended up with an assortment of colors!

Monster is going to the butcher when we wean these babies. That was always the plan. Our pig is sweet and loves scratches and her tummy rubbed but she is just too big to handle anymore so she will have to go. We will all miss her but we also know that is why we have them.

My neighbor is going to come and help in about a week or so to castrate them. I can do castrations with a band and I have assisted with human castrations (worked as a RN for 20 years) but I have never seen or done pigs and the have to be cut. So I am thankful for the assistance and guidance.

We are going to keep 4 of the barrows (castrated males) to raise for the freezer and two of the cute red females for breeding and probably sell the rest to pay for their feed.

We have been out of pork for about 2 months so we will be glad to get some bacon again!

Pork chops in the making!

Life on the farm and random pix

2013-08-04T05:54:00.000-05:00

It has been crazy around here. The grass grows faster in the garden than I can pull it. I had the garden totally pretty a couple weeks ago and now I have trouble finding my plants!

We butchered 12 chickens and are doing 7 ducks today. I hate plucking them so I made a plucker. It cost me about $20 to build and we can pluck a chicken clean in about 2 minutes. It took us 3 hours to do 12 chickens that averages 15 minutes a bird for killing, dunking, plucking, cleaning and packaging.

If anyone wants to know how I made this plucker then write a comment and ask and I will put up a post detailing the way to make this yourself.

We have been canning and putting up the harvest nothing fancy is why no detailed articles. We have had a bountiful harvest and feel blessed by God for all the rain!

onions

mixed berry jelly and pickled beets

Roasted Tomato Soup

The pig is due to have her piglets in 2 weeks and she keeps getting out! As soon as her babies are weaned she will have a date with the butcher and our freezer! One of my doeling Alpines is terrified of the pig. She gets up on the spool and will stay there for as long as the pig is out!!!

Birds everywhere

I found this guinea nest in the field there were about 100 eggs

We got 2 new furbabies for the house. The Dog sons are named Freddy and Hoyt. They are wonderful and getting spoiled already!

My oldest daughter finally got pregnant after ten years of trying (and two adoptions) so we are working on finding baby things.
I picked this treasure up at a yard sale for her for $10.

My neighbor makes beautiful hand carved spoons and stuff. He gave me these for helping out his parents and they are food safe to use. But they are just too pretty to use! If anyone is interested in some I can get you hooked up with the family that makes them! The top thing for those who don't know is a dough cutter.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer.
Keep your garden growing and your powder dry!

What is in your first aid kit?

2013-07-14T07:42:00.000-05:00

This is my first aid kit. It is the one I use if there is an emergency. It is what I take with me when we go on a trip and it is also the one I would take if we had to bug out of our location in a hurry for any reason. Mine might be a little more comprehensive than most because of my years as a trauma nurse. I just wish I had an AED to add to it and an Ambu Bag.
Left to right starting at the top:
Kerlex
4x4 gauze pads
gloves
Chlorhexadine surgical scrub
lidocaine and a syringe with a 30 gauge infiltration needle
Antifungal spray
tampons
kotex
Ace wraps
cotton balls
Field surgical kit (pen light, clamps, scalpal, needle holders, explorers, scissors)
scalpals and sutures
Bandaids
broad pectrum antibiotic
nasal spray
albuteral tablets
tylenol
ibuprofen
benadryl
triple antibiotic ointment
benadryl cream
cortisone cream
tape
alcohol preps
carmex
hydrogen peroxide
2 x2 gauze pads
Coban (for making splints)
albuterol inhaler
steroid inhaler
alcohol gel
eye drops
long cotton swabs
chest rub
18g needles for picking splinters or lancing boils
airways for all sizes from neonate to adult
non stick pads

Also not shown
Blood stop powder
trauma shears
dental floss
oragel
temporary tooth filling
super glue
blood pressure cuff
urine dip sticks

For at home use and prepping purposes I have a large plastic set of drawers with much more in them. Of course if I had to bug out then a bag of our prescription medications would also go with us!

Of course you would need the knowledge of how to use everything in your bag. And you would always want to seek real medical attention if it were available!

Am I missing anything?

