the sustainabilty mission

ducks like broccoli

2012-12-26T18:03:00.000-08:00

wintertime has settled in, and things have been pretty slow with the farm life. between Christmas and jobs and such we haven't had as much time to work outside as much as we'd like. we thinned out the chicken herd, since they aren't laying as well . in winter the hens lay less unless you put a light on them. the length of daylight affects how often they lay.
We are set to have a butchering day for the hog soon. The hubby says she weighs around 400lbs now. I'm going to miss her . But she was always supposed to be BBQ .
The boxer doggies are set to have puppies within the next few weeks, I have to say. I'm excited about that.

We had planted a winter garden back before Halloween. Planted broccoli , Brussels sprouts, greens and cabbage to start. However now we just have some greens growing.......apparently ducks enjoy little broccoli and cabbage plants immensely. And now that we have run out of garden to destroy,all of the mallard ducks have flown away.

So we have 2 Peking ducks, a flock of guiena birds, a brood of bunnies ,a very chunky pig, chickens, and the doggies l rambling around the yard. Im very ready for the springtime .

I've been thinking of sharing some of my old-timey cooking skills here during the winter, then getting back into the garden and animals as it gets warm again. what does everyone think ? leave comments ?

pictures....

2012-07-17T06:21:00.001-07:00

Round one finishing up.....
Next we plant beans, peas, and such, then its time for greens and more cabbage.

Basil

Sage

I`m going to dry some of my herbs to use over the winter, I used some of the oregano and basil in our homemade spaghetti sauce, it was great.

These are the hubby`s guinea birds. they still bunch all up when you walk by, but are warming up to us some. An unfortunate cricket came by while I was feeding them the other day....Ive never seen such a ruckus like these birds made over that poor bug.

Ol BBQ here is really enjoying all the garden scraps and is getting rather hefty. She really likes the mud hole we made for her.

Let a kid hold your phone......you end up with 15 pictures of the cats hehe

The bad side to keeping animals and a little bit of me ranting...

2012-07-17T05:45:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago we had some rough weather. We had a heat wave come through and for a few days it was about 106 degrees give or take. We had some trouble with the bunnies. The first day of the heat, we lost my California buck, so the hubby put up fans at each side of the pens and gave everybody extra water and such. The next evening, we lost 4 more bunnies. So at this point I made him take all the rest of them into the house. Messy and smelly, but we managed to save the rest. I wish everyone couldv`e seen how he was so worried and even bathing the last one to pass in cool water trying to save it.

We raise them for meat and to sell, but we love our animals, and respect what they give us. We try to be kind and loving even if (like with the pig ) we got them to raise for food.
The hubby started me on the path to raising and growing our own food by making me watch a documentary about how animals are raised and how food is grown for us by big companies. I recommend everyone watch that . It made me open my eyes, and look at my fast food a little differently. I had a family member say that we were mean for raising animals for food, so I thought I would make sure that everyone who knows us, or reads this knows how and why we do it.
If you go to a chicken house for example, they are stacked up so tight they can hardly move, and suffocate and live in their own excrement. Our chickens get to run around the yard, or at least have large cages that are on the ground, so that they can have bugs, grass and such. Our bunnies are given grass, hay, and rabbit food, and are routinely loved on by us all. Our piggie is on the grass, with a nice big mud hole for it to play in. In fact, I never knew pigs were so silly and comical, this one runs and plays like a puppy. If you see how hogs are raised for meat like for the grocery stores, they are given medications to keep them alive because their living conditions are so poor and they cant even turn around they are so packed in their fences.

Basically, I just want everyone to know that even though we do hunt, and fish , and raise our own meat. We do it for the health of our children, and to know that our children see that even though an animal has a purpose of meat, or eggs, or even guard dog, it should be loved and cared for.

