Winter Wonderland

We woke to falling snow and it is still very lightly coming down. We got 4 inches or so so far. Lots of places around us got way more than that. I know further south in Olympia they got over 10 inches I think, just today. North of us were hit hard earlier in the week. Snohomish where my SIL is, they had 7 inches as of Monday night. We are thankful to be home and enjoying this beautiful scene God has created for us.

Losing Sight

Five years ago we started a new adventure. We bought 2 1/2 acres and left the city lot we owned to start learning how to be more self-sufficient, raise our own food and animals and to have room to roam. It's been quite the experience but I've also on many occasions for long stretches lost the vision of my dreams. So the learning has been slow and the progress stagnant as of late. Much of it is due to the MANY responsibilities that pile my plate but also much of it is due to procrastination.
I'm a procrastinator! I have ambitious dreams but they remain dreams. I like what Abbot Tryphon says in that post about procrastination..."Procrastination only has power over our lives if we let it. Taking steps to curb the habit of slothfulness must begin with a decision that today, with God's help, will be the day that I leave laziness and procrastination aside, and move forward with action."
I've had these dreams forever! Why do I continue to let procrastination rule over my life. I have the power and ability to accomplish anything! I must decide to do so!
My garden grows each year. My new favorite crop is garlic! I grew garlic fo the first time last year and it was so fun and so easy and so delicious! The fresher garlic is the more oil/juice you get out of it. I was astonished when I first pressed a garlic clove straight from the garden! Last year I planted 40 cloves of garlic and harvested about 35 bulbs. Did you know you plant garlic in the fall? This year I planted 54 cloves and I wish I had planted more! I use garlic copious amounts of garlic in just about everything I cook. The health benefits are abundant.
I grew lots of cool weather crops for the first time last year as well. Things like kale and chard. So delicious. I am still working on getting the garden put to bed for the winter. Hopefully once school break begins (one more week) I can get out to the garden again to finish the clean up.
In no time at all I will be able to start seeds in the house!

Dreams! Well, it's time to stop procrastinating and following my dreams!

Farmers Tribute

There is a picture of my cousins farm in this video that someone created. I took this picture last summer, 4 months before it burned down. I blogged about our trip here. The first picture of that post is the one in the video. VERY cool video, a Tribute to Farmers. I don't know how they got the picture. I suppose just surfing the web.
I blogged briefly about the fire here. They still struggle through this, almost a year later.

Consumers For Dental Choice

New Agrarian Fiction: The Last Pilgrim

Watch it and see why people are saying…

“Fantastic writing… excellent, well-crafted and imaginative… It is rare that someone has such aptitude to interweave so many elements into their work, that it not only conveys a very important message, but it is also a true pleasure to read." – Natasha

"You are making this too good. I’m almost in despair that each chapter end forces me to wait before I get more story. It’s like waiting for
next week’s installment of LOST…" -Ryan

"Wow, I was on the edge of my seat for the whole battle! I think it just keeps getting better." – Roger

The above comments are from The Last Pilgrims site where you can read the first draft of the book for FREE. This series, which reads like historical fiction, comes from the author of Surviving Off Off-Grid, so you know you’ll be getting some good agrarian-based fiction.

I learned about this over at Nourishing Days blog where Shannon is having a giveaway if you spread the word about this book. I think this book looks amazing and plan to read what I can on the website, The Last Pilgrims.

Barn Hoppin' Monday

Continuing my quest this week to fill containers to grow good things to eat I researched potatoes. I found a variety of blog posts and articles on how people have grown potatoes in garbage cans. I might have even read about it on someone's blog linked to Homestead Revival last week Barn Hop(so many to read). I can't remember what first put the idea in my head, but it got there, I researched it and now I have four 32 gallon trash cans set with potato seed inside.

