Oh My Aching Feet

Canning is super addictive.  Now that I've started I can't stop.  There's just something comforting about seeing all those glass jars lined up on my shelves full of homemade goodies.

Here's what I've made so far with links to the recipes.

Dill Relish

Dill Slices

Pickled Beets

Taco Sauce (recipe in Bernardin book)

Applesauce

Pizza Sauce

I'm expecting my new pressure canner any day now.  I have a crazy amount of chard and beans to can.  My tomatoes are finally producing fruit.  I noticed some of the ones closer to the ground are already rotting.  My fingers are still crossed for a decent tomato harvest.

The "Hurricane"

As usual it fizzled out by the time it hit Nova Scotia.  We got a very brief downpour and a bit of wind.  The only damage was to my biggest sunflower.  The whole thing uprooted.

The only prep we needed to do was to stake the fruit trees.  We are planning to espalier them but hadn't got around to placing the wire up.  It's done now.

Just a little wet.

Shockingly the power didn't go out.  That was my biggest worry as we just put eggs into lockdown.  Still have chicks for sale from the last batch if anyone wants them!

Friday Bullets

• Dreaming about far in the future renos.  The old siding and newer roof both need replacing.
• Can I can lacto-fremented foods?
• Collecting apples from the trail today.  What should I do with them?
• Teething baby=lack of sleep=fewer blog posts
• Doctor Who returns Saturday!
• First hurricane of the season is on it's way.  Batten down the hatches.
• I just put 71 books on hold from the library for the month of September.  
• The girls are sick with completely different symptoms.  
• Still have ducks, chicks, ducklings and quail eggs for sale.
• My chickens seems to be molting.  This would explain the lack of eggs.
• Baby is a screamer.  Got to go!
  

Off To Toddlerhood

It's our 12th anniversary today and our son's 1st birthday.  Despite being completely exhausted from work and sticky from the humidity we took the kids down to Annapolis Royal for a visit.  This was a mistake because it seemed even hotter there.  By the time we got back everyone was even more tired and unmotivated.

Sleepy

Soooo sleepy.

We threw together a quick picnic under the tree in the yard but could barely manage the energy to eat it.  Limey and the girls did manage to get motivated long enough to pelt me with peas as I took photos.

After I fished all the peas out of my bra, we went back in the house to have the "I don't care what it looks like" cake that I made last night.

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

Too sweaty to be interested.

The best part of the day was when Limey installed ds's (or is it mine?) present.

Baby gate!

I'm Crunchy

The kids really like cereal but it's super expensive and not at all healthy. They were getting sick of eggs and oatmeal so I've been making granola to liven breakfasts up a bit.

Papaya and coconut.

Granola

6 cups rolled oats (not the quick stuff)
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup of raw sunflower seeds
1 cup nuts
1-2 cups dried fruit
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
4 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Mix everything together except the dried fruit.  Spread over two cookies sheets.  Place in a 300F oven for 30 minutes.  Check and shake every 10 minutes.  It shouldn't get brown, just very lightly golden.  You might not think it's there yet after 30 minutes, but when it's cool you'll see that it has crisped up a bit.  Add the dried fruit in at the end.  Store in an airtight container.

I made a second batch with golden raisins and chopped almonds.  You can vary the nuts, seeds, fruit and spices however you like.   The kids love granola with milk but I'm sure it's also good with yogurt. 
  

Not Santa

There was a bit of scuffling sound coming from the chimney today.   I was hoping that whatever was in there would figure it's' way out.  When it became apparent that wasn't going to happen, Limey open up the flue and dug a little birdie out of the ash.

Once it was out it started screeching like the mandrake root in HP Chamber of Secrets.  Outside it went and flew away no worse for wear.

Drying Herbs

Now that my herb garden has filled in nicely, I've started harvesting the herbs for drying.