2012-07-17T05:18:00.002-07:00

When hubby decides to try the chicken tractor idea, we had no clue it would be such a success. We had to buy a whole new chest freezer to put up all the groceries this man keeps hauling into the house. He is on a roll. So far ......

over 50 quarts of stewed tomatoes
40 some odd bags of sliced squash
6 qts spaghetti sauce
10 qts of hash
7 or so qts sliced zucchini
5 or so gallons of stewed cabbage

The okra and corn will be coming in soon, and he is planning a round of green beans, peas, and such to plant next. I`m excited to see him having so much fun, and it fun to make homemade spaghetti sauce. Here's how we did it.

We sliced the tops off the tomatoes, squeezed out all the seeds and juice, trimmed the other end off, and just threw them into the food processor. One you have enough, just cook on very low heat, add spices and we added some onions and bell peppers chopped up in the food processor. It didn`t take very long, and we had fresh sauce for our spaghetti that night. Best part is I knew exactly what was in it......no preservatives or anything.

We had to trim the tomato plants and spruce up the garden after an incident in the garden. Apparently critters were enjoying our very lush little garden spot. Me and hubby were picking tomatoes by the laundry basket fulls one day and suddenly he says woman, go get the gun.....run.... so of course my silly butt says "why? did you find a snake? " Needless to say he looks at me funny and says heck yeah i found a snake....run woman.....
So I tear off into the house, find a gun, and bullets..... run back to hubby who is looking kind of intimidated......and with my bare feet and shorts on run and throw everything at him. He says he found a copperhead.....a big one. so after he shoots the poor thing, about twice .... he looses it, cant find it anywhere......then I hear him almost shriek, its had done crawled over his shoe......So the snake is dead, hubby didn't get bitten, and he declares we are done in the garden for the day. I wasn't as worried about the snake......I had more problems with the big wasp that flew up my shirt and the big spider that I had on my arm. Bugs just freak me out.....

Rooster chorus line

2012-06-18T09:40:00.003-07:00

Well it has come to my attention we may have quite a few little bantam roosters. These past few evenings have been quite noisy, as the little ones try their hardest to learn how to crow. It`s really kinda cute how they sound.It seems more like a croak than a crow, but its cute all the same. Now I`ve got to start making little pens to put them in though so they wont start fighting. We let one little pair of bantams out on the yard, and they walk around with the ducks, and roost on top of another cage. I love how they like to follow us around the yard , and just be silly.

We have moved the guinea bird babies out of the brooder into a cage in the yard. They are cute little buggers, and have started to make that weird noise all guinea birds make. They still seem a little skittish, but I'm sure if we keep at it they will warm up to us good.

Gardening

2012-06-18T09:22:00.000-07:00

The garden is getting into full swing now, with tomatoes, squash, and zucchini literally flying off the vines. I`m running trying to keep up with putting everything up, thank goodness the hubby enjoys freezing stuff too. Yet the freezer is full already , so we are going to try drying some of it in the dehydrator, and start canning what we can too.

I have been getting creative and trying to find different ways to prepare squash, and have tried stewing them , baking them, grilling them, casseroles.....you name it. My favorite way yet has been to slice them in half longways, sprinkle them with salt, pepper,butter, and garlic powder, bake them until tender, then put cheese on top, and bake until the cheese has melted .

We had quite a few cabbages to get ready all at the same time, so we looked it up, and found out you can freeze them. Just cut them into quarters, blanch in boiling water for about 3 to 5 minutes, then cool in ice water. Put into freezer bags and freeze. Since the leaves are still large, when you go to use them you can even have stuffed cabbage, or just cut them up and have boiled or fried cabbage, or add to soups.

We have cucumbers, okra, corn, and watermelons that should be getting ready to start making soon.

For the love of bunnies

2012-06-06T05:46:00.001-07:00

Baby bunnies have arrived on the scene, and the girls couldn't be happier.

One of my favorite pictures of miss Willow.....

I caught her !

After a while this poor puppy needed a break, so hubby made the dog pen.....

Now they have room to run and be messy, and hide from the child who makes them dress up...

Here's what happens when I give over the care of my flowers to hubby , mums in June (still don't know how he got them to come back from the dead little sticks they were after last fall)

It`s been a while....

