Wednesday March 9th 2011
Just to give you all an idea for what is planned for this year we are going to be putting one beef in the freezer pretty soon, along with another Lamb. Chickens will be going in the freezer this fall a long with another beef and lamb. The reason that there is going to be 2 beefs done in one year is because the first one is going to be a Holstein which is not all the big around 750-800lbs mark and not really sure how much meat she will give us. We want to be able to put up about 40 quarts of spaghetti sauce,80-90 quarts of tomato juice, 25 pints of salsa, 15 pints of crushed tomatoes, 12 quarts tomato sauce and that's about it for the tomatoes products. We need about 50 quarts of greens put up which we may not have to many of those as we have many still in the pantry. 15 bushels of taters in the cellar. We gonna put up at least 100lbs of onions. Freezer needs about 10 pounds of collard greens and around 20lbs of baby spinach. Now I don't like cooked spinach but I like it as a fresh salad so gots to have it. We are growing carrots this year not sure how many will be put up but we should have some. Want to put up about 10 pints of homemade peanut butter, if the garden yields more then that then we will just have to see how many we butter and how many we just keep to eat. We need 30 quarts of sour kraut, and about 30 head of cabbage to keep over the next winter. Want to can about 30 quarts of corn and freeze about 30 dozen ears of corn. Gonna freeze around 10 pints of shell peas and around 10 quarts of snap peas I don't like shell peas but I do snap peas so the pints will feed just Holly and the kids but takes a quart of snap peas to feed us all. Going to try to put up 10-15 head of cauliflower if we can, it is not one of the best keeping crops but gonna give it a whirl anyway. Gonna put up how ever much popcorn grows from a row. Next year we will be know if we need more or less. Freezing about 15 quarts or so of broccoli. Holly is going make a bunch of dill and sweet pickles not sure how many yet she has not let me know. Holly going to grow some watermelon for fresh eating this year. We have tried for a couple of years and have not had any luck so she is making it more of a pet project of hers this year. Also will be doing several pints of pickled peppers and lot of dry herbs.
Not only will we be putting this much away to do us the year but also will be harvesting for fresh food and for seeds to since almost all of the seeds that we are planting are open pollinated. This is why we are going to use raised beds for better yields and also use a little of what is known as the square foot gardening technique. Which is why we have almost 2000 square foot of bed space. 2000 plants is a lot.
On top of what comes from the garden we will be dry apples canning apple pie and peaches and maybe even trying to cellar some apples they way there did back in the day. Plus some apple butter, strawberry preserves and a little grape jelly. So going to be lots to do this year on the homestead. Can't wait for every thing to fall into place and know the fact that it will rather soon is such a great feeling. To us there is something about growing the food the you provide for your family over buying that food. In some strange way it seems that you are providing more when you grow it as compared to buying it.
That is what is going to the house hold food, I have 2 acres of oats out right now that will be getting threshed hopefully in early June. Then the ground will be getting put in silage corn. I will also be doing about 2 acres of picking corn. I only need about 200 bushels of picked corn for grain feed so depending on how those 2 acres
March 19 2011
Spent about an hour last night chasing cows. Would put them up then they would go right through the fence again. I finally did get the fence hot and that has stopped them. They see the oat field that is right beside of their pasture and well think that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. At least in this case they are right. LOLgotts time. Not long till I will be breaking ground for corn to go in. Shh like I have said so much to do.
March 21 2011
March 24 2011
The Earth bag process is alot easier than I ever really imagined. I was very worried about the physical labor part of it. I'm a small woman and those filled bags ARE NOT light! But all in all it was actually pretty easy. Just really time consuming when you go at it alone. I added some pictures of our kids and myself filling the truck with the clay dirt, then attempting a few bags before we headed to the garden spot. We found that it is sooo much easier to fill the truck and drive to the garden spot, then fill each bag as close to where it is going to be placed as possible.
April 10 2011
Our seeds have started to come up in the pots. Our pea have also stuck their head up through the ground in the garden which is great. Just wish that we were having a little bit more of normal temps for right now as they like it kind cool as they start growing. Going to have to really work on getting the rest of the beds done as it will not be long at all now till we need to have the whole garden planted. Things are still coming together and looking like this maybe a good year for us all we can do is pray and have faith.
May 7 2011
Our seeds have been destroyed, dug up, and squashed by our dogs and I also believe rats have had a small part in it. We think that the earth bags are prolly out of the question now. Too late in the year, and not enough time to get it done . Good possibility we may not even have a damn garden if it doesn't stop raining for a little while. anyways, here are the pics I had promised, the two beds we actually did get done.