Some herbs will dry well just by hanging them, such as oregano, rosemary and sage.  Others, like mint, parsley and basil maintain their colour and flavour better if you dry them faster.  You can use an oven set to 200F to do this.

Boozy Fruitcake

It's that time of year again, when my thoughts turn to Christmas and I remember just in the nick of time that I need to make fruitcake.

I know fruitcake has it rough.  Like a lot of food you buy at the store (I'm looking at you white strawberries) it is in no way comparable to homegrown or homemade.  Fruitcake is one of those things I always thought about making but never did because I was sure it would be difficult.  When I finally did make it, I was shocked at how easy it was.  If you can throw together a boxed cake mix, you can make fruitcake. 

The longer a fruitcake sits, the better it gets which is why people used to start them just after Christmas for eating during the next year's holiday season. 

To make a small fruitcake that will be enough for 4-6 people you will need;

3/4 cup mixed dried fruit
1/4 cup chopped nuts or more dried fruit
1/4 cup + 1/4 cup dark rum

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
2 tablespoons milk

parchment paper
cheesecloth
small (8x4 ish) loaf pan

First off, chop up any large pieces of fruit.  This year I used a mix of golden raisins, black currants and papaya but I've used pineapple, apricots and cranberries in the past.  I don't use nuts so I just use 1 full cup of fruit.  Pour the fruit into a small bowl with 1/4 cup of rum.  Stir it up, cover it and let sit for 24 hours.  Every year I pull out all the cake ingredients and get ready to make it only to remember that I have to soak the fruit first.

Once the fruit has soaked, preheat your oven to 325F.  Butter the loaf pan and line it with parchment paper.

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy then beat in the egg.  Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon and add to the sugar mixture, alternating with the molasses and milk. Fold in rummy fruit.  Pour into your prepared loaf pan and pop into the oven.

Bake for 40-45 minutes.  Cool for 10 minutes.  Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of rum.   Soak a piece of cheesecloth that is large enough to wrap around the cake with 1 tablespoon of rum.  Lay it out on a piece of parchment paper that is also large enough to wrap around the cake.

When the cake is cool enough to unmold without wrecking it, turn it out of the pan onto the cheesecloth/parchment.  Sprinkle the remaining rum all over the cake.  Wrap the cheesecloth around it and then the parchment.  Place in a large Ziploc bag or airtight container and let it age in your cupboard.  If you age it for more than 10 weeks you are supposed to sprinkle more rum on it every ten weeks after that.

This cake is very rich so you don't need to eat a lot of it to be satisfied.  Unless your name is Limey and you can devour an entire loaf in one sitting.   It is definitely not brick-like and nobody will be snickering about it after they've had a taste.

Moving The Prisoners and a Hodgepodge Question

Apparently 6 pigs is too much for 3200 square feet of space. How do people raise pigs in 64 sqft spaces?! After digging up the entire paddock and leaving it totally bare, the pigs decided it was time to move.  The spent the last week breaking into the goat paddock.  I can't have them in there as it's not secure.  They could easily break through and escape into the bush.

Limey's been working away pretty much any time he's awake so had I wait for him to take a day off so we could move the pigs.

Well at least they left us some rocks.  

Nice, new, secure (hopefully) paddock.

The move went smoothly. The new electric fence was set a foot inside the farm fence we had up in the old goat paddock. The following day the pigs had dumped about a foot of sod over the electric fence but they no longer seem to care about breaking out.

Unrelated to the pig part of this post, I'm going to attempt to make hodgepodge for supper.  So Nova Scotians, do you have any tips for me?  What is the best way to make hodgepodge?

The Last Hatch

We finally got a decent hatch out of our muscovys.  I expect that this will be their last hatch of the season.

Inara had a 100% success rate with her eggs.  She hatched out 16 beautiful little ducklings.

Take me home with you!

Chokecherry Syrup

Chokecherries are a pretty common bush that can be found all over North America.  Not to be confused with buckthorn, chokecherries are edible when cooked.

