Summer takes over

It has been over three months since I last posted!  Wow what a break that was.  I didn't intend not to blog but the summer months are some of my busiest and the chores of the garden, chickens and home became more important.  I always say that I have much more time in the winter when there's four feet of snow outside. 

Our summer has come and nearly gone in a flash.  Our garden has been a fruitful blessing keeping us full of root vegetables, tomatoes and cucumbers.  Our squash (both summer and winter) were a complete failure this year which is very sad. 

We moved to a new home at the end of July which was wonderful but moving is never fun, now matter how much you try to enjoy it.  We are now settled and in our usual routine of chickens, garden and homeschooling. 

We are about to go camping for the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot which, for us, begins at sundown on September 18th (the 15th day of the seventh biblical month).  We will be camping locally so that I can still manage my chicken flock and garden duties. 

Over the summer we have enjoyed hiking and foraging which has resulted in us finding Chaga, Hen of the Woods and Reishi Mushrooms.  I will blog about these wonderful finds very soon. 

We were trying to raise turkeys this year but unfortunately we lost all 11 that we originally purchased.  I had bought the Chocolate Turkey breed which is an endangered species of turkey.  I would like to try again next year but maybe with a different breed. 

I just wanted to post a quick update and then in the coming weeks I will post about our foraging finds and also our camping and wilderness experience over Sukkot. 

Winter is coming down upon us faster than I could ever imagine.  Tonight we have a frost warning and the temperature is dropping to 32 F.   I will have to see if my plants make it through the chilly night...

Cordless Coffee

Last year, I decided that there had to be a way to brew our morning coffee without using our electric coffee maker.  After a few minutes searching on Google I found this:

The Chemex Coffee Maker

The Big Chicken and I loved it from the moment we first set eyes on it.  It is simple, effective and well, it works.  We have the 8 cup classic.  Recently I found reusable coffee filters on Etsy.   They are $8 for two filters.  Once I have used them I rinse them out and then hang them to dry.  I boil them maybe once a week.  They rinse very easily and none of the coffee grains get stuck in the cotton.   

 

I had tried making my own filters using fine weave cheese cloth but the filters that I purchased are made from organic cotton and much better. 

I use two scoops of coffee for every cup of water.  So for three cups of water - 6 scoops of coffee.  It sounds like a lot but we do prefer our coffee to be a bit stronger than average and I found that using 1 scoop per cup made very weak coffee.  I'm sure it comes down to personal preference.  You boil your water and then pour a small amount of water over your ground coffee.  You now allow the grains to "bloom".  They swell slightly and then you add the rest of the water. 

We run the coffee through two to three times to get a nice, strong brew.  Obviously the Chemex paper filters slow the water/coffee flow but they were also costly and another item that I had to dispose of.

I have to say that we love our cordless coffee maker, yes it looks like a funny looking vase, but it makes good coffee.


Frugally Sustainable Blog Hop #75

When Spring Springs...

One of our Australorp girls who adopted some of our chicks

It feels like the snow melted and we were sprung into spring at the speed of a runaway train.  I haven't had time to write in nearly 7 weeks. 

Well spring sprung and I feel like I haven't stopped since... So much has gone on:  Chicken Man lost his first tooth and his new "big boy tooth" was right behind it.  We don't have the tooth fairy in our house but the baby tooth has been put away in a safe spot.  Chicken Man also got a new big boy bicycle without training wheels and after a few falls and tears he is now a whizzing pro.  He actually asked me if we could get some ramps so he can start learning tricks!

Our hens went broody and then some of them got bored and decided they didn't want to be mothers after all.  I mean, who would want a screaming, hollering bunch of squawking kids?  The Dominiques have been incredibly disappointing.  Not one has shown an ounce of interest in sitting on her eggs.  The odd Delaware sat just to see what the fuss was and then of course, she got bored and got off the eggs.  One Buff Orpington has decided to stick it out for the long run. 

Chicks from our incubated eggs

The Australorps have been the best performers so far.  We had up to twelve hens sitting and two have had their eggs hatch.  We also hatched eggs in an incubator at home and ended up with fifteen chicks.  I decided to see if I could get the hens in my coop to adopt some of my home hatchlings.  It worked for about two days and then disaster struck!  Five chicks ended up being killed by other hens (their days are numbered) and so I brought all the chicks and some of the hens back to our house to brood them at home in a safe location.  I had thought that the chicks would be safe in my coop with their mother hen but apparently not.  We now have around twenty chicks and two hens in the back yard.  I wanted the chicks to be raised by hens (if possible) and while the two girls that we have brooding the chicks now have been wonderful, it is just too dangerous to leave them in with the rest of the flock.  We have some more eggs in the incubator but I think I will just brood them at home without the help of the hens.