Rutabaga... Easy to grow and yummy when cooked

2013-07-01T06:09:00.000-05:00

I planted Rutabaga for the first time. They did wonderfull!! They are an easy to grow root crop and the root bulbs are easy to cook. The goats love them too!!! I pulled some of mine yesterday to thin them and this is what I got

Now the big question... What to do with them!!!

Okay so I peeled them and then cut them into cubes. Doused them with olive oil, added some italian seasoning and some garlic salt then put them into the oven at 375 for about 45 minutes and this is what I got

Even the picky kid liked them!

Johnson Grass in the garden

2013-06-28T06:08:00.001-05:00

I had about 2 weeks that because of things going on I did not get out into my garden to weed and with my oldest working she could not come and help me. Now I have a beautiful garden, if you can find it under 3 foot tall johnson grass!

You can see the stand of grass in the back ground. I have mulch (wood chips) and cardboard down on about half of it and that has definately helped but there is atill a LOT of grass and weeds.

The trailer is how much grass came out of one row

My daughter is coming over today to get busy on finding the rest of the garden!!!

If anyone has any wisdom in how to battle and hopefully defeat this stuff please let me know!

A new addition to our family

2013-06-23T04:39:00.000-05:00

We have a new addition to announce. This time it is not a beastie although around about age two they are all beasts it seems... LOL

Please meet Joseph (my new grandson) born June 20th 2013, 9 pounds 1 ounce and 20 inches long

Doing Laundry with no machine

2013-05-23T07:13:00.001-05:00

I have to admit the SHTF here at my house in my laundry room. Our washer died (it is a pricey front loader, high efficiency with all the bells and whistles and only 3 years old!!!!) and with no way to immediately replace it I went into survival mode for this matter. It was a good learning experience for my kids and a way to test survival methods before everything comes crashing down! It is my desire to have a manual wringer washer before that happens...But if I do not get it than I can manage this way!!!

For centuries before a washing machine laundry was done by hand. Initially it was done by only using the hands and rocks and then the wash board came along.

Washboard image from Bing images

Then came wringer washers, which I wish I had one of!

Wringer washer image from Bing images

Then there is my way of doing it! A plunger (Cost $5.40 at the local Ace Hardware) and three wash tubs which are re purposed barrels from the local Little Debbie factory (Cost $8 per barrel used 1 1/2 barrels) Total cost for survival washing machine $17.40

The first tub is wash water with laundry detergent, the second is rinse water and the third is a final rinse with Downy. I put them on the tailgate of my truck to make it easier on the back and also the black bed helps to warm the water on a sunny day!

3 tubs, you can barely see it because of the sun but I have a 5 strand clothes line right behind where the tubs are

First you put water into the wash tubs, add your soap (The cheap non-HE works best for this or you can grate home made lye soap to use) and fabric softener to the respective tubs. Put your dirty clothes into the wash water and using the plunger with an up and down motion agitate the clothes well. Any spots are rubbed out with extra soap and knuckles (wish I had a rub board for that!) Then wring out well and put into the rinse, repeat agitating and then wring and into the final rinse. After the final rinse wring well and hang on the line. I wring them out using a twisting motion but it is still very hard to get the water out by hand especially large towels and jeans. So it would be unwise to put them in the dryer like that as the weight may damage it. Hang them on a line until they are dry. If you have the convenience of a dryer then when the clothes are just damp you can bring them in and place into the dryer to finish drying and "fluff" them.

And there you have it a way to do laundry without a machine, or power. I am just thankful that I have a well pump and a garden hose to fill the tubs!!! It actually only took about 3 hours to do about seven loads of laundry and it would have taken the washer over 7 hours to do all of it, and the clothes are cleaner and smell better. But the work was tiresome and my 12 year old and I both were exhausted after completing our task!

Mama's and their babes

2013-05-19T04:51:00.003-05:00

One of my ducks hatched out 5 babies all by herself. They are about as cute as can be all following behind her. I have had to rescue a couple. One tried to go thru the wire of a cage and I had to save it. It is too funny to watch her. Our Great Pyrenees decided to check out the babies and that Momma duck told her just how it was. A little tiny duck up against a huge dog. Well the duck won and the dog left!

I wish more humans were as protective of their children. If so we would not need child protective services!

The rooster and Guinea started fighting too close to her babes and she broke up the fight.

Aren't critters great?

