February 27, 2022 by Mae Lynn

Recycling

The pictures above are a great example of what recycling looks like on a homestead. We try to use what we have or what has been given to us for projects. We have been wanting to start an aquaponic system (raising vegetables/herbs over a tank of fish) for many years. Well my parents recently remodeled one of their cabins in Warm Springs GA and removed that lovely heatr-shaped jacuzzi tub. My dad asked if we wanted it to raise fish. Absolutely was our answer!!! The plumbing was broken during the removal and 4 hour drive so Adam and the kids worked on fixing the plumbing first. It was so fun hearing their excitement over getting creative with little hang-ups, like plugging the drains (Kathryn melted a candle and poured the wax into the drain hole). Eventually the “love-boat,” as we call it, will be a breeding tank for the fish. But we plan to raise the first set of fingerlings in it first before we start the aquaponics aspect.
The goats needed a hay trough for the pasture. Adam and Graham have a wood lathe on a very large stand that took up quite a bit of space in the shed. Adam figured the lathe can be attached to any surface with clamps so he and the kids built a hay trough out of the wood lathe stand. We keep a trash can full of wood scraps and that is what they used to finish out the trough. It is so rewarding finishing projects like this using “recycled” products; not to mention how much money it saves!

Adam and the kids built a beautiful milking stand in December. We aren’t milking Reba yet but the milking stand comes in handy for checking the goats and trimming their hooves.

We took turns trimming because Buzz was very agitated!

Here are some more pics on how we are working to prep the gardens for Spring.

Adam built this small garden bed from wood scraps. He planted mesclin mix (our favorite salad mix) over a soil mix of mulch (we have a mulcher) and rabbit manure.

February 25, 2022 by Mae Lynn

Preparing for Spring

This is a typical dinner these days as we try to use up the last of the winter garden. The arugula is bolting, the spinach is almost gone, the cabbage is ready for harvest, and the kale, mustard and collards have stopped growing new leaves. We try to avoid the grocery store as much as possible, although we buy fruit here and there. One of Adam and my favorite dinners is to pick a variety of greens from the garden along with herbs and garlic chives and make a delicious, not very colorful, salad. You never know what your next bite will taste like. It might have a bit of kick from a mustard green or a little bitter from arugula or a lovely sweet crunch from cabbage leaves. This week our salad was topped with grilled rabbit.

As we look toward spring, we are trying to use what we have for fertilizer and soil. The kids muck out the goat stable weekly, but today they scraped to the bottom for a complete clean out. We now have a beautiful pile of hay fertilizer for spring garden beds. We are also trying to make sure the stable is ready for Reba’s kidding. She is about 40 days out.

The finished product with hay and pine shavings

This was as they were digging to the bottom

February 21, 2022 by Mae Lynn

Love and Fire

Nature study this week looked a little different than normal but the kids had a blast, as usual. We made candles and studied St. Valentine and the history behind Valentines Day. They tried out 2 boats in the pond; one made by Graham (the one he finished while listening to the audiobook earlier this week) and the other by his friend. It was quite cold and those boys were in the pond up to their knees.

February 19, 2022 by Mae Lynn

A little fun and potatoes

Yesterday MJ injured her knee at nature study and I had promised the kids I would take them to the Zoo. So the girls went to a friends house after nature study and rested and I took the boys. We had so much fun!
Today we planted potatoes and onions at our house and at the Ziglar’s house in Baker. It was a beautiful day!

Adam had worship band practice this week so the kids and I listened to an audiobook and put puzzles together. It was such a lovely evening of quiet and relaxation! Graham worked on finishing his boat as well.

February 14, 2022 by Mae Lynn

Pass the honey, please

Last Spring, we were blessed with a hive of bees. This is our second time attempting to keep bees but we still feel like we don’t know what we are doing! We have 2 hives that are active and happy and we are hoping to sling honey this summer.

Yesterday we had a very brief window of sunshine for Adam to check on the bees. We were pleased to see full frames but we did find a few give beetles. He will head back out today to treat those. The good news is that poultry are great to have with bees because they will eat the beetles before the hive is overrun with them.

February 12, 2022 by Mae Lynn

Happy poultry, silly goats

The weekends are set aside for work/management of the property. Weekends are my favorite time because we work together on the homestead as a family and make so many wonderful mementoes; even in the midst of hard work. Last weekend we processed animals; this weekend it was time to move animals around again. We have less than an acre of property, so it is important to rotate pastures and animals every so often. We moved the chickens to the front yard in October to help fertilize and till up the yard to prepare for a new spring garden. We moved them back to pasture today, which is always quite comical. We have to remove the temporary fence, catch all the chickens, and literally push the chicken tractor through the yard. There is a fig tree blocking the way between the pond and path so I pull with everything I have to hold the branches back while Adam drives the mower and the kids push the chicken tractor from behind. We don’t have a tractor and our lawn mower is quite old and not really strong enough to pull the chicken tractor. It takes all-hands-on-deck so there aren’t many pictures but I’m sure our neighbors enjoy the show. Then we put the temporary fencing back up in the new spot while making sure the goats stay on one side and the poultry on the other. There is never a dull moment around here! The turkeys, guineas, bantams, Silkies and chickens are now all together with the bees while we plant a cover crop on the other pastures in preparation for spring. It’s fun to watch the “pecking order” as they all figure out who is in charge. It will be interesting to see if Spartacus (our Rhode Island Red rooster) or Leroy (our tom turkey) become Alpha.
And of course, Reba and Buzz wanted in on the action. Goats will do anything to find more grain so it was quite fun to keep them out of the chicken feed while all of this was going on. Goats make life more fun and adventurous!

