The Price We Pay

Today, we had to make a trip to Tyler (about 30 minutes to our north) in the morning, so we decided to head on over to the IHOP for some breakfast. I had already decided I wanted nothing with eggs, since there is absolutely no flavor in store bought eggs when compared to those we have here on the farm, so then I cracked open the menu and nearly passed out. I solemnly swear I remember the 2 egg breakfast (used to be the cheapest thing) being between 3-4 dollars. It was almost 7 bucks!!! NOTHING was under 6.99, with one exception being 3 pancakes for 5.50! My God! It’s no wonder people go broke when they eat out all of the time. I can go to my local cafe of choice and get coffee and an egg, toast, and meat for about 3 bucks. I immediately lost my appetite and Jason didn’t want to order anything at all, so I decided to split a Rooty Tooty Fresh N’ Fruity breakfast with him for 6.99. Our bill came to 14 bucks!!!! FOURTEEN DOLLARS FOR BREAKFAST….ACK!!! Well, I did not realize that the coffee was TWO WHOLE DOLLARS a cup, either. Geez! While this may not sound like much to some, being the Frugal McDougals that we have become, it was rather astronomical for a meal that I think should probably not be any more than ten bucks at the MOST. I was looking around me, and the place was busy. In the booth next to us, there was a woman and a young boy and I can guarantee you that they didn’t get out of there for any less than 25 dollars, judging by the items on their plate. Jason was just commenting to me how IHOP’s breakfast is absolutely no comparison to what we cook here.

If you do not cook your own meals, there’s never a better time to start than now, may I add. Even if you aren’t a great cook, the Good Lord did provide us with Crock Pots, which could turn ordinary shoe leather into tenderloin, I am fairly certain. I have been doing a LOT of baking/cooking lately, since I read about a cooking method called once a month cooking. Essentially, you set a date, and cook/prepare a month’s worth of food. I did start small, making only breakfasts for the moment, because that is the meal that we are usually in a rush with. I made muffins, pancakes, and breakfast burritos, all of which were frozen and can be ready to eat after a minute in the microwave. I have been lurking on this site: Once A Month Moms, which I find to be informative and FREE, and they have monthly menus in spreadsheet format. Anyway, it’s something to think about! I can tell you that this month, we spent about 80 dollars on eating out, which is more than I should have spent. I hope to cut that way back with my prepared meals.

On my anti-debt kick, I would just like to say that it is not the easiest thing to try and stick to a budget, BY ANY MEANS. I totaled up this month and found that I had spent WAAAAAY too much on Halloween crap that I don’t really need and WAAAAAY too much on clothes (I only buy at Goodwill, but still….) and miscellaneous crap. It is a little heartwrenching to see that I overspent my month by about 75 bucks with money that I didn’t HAVE to spend. I think the best thing/punishment is to tighten up my belt for next month (and the next, and the next) and make a vow to myself to not buy junk I do not need. Christmas is coming up soon, too, and we have already decided that the grandparents can do the toy gifts. My kids have too much, as do most kids, and in fact, I will be paring down their toy department really soon. I either read or heard something the other day talking about children, and I can only paraphrase, but it was something about how it is not about the things that we give to them, but rather the time that we share with them that is the most important thing. Kids are only kids for so long, after all. We don’t have very much time to spend with them when they are small! So, rather than go out and buy 500 dollars worth of junk for Christmas, I am looking forward to spending time with my family. As a side note, I simply don’t have the funds for all of that useless stuff anyway! May I also say that since we have become the Frugal family, I do shop at Goodwill for my clothes (happily, they have GREAT music in there!), I do not choose whole dinners @ restaurants (almost always eat a la carte), and I avoid WalMart like the plague, or, H1N1, if you will. I knew I had won over Jason with my frugalness when: he hid a Chicken Express receipt from me because he figured I’d gripe at him about the price, and, one day when we went to Chili’s he refused to order anything because he said it was all too expensive. I was a nice wife, though, and gave him my salad! Needless to say, we have not been back to Chili’s, and if he’s been back to Chicken Express, he must’ve figured out a better way to rid himself of the receipt!