Our new Australorp chicks in the brooder

This morning a batch of twenty-seven chicks arrived from McMurray Hatchery.  These are all Australorps that I will be keeping and breeding from next year.  I really had high hopes for the Dominiques but if they are not going to produce their own young I have to go with the Australorps.  We also have turkeys arriving next week.  I chose the Chocolate variety.  They are smaller than the broad breasted variety but still a good size.  I am hoping to keep a Tom and a couple of girls so keep the flock going for next year. 

The Australorp chicks outside

In between trying to keep chicks alive and homeschool Chicken Man I've been busy planting our gardens.  We had a freak frost that killed quite a few of my SIL's greenhouse/aquaponic transplants.  It was such a shame because despite being far too big to transplant they had survived but despite being covered, the frost was too harsh.  Just this week we had another two nights where the temperatures dropped close to freezing but not quite.  By this point, I had planted everything and my tiny transplants were very fragile.  I covered everything and prayed hard.  I realize that if I lost everything (again) we would not be having the abundance of vegetables that we have enjoyed in previous years.  Our gardens are feeding nine people this year so I desperately needed everything to live.  Thankfully, everything survived and now I need sunshine to make my gardens grow. 


April didn't bring any rain at all but May has brought more and then some more and some more after that.  At least I don't have to water the garden.

We have enjoyed foraging for fiddleheads and for morels.  I collected a basketful of dandelion heads and made dandelion syrup.  It smelled quite strange while it was boiling but the taste is sweet and delicious.  I got my recipe here at the Mooberry Farm BlogSpot.  




Frugally Sustainable Blog Hop #74

Simply blessed

"Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have for he hath said 'I will never leave thee nor forsake thee'." Hebrews 13:5

A simple life.  It's something that many strive for and many more wish they had.  How many times do we say to ourselves "why can't it just be more simple?!"  I find myself being reminded on a regular basis how blessed my family is and how blessed I am to have a simple life.  Sometimes, I think I need to remind myself of why our life is so very simple.  Here are 10 things that help keep me sane and our life simply blessed.

• Faith.  We have a close, unapologetic and loving relationship with our Heavenly Father and Creator, Yahuah (God/YHWH).  He has given us more blessings than I can list.  He has given us meaning, purpose and direction and continues to do so each and every day. 

• Embracing routine.  I am a very organized person and personally, I love routine.  Chicken Man has had routine since he was a tiny babe.  I believe that children need structure and are happier when they know how their day is going to go.  Our day begins at either 5 or 6 am, depending what shift the Big Chicken is working.  For us meal times are always around the same times: 8 am, 1 pm and 6 pm.  School work begins by 9 am.  Chicken duties are done morning and evening, before breakfast and after dinner.  Sometimes there are errands to run and play dates to enjoy but the core structure of our day is usually the same. 

• Eat well.  I try and prepare as much as I can from scratch with the best ingredients that I can afford.  We store as much as we can from our summer garden and we have a great supply of chicken and eggs.  I buy organic as much as I can and choose fruit and vegetables that are in season and local, if possible.  I buy bulk organic grain, beans and rice which helps to keep costs down.  I freeze leftovers for the Big Chicken's lunches.  We eat out very rarely and enjoy knowing that what we are eating is wholesome and nutritious.  I prepare larger batches of meals and then can or freeze them so, if I am not going to be home all day, we can still eat something yummy that I prepared earlier. 

• Homeschooling.  Many people would say that this cannot possibly be part of a "simple life" but I honestly have to say, it is.  We have freedom and flexibility that doesn't exist in the public school system.  We can have our school breaks around the festivals that we keep and even continue to home school during appointments and vacations if we need to.  We have only been homeschooling for a year but it has been a wonderful experience.  Chicken Man finished Kindergarten three months early so we are making a head start on 1st grade math and language arts.  We have enjoyed some wonderful home school excursions and every part of every day becomes a learning experience. 

• Grow your own.  We grow a garden and keep our own chickens (for both meat and eggs).  It is so satisfying to grow vegetables and I store as much as I can to see us through the winter months.  

• No time for the iron. I don't do ironing.  Seriously.  Not at all.  OK, I might have to bust out the iron if the Big Chicken needs a dress shirt but that is rare.  I do not own a tumble dryer so all our clothes dry in the house (during winter/bad weather) or on the line.  I find that folding is key to keeping those clothes from ever needing to see an iron. 

• Being content.  I can honestly say that I am happy.  I love my life although sometimes I need to remind myself of that.  We have no complaints.  We are healthy and live comfortably, within our means.  I get to be a wife and mother who can provide for her family to the best of my ability.  Not many families are blessed enough to have a stay-at-home-mom and I am grateful each and every day for that blessing. 