2012-06-06T05:31:00.000-07:00

I can`t believe it`s been so long since I`ve posted . It has been really busy around here lately with work and such, but now that it`s officially summertime I should have some free time on hand. The pig is growing like you wouldn`t believe,and has turned into a source of laughs almost every day. I never have seen a pig frolic and play, it`s really cute. The ducks are full grown now and have started to fly some. The hubby hatched out another batch of baby chicks. We acquired some baby guinea birds and are anxiously awaiting their help with the tick situation. The garden is starting to produce now, and the chicken tractor seems to have done its job well....the garden grew faster than I`ve ever seen. We also have been growing cabbage, never tried before, but it has worked great, and we`ve already harvested 2 heads. Still waiting on the tomatoes. The plants are loaded down, but they haven't turned red yet. It`s ok though, because while we`ve been waiting Ive been able to get some fried green tomatoes for my patience.

The hubby got creative and built a dog pen out of cattle panels, so we got a much sturdier and cheaper spot for my doggies than we would've`e gotten if we had bought a dog kennel. Most dog kennels are 10x10 and cost $270 or more. We have about 40x40 for roughly $120.

I now have an official herb garden (thank you dear ) and have planted oregano, parsley, dill, sage and rosemary. I also have some basil that the munchkin started at school. Plans are going to plant more, and mulch the plants already in.

Here`s some of our squash, the very first batch, Willow decided we needed to document this occasion. She`s too young to remember us doing this before so she thinks it has been awesome to eat our own garden food. It was funny to see her run around hunting for squash with a basket. Little squeals of joy every time she`d see one. When the tomatoes start getting ripe this may be a problem. I foresee her in the garden with pieces of tomato everywhere, a bottle of ranch dressing and a big tummy ache. Tomatoes are her passion.

Daddy`s fix everything....

2012-05-04T13:41:00.000-07:00

So after the funfilled day of chasing the piggy, and creating the piles of junk to fortify the pen, Hubby comes home, laughs at my handiwork, but says he`s proud of me for keeping up with the pig. He zipped up the road and came home with hog panels and posts, said he would fix piggy a more siutable home, one he shouldn`t be able to get loose from. Im rejoicing.

I haven`t been feeling good the past two days, so the munchkins have been helping with chores. I think the little one got into it a little too much. :)

The baby chickens are growing fast, and we have started the incubator back up for another batch of chicks.

All in all a good week, although maybe a bit tiring to some.

What was I thinking.......

2012-05-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

We were sitting at the table last night looking at the latest ads for animals and such, when one in particular caught my eye. I show it to hubby, he thinks about it for a minute, then yep, we decide its time for a baby piggie. I call the man, and he`s still got them, so I tell him what time I`ll be there. I run and tell the girls to get in the car we going to get a baby piggie. So here goes the little one hollering and singing all the way to the car about cute little baby piggy wiggy. The man lives in Newberry so its going to be a long hour of hearing the awwws.

We get there right on time, and go to the backyard to see them, and he`s also got baby goats, so the awws start from everybody, but I have to say no to the very adorable baby goat that willow is already chasing around. He just wont fit in the little car since we already are putting the pig in. We get to the pig area, and willow sees them and goes eww, that's what we getting? I tell her yes ma`m, she looks back at the baby goat, looks at me and says "mom your nuts " . Maybe she was right, but I really thought the pig was a good deal.

I had brought a dog crate with me, because I figured a two month old pig couldn't`t be very big, and he should fit nicely inside. We tried to put him in it and immediately he busted out. So theres hubby and the man running after the pig .... After a few minutes , we finally get him settled into the car, and away we go. The pig is now voicing how mad he is, and the girls are complaining about the smell, and its going to be a long ride home.

We get home, and get the piggy settled into a pen, feed him, and go in for the evening thinking we did a good job.

I had to take the oldest child to school this morning, and was headed out to the car, when we see the piggy.....in the flowers.....not in his cage. Somehow I lure him back into the pen, and reinforce where he got out, and still made it to school on time.