A milestone 10,000 page views!!!

2013-05-17T03:29:00.002-05:00

I started this little blog almost a year ago for a couple reasons.

1. I enjoy writing
2. I enjoy imparting knowledge in hopes of helping or enlightening others
3. The ads help pay the bills when you click them.
4. I enjoy hearing from others in the form of the comments

Well my little blog has reached a huge milestone. 10000 page views. I took the screen shot above when it only needed one more click to get it.

So I just want to say Thank You for reading my blog. Keep the comments and questions coming. I will try my best to answer any you might have. And a BIG Thank YOU for clicking our sponsors adds and checking them out. That helps keep the lights on! for us and them!

Have a great day and Happy Spring...

TTFN--- TaTa For Now

A Garden to feed 9 for a year. Hallelujah it is planted!!!

2013-05-15T04:51:00.000-05:00

The weather here in Arkansas has been absolutely CRAZY, I mean really??? Snow on May 3rd??? So my garden is later getting set out than usual. Yesterday evening we got the last of the seeds planted. I have left to buy some herb plants and get them set out but other than that it is done. I still have room for about 4 more rows and my friend wants some mustard greens so that may get set out if she brings me the seeds. (we do not eat mustard greens). I may also plant a couple more rows of dry beans.

Between my daughter and I we have 9 mouths to feed. Which means we have to have a HUGE garden if we do not want to go to the store. I also have many critters to feed and some of it to is for them.

We still have to get the rest of the mulch down. We go to a neighboring town and get mulch. It is chipped up wood and here is the great thing. It is only one dollar for a truck load! Good Bye weeds!!!!

Between canning, root cellaring, freezing and dehydrating we should be able to preserve enough to last a year, God willing. If there is no drought, floods or grasshopper plagues we should be good. My ducks will be sent to the garden to eat bugs as soon as all my seeds and plants are well established.

Here is what we have (remember each row is about 70 feet long):

7 rows of potatoes
1 row of garlic
4 rows of green beans
1 row of peppers
1 row of tomatoes
1 row of sweet potatoes
1 row of dry beans
1 row of cucumbers
4 hills of zucchini
1 row of okra
1/2 row of honeydew melons
1/2 row of cantaloupes
1/2 row of Acorn squash
1/2 row of butternut squash
1 1/2 row watermelon
4 rows of corn
2 rows of radishes
2 rows of sweet peas
2 rows of turnips
1 1/2 rows of beets
1/2 row of rutabaga
2 rows of carrots
2 rows of lettuce
2 rows of spinach
2 rows of onions
1 row of broccoli
1 row of cabbage
1 row of pumpkins
5 hills of yellow squash
1 row of sunflowers

I think that is it!!! Anybody want to come and learn how to can and preserve everything in a couple months???? LOL

All of these plants/seeds are heirloom non GMO. This means that they are healthy and we can save the seeds for next year. This way our garden will cost much less. Right now to plant all of this we have about $75 invested plus we will have about $15 invested in mulch. Last year 1 row of potatoes produced about 100 pounds of potatoes we have 7 times that and are expecting about 500-700 pounds of potatoes. Enough for both families to have potatoes all year. Since we do not have a root cellar we will be digging cairns to preserve them. We will do the same with the winter squash.

Savings on potatoes alone: Yukon Golds are $4.96 for 5 pounds at Wal-Mart. I spent $10 on 100 pounds of Yukon Gold seed potatoes. If we get 500 pounds of Yukon golds that would be about $500 to buy them at Wal-Mart savings is $490 dollars. More if we end up digging more than 500 pounds of them!!! I think that is a BIG savings myself and that alone makes the garden worth it!!!

My oldest daughter has been an immense help. I could not have done it without her. But this garden feeds her family also. This is how families are supposed to be. Instead of bickering and fighting it is much more productive to get together, work together, pray together and love each other!

Happy Mothers Day

2013-05-12T06:09:00.001-05:00

I want to wish all of the Mothers out there a very Happy and Blessed Mothers Day!!!!!!!

The need to control inanimate objects

2013-05-10T05:27:00.001-05:00

My last post was a repost of a you tube link. The video is absolutely hilarious. Here's the thing. My firearms are just as even tempered as that guys Glock. I have an AR15 by my bed, a shotgun behind the front door along with a 22 and a 45acp in my purse. None of those weapons have ever jumped up in the middle of the night, loaded themselves and hurt anyone. They are not restrained in any fashion. So why do people feel the need to control inanimate objects???