We have a lot of chokecherries lining the property.  When they turn purplish black, they are ready to harvest. 

Not quite ready.

I originally planned to make chokecherry leather but I found it very difficult to separate the fruit from the pit.  I don't need any more jam so instead I followed this recipe for chokecherry syrup. 

It turned out quite well and I'm looking forward to making more when I get another chance to pick berries.

Getting to Know Herbs: Lemon Verbena

 This is my first time growing lemon verbena and it definitely won't be the last.  I am in love with how it smells.  It reminds me of Juicy Fruit gum.  It's almost overwhelmingly citrusy.  I love it!

 

Lemon verbena is an annual but you can pot it up and bring inside over the winter. It is a tall, skinny plant, so place it where it's not going to get overwhelmed by any herbal bullies such as the borage I talked about previously.

LV makes a great tea when combined with mint.  It can be used in any recipe that you would use lemons in and would make a nice replacement for lemon zest.  As a dried herb it excels because it keeps its flavour and scent for years.  It is highly prized as a potpourri ingredient for this reason.  

I think the next time I make ice cream I'm going to flavour it with this intoxicating herb.

Have you ever grown lemon verbena?  Have you cooked with it?

Friday Bullets

• Limey is having fun in construction.  Comes home telling me crazy stories about drywallers.
• Rain, rain, rain.  Is hurricane season around the corner?
• The Ex is next week.  Wednesday is kids day.  Rides will be 1 ticket each until 5pm.  Still debating.
• Thinking about switching the goats out later in the fall.  Anyone have purebred Nubians from excellent milking lines they want to sell me?  Preferably already pregnant.  We need a higher cream content.
• Going to can mustard beans this weekend.
• Reevaluating our homestead plans.  Moving some things higher on the priority list, some things lower.
• Have you seen the math curriculum Life of Fred?  I'm digging it.
• The tomatoes are flowering.  The bees better get to work.
• Wondering if we should get bee hives next year.  
• Pork soon! I haven't had bacon in months.  Can't wait.
• I started rereading all the HP books last week.  I'm halfway through book 4.  
• Limey started listening to the HP audio books last week.  Finally I can discuss books with my non-reader husband!
• Perseid meteor shower overnight.  Maybe I'll crawl out of bed this year to watch them without having to worry about the police interrupting.
• Baby ducks today. They are so cute.  $5 each.  Still have 3 monthers for $15.
• Pigs threw mud on me this morning.  I then spilled beet juice down my shirt and a chicken shit  down my pant leg.  Fun on the farm. 
• For a laugh...who doesn't love Uncle Jesse?

Curriculum Update

As I'm wont to do, I have changed the curriculum plans for the girls.  But only just a wee bit.  Here are my edits.


DD1-Grade 1

Math:  I was going to purchase RightStart Math Beta but I don't want to spend the money. Lol no, it's just that now that she has the basics down it's really easy to teach her without the formal stuff.  It would be a pointless expense. Instead we'll teach her from life as well as read some fun math books from the library like; A Dollar For Penny, Sir Cumference and Mummy Math.  She also likes the Khan Academy videos.  Still doing all this.  I've added the Life of Fred elementary series.

LA: We're going to delve into writing stories and poems this year.  I purchased this book from Amazon as a jumping off point for my poetry plan.  For the writing part, we'll go over parts of speech, how to write a sentence, paragraph etc.  I've also started a list of writing prompts for her to work with. I added some Mad Libs books and I wrote out a more concrete lesson plan for the above.

Shakespeare:  It's never to early to start them on the Bard.  We're going to read three plays from this series of books and watch the corresponding BBC Animated Tale.  I'm going to find some related activities to do and maybe a short performance or two.  Nothing changed here.

Reading:  I started a book list for dd1 to read next year but she blew through it in the past couple of weeks.  Instead I'm going to stock up on novels and get her to keep a list of what she's read.  I need recommendations for books though.  She's currently reading Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Same plan.  She's currently reading Little House in the Big Woods.