Also, Adam trimmed the grapevine after breakfast. Kathryn was inspired to make a wreath and it is now hanging on our front gate. It is so beautiful and I’m so proud of her using what we have to create beauty for our homestead.

February 12, 2022 by Mae Lynn

Karick Lake

We had such a lovely day for nature study yesterday. We are so blessed to live so close to such beautiful state parks. Blackwater State Forest does a great job maintaining their lakes and camping areas and winter is a beautiful time to take advantage of their trails. This Friday, we learned about evergreens, explored Karick Lake and the kids journaled what they learned. I’m so thankful for this group of families!

February 11, 2022 by Mae Lynn

Cold mornings, beautiful days and no heater

Cherry Laurel on the left, Golden Club on the right

We have been out of the habit of a neighborhood walk for a few months so this week was the time to get back into beautiful habits! After lunch Tuesday we ventured to our neighborhood creek. The kids love to explore the swampy area and they were excited to see Golden Club. Golden Club is typically found submerged in water so that tells you how wet and muddy it was where we were exploring. We also found a cherry laurel with new buds, parchment lichen, elderberry and lots and lots of mud. We stopped and talked to one of our favorite neighbors and it was lovely to be outside when the sun was out and the temperature was greater than 50 degrees.

You can always find her pondering in her own world!

Our heat stopped working the evening before the temperature dropped to 26 degrees. We all bundled up for a cold night. After 3 days, I think they have fixed the problem. We also got our washing machine fixed after 3 weeks of not having a working one. I’m so thankful for wonderful Mama’s (I’m looking at you Kathryn Ziglar and Linda Tuggle) for doing SO many loads of wash for me these past few weeks!

Studying in front of our only heat source on a morning when it was 26 outside

We found a new little nature spot less than 5 min from our home. I had heard our neighbors talk about dropping in their boats at Yellow River but I never knew there was a beautiful little park there as well! We explored last week and then yesterday again with some friends.

February 8, 2022 by Mae Lynn

Oooh La La!

My mom and Aunt Carole had been planning a Valentine’s Tea for the three girl cousins. The date happened to fall on the same day that we processed animals. These are some well-rounded girls; processing animals in the morning and attending a tea party in the afternoon. Thank God for showers and washing machines!
The girls arrived with my mom to Aunt Carole’s and while the adult ladies prepared the table for tea and snacks, the young girls made valentine cards. The table was set a beautiful array of delicious food: chocolate covered strawberries, blueberry scones, a vegetable tray, snickerdoodles, and pimento cheese and crackers. The girls’ favorite tea is Glazed Lemon Loaf and they also had a Mint Medley tea.
They played a conversation starter game and a game called “hide the teapot.” Whoever found the teapot yells “Voila!” My mom read Fancy Nancy Tea Parties and each girl had a role to play: when my mom read the word “Fancy,” Madelynn had to stand up, twirl around and sit back down; when my mom read a word in French, Ashli had to say “Oooh La La!”; when my mom read “tea,” Kathryn had to jump up out of her chair and then sit back down. The girls were out of breath and dizzy by the end of the book!
While the adults cleaned up, the girls went outside to play and run around. They made so many memories and it has been fun to hear their giggles while retelling their adventures from that day.

February 7, 2022 by Mae Lynn

Bah Humbug

Last year, our generous neighbor gave us 2 Narrangasett Turkeys; one male and one female. He told us to watch either one and if there were signs of a crop defect to let him know. Within a few weeks, we noticed the male’s crop was rather large and protruding. So our neighbor gave us another male. Our desire is to continue the breed, as they are somewhat rare, and so we named the non-defect-male Leroy and the female LouAnn. We knew our plan was to process the other male so we named him TG for Thanksgiving. In October, we noticed TG would not be quite ready for Thanksgiving so we renamed him Scrooge. He still wasn’t quite ready by Christmas but today was his day.
This was our first time processing a turkey, and a rather large one at that. It was a blustery 35 degrees so we were all quite cold! However, the benefit to processing animals in the winter is there are no insects to bother us or the meat. Kathryn, Graham, Adam and I traipsed out to the turkey yard to catch him; we had been discussing the best way to butcher him without harming ourselves in the process. It was fairly seamless and the processing was much easier than a chicken. The turkey cavity is so large, it was much easier to pull out the innards and we learned a few lessons regarding dunking and plucking. All in all, it was a good experience.

Adam accidentally sprayed himself in the face with very cold water

We also processed 3 rabbits today. Mama Mopsy had bunnies 10 days ago and Mama Flopsy started pulling hair out today so we are expecting bunnies in the next 2 days. We had 3 bunnies from Mama Flopsy’s last litter that needed to be processed today. It has been awhile since I personally processed a rabbit so it was a good review for me. Graham learned how to process for the first time today. It was a successful day!

After processing in the morning ( and cleaning up), Adam and I clipped Leroy and LouAnn’s wings so they could start enjoying fresh pasture. We really should start our own YouTube channel to encourage other homesteaders what life really looks like; it’s quite comical sometimes. The wings are clipped and they are happy foraging for bugs with the goats, bantams, silkies and guineas.

Adam is smoking the turkey today; he just made a bourbon, maple glaze to pour over before he moves the turkey to the oven for a few hours. We are so thankful to raise these beautiful animals so we can eat delicious meat and appreciate the process of raising our meat. Processing day is very sobering and we don’t take the lives of these animals lightly. We are grateful and appreciative of the life they lived.