Each and every inanimate object is already "controlled" the person that owns said object controls it! My weapons do not do any harm because I control them. I do not force them to do harm. I have 3 very peaceful pressure canners/cookers in my kitchen. They have never blown up. Nor will they ever as long as I do not do something to make them. And they darn sure are not going to grow legs and trot down to some public function so they can blow up. My car never drives drunk... None of them do and I have 3. 2 are not of legal drinking age (97 and 2012) but one of them is middle aged at 44 years old and she never goes out drunk driving. So see even the child aged cars do not get into trouble. They do get stubborn occasionally my old Ford sometimes will not start for me but hey it is a mechanical object. Once I figure out what is wrong and fix it then no more stubbornness. Also my computer does not go out hacking on its own either. And it is the smartest inanimate object I own.

All of the gun control mumbo jumbo on the news is just that... Ridiculous gibberish from people that are uneducated and ignorant. They feel that an inanimate object can jump up and do harm, or so it seems. And it seems as though they won't quit. The bills were struck down by congress and what so they say? "We won't quit!"

We already have laws in place that deny ownership of weapons to the criminals and the mentally deficient. Our government does not enforce the laws already on the books. So why on earth do they need to just spend more money when we already owe trillions in debt to make more laws that too will not be enforced.

I say enforce the laws already on the books.

Here's a new one they can write:
Any person with a concealed Carry Permit should be exempt from further background checks.
When I got my license I did fingerprints and they ran my background thru the wringer only to find out that I have never even had so much as a parking ticket. So I got my cute little card that says my 1911 can reside in my purse. And if I ever do get into trouble I (which I do not plan on) I will have to surrender that cute little card until a court could determine my innocence. So as long as I have that card in my possession that means that I am a good girl and have not broken any laws.

There are many citizens out there that are just like me. Why should we be punished and lose our weapons? Why should we have to defend our rights when we have done nothing wrong. Punish the ones that break those laws. Not us. Please I wish they would grow a brain cell and figure out that people kill people! It is a horrible tragedy that those children were killed, but a person did that. The gun did NOT on its own run down there and kill those children.

Is car control next because of all the people killed with cars? Pressure cooker control??? what about knife control??? Pretty stupid to think of it huh???

How about we enforce the existing laws, teach our children that firearms are tools and not toys. And punish the criminals that break laws. Even my 4 year old grandson knows that if he messes with a gun there will be serious consequences!

Okay that is my 2 cents worth on this topic.

Evil Handgun Myth... Busted!!!

2013-05-09T17:36:00.001-05:00

I love this video the original post I got off modernsurvivalblog.com
Watch this video it is awsome...

Sure makes those people that think guns are the problem look pretty stupid!

It's a Horse... Of Course

2013-05-04T11:37:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to share a really funny pic of my horse:

She does this anytime she gets a treat as if to say Thank You. If you are not handing out the treats fast enough she will nudge you and smile to get a treat also. It reminds me of Mr. Ed. For those of you who know what I am talking about I just dated myself. For those of that don't look up Vintage TV shows from the 60's.

Family Ties

2013-05-04T04:55:00.001-05:00

I do not usually blog about hings of a personal nature but I am very happy this week. My family is... Well.... Quite dysfunctional......My grandparents divorced when my mother was 6. Then they both remarried and had more children. For some reason they subscribed to the "if I am mad at you I will dis-own you" philosophy. Which my mother happily carried on that family tradition. So my family is scattered and hard to reach out to.

Twenty years ago I set about trying to find one of my Aunts. She is only a few years older than me and we played together when I was very little. I have very fond memories of playing with her. Barbies and EZ Bake oven. I was 4 the last time I saw her. But suffice it to say she was dis-owned and so was my mother. Then my mother Dis-owned me (I HATE that word). So I hit major dead ends and road blocks.