So, we are coming into a new month tomorrow, my budget slate is clean, and I promise to do better! I try to envision myself in two or three years when I will have the majority of my debts paid….that is always a great stimulus for me to stick with my plan. NO MORE PAYMENTS!!! There is never a better time to start paying off debts than today!

In farm life, we did stop by a feed store today to get some winter veggies (cabbages/onions/cauliflower), and the guy at the counter had the personality of a potted plant, I swear. I am Chatty Cathy, just trying to strike up conversation about my chickens and my garden and I got shot down like three times. He kind of acknowledged my presence and that was about it. Very irritating to a Libran woman. He must’ve been a Virgo. (sorry to Matt) I dunno. I guess I was too intimidating!

And, nothing much else. I am trying to come up with a good farm name so I can begin to think about marketing my jelly/produce/eggs. I want to start designing labels, too. Or, at least give it some preliminary thought.

Well, off to bed for me!

The County Fair

Last Friday, we took the girls to the East Texas State Fair. I have to admit I have not been there in more than 10 years or more, and I have never been during the day. At night, the fair gets a lot ‘seedier’, if you will, in terms of the population, and since we don’t ride the rides anyway, we went in the morning. We got to see a baby chicken hatch, quilts and handmade items, mostly bad art (lol), and lots of canned goods. They also had a fruit and vegetable show and I am fairly sure I could have won in the okra division, had I entered. Anyway, I had to have a fair corny dog, which was pretty good. We also had some homemade root beer. We went through the exhibitor’s booths and surprisingly, I didn’t pick up much of anything (I did get a free gun lock and a pen), because there were so few people that I would have had to They had a children’s show called the Ag Magic Show, which was funny and informative. Naturally, even though my oldest was called upon twice as a volunteer (there were only about 7 kids in the crowd since it was early), she buried her head in the carpet and pretty much remained in a fetal position until she was sure no one was looking at her any more.

Anyway, then we made our way to the Ag Barn, where the cattle show was taking place, and so we went up and down, down and up, and up and down again, the rows and rows of heifers and steers. I was carrying my youngest and did not see a huge bucket of water on the walkway and somehow, by the grace of God, managed not to fall butt over teacups on the sidewalk. I had about 5 little teenagers ask if I was OK, which in fact, I was NOT, because I fairly well bruised both shins in the accident, but fortunately did not do a face plant on the concrete, or better yet, a pile of cow poo. But, you just can’t put such things past me. So as we were traversing through the Treacherous Land of the Cows while juggling two weary and cranky children, I did notice that times sure have changed! The girls (all high school) all wore the tightest and flashiest clothes I think I’ve ever seen. It’s not that they didn’t look good, but they just looked so….suggestive! Skin tight layered shirts and skin tight pants with rhinestone cocho belts! Back in the day, at worst, we broke out with a ‘keyhole’ brushpopper type affair (now only to be found in only the most dedicated barflies) and our Rocky Mountain jeans, which, looking back, were the most hideously designed pants EVER. Ok, maybe the exception would be the pleated-front, acid washed, TAPERED pants (shudder). Anyway, with all of the evil in the world, I sure wouldn’t want to be advertising, if you will, to the wrong person.

So, all in all, we did have a really good time, even with the girls getting cranky towards the end.

Hello, Fall! I missed you…

Well, in keeping with true fall weather, we are drizzly/rainy and SIXTY degrees here at 10pm! So, probably gonna drop in the mid-fifties tonight. Yippee! Soon as I’m done here, I’m off to brew up some hot cocoa (possibly) I should have already been in bed by now…

Well, we had a chicken loss today, apparently. Our neighbor called to tell us that one of our new hens wandered into their yard, and their dogs killed it. Of course, that’s my own fault for letting them free-range today, so I am not really upset over it…plus, she was not laying yet, so at least I didn’t lose a layer. In good news, I got 2 new white Silkies (LOVE them!), one barred rock and 4 new Rhode Island Red hens! I need some serious laying birds..I can’t keep eggs in stock.

