Trying to get back into the swing of things.  So much "not niceness" going on makes it hard, but life on a farm does mean that you don't get berevement time, sick time, or vacation time.

Boy and I planted 576 cells of seeds over the past two weekends.  We now have itty bitty plants coming up.  Now I need to get the light table set up in the cellar to get us through the next month.  We planted 18 cells of each plant, and I have 3 more trays of 72 to do this weekend. 

What is planted/sprouted now...
9 kinds of tomatoes
tomatillos
3 kinds of peppers
2 kinds of cucumbers
brussell sprouts
cabbage
acorn squash
watermelon
cantaloupe
celery
peanuts
huckleberries
pumpkins
cauliflower
broccoli

I've picked up (for a great price) 5 blueberry bushes (3 varieties)
1 red raspberry bush
1 black raspberry bush
1 blackberry bush
1 Niagra grape vine
2 red grape vines (can't think of the name right now)

I have a concord grape vine on order waiting for shipment, also 2 more (different varieties-for a total of 3) red raspberries

We're having a thaw here, so I'm hoping to get over to W'ville and dig my strawberries, blackberries, asparagus, mulberry, hastas, peonies, and elephant ears.  We also have to finish moving everything out this month. SIGH  I hate moving.

But back to the farm....over the weekend, my closest friend and I went to the Home and Garden show.  I bought horseradish root and rubarb, and seed potatoes.

Heavy Heart

Pastor Dave went home to be with his Savior on Saturday night.  We have a heavy heart, yet know that he is where we wish we were.  Pray for his wife and family.

We are still praying hard for the othe requests on the list.  Especially Kim as she received less than positive news.

I thought I might have some good news to share, but God had other plans for me as well.

Home and Garden Show

One of my closest friends and future relative (as our kids have decided they are getting married someday) invited me to go to the home and garden show.  We had such a great time.  So much to look at and now so many more ideas to try!!

I know that my readers enjoy odd random pictures, so here's one of a giraffe at the home show.

In a diamond shirt and striped pants, no less!

Ministry and 4H

Boy is doing 4H for the first time this year.  One project he is doing is a cookie project that is a "county project".  Our county has a few project just for our fair.  This is one of them.  He needs to make 6 different batches of cookies (all different types:ie drop, rolled, bar, no bake) and then come up with a menu to go with the recipe, figure out the cost of the recipe and then also the cost per cookie.  Then there is the taste testing.

Today he made a batch of Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies.  They turned out very nice.  It was also an opportunity to minister.  As I mentioned yesterday, we have many folks in our lives having health issues.  So today, I made dinner for two of our friends' families and Boy made dessert. We went to visit with Samuel and then went to Children's Hospital to take food to the young lady with the broken legs family.  Boy does have a sweet compasionate, empathetic heart that I hope he never outgrows.

JUST PRAY!

Many, MANY friends are dealing with SERIOUS health issues in our circle.  I'm tempted to say...all we can do is pray, but the truth is the BEST thing to do is pray!  So please join us in praying for the following:

• Praise: Sam is home from his lung surgery.  We went to see him yesterday.  He's in pretty good spirits.  Praying for recovery and strength  before his next round of chemo.
• Laura: 16 year old friend that broke both leg femurs and will be having surgery...right now to insert rods.
• Pastor Dave:  Very very ill.  Sent home from Cleveland clinic to be cared for by the family, church and hospice.
• Brother In Love Dave:  Had his kidney removed yesterday with cancer.  Praying it hasn't spread.
• Kim: Also awaiting results after surgery to remove cancer.

Please pray for them and two more that I'm not able to mention here.

Here's some HAPPY pictures of Boy and Sam.

Sweetie & Iona

Our two newest editions to the Wallace Homestead.  I will post how both came to us this week in a bit, but wanted to get the pictures up while I can get to them.

I haven't been posting, but things are happening

Where to start....I don't even know where!

First of all, I had a birthday...it was harder than I thought it would be.  The numbers have never really bothered me in the past...I guess it was the gray hair I found!  There are many things to accomplish in this life, some important, some trival.  Salvation is critical, looking good in a bathing suit, not so much.  A close family is paramount....caught up with my scrapbooking...not so much.  I could go on and on.  The truth is I would like to accomplish the BIG and the little.