May 8th 2011
Oats in the back field are doing great they are about waist high and loaded with grain. Can't wait till time to reap and thrash them. The side field is starting to come along ok but not as good, I hope that over the course of the rest of this month that they pick up in their growth rate. Got ahold of another 1.75 acres for corn ground this year which should give me about 3 acres of corn and that should be enough to do me. I am going to work with the state equine feed specialist this year at growing corn silage for horses and if it works out I will be able to cut the horses hay needs in half. Which will be nice since we don't have enough land to make our own hay on. I have contracted for a 160 4x4 rolls of hay this year which will be all that I will need.
Since the weather has cut our time done on the earthbag raised beds I will be plowing up the rest of what we need for a garden and if it don't rain today then I should be able get the ground work tomorrow or at least that is the goal. I will just have to split it up some. The tater patch is going to be on the other end of the farm in front of my Grandmothers house. Things looking like they are coming together rather well just have to see how they pan out over the rest of this month.
May 14th 2011
We got almost all of our mator and half the cabbage plants out this past week. We used lumber for the raised beds and it has worked really well so far. Not the best looking thing since we are in a bit of a hurry but it is working. Holly's bother Mike and his family are joining up with us on the garden which is nice. Always good when family can kick it together and do good things. We are not going to be growing as much as we wanted. We are just growing the things that we really eat the most of as it is to late to get some things out. Sucks yes but there is all ways next year and if there is no next year then I don't need to worry about it anyway.
June 1st 2011
Well we have got more of the garden out and between today and tomorrow should have the whole thing out. What we have in the ground right now is doing really well. The raised bed work seem to be paying off really well. I have gotten started working the corn ground. The team is not wild about the turning plow so using the chisel plow to get it ready and should be planting next week. I know that it is bad late but at least I will have some and since most of it will be going to silage I think that we will be ok. The oats are doing really good and just about ready to harvest. The back field is almost head high on me and I am 6 ft tall and have a great big head on them. The side field is not as good but still going to turn of a good bit of grain for us. Got our first bit of hay down and had my Dad roll it. got 3.5 rolls of it which is not really that great for almost a 2 acre field but at least it is some feed ya know. Now looking head for the rest of this year and next Dad is going to start cutting hay Friday and I hope to end up with about a 100 rolls of hay from the spring cutting. That is a good start on the 160 that we need. Also we are going to be working on getting one field done in clover so that I start cutting in next year with the team. It is around 7 acres of land and if I can get it in clover then it may give me all the hay that I will need. Also we are going to be clearing 2 fields. One is about 2-3 acres and has not been a field since about 1920 when it was used for a pasture and the other is about 2 acres and was last cleared in about 1970 and was last planted in corn in the late 40's or early 50' so it is going to be a lot of work but it will really be worth it.
June 8th 2011
We have gotten more garden out but due to a few issues we still got one more days work to finish getting out tators and some green beans. All of our plants are doing great. We are very very happy with the raised beds and even though they are a lot of hard work to get built and started I still think that with our soil and other issues that they are the best thing that we could do for the garden.
I have just about got my corn ground ready to roll. Been in it a lot with the team and my disc. That is since my team is not yet broke to the turning plow and really throw a fit about which is something that I soon shall remedy. Only putting out 1.5 acres this year just to get a feel of how silage will go and how much yield we get out of the open pollinated Hickory Kane corn. Plus it will give me all the seed that I need to plant what I want to next year. Things may be looking up on one front as I may be getting ready to get a little more hay land not sure yet but it may happen. Lets pray that it does. If I get any more hay land I am going to do my best to get red clover growing in it thick and heavy. Alfalfa don't grow really well around here with out a lot of soil upgrading work. It takes less input into our soil to grow clover as it comes up rather easy on its own around here so a little lime and some P and K and should have to cut hay at least three time a year, for a total yield of about 6 tons to the acre. That will be nice compared to about a ton what what is in the fields right now. Being able to mow all of the hay that I need with out having to go all over hell and creation will be really nice in both getting us to be more self sufficient and in keeping more of the money that we have here at home going to other things then hay.