In other farm news….getting ready to plant some lettuce and broccoli. Also time for cabbage and some other stuff! We really need to finish up the beds here in the next few weeks, too. We are putting a brick pathway in from each door through the garden; YEA!!! I have no idea why there were no pathways to the house’s front doors; you had to walk through grass and sand and dew, etc. and then all of that promptly ends up in the house. Beats me. Oh well, that is being solved as we speak.

I’m not really in a chatty mood tonight. It’s probably because I’m tired and I know I have to get up early tomorrow. (I dread getting out of bed) I’m also not in a very humorous mood, either, so I’m sorry that my last few posts are drags. Well, off to bed for me now. I will try to cheer up and think of something for next time!

Just around the corner…

Wow, and to think last time I wrote to y’all, days were in the 100 degree mark and HUMID. Today, it’s misty and 72 degrees! So, now we know fall is just around the corner. This is my other favorite time of year, other than spring. I always love the transitional times of the year the most. The leaves are now beginning to turn; the sassafras is putting on its flame red foliage. We should have a beautiful autumn this year for two reasons; we have received over a week of rain, and the fall’s first cool front is due next week, which is atypically early for us. I’m excited! Well, I may not be so excited when we are experiencing an extremely cold winter, but for now…

We have had a LOT going on in the past month, mainly illnesses in my little farm family. Our youngest developed mesenteric lymphadenitis after a bout with gastroenteritis, and I have been on and off ill with a cold (flu? allergies?) for over a week now. I do have much more energy now, but I think that with all of this rain, I am reacting to the mold levels. In other news, we adopted 2 kittens, a brother and a sister, about 3 weeks ago. They are brother and sister, named Mr. Bobo and Ashley. Aren’t kittens just about the cutest thing to watch? Fran loves to chase them down and chew on their heads, but it’s all in good jest.

We also bought 2 white Plymouth Rock hens and we were graciously given 4 18 month old Leghorn hens, who are still laying big, white eggs. I am planning on buying some MORE chickens very soon. I also want to get some more Cayuga ducks. The duck eggs are WONDERFUL. I know most people balk at the mention of eating duck eggs, but I am telling you that the flavor and richness are unsurpassed by chicken eggs. They do not taste “eggy”; it is a very complex and delicious taste. Of course, our chicken eggs are also delicious. There is NO comparison between ‘grocery store’ eggs and eggs from hens that are allowed a more natural diet. I have the pictures to prove it! Unfortunately, my camera is angry with my computer and refuses to share pictures with it, but I will get them on here ASAP.

The newest additions are 4 guineas that I picked up at the feed store (and one that was hand-delivered…thanks, Rachel!). They are so funny to watch when they see a bug. I told Jason it was like watching a pit bull in a chick suit. They are extremely focused on movement and I have the feeling when I let them in my garden in a few weeks that they will do a great job of snapping up my pests.

Well, Jason finally finished a log splitter that he built out of spare parts at his shop. We already have about a 3/4 of a cord of wood from a fallen hickory in our woods. It sure makes short work of chopping wood! I can’t wait for more of our fireplace cookin’!

I can’t believe we have already been here almost a year. I can’t imagine being anywhere else! Still a LOT to do here…but we’re whipping things into shape slowly. The kitchen garden is ever-expanding and Jason finished several of the raised beds. Now I just need to fill them with compost. It’s also time for me to plant my winter garden. I did plant some winter squash, beans, and cucumbers. I am still harvesting lots of okra, tomatoes (Brandywines from spring), and tons of cherry tomatoes. Oh, and I do finally have peppers, lol. I didn’t do so great with my peppers this year. I’m not sure what happened there, but with the cooler temps and tons of rain, they are finally ‘makin'”.

I have also been putting up LOTS of muscadine and scuppernong grape jelly. We picked 32 pounds of muscadines at a farm, and I am slowly working on turning them into delicious jelly! I hope that soon myself and my MIL will get together (with our new food processors….NO MORE CHOPPING) and put up some more tomatoes/tomato products. You just can’t beat homegrown flavor…no doubt about it! I also got a lot of figs last month, and I’m planning on doing a strawberry-fig jam. I do have to wonder how many people in my age group can things? Hmmmm….I’m willing to bet not many. What a shame. Here’s a great LINK for making muscadine jelly, juice, or jam.