Right now my BIG goal (outside of my faith and walk with God-which are still #1). is to figure out how to find a way to be at home full time with my family.  It's come to my attention (and I actually already did know this) that out of the 70 families in my homeschooling group, I am the only one to work full time outside of the home.  Add to that, the recent conversation in my home about how many "full time" jobs mom has, and that currently my "hobby" is sleeping......

So I'm taking on another job this summer hoping that this may be how I get to finally get to come home.  I have been toying with the idea of being a "CSA" a community supported agriculture farm.  I am not quite ready to take subscriptions, but found a neat idea about a "debit" CSA.  In a normal CSA, you take the money ahead of time and the members get about 1/2 bushel of fruits and veggies every week--whatever is in season.  A debit system is that the money is still payed in, but the produce is priced and they choose what they want for the week and it is debited from their account.

I've been praying about this alot.  I know it seems alot to take on, but I'm not sure if I can go half hearted.  If someone else is counting on it maybe I can succeed. 

Our CSA would not just be produce....I've been thinking that  I would add egg shares and as we get the other animals there would be herd shares as well.  (In Ohio, you are not able to sell raw milk, but you can buy a "share" of an animal and then the milk is from "your" animal--so then it is legal.)  I've already had a good friend offer to get 5 gallons of cow milk per week, so I've been looking for a Jersey Cow.  Looking at the amount of mowing we may need to do...Man is more open to a herd of goats (goat milk, Goat milk cheese, and goat milk soap!! anyone?)  The meat rabbits are on track to be bred next week so by mid summer we should have rabbit meat (already have 1 customer for this...my landlady!!).  We are now consistantly getting 13-18 eggs a day and have 8 more birds that will add to the laying in mid May.  12 more laying chicks are coming on March 22, and our Buckeye Brood is coming in April.  (these we will breed to sell the chicks as they are very difficult to acquire and are in high demand).

And I will be getting 2 bee hives in Mid May.  I will put the deposit down on those in the morning.  I nice guy down the road from me is splitting off his hives and is going to set me up with everything I need to get started, including a mentor!! WOOT!  So here's to getting over my fear of bees....SOON!

But back to the CSA....I think I will have a lot to choose from considering the only seeds I haven't gotten is Jicama (do you know where to find seeds for that?)  Man thinks I should just grow and market the excess at the local farmers market, but I think maybe some of our homeschooling friends might be interested in having stuff straight from the farm, and then I don't have to spend hours every weekend away from the farm.  Although I loved hanging out at the Sunbury Farmers Market the summer we did it previously (2007).  My thought was to have a newsletter every week with recipes of the different veggies in the box.  A farm "open house" where we will have a bbq with all the members.  (Saturday is already our "pick up" day for Man's business and we have been toying with having brats on the grill so they can have some value added and bring the kids to see the animals etc.)  It's been suggested to me that I could also include in the boxes: Jams, honey, homemade bread, homemade soaps.

So what do you think....

Seeds are coming in!!

I think I have gotten almost every seed under the sun for the garden this year....here's the list:

