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peacefulheartfarm · 3 years

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What I Love About Homesteading

Today I want to talk about what I love about homesteading. Quite a few of the previous podcasts have contained lots of information about animal predator issues we have been having. I know it has been a real downer. As for me, it has definitely been a downer and I want to do this podcast to bring a balanced perspective and more positive outlook on our life here on the homestead. We don’t always have such a bad time of it. In fact, what I love about homesteading is a much better representation of what it is like for us most of the time.

Let me take a brief minute and say welcome to all the new listeners and welcome back to the veteran homestead-loving regulars who stop by the FarmCast for every episode. I can’t thank you all enough. I appreciate you all so much. And I’m so excited to share with you what’s going on at the farm this week. We have big news.

Our Virginia Homestead Life Updates

The greatest thing is finally happening. If all goes well over the next few days, we will have a new dog on the homestead.

Sheep and Goats

We had yet another attack on our sheep. This time it was dogs. The tracks left behind were definitely from dogs. At least two. I’m not going to give the details this time, but we are down to four animals. The flock ram, a yearling and two breeding ewes. Thank God for the imminent arrival of a livestock guardian dog.

We can now rebuild our sheep flock and start a new goat herd. The most stressful thing about the whole situation is that we could not rebuild the flock or introduce the new goat breed we are adding to the homestead. I wanted to get back to normal flock size but we simply could not risk bringing new animals onto the homestead that would simply be killed by stray dogs. They are still out there. Yesterday we found dog tracks down in the very creek bed where the previous destruction occurred. It had rained hard the day before. These tracks were fresh yesterday. I’m so grateful that we have finally found a dog. Let me tell you a little bit about him.

Mack the Catalonian Sheep Dog

Mack was rehomed from a family that sold all of their sheep and therefore he no longer had a job. He was born and raised in the pasture with livestock, which is what we were looking for in a guardian dog. The lady from which we are getting him has had him for just a few months. She began having a bit of an issue with him going to visit the neighbors while she was not there during the daylight hours. At night he protected his animals.

Wandering is Not Good

As she does not live on that farmland where he was housed, he began seeking company elsewhere. She expected him to stay with the animals all the time. It seems that while she was only a few miles away, he still needed to know a human was around and sought out the neighbors to fill that role. We are hoping that because we are here all the time, he will be comfortable knowing we are always around and that he will be diligent about staying with the sheep. We shall see. It has been many, many years since either of us has had a dog. I, for one, am looking forward to this new adventure. I hope Mack will be happy with us and with his new flock of sheep.

Adding the goats later will be an interesting exercise in introducing new animals to Mack. I’m sure I’ll be regaling stories of the ups and downs of livestock guardian dog ownership. Stay tuned.

Cows

We are still waiting on Violet to come into heat. Does it seem like to you that we are always “waiting on Violet” for something? I know it seems like it to me. We are pretty confident that all of the other girls are gestating a new calf. Will Violet get with the program? Only time will tell. She needs to conceive in the next few weeks or we end up in the same situation again. We have just a few weeks to meet our schedule of having her pregnant and due for delivery no later than the last week of April.

Quail

New quail babies will hatch in a few days. I have 84 eggs in there. I’m not sure what is going to happen this time. A couple of days ago we had a power outage. A tree fell on a line during a particularly heavy thunderstorm. We were out of power for several hours. This is not a problem during any time when the incubator is not running. After about an hour, we started the generator and plugged in the incubator. The temp was quite low and the humidity was really high due to the moisture from the rain. It stabilized quickly but I have no idea how this will affect the hatch rate.

I was going back and forth trying to decide between getting a battery big enough to jump start the car or one that would simply be enough for the cell phone and credit card reader. I need those two things working when I’m at the farmer’s market. This power outage clarified that decision.

HALO Bolt

There is a product called Halo Bolt and there are several different models. It comes with a small set of jumper cables, a couple of USB connections and even a place to attach a small device with an AC plug. It costs just under $100 dollars.

On the other hand, I can get a small charging device without the AC outlet and jumper cable capability for about 20 bucks. I was leaning in that direction. I just got a new car battery and don’t expect to have to use the jumper cables for quite a few years. But the experience of being without power for the incubator has convinced me to invest in the more expensive unit.