Science:  We're going to finish up the rest of Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding and read related books from the library.  I expanded upon this curriculum and added all sorts of fun extras; videos, web sites, experiments and books.  I also picked up The Usborne Science Encyclopedia which is fab.

History:  History was our big subject last year.  We used my writeup of History Odyssey: Ancients.  This year we're going to continue learning about the subjects we covered by watching documentaries and the millions of books the library has. As an offshoot of the Ancient Greek portion of our studies, we're also going to read D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths.  I expanded on this a lot and then realized we'll still be finished with it by December.   I purchased SOTW 2 so we'll also be covering the Middle Ages.  Hopefully that'll take us to June.

Geography:  Did I mention that I love the library?  What I've been doing with all these subjects is searching the library for related books.  I'll put them all on hold in September and read them as they come in.  Our main spine for Geography is going to be The Usborne Geography Encyclopedia with Complete World Atlas.  This book has yet to arrive and I'm hoping it'll be suitable.  I'll write out our lesson plans when it comes in.  The book did arrive and is awesome. 

French:  Dd1 has already started on Rosetta Stone for French.  I think it's (learning French) a tad bit pointless myself.  If at some point we have to put the kids in school (hopefully never) at least she
won't be behind in it.  Same.

Art:  I'm excited about this subject.  We're still playing around with Creativity Express but I've been eying up Meet the Masters and Artistic Pursuits.  This is another of those boxed curriculum that I look at and think "I could totally write that myself".  So that's what I'm doing.  We're going to study three artists, read about them with some lovely books like this one and do a bit of painting.  Did it.  This was the hardest for me to write but it's done and looks good.

Health and PE:  We really don't need to do much here.  I am going to purchase this book as well as this one.  Both kids want to take dance classes in the fall.  We're still doing Yoga.  I didn't purchase the first book.  Instead I bought Basher's Human Body and wrote a curriculum using that.  You can read about what I did here.  Also, I'm finding it really hard to find classes in the area.  New Minas is too far for us to go.

Logic: She'll be doing Logic Safari. Same.

Cursive:  I've picked up a couple of workbooks for this.  When she's perfected her printing we'll start cursive.  Printing has improved a lot since I wrote this.  We should be fine starting cursive in the fall.

It looks like a lot when it's all typed out doesn't it?  It's not really though.  We'll do a little bit of art here, a little bit of math there.   When you have one kid to teach instead of thirty, learning happens much more quickly.

DD2's curriculum is super relaxed and fun.  For each book I have a list of questions to ask/discuss and a list of activities to do.  I'm going to write the lists on an index card and place the card in an envelope taped to each book.  Each book's list can be stretched out over a week. 

The reading list for her is as follows;

*I cut about half of the original book list.  This new list takes us to December and we'll decide how to proceed from there.

Goodnight Moon
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
Stella Queen of the Snow
Katy No Pocket
Very Hungry Caterpillar
Blueberries for Sal 

The Colour Kittens 

Big Pumpkin
The Year at Maple Hill Farm
Jesse Bear What Will You Wear?
Story About Ping
Corduroy
The Water Hole

Everything is printed out and ready to go.  I just have to do a little supply shopping and await the arrival of the math books!

What are you using this year?  Or are you unschooling and using nothing but life?

Getting to Know Herbs: Borage

I've grown borage for three years now and I think it's one of the easiest herbs to grow.  All I do is throw down some seed in the early spring and that's it.  I don't water, I don't prune,  no fertilizer, nothing.  A couple months after sowing it reveals itself to be quite the behemoth.