I get just a half a mile from the house on the way back home, when guess what runs out in front of the car.....piggy. I slam on the brakes, look back , back the car up, and start calling out 'here piggy'. I'm sure the neighbors got a good laugh at watching me drive by hollering here piggy, with a baby pig running behind the car. So we get home, and lure him back into the pen. I go in with intentions to clean and have some coffee, when I look out the window and piggy is in the garden.

To make it shorter, I finally after 5 total escapes and reinforcing the pen with whatever I could find, have gotten the pig to stay in the pen for a bit. I ran through poison oak, twisted my ankle, got attacked by said piggy, got covered in ticks and unmentionable mess from the pen, but I did it, all by myself. I handled it . :) I just hope hubby isn`t mad at how I had to reinforce it.........

HOMEMADE CHICKEN TRACTOR

2012-05-03T07:41:00.000-07:00

We needed a new home for our little speckled Sussex chickens, so we decided to build them one. Hubby got some 2x4`s , chicken wire, and 2 sheets of tin. He wanted it to measure 4ft by 8ft when he was finished. So after spending a bit of time on it for a couple of evenings we now have a nice, although a bit heavy chicken pen. Here's how we did it :

first we built a 4x8 frame ( take two 2x4`s and cut to size)

then make another one just like that, then trim 2x4`s to height of wire (in our case that was 38 inches) then attach them at corners.......

Ok now, put the other piece we put together first on top and secure, then we put two boards to brace the roof and bottom on (just measure across inside of frame for length) and hubby went ahead and put a board across for a roost.....

next we put a door on one side with a latch and two hinges so it will open down like an oven door

then wrap the chicken wire around and secure to the other 3 sides we used some staples we had in the shed for this part, make sure you pull the wire tight as you go, then hubby screwed the tin to the top of the pen......

and that's it, now we have a whole new chicken pen that cost about $80 to build, just make sure you have an assistant to help with the building if you want to try.....

new babies

2012-04-20T05:29:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning we welcomed our first little baby chicken. I kept looking in the incubator to see if anything was happening, and was starting to worry that it didn`t work. After a little while though we had one to hatch. Willow came running at me full speed (I was doing the laundry) tripped over the dog, and landed at my feet, got up and screamed " we got a ugly chicken " . So after an eyebrow raise and a huh? I follow her to the incubator, and yup we had a very wet pitiful looking chicken sitting there. So I told her he`s not ugly, he just has to dry off and get his balance.....so she dutifully watches over him for about 20 minutes, and I hear an "awwwww, he`s adorable" . I go back to see what shes gushing about and another one had hatched. By the end of the day we had 14 to hatch.
It was getting pretty crowed in the incubator, so we moved the dry ones to the brooder the hubby had got ready for us. Now we are waiting for the rest to hatch. I think if we give them another day or so they should. Theres alot of eggs with holes or cracks, so we know theres still more to come.
I`m thinking we should do this again soon, maybe with bantam eggs.

homemade dish liquid

2012-04-16T07:46:00.003-07:00

We tried our hand at making some dish detergent. This does not make bubbles.....and I found out that bubbles are added to store detergents, and are not even what cleans your dishes. Now at first, this stuff is amazing, it literally cleaned the dishes without scrubbing. After a few days though it separated and just didn`t seem to work as good. Here`s the recipe we used, but note that we will be working to make it better over the next while.

- 1 tbsp. grated ivory soap
- 1 tbsp. washing soda
- 1 tbsp. white vinegar
- 1and 1/2 cups hot water

stir all together until melted, then stir on and off throughout the day. After it gels some, add a few drops of an essential oil, mix well. We used orange oil. Then pour into an old dish soap bottle.

After doing some research, I found that mixing vinegar and soap was the problem, the vinegar clumps the soap, and takes away the cleaning power of the soap. So next time I will try it without the vinegar.