Today’s favorite thing:

Well, I am still on a budgeting kick! I had to update my ‘cash flow’ form last night and wanted to share this form with you. The idea is that NO dollar is unaccounted for. It is fairly self-explanatory, but it is also great to have the book, Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover, which is currently on sale for under 10 dollars. Download this FORM. It is in PDF format. I use this form every month, and I also use 2 envelopes. One holds my receipts for anything that comes out of my checking account, and one holds receipts for anything that I pay cash for (that is NOT deducted out of my checking account). So, at the end of the month, I have a paper trail, and also keep up with where my cash goes. I NEVER have to ask myself, “Where did my money go?” because I KNOW. It is so liberating, trust me. This is a system that works wonders for me. I have been doing this since May 18th of this year. If you are in debt, I URGE (and beg and plead for) you to try this system and find freedom for yourself!!!!

Well, that is all that I have for today, plus my entire right arm is aching for some reason! :0)

A Happy Housewife

I want to know something. When did the word “housewife” become a dirty word? Why are we made to feel inferior if we are ‘just a housewife’? First of all, being a housewife, or, as it is now called; SAHM (stay at home mom), is nothing short of one of the most difficult jobs out there. I don’t know what kind of delusional people imagine that it, in any way, ISN’T hard work, but they need to stay at home with their own brood for about two weeks and get a clue. I am really happy to be able to stay at home with my kids. Yes, it can be maddening. No, the work is never, EVER done. But, I get to see them grow up a little bit every day. There is no way to ever get that precious time back.

I have learned:

Housework is never done. Period. The laundry, dishes, and dusting will never, ever be completely done, at least not for more than 3 minutes. Also, floors will never stay clean. Ever.

You have to let some of it go. Some of the best advice my mom gave me a long time ago. I still struggle with it on a daily basis, but you have to come to the realization that dust/dirt never stops accumulating, nor do kid’s messes. I usually do my ‘deep’ cleaning when the kids are gone, so that I at least get to admire my work for a (very) little while.

If you have an unexpected guest, your house will inevitably look terrible. I had some family drop by one day and although I was really happy they stopped by, I was really ashamed that the laundry was everywhere, dirty dishes were in the sink, beds weren’t made,and I looked like absolute crap. After that, I joined Flylady.net and took some of her pointers to heart.

Housekeeping IS a job, without the paycheck. You’re a maid, a cook, a nurse, an economist, a valet, a mom, a wife, a friend, etc. all rolled into one being. Don’t let anyone ever make you feel ‘bad’ or guilty that you aren’t out working outside of the home. If we learn to live within our means, you’d be surprised at how little you really need, moneywise, to stay afloat.

Well, that’s all for now…I am off to assume my role as chef and prepare lunch!

Upgradin’

Last night, the kids were gone (THANKS, MOM!!!), so Jason and I worked on upgrading the garden. He took cedar planks, cut the to our 4’x8′ bed length, stacked em 3 high and nailed them together with stakes. They look so cool! The old way was just making a 4’x8′ rectangle one high and stacking them on top of each other. This is so much faster! I’ll post a pic when we get them up.

I sat out and worked on my microdripper system. I LOVE my microdrippers/sprayers! It’s the only way to fly when you have a garden. I upgraded my minisprayers to those with a valve built in, so if that bed is not in use, I can shut off the water to it. Then I added a couple of new ones to a grape vine and to an ornamental bed I have on the sideyard. We covered our yard in hay, so I buried all the lines under the hay. These systems are so easy to install, I think everyone should have them!

Anyway, we’re waiting for a chimney sweep to come this morning. I’m interested to hear what he says about our chimney. I am sure it’s pretty disgusting looking.

Lastly for today, I’ll share a website with you:

www.cowboyflavor.com

We watch this show on RFDtv. Bill’s moustache must be 4 feet across, seriously! They do chuck wagon cooking, using our favorite pot; the Dutch oven. We can’t wait until fall when we can once again make fireplace beans and soup!