Plan to give it a nice 4x4 section to itself.  It has a decent height to it as well so avoid putting smaller herbs behind it.  Borage is classified as an annual.  It it supposed to self-sow but I've had no luck with it. Like most herbs, it grows best in a full-sun location.  The leaves and flowers taste like cucumber but you can only harvest the leaves for eating when the plant is small.  The bigger it get's the more prickly it gets.  Borage has a mild laxative effect so go easy on it until you've seen how it affects your body!   I have actually never use my borage before.  I just never get around to it.  I plant it because it's a bee magnet.  We saw some hummingbirds sipping from the flowers today so apparently they like it as well.

Pink and true blue flowers on the same plant!

There are medicinal uses to borage.  It's been used for fever reduction, depression, bronchitis and as an anti-inflammatory.   I know next to nothing about using herbs for medicinal purposes so I can't recommend using them this way.  It is something that I'm interested in and hope to learn about more in the future.

Still looking for herb book recs.  I borrowed a bunch from the library but they aren't doing it for me so I'm open to more suggestions.  Even a good website with info I can print out and bind would be great.

Putting Up

I've started doing some canning.  At the moment I'm just doing the boiling water method but I am on the lookout for a reasonably priced pressure canner.

So far, I've canned sweet pickled beets and strawberries in syrup.

My favourite home-canned good is green tomato and apple chutney so my fingers are crossed that we get some tomatoes soon.

The Ball Book is the most highly recommended canning book but I have been searching for years for a copy with no luck.  I ended up buying the Bernardin book which seems decent enough.  However, it is lacking in pressure canner recipes. 

You can also check out this link and this one if you don't want to buy a book. 

I made one other product that I'll post about later when I can get a decent photo of it...

...

...

...Chokecherry syrup!

The Ex

The Annapolis Valley Exhibition is coming up.  You can find the schedule of events here.  We went on the first day last year and although it was a bit more subdued than I expect the weekend dates were, we still had a lot of fun.

It was at the Ex that I fell in love with Buff Orpingtons.

 

These chickens were massive. 

You can enter all sorts of stuff in the various contests they have.  There are a lot of categories and even more subcategories.  Anyone do flower arrangements in teacups?  They have a contest for that.  I'd like to enter chickens but it's required that your entire flock be vaccinated which is not something I'm willing to do.  The Ex is a good place to do a little window shopping for animals.  Cattle and horses dominate but you can find poultry, goats, sheep and rabbits as well.

In addition to the animals on display they also have a bunch of midway rides and games and an arena showcasing various events such as oxen parades, sheep rodeos and lots of horse stuff. 

Limey wants to go again this year but I'm not feeling like spending the cash.  Maybe they will trade us tickets for one of our frozen chickens?

Anyone going to the Ex this year?  What day do you think is best to go?

Homeschool Links-Science

It's raining so here's my third post of the day.  Have fun checking out the links!

http://acswebcontent.acs.org/scienceforkids/index.html#Gas
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/4_11/index.shtml
http://www.s-cool.co.uk/gcse/chemistry/atomic-structure/revise-it/particles
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/
http://www.neok12.com/
http://www.wartgames.com/themes/list.html
http://www.k12station.com/k12link_library.html?subject=NST&sub_cat=105239&final=105252
http://www.gadgetscience.com/butterfly-cycle-of-life/
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/ecological-adaptation/animals/6989.html
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/revision/Science/index.html
http://www.fossweb.com/modulesK-2/index.html
http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/games_activities/wildlife/index.cfm
http://www.arkive.org/earthworm/lumbricus-terrestris/video-01.html
http://www.gnb.ca/0009/0371/0012/0003-e.asp
http://www.childrenoftheearth.org/soil-facts-for-kids/soil-facts-for-kids-09.htm
http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/interactives/science/energy/whatisenergy.asp
http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/thezone/minerals/index.htm

Couple of Questions

I've been dreaming a lot about Christmas lately. Specifically I've been thinking about gifts.  We tend to do gifts differently each year. Some years we go all out, others we do less, sometimes we have a rule about making all the gifts.  This year is going to be minimal and primarily handmade. 