June 17, 2011
June 21st 2011
Ok guys dont laugh at me but I found something on the farm the other day that I never knew was here. 5 ACRES of land. yeah awesome right. The best part is that it is flat land. Here where we live it is hard to find flat land 40% of all the land around these parts are so steep the a goat has trouble walking on it little lone trying to do anything farming wise other then pasture with it. I new that I owned part of that ridge but I thought that it may have been 2 acres at the utmost but turns out it is 5 acres. I found out by measuring the joining land on the ridge so that I may attempt to purchase it. Thought that way I may have about 3-4 acres over there that I could turn into a field, boy was I happy when I found out that the other guy own 3.5 acres roughly over there. The part I own is larger then his. I had to measure it twice to make sure that I was right. I dont think it will be hard to clear up either cut cut the fire wood off at about hip high and then push stumps up with a dozer or pull them with a back hoe. Either way can be done without removing the top soil. If I can get all of it that will one awsome field of clover and make nearly all if not all the hay that I need. Even better is that I dont ever have to worry about loosing the land to some else after I get up and really producing for me, like I have with other fields. Things looking like they are really coming together here on the homestead and I am looking so forward to what I hope is at least another 30-45 years of working this homestead me and the wife together, before one or all of our children take over. This farm has now been in our direct family for over 60 years now and I know that it will be for at least another 60 and I figure that it will be for well over the next 100-150 years.
June 22 2011
Well James and I got the corn planted yesterday. Boy it was a job. Emmy lost her mind for some reason forgot that she even had a clue of how to work. The corn rows are so crooked that it is not even funny. Even with me leading her and James running the planter. On top of the horse being retarded the ground was still just a little wet and it had harden up some so it didn't want to cover real good so we went back over it with a hoe and covered it up. We got enough out though that we should have a few eating ears, it will show me how the type of corn I got grows around here and have enough seed to plant all the land I want to next year. But on a good note the garden is doing great and I mean really great so yeah I happy bout that. The weather has not been normal this year so it is really hard to do much like we always would.
July 03 2011
Well we lost the oats this year. Some kinda mold or fungus got on them there for I am not willing to feed it to my animals but oh well that is the way things go from time to time. The garden is doing really well. We will be harvest our cabbage this week and making sour kraut. Will not be long till we are doing the maters too. I am glad that it has took off the way that it has been really really nice. I am doing a lot of planing for the farm right now. Thinking still about clear cutting the land on the ridge to make a new field. I know I would if my neighbor will sell the 3 acres of it that he owns to me cause that would give me between 8 and 9 acres over there that would be mine and would not have to worry about loosing the lease on it. Was going to cut it for fire wood then push out just the stumps with a dozer but a friend of mine told me about a logging company that does clear cuts where they grind everything right there on site for chip wood. Even grind the stumps also. The way I could make the money to buy the little piece that I dont own and enough to sow the field in good clover plus maybe have enough to get some stuff that we will need for the house. I mean only getting like 20-25 a ton for the wood is not the greatest when you figure that much fire wood would be worth almost 300 bucks but I have no expense in it and I dont have to wait till the middle of winter to get rid of the wood. I may still have it done even if he don't sell to me. Would cut it down to only like 5-6 acres but still that much farm able land here in my area is a whole lot even more so since it is flat. and 5 acres of clover hay should give me about 100 4x4 rolls of hay or 30 tons put up in the mow. That my friends is almost 65% of the hay that I will need in a years time. Right now that would cost me about 1500 bucks so it would be worth having that area cleared and then do my own hay while still coming out to the good on the money end even with the sowing cost. Yip just talked myself right into it. Think that I will be calling the logging company on Tuesday to get them out and let them have a look and let me know if the will do it or not. I am not a big fan of clear cutting and never have been but since this will increase the productivity of my farm I think it will be ok. Now if I could not farm the land that was going to be cut then there is no way in hell that you could get me to clear cut it or even have it logged off for the most part unless I done the logging myself.
My great Uncle who owns the other side of family farm has a small grown up 1 maybe 2 acre field done in the holler and I may ask him if I can clean it back up and use it for corn. Cause next year good lord willing and no stupid horse tricks I can put corn where I did this year and that will give me 2 acres then the acres behind my house and the 2 beside of it also. That would give me 5 acres which if I dont do silage at all would give me at least the grain that I need to feed my live stock. If I do silage for the cows and sheep then it would give me most of the grain for the horses. Just thinking about a lot of different stuff right now and trying to figure out how to make it all work. Oh yeah for got to tell the good news I found us a hay loader that needs a little work but is not in god awful shape that I will be picking up at the first of next month and I found it for only 300 bucks plus having to drive 6 hours and get it but still that is not bad. Then the only 2 things that I will lack is a new mower and rake, which I can get in the spring if I have to down at the Scottsville sale. Really hope that I dont have to wait that long though.