Summer Swelters on…

Wow, I’m a really bad blogkeeper! Been over a month now. Well you can’t expect much when school’s out, lol. I’ve learned a lot over the past few months. Allow me to share with you:

GARDENING:

Always, always, always, with no fail, label your plants. I thought I could remember what I had put in the ground. HA! I planted green beans, cream peas, and pintos. So, one day, after things were lookin’ about ready to pick, I thought it was time to pick me some peas. So, I waited till the pods looked a little dry and got my friend and his son to help us ‘shell some peas’. I did not realize my mistake until about 2 weeks later when my REAL peas matured. We had actually picked PINTOS and had the worst time trying to shell the little boogers because they weren’t ready yet! I thought those were funny looking peas! Now I know!

Keep out the chickens. In my rose-colored little pea brain, I imagined some kind of idyllic symbiotic relationship between my chickens and my garden. The chickens would remove all the pests while simultaneously fertilizing my garden with their nitrogen-rich poo. I had about 30 – 2mo. old chickens loose in my garden. At first, all was bliss. Then, over time, I noticed they were eating my cherry tomatoes. No big deal, I thought…I give most of ’em away anyway. THEN they started eating my big tomatoes. That definitely put a hitch in my giddy-up. Now, I work hard on my ‘maters and I’ll be danged if some stupid chicken is going to eat my meal (I still like chickens, mind you, I was just really upset with them. I really don’t think they’re stupid.) Then, I found that my squash had been slowly but cluckingly methodically picked on. THEN, they poo’ed all over my porch. But not just the porch. The chairs, my blankets, my tables, and to top it off, trampled my moonvine and my poor, poor Christmas cactus. Now I was really hot. OUT, OUT, OUT!!! I screamed as I snatched them up. Anyway, now they’re safe in their own coop, and no more poop for me to contend with!

God praise canned green beans! You would think they’d be easy to grow. Apparently, this year at least, not so. I know this because not only did my lovely, lush vines only produce 8 measley pods, but my mother harvested her bumper crop of 4 pods, and her friend reaped 3. God Bless the Jolly Green Giant.

: Hoss and Fran taking a nap

LIVESTOCK:

Goats: After several months of budgeting, I found that having 12 goats costs me approximately: $25 a month in hay, and $29.24 a month in feed. Not including their wormer, which, by the way, is quite pricey at $80 a bottle! Fortunately, though, it lasts a LONG time. We are planning on selling 8 goats, so I figure I can quarter my costs. $15 a month isn’t bad for having some brush trimming!

Poultry: It costs me about $43.75/mo. to feed my chickens, geese, ducks and turkeys. Now, the geese and ducks don’t do anything besides honk, quack, and crap, but I really do like my geese. The turkeys are endearing except for the fact that they lay on my plants and would eat a 50# sack of corn in one sitting if I let them. Plus, now they’re too big to butcher. Now what? The chickens are the most useful so far, as they are giving us copious quantities of lovely brown eggs. I think I will always have some chickens till the day I die! They also love to eat lots of grasshoppers and i haven’t seen hardly any around lately.

In General: While free livestock is appealing, the reality is that you have to feed ’em, house ’em and clean up after ’em. You really have to ask yourself if it’s all worth the cost and effort. As far as my geese go, they love to eat grass, which I think it hilarious and they honk when they see someone they don’t recognize, which I also think is hilarious. They are definitely more ‘pet’ to me than useful livestock. The ducks quack and crap. I hope that will change and eventually I’ll get my 100 eggs a year out of them. Maybe next spring. The goats are very useful for eating brush. You will be very amazed at how clean they leave a wooded plot behind. However, twelve is too many for me at the moment. The turkeys are very interesting, but gobble down food at a phenomenal rate. Granted, I do have a breed which is very large, so I am not sure how the ‘heritage’ breeds would do, but I can tell you that these guys totally chow down. Bottom line is that my chickens and goats are, so far, the most useful livestock that I own.