Fun in the sun

2012-04-16T07:07:00.003-07:00

Its official the youngest child and Cletus the rooster are at war. We had to keep them separated this past weekend after he chased the poor child into the house, and she came back out with the fly swatter and threatened to fry him.......

The ducks are growing and growing, and have become instant buddies to the children.

We are starting to be able to tell what breeds of bantams we have now, we had bought chicks of various breeds.

The incubating eggs are now on lock down and should be hatching in the next few days if all works out well. Stay tuned for news on them...

Hubby saved the tomato plants from the weird late frost, and they look amazing.

We found baby birds and had fun playing with them until hubby told us the mom was gonna get us...

And now some pictures........

duckies !

everybody loves green apples.....

the garden so far........

baby birds we found in an old birdhouse

mulberry jam coming soon......

the onion and garlic patch

We love a good auction

2012-04-16T06:43:00.000-07:00

We spent this past Saturday at the auction sale. Had a great time, and found some good deals. This is always a great way to save money and meet new people. The sale has two parts. First is the junk sale, where people can try to sell or buy anything at all. There were old tools, lawnmowers, animal cages, dishes, furniture, etc. for sale. The second part is the small animal sale. This includes chickens, rabbits, other poultry, and eggs.

We took 2 dozen eggs with us, just to see what they would bring, ended at $2 each. The hubby found a whole bunch of animal cages of various sizes for cheap. I got a rabbit hutch with 2 free rabbits in it for $17. Then we went inside to watch the chicken sale......
I got excited, and bought more bantams, and hubby got him a pair of carrier pigeons. What we`re going to do with these very strange looking bantams I don't know. They have really long legs, and boy are they noisy. I just couldn't resit though. I plan on having a pair of a few different breeds of bantams, so that will be my justification.
Sunday I found California baby girl bunnies for sale, so we went after a pair of those . That way we now have the ability to breed our California buck.....I'm thinking these will be great to sell around Easter time next year.

Here's some photos of our new additions.......

(here are some of the bantams that I bought, they`re called old english game. see how big they are compared to the coffee cups ? They are very small , and see how long their legs are ?)

( here are the other two bantams I bought, they are the same breed as above, just a different color )

When we got the bantams settled in , we went to check on them and these (above) had laid an egg. See how it compares to a regular chicken egg ( rhode island red )

This is the little rabbit hutch I found, it needs a little work, but it was too cheap to pass up.....

finally, here are my 2 new baby California girls

Houdini Birds

2012-04-12T10:27:00.000-07:00

So all the baby chickens have been hanging out on the back porch in our little brooders for a few weeks now. We added 14 more babies the other day after a trip to town resulted in finding clearance baby chicks. So now we have speckled Sussex chickens as well. I think I know why they were reduced now...they are little escape artists.
I had opened the door to go out on the porch to do laundry, when I noticed a little baby sitting on the floor. Great I thought, now Ive got to catch him. After chasing him around for a few minutes, then him chasing me for a few, I called for the youngin......get this creature I told her. So she chases him into the corner and has to do some contortionist like moves to reach under and behind some stuff to get him. Finally the little fellow is contained.
I watch over the next few days to find these critters on top of their waterer, and walking along the edges of the brooder like little acrobats.
The hubby had to put chicken wire on top of the bantam babies brooder because they have begun to fly , and were running around the back porch as well. They don't want you to know they can get out though, as they will jump back in as soon as they see you coming.

The bantams are starting to feather out now, and will soon have to move to the great outdoors. The ducks have finally moved to the garage with their little brooder and light ( by the way I really do not recommend that you have ducks anywhere near the house because boy are they funky).

The new baby speckled Sussex chickens.......

My little bantams......

Remember our lovely cats who enjoy nothing more than Tripping folks up? They have now multiplied. We have about 4 new baby kitties........anyone want a baby ? Please? :)

The proud mommy.....

The babies

Did you know......maybe you don`t wanna know

2012-04-06T16:05:00.001-07:00

A few great reasons why growing your own food is a good thing ........