Well that very aunt found me!!! Just this last week!!! We have had a wonderful time catching up on 40 years lost. The amazing thing is that we are very much alike. We look very much alike. We went into the same profession (she is also a RN), we have many of the same values and quirks. We even like/dislike many of the same foods. She is so close to my age it is more like sisters than Aunt and Niece. How amazing is that?!?! We did not have contact after I was 4. But what we did have was the same influence in the way of my Great-Grandmother her Grandmother. I am convinced that is why we are so very much alike.

I just wanted to share my good fortune about reconnecting with her. She has 2 children and they have children... Wow!!! Cousins and second cousins!!!

Now back to the regularly scheduled programming...........

Snow!!! In May??? History has been made in Arkansas

2013-05-04T04:37:00.000-05:00

Before in my blog I had complained about Jack Frost not looking at the calendar... Well I guess Father Winter is confused also!!! Here in Northwest Arkansas we set a record last night. It has NEVER snowed this late in the year!

We got over an inch of snow!!! This pic was taken at 3:45am

My poor garden. Hopefully it wont bother the few greens, radishes and turnips I have up. But the tomatoes and peppers are done for. I will have to go buy plants to replace them. I would imagine the volunteer celery is done for also! I also pray that my green beans had not sprouted yet. I had not been to that end of the garden in 2 days.

By late afternoon it had all melted off. There was a 50% chance it would do it again tonight but so far it has not. I hope mother nature is done now!!!

An old horse made new! Before and after photos

2013-04-30T05:06:00.001-05:00

Those of you that have been following my blog will know we were given a horse in June of last year. She was not much more than a horse hide draped over a skeleten. The people told us she was about 18 years old and was only skinny because the younger horses ran her off the food. When I got her I noticed her dropping her food when she ate so I called an Equine dentist. The dentist has an office in Oklahoma City but makes house calls and was coming thru our area. She worked on her and at one point just reached in her mouth and out came a molar. The dentist said she is closer to 30.

This picture was taken just a few weeks after we got her. I was so afraid someone was going to turn us in for animal cruelty! See how you can see all her bones!

These are recent pictures. She now looks like a horse and you can no longer see her bones!! She is still a little on the thin side but nothing like she was. These were taken 9 months after we got her and 7 months after the dental visit!

She got really barn sour during the fattening up process. I am in the process of now teaching her how to be a horse again. She can still be cantankerous when I have the saddle on her but bareback she does fine. She has enough meat on her bones now that you can comfortably ride her bareback.

If the SHTF and there is a EMP then she is our alternate transportation so I will keep working to get her in tip top shape.

Spring time on the Farm

2013-04-28T08:19:00.000-05:00

It is Spring which is a very busy time. We have started getting our garden out but Jack frost keeps interfering. He has not looked at the calendar and realized he needs to go away! I have Soda Bottle greenhouses over my tender tomato and pepper plants. The town next to us sells mulch for one dollar a truck load we just have to load and haul it. Next week we will be going to get five loads for the garden to keep the weeds down. Plus my son-in-law has been saving large sheets of cardboard from his work to put under the mulch to further fight the weeds.

We have 4 additions to our milk herd

The incubator is running constantly and I have hatched so far 57 chicks and 18 ducks, currently there are 41 Guinea eggs in the incubator. Soon the first batch of Chicks will be headed for the freezer.

Three ducks are setting on their own nests and so are 3 chickens. I really thought the black sex links would not set so I bought some baby bantie's. Then 3 decided to go broody! Yeah!!!

The rabbits are producing and we are able to have bunny dinner frequently. We have eleven in the grower cage right now.

Spring is in the air for the pigs and Monster should have her piglets in 3 months. Husband pig is much smaller than monster but he somehow managed to do his duty!

The Turkeys are growing and the brooder is full of baby chicks

Cow is getting big

determining sex of turkey poults

2013-04-15T06:08:00.002-05:00

There is a little known fact. You can determine the sex of a turkey poult with about 98% accuracy on the day of hatch. Most people do not know this but if you have ever worked in a connercial hatchery you learn. Back in the mid 80's I worked in a Cargil Hatchery as a "Sexpert". It is a nasty proposition but if you want to know what you have then it is a neccessity. The hatcheries must seperate them so that they can send the toms to one house and the hens to another for growing.
I will explain first and then if I can get someone to help me with pictures I will post them later. You can check them as soon as they hatch. In the hatchery this is when we sexed them.