FARM LIFE:

For the past 3 months, we have been budgeting. I’m bringing this up because I feel budgeting is very important to everyone, and especially for farm folks so we can assess our profit to loss ratio. I have learned that I just can’t currently sustain as much livestock as I thought I could, and that’s ok. Actually, it’s a weight off of my shoulders to sell off some of my flock, not just financially, but also mentally! After a major talk with myself, I decided to whittle down to bare minimum, and really throw most of my efforts into my gardening. After all, so far, it seems to me that my garden has paid off more than any of my livestock (except, perhaps, my laying hens), and it is SOOOOO much less effort for me to ‘keep up’. Sure, it’s work, too, but I don’t have to worm my plants, or chase after them, or clean up plant poo. So, I’ll always have a garden. The other thing I like about vegetable/fruit gardening is that you can sell the produce, sell something you’ve created with the produce, like baked goods or canned goods, or even just sell seeds. Anyway, I think it’s a win/win situation all around.

So, with budgeting in mind, for a very, very small initial fee, I can have a great big, gorgeous garden for pennies on the dollar. So, plants are in, new livestock is out for now. And that’s the farm report for this time!

My favorite thing for the moment: Ever listen to talk radio? I didn’t either until a few months ago when my favorite oldies station morphed into a talk radio station. That’s when I discovered Dave Ramsey. After I had listened to his no-nonsense style for about a week or so, I bought his book, The Total Money Makeover. So, I am currently on Step #2, which is the Debt Snowball. I have never done a real budget before, and before this April, budgeting was very hard because of the way our business was set up. Now that we get ACTUAL, REAL PAYCHECKS (lol), I can budget. I did my first budget in May, and thought, my God, no wonder we’re always broke! I have faithfully stuck to my budget sheet (which I print out monthly from daveramsey.com) and I have never, ever had this much money left over at the end of the month. I even amazed myself! We have paid off about 6 of our debts already and are slaving away to pay off our next debt. I even have enough now, saved up, to pay for our house taxes for this year. I have NEVER had that happen! You can do it, too! I like Dave because it’s not some weird scam, and he seems to be very down-to-earth about things, and seems to have good ol’ common sense. One day, I’m going to call the Dave Ramsey show and scream, “WE’RE DEBT FREEEEEE!!!!” Just you wait and see!

Snakes Alive!

Wow, it’s really been a loooong time! Lots has been happening around the farm. Since I last wrote, I’ve been harvesting potatoes, tomatoes, and strawberries, and I have planted corn and okra. I still have several empty beds, but I just don’t know what to put in them! I’ll probably reserve them for my fall crops now. Planting for fall will begin next month, starting with fall tomatoes.

About 2 weeks ago, Jason and I came home from a dinner date and found a small ratsnake in the driveway. Naturally I had to jump out and investigate (I’m pretty sure I’m one of the elite few women in Texas who will do that….wearing flip flops, nonetheless) Anyway, I picked up its tail and shooed it on it’s way. So, about 2 nights later, I was walking in the chicken coop to close up the chickens for the night, and there was another scaly friend slipping into my henhouse! Not in my henhouse, I told it, and I actually caught this one (barehanded, wearing boots), and carried into the house, where Jason was relaxing on the floor. Poor Jason. He married the only woman in East Texas that would handle a snake and bring it indoors.

Anyway, so then about 2 nights later, I walked out to water the garden. We have a pair of Dwarf bunnies that reside in our chicken tractor and I heard them running frantically in their cage. When I looked over there, I saw a large ratsnake trying to strike them through the wire….can you only imagine how terrifying that could be? This snake was larger than the first two; about 4 or 4.5 feet long. Armed with nothing other than a flowerpot, I used it to squoosh his head up against the wire so that I could grab his head. So, I caught him, too, and put him in a little plastic cage so we could release him elsewhere. I had forgotten about a snake’s sheer will and strength to escape, and while I was out doing something else, he managed to pop the top open. Fortunately, he only made it to the corner of our shop and we caught him again, this time, we put a roll of heavy wire on the top of the cage.