What I did after reading several resources, was to drill holes in the bottom of 4 trash cans. These were old cans just laying around not being used any longer. I then put in about 6 inches of potting soil that was mixed in with some of my homemade compost. I arranged the potato seed in a circle about 4 inches from the sides and 4 inches apart with one in the center. I was able to fit 8 in 3 of them and 7 in the other (it was a slightly smaller can). I covered the seed with about 3 inches of dirt. As the potatoes grow I'll add more potting soil/compost mix and keep adding it until the can is nearly full. I'm excited to see the outcome of such a little space!

I also planted 12 broccoli starts and 8 cauliflower starts. This is the first time I've grown cauliflower so if it goes well I hope to do a LOT more next year. I wonder if I couldn't get it to grow under cover late into the fall, by starting 2^nd crop in July. I might try.

I'm still busy decluttering. I did fill about 5 boxes this week. The goal is to be ready for a rummage sale by July 7^th. I have a lot to do but am working hard. We leave on vacation on Thursday night so I need to be nearly done by then because the sale is the weekend after we get back.

Fermenting food is another thing we like to try our hand at around here. Not just fermenting and then canning but lacto-fermentation to create a heavenly bite of good lactic acid that will give you a boost to your gut. It aids in creating a healthy intestinal system. To buy these things is expensive, so we make them. On top of that, did you know it is virtually impossible to buy pickles from the store without dye yellow#5 in them. I have yet to find any, even the ones in the refrigerator section. So making your own fermented foods is the best! This week I strained 4 gallons of kombucha tea. We like to add grape juice concentrate to ours for a nice yummy flavor. I'd like to experiment with other flavors but haven't yet. A great place to find out more about fermenting and culturing is Cultures for Health.

Kombucha tea getting ready to ferment.

Barn Hoppin'

We've had a busy week. I've worked hard in the garden this week, determined to make it bigger than I have before. I was truly inspired after reading so many wonderful homesteading blogs linked to Homestead Revival's Barn Hop over the last couple of weeks. I've always loved to garden and have always had the goal to be able to support our family from the garden but my vigor has been renewed! One of the posts I read from Proverbs 31 Woman, really inspired me to make use of every space possible to grow food. So I've gotten out pots and buckets (which I get free from local bakeries and drill holes in the bottom) and planted seeds and starts and am setting them out all around the garden. I think I might even try potatoes in large buckets or small trash cans.

These are my 6 tomato plants (I've given up trying to raise tomatoes to can, near impossible here) that will grow in these buckets. I will move them to a tented area later this week. They need a tent in order to really do well here in Western WA.

In these buckets and pots I have purple cabbage starts. I also planted some mint and cilantro seeds.

Here is my bed of cabbage and chives. In the pots I have pepper plants under cover in their little mini-greenhouses.

I just loved this picture of the bumblebee hiding under the chive flower while it drizzled out. There were a couple others like this too.

These are my pole beans. I need to get the rest of the trellis up before too long. I also planted a row of carrots down the center.

Another thing that has recently inspired me a great deal is a show I watched recently with my family. We watched PBS Frontier House. Three families went back and lived like those lived in 1880's Montana frontier. One of the goals was to raise enough food to make it through the winter. These people had to garden as if their life depended on it. I believe that we need that mentality. Sure we have grocery stores not, but if I truly wanted to make a difference on my wallet, eat non-gmo, organic produce and become self-sufficient, I'd grow a garden like my life depended on it.

We also been working on the inside of the house. I'm preparing for a rummage sale that will take place on July 8^th and 9^th. A few weeks a go I started going through the house room by room and really analyzing it's functions and needs. I've culled a LOT!

I've also been able to hang quite a few clothes out on the line this week. I absolutely love hanging clothes out on the line. It's been a slow start to that this year due to such a wet spring. Once this winter I hung clothes out on the line. It was crisp and cold, but sunny and breezy. It was fantastic. I remember reading in The Long Winter (Laura Ingalls Wilder) about how they had to hang the clothes outside in the winter and they'd freeze-dry.

My goals this week are to continue filling pots and continue decluttering the house.