• Make time.  For God. For your husband (or wife).  For your children.  For your family. For your friends.  You need each and every one of them.  To laugh with and to cry with.

• Outside time. We love to go camping, hiking or just a simple walk on a sunny afternoon.  We are incredibly blessed to live somewhere that is not only beautiful, but has wonderful places to explore. 

• The Sabbath.  We keep the seventh day sabbath or shabbat.  We stop from sundown on Friday (the 6th day) to sundown on Saturday (the 7th day).  I make sure my house is clean, laundry is done, food is prepared and I am ready to spend the day with my Heavenly Father Yahuah and my family. 

Frugally Sustainable Blog Hop #74

Matzah using our Saj

Cooking pita on a saj (internet pic)



We love matzah!  For us, it is not just for the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  Matzah is our dinner bread but we also eat it for breakfast and lunch sometimes.  We use a Saj that the Big Chicken purchased.  What is a saj?  A saj is a large, flat or convex disc-shaped griddle made from metal.  Here's ours:

So let's start at the beginning with soaking our flour overnight.  Of course, I have made matzah (and other baked goods) without soaking the flour but, as I have mentioned in earlier posts, planning ahead and soaking flour for all baking projects is good practice. 

I took all the fresh-ground flour that I had stored in my freezer - about 8 cups - and put it into a large mixing bowl.  To this I added 1/3 cup of raw milk keifer, 1/3 cup of yogurt and 2 to 3 cups of warm water.  I usually add the water 1 cup at a time.  You don't want your soaked flour mix to be too dry but you don't want it to be too sloppy either.  Add your water slowly mixing as you go.  Remember that you have liquid in the form of the keifer and yogurt so don't add all your water in one go or you may need to add a lot more flour.

The next part is very easy: I put a reusable cover on the bowl and go to bed. 

I have now left the flour to soak for around 18 hours. 

Around two hours before I am going to bake the matzah I add the yeast.  If I left my flour soaking overnight on day 1, I usually start this part of the process around 3 pm on day 2.

In a mason jar or measuring jug, mix together 1/4 cup of warm water with 6 teaspoons of yeast and 2 teaspoons of sugar or honey.  Allow the yeast mix to proof or become bubbly (about 5-10 minutes). When it is all bubbly and puffy add it to the soaked flour in the large mixing bowl. 

Mix everything together, adding a little more flour if your mixture is too wet or sticky.  Now leave the dough to rise for about an hour.  As I am making a flat bread, I do not worry about letting the dough rise twice as you would when baking a traditional loaf. 

Now I fire up my saj!  All this means is that I put the saj on my stove and turn the heat to high.  If the Big Chicken is home he usually gives me a hand at this point.

While the saj is heating up, I start rolling out small balls of dough, about the size of a tennis ball.  You can make the bread as big or small as you prefer.  I have found that when the flour has been soaked, it is easier to roll out the dough a little thicker.  We have found that the dough will break up if rolled out too thin. 

 

Once the dough is on the saj you cannot move it until it is baked.  While the dough is still raw it sticks to the saj just for a minute or two and then loosens as it cooks. 

The dough doesn't take long to bake at all, no more than a minute or two and then, using a metal spatula, the Big Chicken flips the bread over to cook the other side. 

Here's our end result:

It sure is yummy!  One of our summer projects is going to be building a clay tandor oven in our backyard but for now, our saj on the stove works perfectly.


Frugally Sustainable Blog Hop #66

Sprouting grain and soaking flour

                                                    Sprouted lentils and wheat berries

When I first read through Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions, I saw the section devoted to soaking flours and grains.  It would seem that most of the world understands that many grains and flours should be soaked before being used and eaten.  To most people, that would be too much faffing around.  You want to bake bread or make pancakes and it has to be done in a snappy amount of time.  What I learned about soaking flour and grains has turned our diet around and made me realize that not everything has to be done at break-neck speed.

Grains: I started soaking whole wheat berries and lentils about a year ago.  I bought some sprouting lids from my health food store but I have also used a metal canning ring and a piece of muslin cloth.  Sprouting is super easy and improves the nutrition and digestibility of the grain by a number that I cannot remember but, trust me, it's good!  I put one cup of grain, lentils or beans into a quart size mason jar and then fill it with spring water.  (A quick side note here:  I don't use our tap water for anything other than washing due to the levels of fluoride and chlorine).  I put the sprouting lid on the jar and leave it for 24 hours.

                                                                    Sprouting lids

After the first 24 hour soaking period, I drain the water from the jar and invert it into the sink dish drainer.  Now I will simply rinse the beans/grain/lentils two to three times each day for up to three days.  By day 2 you will start to see little sprouts coming out of your chosen grain.  These will continue to grow.  I have left my sprouts to really grow for up to a week but anything over a a couple of days is fine. 