After an afternoon of research on the net I came up with this :

Apparently butter is only yellow because companies add the coloring to it......real butter is whitish.
Vanilla ice cream and such is made from castoreum.....also known as beaver anal gland secretions......shudder...
Beetles,or cochineal (as it is perhaps more commonly known), is used to dye foods red purple and pink, like fruit juices, wine, ect.
cysteine, made of human hair and duck bristles.....used as a dough enhancer for prepackaged breads
methylparaben......ugh....found in wines, soft drinks, and concentrated juices.....it originates from the vagina's of dogs when they are in heat.....
the FDA states that an average of 30 or more insect fragments and 1 or more rodent hairs per 100 grams of peanut butter, a kid staple, is allowed, before any action is taken. An average of 60 or more aphids and/or thrips and/or mites per 100 grams of frozen broccoli is allowed while 5 or more fly eggs and 1 or more maggots per 100 grams of tomato juice is okay......
Brominated vegetable oil, a flame retardant......also found in sports drinks
civet coffee, very expensive, made from the poop of the civet creature....
Worcestershire sauce.....made of dissolved anchovies, bones and all
half of all grocery store meats contain MRSA......

Makes you think, huh?

Homemade lotion

2012-04-04T10:02:00.001-07:00

So I gave it a whirl, and attempted to make lotion. I think it turned out pretty good, not as thick as commercial brands, but it smells like vacation, and seems to do the job. Hubby doesn't like it though, he says it smells like apricots....sigh.

Here's what I did.
I had gotten a shipment of cocoa butter, Shea butter, and ylang ylang essential oil the other day. So I wanted to mess around and see what I could do. I took a spoonful of coconut oil, a similar amount of Shea butter, a smidgen of cocoa butter, and 4 drops of the essential oil. heated it up for a few seconds in the microwave, mixed it up real good. I didn't think it was thick enough so I added some cornstarch until I had the right consistency. I then put it in a jelly jar and let it thicken on up. After you put a bit on, it is a bit greasy, because of the coconut oil, but its kind of nice on your legs, especially after shaving. Like I said it smells wonderful to me. The girls tried it, said it smelled like cake.

Ive been playing with straight coconut oil in my hair also, and it has been a godsend. No more frizz ! :)

After playing with the ingredients, I think a simple shea butter ,cocoa butter mix would be sufficient. Just mix equal parts and warm slowly, mixing well every so often. This is much thicker, more like a body butter.

The past few days.... in pictures

2012-04-04T09:35:00.002-07:00

This past week the ducks have grown by leaps and bounds, and are almost ready for the outside word. It couldn't`t come fast enough for us, these guys really do have an odor issue. Just messy , and funky , yet cute little guys.

The baby bantam chickens have about doubled in size, but still have a bit before they venture out from under the brooder light. This one is my favorite .....

Hubby threw down while I was at work, and planted all the tomato plants......

Hubby came up with a way to make his own hay by cutting strips in the field, letting one strip grow , then cutting it and letting it dry.....

Willow learned that you can`t mess with the hens when daddy lets them out or Cletus may have something to say..... Hubby said she didn't get hurt just scared. Unfortunately she won`t go out in the yard when he lets Cletus out (smile).

The bunnies are getting quite comfortable, and have been enjoying our weeding the flower beds immensely. I`m hoping they wont make the cages fall , they`re getting kind of chubby.

The fruit trees we planted are filling out, and hubby made the yard look like a park.....

All in all its been a wonderfull week, Willow even stopped to smell the roses.....

Incubator

2012-04-04T08:48:00.002-07:00

We have baby chicks due April 17th .....