I have also made up my mind about the new barn. It is going to be 32x70 part of the loft is going to be an apartment some time in the future and the rest of it will be a hay loft. 12x70 of it is a hay mow then the rest is alley and some stalls. This way I can keep my shed that I have now for equipment. Mom and my Nanny are talking about cleaning out the other old barn so it can get tore down before it falls down and that is where I am going to be putting me a small shop. I need some place that I can do my wood working and to work on my equipment out of the rain and cold that has the all wonderful electric to it. Nothing to big for a shop just a 20x30 building with a bench a lots of floor space to do wood working. And it will for sure have a hoist in it. I am so tired of having to jack and block stuff up that it is not even funny. It will be built just like a pole barn but with double wall kinda thing. Lumber covering the outside of the post and the inside of the post with a vapor barrier. It may not be the easiest thing to heat up but at least I can keep it above freezing when I am in there working in the winter. Hell if money will permit by that time I may fill the void with some insulation. Most likely will be sawdust and lime but still something. Well that is it for now yall have a good Independence day and stay safe.
JULY 21, 2011
finally accomplished some canning this week. tried my hand @ some spaghetti sauce and it looks like it turned out great! I also got some salsa canned up and a few peppers. Tomatoes are coming on like crazy now and it looks like next week I will be doing tomato juice and more spaghetti sauce. Peppers are coming on and cucumbers as well. Im excited about pickling. This is my first year canning alone with Chris working on the house and all. & Im actually enjoying it. Last few years I have only helped due to my work schedule, but this year is all on me. Im very ok with that fact. I would enjoy some help, but I feel its my place as a woman, wife, and mother. so going at it alone is NO problem. I was supposed to have some help, but that didnt work out. So this has been and I feel will continue to be a BIG learning experience. AND I AM SO ENJOYING IT!!! But I must say I will be ready for my youngins to be home. I promised my mini me some canning lessons. ;)
THESE ARE A FEW OF THE QUARTS OF SPAGHETTI SAUCE I DONE. (THE RECIPE IF YOUR INTERESTED,) WILL BE PUT UP ON THE RECIPE PAGE SOON. BUT TO BE HONEST, THE CANNING PROCESS IS THE ONLY THING YOU REALLY NEED TO LEARN. THE MAKING OF THE SAUCE IS MOSTLY DONE BY TASTE. BUT DONT FORGET THE BASIL!! YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHAT SPAGHETTI SAUCE IS WITHOUT BASIL!!
I hope I do not offend anyone when I say this but I just cant help it. Young lady, reading your posts, you remind me of my late wife. You two are so different in so many ways, you and your husband I mean, but wanting the same life I think makes you work as a couple. You are colorful, happy,yo always mention Gods name in most of your posts. always looking for the good in things I guess is what im trying to say. Thats how my wife was. Good woman. Your ol man also reminds me of me at a younger age. Determined,hard working, honest and speaks his mind. i think back to when we were young and in love, trying to make it in this world. i guess thats part of why I follow yall. I find myself praying for yall and wishing hard that you make it. its almost like looking into a mirror some timesat the same people but different faces. Thank you for letting me be apart of this. I havent found another page like yalls.
ReplyDeleteSir I wished I actually knew you. I grew up under my Pappy's feet (grandfather) since my real father is about a waist unfurntitly but 90% of my friends are over the age of 50 now and I am slow running out of them. I am glad that you enjoy our blog we are trying our best to put it out there in the most honest way we can. Most other just show a little garden or an attempt at going with solar and stuff like that but the truth is that homsteading is a lot more then just that and it takes a family working together or it will never happen. I want to send you a personal invite at this time. We are going to try to have a big 4th of july shin dig. If you are any where close enough to come we would love to have you company. Further more you are always welcome here on the blog and you remain in our hearts and prays also.
ReplyDeleteNo one was offended here sir. and I thank you for such a Warm compliment. And I am very glad that I can help you remember the times you had with your wife. In a way You have also allowed us to be part of your life. And we are blessed to know you. You are welcome here any time.
ReplyDeletelooks great guys!
ReplyDeletegeez, glad I read this stuff....other wise I wouldnt have known we lost the oats...thanks dear. I guess thats what I get for being away from home 64hrs at a time every wknd ......
ReplyDeletedont forget you have a momma that has canned for years
ReplyDelete