                                                                    Sprouted wheat berries

Once I am happy with the length of the sprouts, I steam the sprouted grains, allow them to cool and then store them in the fridge.  I add sprouted grains/lentils/beans to pretty much anything.  They are great with rice, in soups and stews and even cold on salads. 

                                                       Sprouted lentils - green and brown

Now soaked flour is slightly different.  I have seen recipes where folks use their sprouted wheat berries in their bread recipe and they grind the with a meat grinder.  I tried this just once and found my bread to be very heavy. 

I recently found this soaking recipe by The Elliott Homestead: http://theelliotthomestead.com/soaked-whole-wheat-bread.  Not only is it a great recipe but it produces fantastic bread.  I had to tweak the amount of gluten that I add.  I actually had to double the amount called for in the recipe.  Other than that, I follow her recipe to the letter and usually make one or two batches each week.  I get three very lovely loaves from each batch.  One lesson I have learned, is that the bread must be at the correct temperature inside for it to be cooked.  I use a probe thermometer to check the bread at the 30 minute mark.  I am looking for at least 190 degrees Fahrenheit.  Your bread may look cooked on the outside but the middle can still be soft a gooey. 

I try to soak flour whenever I'm baking something.  I always have keifer or buttermilk in my fridge so that acid medium is never an issue.  I just have to be organized enough to know what I am going to be making during the week.  Obviously, there are times when I want to mix up a batch of matza to go with dinner and I haven't soaked my flour.  I don't stress about this, I just make the matza and try and think ahead a little more the next time. 

I also soak my oats in milk overnight in the fridge if I am making oatmeal for breakfast.  I find that the oatmeal cooks a lot more quickly and is softer and creamier.  I did try soaking it in keifer but the taste was a little too strong even for me, let alone Chicken Man.  If I make pancakes, I soak the flour in the correct amount of milk in the fridge overnight.  Organization and pre-planning is key. 

We live in a society that wants everything to be "now" and "fast" but in our house, things take time.  Good food takes time and personally, I love that.



Frugally Sustainable Blog Hop #66

Cloth for everything

I was always slightly bemused reading blogs and articles by those who had gone "paper free".  I understood exactly what they had done and why, but it still seemed like a huge jump from normal to a little bit strange.  No toilet paper, kitchen towel or even femine hygiene products.  The Big Chicken was less amused, more terrified.

Kitchen paper:  This wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  We used a lot of kitchen paper, endless reems of the stuff.  It was so quick and easy to rip off a sheet and wipe up whatever had spilled.  We use cast iron cookware a great deal, so there is a lot of seasoning done with coconut oil.  Doing this with resuable cloth did seem a little bit of a challenge.  I had recently bought some cotton/flannel sheets from our local charity shop and began to cut paper-towel sized pieces and pile them up.  I have seen many posts of folks who actually stitch them and even apply poppers to hold them together in a roll.  While I have a sewing machine, this was a step too much for me.  I found that the flannel sheet was perfect as it didn't fray.  So now instead of paper towel, we have a crock full of reusable cloth.

I keep a bucket under the sink with water and detergent in it.  When we have used a cloth, we simply drop it into the bucket.  Once or twice a week I empty the bucket and then soak and boil the cloths.  Then they go through a normal dark wash with our usual laundry.

Toilet paper:  This is something that most households go through a lot of.  We certainly do, along with wet wipes for the younger visitors.  I had used cotton sheets to start with but they did fray and were not as soft as I would have liked.  The flannel sheets came out again but this time I cut smaller squares, closer to the size of one sheet of toilet paper.  I have two garbage cans in my bathroom.  They are repurposed pots.  The silver one is for regular garbage and the blue one, filled with water and some soap, is for our reusable toilet paper. 

I also keep a small spray bottle with some water and aloe vera in it.  When the cloth is sprayed, it becomes a wet wipe.  I empty this pot three or four times a week and transfer the cloths into a vinegar, baking soda and peroxide solution.  These cloths are also boiled before going through a usual washing cycle. 

 

Femine hygiene products: This was a switch that I wish I had made years ago.  I again read about cloth feminine hygiene products and decided to get a few to try.  I personally like Gladrags.  I was totally convinced within the first day of using Gladrags.  They are so comfortable and very easy to clean.  I keep a third pot filled with water and detergent in a bathroom cupboard during these times.  I empty this pot each day and put the napkins into a bucket to soak.  They are boiled and then washed either in the washing machine or by hand. 

Reusable cloth has been much easier to adjust to than I thought it would be and I would encourage anyone who is hesitant to give it a try for a week or even a month and see how you feel at the end of that time. 



Frugally Sustainable Blog Hop #64