So it was during another trip to town that we decided to get us an incubator. Got the fancy egg turner to go with it, and all in all it was about $90 . Brought it all home, opened it up...its made out of Styrofoam? Seems like a strange way to make something that has a heater attached to it....but OK. Hubby wanted the fan attachment to go with it since it helps regulate the temperature. So after looking at the store, and such, found we had to order it. While waiting on the fan we saved eggs for a bit from our Rhode island gals. In all we have about 40 eggs ready to go, just had to keep them put up in cartons on the counter (cool, dark place) . After about a week and a half, the fan arrives. Hubby is excited, just a few minutes, and we`ll be ready to go.
OK, the fan came with instructions, but he had to wire this thing into the top of the incubator behind the heater. It took him a minute, but he finally got it. I didn't even go near it, I was sure I`d electrocute myself. I had to go to work, so I didn't need my hair in that kind of condition.

So now we had it all ready to go, set it up ,and it took a day to regulate the temperature to 99.5 degrees. We put about 40 eggs in it, and have been waiting patiently. You have to put water in the bottom under the eggs for humidity, and that's not fun because of the design. You can`t see where the water is going, or when you have enough.

Now we are waiting on day 21 or so , and then we should have some babies. We learned that not all are likely to hatch, and that's kind of sad, but it will be fun to teach the children. We can look every so often at the eggs by candling them, which is where you take a flashlight or candle and hold it up behind the egg to see what the shadow is doing. This also gives you an idea of how many will hatch.

Here`s what everything looks like now, and I will keep everyone up to date as the days go by.....

Stocking up ........

2012-03-31T21:15:00.001-07:00

So there we are at our local Aldi , hubby spies a good deal on a few things that were reduced because they were changing stuff around. We got a few weird looks, a couple raised eyebrows, and the poor cashier looked a little scared. But hey, we got enough diced tomatoes, chilli and spaghetti sauce for like 2 years. At less than half price. It`ll be good to have the tomatoes to supplement what we already are planning to put up. The hubby said at that price it was almost as cheap as the ones we grow and put up ourselves. The chili will be great for quick meals on nights I have to work or lunches on the weekends. The spaghetti sauce, hey as my four year old will contest "mom we eat way to much spaghetti around here".

Lesson is, if you find a good deal, go nuts...you never know when you`ll need 4 cases of chilli. Hubby really, really likes that stuff. Shoulda seen how excited he was.

Another good idea is to shop sales, and use coupons. You can get name brand stuff cheaper than bulk prices (like at sams club ) plus save gas from a trip to sams or costco. For example, we buy all our paper products at a grocery store just a few miles from home. We save our coupons up and wait for them to go on sale, which they do every couple of months. Then you got it, we go nuts again and restock the closet. We end up with plenty to last us until the next sale.

We learned a trick a long time ago about how to eat dinners cheaper too. We go and get a giant thing of hamburger meat, and make 3 or 4 meals off of it. When you buy a 5 lb. package, use a pound each for spaghetti :) , chilli, vegetable soup, ect. It also freezes well for later. Then if you make a big pot of chilli, you can eat at least 3 times off it , just make chilli and baked potatoes one night, then have taco salad the day after. Still got chilli left? Hot dogs...... By this time though your probably tired of chilli experiments. It lasts 5 days in the fridge so you can have chilli related meals every other day,or you can always freeze, and eat later. We have put up lots of little bags of soups and such , works great when you have no time to cook.

Best and cheapest food we make though is beans....yup beans. We take and cook a ham every so often, and freeze little bags of ham. Take a little bag of ham(or the bone) , and add some dry beans (we use great northern most) . Throw into a crock pot add some water and salt, and voila` tommorows dinner is ready. Add some cornbread and greens for a complete meal. You`d be surprised but our kids love this more than any other thing we fix . Its wonderfull in the wintertime, and freezes easily.

facebook connections

2012-03-30T06:42:00.001-07:00

I made a page on facebook for the blog. Thought it would be fun to have a place to talk about 'the mission ' and get a chance to learn from others, and maybe help someone too. Here`s the link. Just please bear with me as I get everything a little more filled out. Feel free to comment away, I enjoy it .

https://www.facebook.com/SustainabilityMission

Deoderant

2012-03-29T10:11:00.002-07:00

We had so much fun making the detergent that we decided to look into other things to make.