Take a poult in your non-dominate hand and hold it upside down with the tail toward you. Using your dominate hand place your thumb on at the tail and your forefinger on the other side of the vent, spread the vent toward the front of the poult so that you can visualize the inside. A Tom will have two very definate bumps pop up on the inside but at the edge toward the front of the poult and a hen will have a smooth place that is more rounded and not as defined. After you look at a few you will be able to see the difference.

I just bought 12 poults from a local breeder and they sexed out to be about 50/50

What NO TV???!!! What are we going to do???? Grid down entertainment

2013-04-06T06:23:00.001-05:00

We all know the possibility of a grid down situation... With that said we have wrapped inverters in foil made Faraday cages, bought solar lights, stored food and water and medical supplies but has anyone thought of entertainment?
Yes I said entertainment. When the human brain has time on its hands many times it will become pessimistic and obsess over what it doesn't have... Like no more Wednesday episodes of Survivor... So we are also prepping for entertainment. My daughter bought matching fiddles for she and I for Mothers day and we are taking fiddle lessons to learn to play the American fiddle.

There are many other ideas such as board games, cards, outdoor sports etc. You can be creative just please think about this one aspect of prepping that can be over looked. What about a useful craft such as basket weaving or looming. It could be quite entertaining to work on a piece of fabric with cool details. The work will be hard and time consuming in a grid down environment so a little R & R will be required in order to keep the sanity!

And with that I will continue my lessons and soon I hope to be able to play something more than boil them cabbage down and shortnin' bread! Sitting under a tree drinking tea or fresh made lemonade and dancing to fiddle music sounds like a good idea to me. I just hope the little lemon tree that is part of my preps produces enough lemons!

Thinking outside the box to get what you need. Barter 101

2013-04-03T07:06:00.001-05:00

When there is an item or commodity that you want but either is not available at the store or you can afford it then there is barter or trading. If and/or when the SHTF regular money will be useless but there will still be the power of barter. So it would be a good idea to brush up or learn your negotiating skills now.

I have traded many things but I guess the best one I am doing right now. I have a gentleman who has a bunch of 223 shells that he does not need. I need them. I have eggs that I do not need need but he does need them so we are trading. He brings me a box of 223 brass cased with a FMJ and I give him 5 dozen farm fresh eggs.

I have traded the use of my billy goat for a rick of hickory wood. My billy goat had already bred my girls and I darn sure needed the hickory to smoke meat. Worked out great for both of us.

I also traded an extra canner I had for a rick of wood one time a few months ago.

The thing with barter is that you have something of value and the other person has something of value. Maybe it is not valuable like gold or silver but something that is needed. Like the hickory wood. That would not be valuable to many people but to me it was because I needed it to smoke meat. And sending my billy goat down the road didn't cost me a thing. So essentially I got the wood for free. The eggs I have calculated cost me about .37 cents to produce a dozen eggs so in reality I am paying $1.85 for each box of those 223 rounds which are $12.27 a box at Wal-mart. When I traded the canner I had gotten it in a bunch of stuff. It was a small 16 qt Presto and I already have huge canners. I bought the stuff to get an all American canner and a Victorio strainer that was in it. There was also a bunch of canning jars 2 Presto canners one of which I gave to my daughter and a bunch of funnels, strainers etc. I paid $100 for the whole mess which the strainer and the all American was worth that. So the canner I traded had no actual cost and the wood only cost him the gas to cut it. So he got a canner for pennies that would have cost him $70 at Wal-Mart. I got a rick of firewood which would have cost me $45 to buy it.

Sometimes maybe the person has something to trade that you might not need. Like for example a bottle of whiskey and you do not drink. So you trade a couple dozen eggs or a pound of butter for said bottle of whiskey then later a couple months later you get hurt and need to be sewed up, you have a neighbor who is a medical provider. he already has cows so he doesn't need butter and he has chickens so he doesn't need eggs then what? Well maybe just maybe he would like that bottle of whiskey (it can be used as an antiseptic as well as drinking) that you had no use for but got in a trade and then you get your wound fixed for it. So also when you are trading try to think if the thing offered in trade may be something you could turn around to use in trade down the road even if you yourself don't need it at the time but it could be then traded for services or items.

I hope this helps get everyone thinking.....