• Root Veggies
• Purple Top Turnips
• Laurentian Rutabagas
• Tendersweet Carrots
• All American Parsnips
• Red Cherry Radish
• Sparkler Radish
• Walla Walla Sweet Onions
• Squash
• Howden's Field Pumpkins
• Black Zucchini
• Early Golden Sumer Crookneck Squash
• Table Ace Acorn Squash
• Butternut Squash
• Beans
• Blue Lake Green Beans
• Early Contender Green Beans
• Golden Wax Beans
• Henderson's Lima Beans
• Miragreen Peas
• Pinto Shell Beans
• Dark Red Kidney Shell Beans
• Corn
• Peaches & Cream Sweet Corn (bi-color)
• Red Ruby Sweet Corn (red)
• Rainbow Inca Sweet Corn (multicolor)
• Robust Yellow Popcorn
• Tomatoes
• Dr. Wyche's Yellow
• Sungold Select (orange cherry tomatoes)
• Brandywine
• Bloody Butcher
• Burpee Long Keeper
• Jersey Giant (paste)
• Red Zebra
• Yellow Mortgage Lifter
• Red Pear (cherry tomatoes)
• Tomatillo Verde
• Peppers
• Emerald Giant Pepper
• Italian Pepperoncini
• Curbites
• Snowball Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Royal Marvel Brussel Sprouts
• Fast Vantage Cabbage
• Miss Pickler Cucumbers
• Early Spring Burpless Cucumber
• Leaf
• Buttercrunch Head Lettuce
• Black Seeded Simpson Leaf Lettuce
• Red Lettuce
• Vital Green Spinach
• Tendercrisp Celery
• Soft Fruit
• Bristol Raspberry
• Heritage Raspberry
• Sugar Baby Watermelon
• Chichiquelite Huckleberry
• Concord Seedless Grapes
• Hale's Best Jumbo Cantaloupe
• Ka-bluey Blueberries
• Strawberries
• Potatoes
• Red
• Idaho
• Other:
• Jumbo Virginia Peanuts
• Mammoth Sunflowers
• German Millet
• Hard Fruit
• Honey Crisp Apples

Seeds (or plants) that I still need:

• Rhubarb
• Jicama
• 2nd Blueberry variety
• Mulberry
• Spaghetti Squash

Already planted:

• Asparagus
• Red Apples
• Pears
• English Walnuts

Items not currently being considered:

• Artichokes
• Eggplant
• Chard
• Kohlrabi
• Okra

Considering:

• Boysenberry
• Peaches
• Cherries
• Blackberries

Hoping to get from Westerville before house is gone:

• Strawberries
• Blackberries
• Raspberries
• Mulberries
• Hostas
• Peoneys

The flu is over....for now.

The dying has stopped!  WOOT!!  The chickens are back in good health, and are happily free ranging the garden now that most of the snow is gone.  AND  we started getting eggs again!  WOOT WOOT!

Today we moved the homemade brooder from the garage (soon to be showroom) to the barn and another WOOT!  I figured out the power situation out there.  So now that I don't have to raise babies inside, we have an order in for 14 hens (day olds) to be picked up on March 22 and another 4 hens and a roo to be picked up on April 5th.

Here's our "breed" break down:
On the 22nd we'll add:
4 Americaunas
2 Speckled Sussex (we lost the one that we had)
2 Silver Laced Wyandottes (we lost 2 of these and have 1 left)
2 Buff Orpingtons (just because I love Buffies)
And 4 straight run White Silkies.  (Straight run means we won't know if we have boys or girls until they lay or crow.  Silkies are known for being great broodie birds (They'll incubate anyone's eggs) and Boy will show two in the "Fancy Poultry" class of 4-H.

On the 5th we are adding 4 Buckeye Hens and 1 Buckeye Roo.   These are extremely popular birds bred here in Ohio, so they do well in our weather.  The plan on these is to breed more pure bred Buckeye chicks to sell.  Of Course, they will not be laying until about August, so the soonest we'll have chicks to sell is September if it goes well. 

We are also hoping to isolate the Americauna/Aracuanas with Boo so we can get some pure bred Americauna chicks.  The hope is that we won't have to keep buying from the hatchery.   In about a month I will order some Cornish Crosses which are heavy meat birds to raise for "Freezer Camp".  It only takes about 8-10 weeks until they are ready 'for camp'.

I'll post pictures of the brooder and the progress of the barn in a bit.  Also, I will update all my pictures of the day over on the scrap board later on tonight (I hope!)

Sickness in the Chicken Coop

So it happened...all the chickens have a cold...runny nose, foamy eyes, sneezing and coughing....sounds like we need Comtrex, eh?  Well unfortunately, one thing about chickens is that they don't show that they are sick until it is basically too late.