Sooooooo, then the NEXT night (lol) we were in the shop, and I had the thought, “Wouldn’t it be funny if there was yet another ratsnake in that same corner”, and I looked up and there was the biggest one yet, calmly snoozing in the upper corner. Now, this snake was about 5 foot long, maybe a little more, with a girth of about 2 inches or so. Pretty big for a native snake. Jason got his head with a rake and I put on my gloves and caught him. He was NOT happy, either! You probably don’t know this, but ratsnakes, and many other snakes release a foul-smelling, musky liquid when they’re caught. It resembles a dead skunk….it’s just really lovely. Once you catch a snake, you kindof have to ‘clear house’ for a while so you don’t get nauseated from the smell!

So, I have really had my share of snakes for the past week! They do not bother me as long as they aren’t trying to eat my livestock, and then it’s war. I do catch and release, I don’t ever kill them, with the exception of maybe a water moccasin at our pond (haven’t seen one yet). Even then, I’d have to use a gun to do it, as there’s no way I’m getting close enough to a moccasin to kill it with a shovel! Same goes for rattlesnakes…I have not seen them, but I wouldn’t get anywhere near one, either. Moccasins tend to be a more aggressive snake, and rattlesnake’s poison is just plain scary. I am not really scared of either the copperhead (poisonous, but not aggressive) nor the coral snake (DEADLY poisonous, but rear-fanged and shy). And, as you can tell, as far as the non-poisonous snakes go, they just don’t scare me. Mind you, I am very, very careful with them, because I still do not care to get bitten, but I have been bitten before, and while it was scary, I got over it. (Obviously)

I would urge you not to kill snakes if at all possible as they do an excellent job of eating mice and rats. Of course, unfortunately, they will also eat birds, chickens, and rabbits, too! But they’re actually basically good creatures with a bad rap. I know I’m in the minority when it comes to liking snakes, especially being a woman who likes snakes. People always look at me in a really funny way when I tell them I do catch and release, and I’ve even had parts of the Bible thrown at me (Genesis 3:15 – ¹⁵You and this woman will hate each other; your descendants and hers will always be enemies. One of hers will strike you on the head, and you will strike him on the heel.”)

I think that’s very sad to take it in the literal sense, after all, snakes provide us with a great service, which is keeping down the rodent population. While trying not to question Satan’s choice of a serpent as his earthly form, I really wish he would have picked the cockroach. Now that I can understand.

Anyway, the next time you see a snake in the road, think of me and don’t swerve to hit it!

Don’t bend over in the garden, Granny. You know them taters got eyes…

Well, apparently May is the month o’ vegetable pests. The other day, I was looking at my tater plants when I noticed that a big chunk of leaves was missing. Upon closer observation, I also noticed some big, fat somethings feasting merrily on my tater vines. I ran into the house and discovered that they were the dreaded Colorado potato beetle. The larva look somewhat like grotesque ladybugs. The adults are actually a pretty striped beetle, about the size of a small June bug. Unfortunately, they also enjoy feasting on MY taters, so I picked them all off by hand over a 2 day period. So far, it has been about a week and a half and I have not seen any new ones.

Then, today, I saw that one of my tater vines was completely defoliated. Now I had just checked out everything yesterday and all was well. I bent down and found a HUGE tobacco hornworm munching away at my vines! I picked him off, let the kids have a look-see, and fed the big thing to our turkeys, who were more than happy to gobble it up. So, tonight, I’ll be on the hornworm hunt with a flashlight. It’s always something! I also think that a rabbit is munching on my roses. Sigh.

Well, the chicken coop is about 95% done, thank you dear, sweet Lord! Saturday, the chickens and our 20 pound turkeys were wallerin’ all in my beautiful herb garden and flattening everything. It kindof freaked me out, seeing all of that hard work being destroyed, so yesterday, Jason worked non-stop on the coop until the little building was predator-proofed. The most interesting thing about the coop is that it is made of virtually all recycled materials. I promise to post a pic soon, because it is so cool! Jason calls it Fort Cluck. Anyway…

I found a really cool website for you all to look at: http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/

I decided that’s who I wanna be when I grow up, lol. Read her bio…she is a very interesting lady. I am going to subscribe to the magazine, too.

Toodle-oo…I’m off to hunt hornworms!