So hubby decides we should try deoderant. He`s been reading up on chemicals in food, and in personal products, and the stuff he was telling me made me raise an eyebrow and kinda freak out the more I listened. Apparentley theres a website where you can plug in the name of whatever brand you use of lotion, shampoo, ect. and it tells you whats in it and what the side effects are.....
So of course I get on it , and try it out. Wow . Ok so now Im on a side mission to find a way to make lotions, hair care stuff, ect.

We made this deoderant and tried it out for 2 weeks. We went to work, worked in the yard, and never had a problem. Even the hubby smelled fresh at the end of the day , hehe.

Heres the recipe :

1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup cornstarch
6 or so tblsp coconut oil

mix soda and cornstarch and about 5 tblsp coconut oil, adding more oil until thick .make sure its all well blended, then add a couple drops of essential oils if you want them maybe 2 or 3 drops each of whatever you choose to use. We used tea tree oil and peppermint oil.
Put in an 8 oz jar or container ( i used a pint canning jar ), and apply with fingers.

This stuff is so safe you could probably eat it......however I wouldnt suggest it. Yes I did , I tasted it, it smelled like candy, and looked ......ok so it tastes like cornstarch......bleck..

Works wonderfull though.

I got the coconut oil from walmart, and ordered the oils from amazon. I found out that if you get virgin coconut oil, it will smell like coconut, the kind at walmart dosent have a scent. We may just have coconut deoderant for next time. Yet we`ve hardly made a dent in this batch. This homemade stuff looks like it will last and last and last....... hubby says its a good thing :)

Laundry detergent experiment

2012-03-29T09:52:00.002-07:00

So we decided to try our hand at making something homemade.......

This stuff is awesome, makes clothes smell light and fresh ( not like an air freshener ), and it works just as good if not better than name brand stuff. All the ingredients were found at walmart.

Heres the recipe we used.....
*you can use any soap that isnt moisturizing like ivory, castille or such

Powdered detergent :

1 bar of ivory soap grated
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda

mix all in a small bucket ( I reused an ice cream bucket )
use about 1/4 cup per load for top loading washers, and about 1 heaping spoonfull for front loading washers

Liquid detergent :

( a few more minutes to make, but it stretches it farther )

1 cup grated ivory soap
2 cups borax 2 cups washing soda
2 cups borax

melt grated soap in just enough water to cover it on low heat, stirring every so often. Pour into a large bucket ( 5 gal ) add borax and washing soda. Stir in 3 to 4 gallons water. Let sit for a day to gel. Stir well, then pour into old laundry detergent jugs, or use straight from the bucket. Stir or shake if using jugs before each use. Use about a 1/2 cup or so for each load.

* this wont be as thick as regular detergent, but I havent had any problems at all, and it`ll last forever. Since you dont have to use as much, it will be a while before you need to make more.

Planting time is here !

2012-03-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

Spring time, time to start planting anything and everything.

We just got done putting in a few fruit trees. We put them in the back corner of the yard near the neighbors cow fence. Two of each apple, pear, peach, and plum trees. It didnt take as long as we thought it would to plant them, and it should only be a few years until we are able to harvest. It will be wonderfull to have our own and not have to buy them. As long as I can keep the kids in control that is. The little one has a serious apple addiction. :)

The hubby spent the past few evenings while I was at work planting onions and tomatoes. Im thinking 30 tomato plants is alot, but we`ll see. Maybe we can sell what wont fit in the freezer.....

Next up is a long list of groceries he`s got in mind to plant, Okra, potatoes, squash, ect. I have a feeling a good bit of my free time will be spent working up all this food, but I enjoy it.

I`m excited to see how moving the chicken tractor around the garden before we plant is going to work. So far the soil is darker, and fluffier seeming than the parts we didnt let the chickens on, so we`ll see.

One thing to note though.......apparentley its a bad idea to let the chickens out to roam while your planting. The hubby said he had to chase down a few onion stealing chickens the other evening. Wish I couldve seen that one .