Monday night was the telltale night. When I returned home Tuesday morning from work, I arrived to find 2 dead birds and poor Maran panting on the floor.  I took Maran into the house and gave her antibiotics...this is the bird that survived the "Easter Drought".  Sadly she didn't survive the Flu of 2010.  Antibiotics all around in the chicken house. Then when I took the second dose of medicine out before I left for work, there was another that had passed.  4 were wheezing and coughing, so I figured I"d come home from work with another 4 dead, including my sweet rooster, Boo.....only 1 though, and not Boo.  Another day of antibiotics, sneezing, wheezing, foamy eyes.  Came home from work today, no one dead.  WOOHOO!! Still it's going through the house and others are sick now.  So I just came if from doing something I never thought I would be doing....I sat out there for almost and hour, picking up various birds and forcing...er...coaxing...antibiotic water down their throat with an eyedropper.  Yep. 

Luckily the artic blast has broken and it isn't so bitterly cold.  Still they do not like the snow so everyone is stuck in the house. I spent time during the night picking out the day old chicks that we will get in February to replace the casualties.  But they will go to good use as they are waiting for the compost heap to start warming up for the spring.  I realize I sound a bit mean...but I've had days and hours agonizing, crying and being upset about losing our birds, and have come to the "farmer mindset."  No use crying over dead chickens, or something like that!  (That doesn't mean that I am not still a bit obsessive about caring for them when they are sick...I'm thinking most farmers don't eyedropper their hens! :) )

On a happier note...I was able to get all the Christmas decorations (san the stragglers that I always seem to miss) put away.  I also downsized this year and went from 6 boxes of decoration down to 3!!

New Additions to the homestead family!!

We are now in the bunny business!!!  Meet our new rabbits.  They are Californian (hey, dude!) meat rabbits.  They will finish out at about 7 pounds and are good meat.  Our trio is the basis of the rabbitry, so it's actually their offspring that will be going to "freezer camp" eventually.  They will also be shown in 4H this spring and summer.  Robbie is the buck and is the Boy's rabbit.  The does (girls) are Meg and Mollie.  Man is holding Meg and Mollie was too shy for pictures (grin)

Robbie

Meg

Stormy meeting Robbie.

Man noticed that we seem to be getting mostly white animals!

BE SURE TO SCROLL Down as I added pictures to older posts!!!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2010! 

We started out the year by going to "game night" at the local church that we have attended a few times, fun for all!  We played games or talked to new acquantainces.  Man hit it off with the Pastor, and I hung out with the Pastor's wife.  Boy played with his new older friend, and his new friend that is a girl.  Sadly, we found out that they will be leaving the church as her dad was just selected to pastor a new church about an hour away.

We came home an hour into the new year.  So our traditional sparklers had to wait until later.  We did them the evening of the 1st.

Over on the scrapping board, I am attempting to do the project 365, which is a picture a day, so be sure to check it out from time to time.  You are to take some non traditional pictures to capture the day to day of your 'real life'.

But as a sneak peek...for the 1st....we are heating our home exclusively with wood...it's been a challenge figuring out how to keep the house warm through the night....it's getting better.  Last night it got down to 0, and still we were warm.

On top you can see the steamer I received for Christmas...my favorite color and it helps with the moisture in the house.  We've been getting the fire cooking so we have a nice bed of coals...we've only "restarted" restarted the fire once since the beginning of December...the rest of the time, we just keep it going.

Christmas Chicken News...

So shortly after we lost Gray and Brownie...then Muffin, our delaware rooster became ill too.  He fell and then just laid there.  I brought him in and forced antibiotics down his throat and put him behind the woodburner.  He lasted longer than the others, but then he too went to the eternal hen house. 

Christmas eve into Christmas day sometime, we had more tragedy strike the hen house.  A opposum (we think) got in and killed four of the hens.  We found the bodies of 2 of them (without their heads, so that's why we think it's a opossum-that's their M.O.)

Then two days after, when man was going out to his shop he heard a terrible squack....the dogs and I ran out.  The dogs chased off whatever it was but not before it had taken a bite out of the back of one of the Wyandottes neck.  I was sure she was a goner...but here it is about 10 days later and she is still doing ok.  She was mothered by one of the dominiques and a comet.  So we are down to 40 hens, 1 rooster, and 9 chicks....Now we have a round number....The man says that God was "right-sizing" the flock.