The Good Earth

So, about 3 weeks ago now, we brought home TWELVE goats. Four does, and each had a set of twin boys, so that’s 4 mommies and 8 babies! For the most part, you can sum up the breed as a mixture of African Pygmy, Nigerian Dwarf, and Mini-Nubian. What that all means is that they are small, some are better for meat (Pygmy) and some are better for milk (Nigerians/Nubians). Anyway, they have been a real joy to behold! I can’t get past the way they look somehow like tiny deer, and the way that they NEVER stop eating fresh leaves and grasses. They have done quite a number on the brush around the house; all the while fertilizing it with their ever present ‘goat poo’ or ‘nanny berries’, if you want to get cute with it!

Goats are considered browsers, which means that they prefer to take nibbles of EVERYTHING (plantwise) and keep on walking. Unlike horses and cattle, they would much rather be munching on some sweet gum leaves rather than grass. They do, however, enjoy munching off the tops of tall grasses. I can tell you that if you ever want to naturally defoliate some of your property without using chemicals, GET SOME GOATS. On the other plus side, you can milk them (which we do plan to do later), or eat them, if you so wish! We don’t plan to eat them, but I will not tell you that I would never eat them. After all, meat is meat, right? ;0) Anyway, for now we are just happy for them to do the arduous task of clearing the land.

Yesterday, I went to one of my favorite places (Goodwill), and after buying a mountain of awesome clothes for a song, I also picked up the classic book “The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck. Ever read it? I could not put it down and read it cover to cover in about half a day or less. It is the story of the Chinese farmer Wang Lung and his wife, O-lan. The time period is pre-Revolutionary China, and Wang Lung and his family must endure the hardships that all farmers must endure eventually; loss of crops, drought, flooding, and in this case, severe famine. So severe that it was rumored that some of the villagers ate their own children to survive. But this book is not all about hardships; Wang Lung also enjoys times of prosperity and good fortune. He is an honest man who is one with his land. Because of his hard-working nature and unwavering love and adoration for his land, it provides for his family and eventually Wang Lung becomes quite rich.

It’s a funny thing that 200 people can read one book and come away from that one book and have 200 different meanings that we take away from that book. For myself, I took away many things from this book. I feel that, first and foremost, the further that we get away from our own Good Earth, the worse off we eventually become. In this book, if you were not rich by inheritance, you either worked your land or you would starve. Those who were fortunate (?) enough not to have to work for their food found themselves with too much idle time. And you know what is said of idle hands! (“Idle hands are the Devil’s tools”) So it is in The Good Earth, where those idle hands always manage to find trouble, whether it is with opium or prostitutes or just plain laziness. If you are working hard, you do not have time to worry with such things! You are too busy planting, watering, or reaping your harvest.

I try to relate this story to today, where we can get all that we could ever want with the push of a button, literally. I’m not saying that we do not have to work (although there are so many who do not, and still rely on we hard workers to take care of them(!) ) but, for example, I thought about how easy it is just to drive up to a fast food place, pay my cash and get food in return. Wang Lung had to work for every single grain of rice that he or his family ever consumed. He didn’t have a Taco Bell or McDonald’s or God forbid, a WalMart. When his crop didn’t survive, they starved. They ate sticks and grass and leaves and even the earth itself. I can get up at any time and grab something to eat out of my pantry, and the thought of having to serve my kids dirt water somehow makes my own food taste as bitter as vinegar. It’s a very humbling feeling, knowing that there are still people to this day who die waiting for a meal. So, in that way, this book opened my mind.

Wang Lung cherished his piece of earth. He nurtured it, fertilized it, planted it, watered it, harvested it, and in turn, it provided for his family. It reminded me of MY earth. MY Good Earth. This piece of earth on where I sit today, writing to you. Where we have tilled our soil and planted our plants and we raise our livestock and where I eventually want my ashes to be scattered. When I throw my hands into the soil and pull from it a harvest for my family, I have nothing but a sense of pride and accomplishment. I do love and nuture my land, and in exchange it nutures me; not just from eating food that I harvest here, but it nutures me physically, mentally, and spiritually. I don’t wish to be anywhere else but here.

I think that if we all loved our Good Earth as Wang Lung loved his, this world would be a much, much better place.