Homestead happenings! Kinda Lengthy, you may need two cups of coffee.

 Hello all!  I haven't forgotten you.  It's just the time of year.  Things are picking up on our tiny homestead.  

The chickens are giving us about 8-12 eggs PER DAY.  We've actually already sold some, frozen some, and given some to family.  Not sure, yet, what we're going to do if one of the hens decides to go broody and sit on eggs.  We don't really need new chickens at the moment.

Finally!  We have Beets, Red Kale, Snow peas(yay), Spinach, and Turnips coming up in the garden.  I didn't think those seeds were ever going to sprout!  Still waiting on Lettuce.  A friend shared some of her cilantro plants (Thank you K!).  4 cilantro plants, and they are doing well after being moved.  

We've had crazy amounts of rain, but recently have had some dry spring like days and so I've been out in the yard playing!  Playing as in cleaning out beds, cleaning up the yard( if gets kind of a mess over the winter), and putting in the structures for the garden i.e. trellises, fencing, cages, etc.  One of the things I've put up is a wind tunnel.  I'm trying something different with my tomatoes.  From what I'm told, tomatoes don't like to get watered from the top.  I've dealt with blight for the past few years, so I'm thinking this might help.  It will protect the plants from the rain, but still allow them sunshine.  We'll see.  It does mean I will need to water them by hand.

As for my seedlings, I have broccoli, red cabbage, green cabbage, parsley, chamomile, lavender, and tomatoes coming up.  I started some of these, especially the tomatoes the last week of  DECEMBER!  Again, this is to, hopefully, help with a large harvest of tomatoes.  I'm hopeful having older tomatoes plants set out will enable them to produce a crop before heat, bugs, or blight can get them.  I would love to have enough tomatoes to can ALL of our tomato products for the year.  These are just a sampling of a few.

So my canning/ preserving wish list goes

1 Tomatoes:  you name it!

2 Red cabbage: Spiced red cabbage ( so good!)

3 Green cabbage- Sauerkraut,  Hubby loves Brats or sausage with kraut

4 Lavender- Essential oil

5 Parsley spice

6 Chamomile- Tea

7 Broccoli- freeze

8 Spinach- canning in small jars to add to soups, quiches, etc.

9 Beets- Beet Jelly (tastes like a fruit jelly)

10 Turnips- roasting

11 Snow peas-  Freeze what I don't eat standing in the garden lol

I also intend to plant:  Hot and mild peppers, Zucchini, Butternut, green beans, black beans, lima beans, black eye peas, corn.  I have strawberries, blueberries, and black berries that are perennial and I hope will produce well.  Well see.  My goal is to use every canning jar I own for putting the garden away.  While I would love to be able to grow everything we eat, that's just not possible where we live, but, as much as I can;  If we use it, I would like to produce it.  The more I grow the less I have to spend on Groceries at the store, the fresher it is, and the less it costs over all.  

As for spending less at the store, all the craziness going on these days, has strengthened my desire to support local small businesses.  Like with my garden, I can't get all of my groceries at small businesses, but I can get some.  With some creative thinking I can get more.  

We have a local farmers market/grow house about a mile and a half up from our home.  I've bought seedlings there in the past and they are convenient to grab a forgotten item, but they weren't as cheap as the big box stores.  I was in there the other day to grab a pound of carrots and had the idea.  I asked an employee if it was possible to buy more of an item and get a discount.  He said I could buy a case of carrots; 48lbs for $31.  That made the per pound price .65 which is actually good.  Now we do use a lot of carrots; with roasting and all, but 48 lbs.!  I pulled the trigger and ordered a case.  I took 26 lbs. and promptly put them in the fridge.  We used 3 lbs. that night with dinner, and I canned the last 19 lbs. for the second part of my experiment; would canning store bought fresh carrots save me over store bought canned carrots.  

From the 19 lbs. of carrots I got 26 pints of canned carrots.  Each pint holds 8 oz. of carrots.  FYI one 15 oz. can at the store holds 7oz of carrots.   The canned carrots at Aldi cost .55 a can I believe.  I looked at Kroger and Walmart and it's way more.  These that I canned cost me .48 a jar.  Had I needed to count the price of the lid, it would have been .60.  In this case I didn't have to count the cost of the lid. Had I needed to count the cost of the lid, I think I still would consider this for these reasons:

1.  Less trash.  Because everything is in reusable jars, means fewer trash bags.  

2.  Better quality product.

3.  More volume of food in each jar compared to the store bought canned

4.  One thing I did notice during the pandemic buying earlier last year was that canned food was in limited supply, while fresh wasn't and seemed to be priced well.  Part of that was and still is a tin/aluminum shortage, in addition to the panic end of the world "I used to tease people who stocked up until I needed to stock up" buying.  By knowing I can buy fresh and can it myself at a price comparable to canned, I need not compete with others buying canned food.  