With that in mind, I have two questions.

1.  Do you know of a free online sock pattern (knit) that is super basic and easy? 
2.  Do you know of a online store that sells natural fibre fabrics (wool, hemp, cotton) in solid colours that is either in Canada or ships to Canada via USPS?

Letting in the Air

The plastic is off. Weeding was required. Hopefully tomatoes will appear.

Weedy Weedy

I did a little weeding in the vegetable garden the other day.  The paths were starting to look like a jungle.  Everything pulled out easily so I didn't have to spend much time doing it.

The dense planting in the raised beds have kept them pretty weed-free.  Some places, like the onion bed have had a light weeding or two.  Other spots like the bush bean and chard beds have not been weed at all.

A little around the edges but that's it.

The raised beds make weeding a lot easier on the back as well. I'm really glad we went with this gardening style. It's been good to us so far.

*We have lettuce, chard and sweet peas for sale right now. Come by and visit!

Tomato Problem

All my tomatoes are in the hoophouse.  They have been growing really well, ranging from 4-6 feet tall.  Unfortunately they seem to be producing very few blossoms.  We have a grand total of 2 tomatoes.  It's been really hot in there all summer so for the past 2-3 weeks we haven't been shutting the door and windows.  It's cooler in there now but still very few flowers. 

Is there something I can do to promote flowering and eventual fruit production?  I'm getting worried.  It's been an epically bad growing season for us and if I can't even get a tomato harvest I may cry. 

Any tips?

Pinterest

It's official I've been sucked in to Pinterest.  I used to have a file of inspiration photos on my other mac but it was lost in the meltdown.  I figured I'd be better off keeping the photos online.  So here it is, my Pinterest page.

http://pinterest.com/jenangelcat/

Moo-tard

I'm so excited!  I planted brown mustard seed in my herb bed and now it is a massive plant full of seedpods.

I can't wait to make mustard. I found a great blog post on how to do it over here.  Have you ever made mustard?  How did it go?  Any tips?

Friday Bullets

• Pigs keep putting rocks on the electric fence.  I'm looking forward to bacon.
• Goats keep ripping the fence open.
• Limey is working construction for the rest of the summer.  Which leaves me with all the farm chores.  Not fun.
• Speaking of fun, I'm trying to think of something to do for "not back to school".  Any suggestions?
• DS's 1st birthday and our 12th anniversary coming up.  On the same day.
• Tis the season for making Christmas fruitcake.  Can I be bothered this year?  I haven't decided.
• I'm still eating leftover coconut cake from the party.  I don't even like coconut but this stuff is fabulous.
• Just found our bantam running around on the road.  Wonder what she was doing down there?
  

Mud Pit

The pigs are getting big.  We have about 50 days worth of food left for them at which point they should be ready to be made into bacon.  Today they are enjoying the massive mud puddle in their yard.  I'm amazed at how well they've cleared that space out.  The vegetation is gone and all that is left is lots of dirt and rocks. I think we're going to have to seed it in the fall and put the spring pigs in a new paddock. 

Rain=Green

It's been raining on and off all week. The garden has been clinging to life all summer with the dry hot weather.  With all the rain we're getting now, the plants are looking nice and lush.

The bad thing about the rain?  Turkey deaths.  We've lost 4 of the 10 we started with.  I really hope that when our Beltsvilles start breeding, their babies will be hardier than the hatchery birds.  If not, I won't be doing turkeys again.

The Time Has Come

To make chickens in to meat. 

The meat birds are about 12 weeks now.  They've been on pasture since 6 weeks.  Limey butchered one out a week ago and the dressed weight was 4.5lbs. 

I wish they were bigger but they are starting to have trouble walking so it's time for them to go. 

We won't be without birds for long because we have another batch of 70 chicks in the barn.  I am eager to be done with animals for the season.  Once fall comes along and all the meat animals are gone it'll be nice to have the food and water duties finished faster.