5.  I don't or won't need a can opener, or deal with a pop top.

I'm sure there are other reasons.  As I picked up my 48 lb. case of carrots, I asked the owner if it's possible to do this with other items as well like potatoes, onions, etc.  He said it should be possible on just about everything they sell.  Now I can't can carrots every time I need to replenish my fresh carrots supply, but I had the idea to go in with some friends of mine, to buy in bulk from a local business and each pay the per pound price for just what they want/need.  That way we each can help a small business during this time, stay in budget, and get what we need.  So Guuuuuuuurls!  What do you think?  

Something important missing in February

 There are a lot of events in February; Black History Month, Valentines day, Presidents day, and even weather ( Yes I meant to spell it this way)or not spring will come early or not!  Whew!  That's a lot for the shortest month of the year.  

While I'm all for celebrating some of our Citizens, unending love, our forefathers, and warmer weather, I've noticed something missing that is also important.  In fact, in can be life and death important.

February is also Heart Disease awareness month.  Seems fitting, but sadly in the first 2 weeks of this full month, nary a peep I've heard. 

So since no one else will talk about it, I will.  

1)  Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women of all races and ethnicities.  Greater than even Breast cancer ladies.  So while you're concerned about "the girls", think about what's behind them too.

2)  1 in 4 Americans die each year from Heart Disease.  The CDC estimates that's 655,000 Americans.  Hmm greater than the fatalities of Covid in the US this past year.  Where's the outcry?  Maybe there should have been at least some focus on Heart Disease awareness after all.

3)  Someone has a heart attack every 40 seconds in the US.  The CDC estimates 805,000 people have a heart attack in the US each year.  Of these the CDC estimates approximately 600,000 of these are first attacks.  Here's the kicker; 1 in 5 of all attacks are silent.  The damage is done, but the person isn't aware. 

4)  Lets bring it a little closer to home.  If someone is Obese, has diabetes, has a bad diet, and/or has no physical activity; they are at risk for heart disease.  That means any or all of these.  You can be thin and still out of shape FYI.  Yes the chances are greater if you are obese, mainly because if you are it means you more than likely have more than one of these risk factors.  

5)  If your father had a heart attack before the age of 50, or your mother had a heart attack before the age of 65, then you have a family history.  That means you can have a genetic disposition to heart disease.  My father had his first attack at 50.  I had mine at the age of 51.  My kids now have a family history.  

6)  Many peoples first symptom of a heart attack is death.  

Have I scared you?  I'm not posting this to instill fear.  I'm posting this to educate.  We have cities in lock down; mandated or self imposed, wearing masks, losing jobs, etc, for a virus that has killed fewer people than heart disease.  The irony of this is some of the main things closed are gyms!  In some places people have no choice but to sit at home and eat.   That's their entertainment! Try exercising at home with kids.  Yea, not fun.

I'm waiting for the powers that be to focus on our maintaining good health, which in turn can help with surviving this current virus.  

Heart disease doesn't have a vaccine we can vie for.  You have to do the work.  Watch what you eat, move.  Don't smoke, Vape, Drink alcohol, Eat Junk, etc.  We don't have to become one of these statistics. In fact, better than that, we can change these and bring them down!  So what do you think?

CDC facts

A Miracle and a blessing

 Hello everyone!  

Today has been a day.  My part was easier I think than Hubby's and Rubic's.  For those who don't know, Rubic is the online name I have for our youngest son.  

It started out simple enough.  I had a couple of orders to get out, and I did some baking.  Nothing too awful.  Hubby was going to be picking Rubic up from work, so I was kinda of taking things slow.  I had dinner already planned and laid out.  I had even ground up corn meal to make corn bread for tonight's dinner.  I was feeling so organized and productive.  

Then I got the call.  Rubic had gotten off work earlier than anticipated and a friend/co worker was bringing him home.  On the way, the friend turned left and into the path of another car he had failed to see.  The passenger side, where Rubic was sitting, was hit broad side.  From what his friend told me later, Rubic's head hit the dash board, and the shattering glass showered him, causing a gash under his eye.  He was pinned in the car.  The EMTs had to cut him from the car.  His friends car was totaled.  Fortunately Rubic was wearing a seat belt.  He was taken by ambulance to the ER.  Hubby, who was just off from work and on his way to get Rubic from work, received the call about the accident from me, and headed to the ER where he spent the next 4 hours with Rubic while he was being treated.  I got to sit home helpless because they are only allowed 1 visitor due to covid.  I spent that time  receiving and relaying updates, readying Rubics room for when he came home, and eating badly.

But guys, he got out of there with 6 stitches, no neck or back injuries that we are aware of at the moment, and some scratches.  Now, don't get me wrong; he is hurting.  He's limping, I suppose from the leg that was pinned.  Every muscle is traumatized.  There isn't one part of his body that isn't screaming in pain.  

But he's here.  He's home.  While not sound yet, he is safe.  I, however have eaten my way thru this!  Dinner ended up being Little Caesar's pizza.  He's sleeping at the moment, and I'm thankful that I can still be here for him.  

That he walked/limped away is a Miracle and a Blessing, and one I don't take lightly.  So Thank you Lord!  for watching over my son today.  I can never thank you enough.