Let’s Get One and Test It Out

We cranked up the generator. But that was overkill for one little incubator. The more practical solution would be to be able to plug it into that battery for a little while. At least I think that will work. It is designed for charging a tablet or laptop, but I believe you can plug in any AC cord and run the device. We shall see. I’ll give it a try and let you know how it turns out. These are the kinds of things for which everyone needs to be prepared. You simply never know when the power is going to be out. For you it might be that you need to be able to charge your cell phone. For us, it’s going to be keeping the incubator running for those quail eggs.

Garden

I have three 5-gallon buckets of green beans in the cooler. We picked them Sunday evening. Tomorrow I’ll be packaging them up for the farmer’s market. They look beautiful. I’m so glad we got this great harvest. In the next few weeks, the Mexican bean beetles will come out and take over the plants. We don’t use any pesticides on our garden, not even the organic ones. We pick them off or squish them. But using this method ensures that eventually the bugs will win. Planting extra and making sure the plants are healthy and not a magnet to bugs are my two strategies for pest control and reaping a decent harvest.

There are small tomatoes all over the place out there. That’s going to be another great crop to harvest in the very near future.

Orchard

In the orchard, the blackberries are all that is left to pick. Scott cleaned out the wild blackberries that have thorns so it is easy for me to pick the remaining blackberries. We still have quite a few that are red and not yet ripe. I have a couple of gallons in the freezer right now. My plan for those is to steam the juice out of them and make seedless blackberry jelly.

I don’t know what happened to the apples. We had several trees that had apples for the first time ever but those apples disappeared. I suspect the deer that briefly invaded the orchard area is the culprit there. There is always next year.

I was hoping to see the strawberries bloom again. They are supposed to be everbearing. The deer ate all of the green leaves a while back, but they have grown back and the plants look great. Still waiting on those blooms and more strawberries.

Creamery

Still nothing going on here. It may be another couple of weeks before anything gets going again in the creamery. Scott is so busy with the high summer tasks of keeping the fields and orchards cut. Repairing fences takes up him time and so on. He has three or four more fields to mow and then maybe he can get back on the creamery tasks. You never know though. Some other tasks may come up. We shall see. Let’s talk about what I love about homesteading.

What I Love About Homesteading

I’m just going to run through a list of things that came up when I thought about what I love about homesteading. They are not in any particular order.

Setting my own schedule

The first thing that I love is that I’m in charge of when I get up and go to work. I say this with some ambiguity. It’s not like I can sleep until noon on any given day. In fact, there are still chores that need to be done on a regular basis, usually at a particular time. But as I have chosen to make those chores part of my life, I’m still in charge. I’m free to change the routine at any time. It might involve changing what animals we house here, but I certainly have that option.

Daily Planning Meetings

Another thing that is an absolute delight is having daily meetings with Scott about what we are going to do on any given day. It is a continuation of the hours and hours that we spent dreaming about what we were going to do once we were living here all the time, no longer working for someone else. We still dream together on a daily basis.

Making cheese

Once a week I make cheese. I love making cheese. It is a peaceful occupation. Sometimes it requires a bit of heavy lifting and that makes me tired, but in the end, I get these wonderful masterpieces of cheese on which to gaze. The entire process is still so amazing to experience, even though I’ve done it hundreds of times. To see liquid milk turn into a solid wheel or two or three of cheese is still awesome to see.

Gardening

Gardening without having to work it in around other things, well for the most part. This is like saying I set my schedule. There are sometimes when I need to do things in the garden but I also need to make cheese or go to the bank or clean the bathroom and so on. So, I do end up working it in around other things. But what I don’t have to do is try to work it in after a day at the office or in a limited time frame on the weekend. I have the whole week to figure out where I am going to fit in the gardening.

Perhaps this sounds too simple. But we spent years and years driving back and forth from Virginia to South Carolina for work. I had all day Saturday and Sunday until 6 pm to get all of the gardening done as well as laundry and cleaning and on and on. The garden was always overrun with weeds. It was not really that fun. Now it is a joy. And of course it is hard work when it is 85 or 90 degrees out, but it is a good work out. And if I don’t get it all done in one day, I have other days in which to work out when to get out there and water, weed, and pick veggies.

Experiencing the Seasons

Experiencing each of the seasons up close and personal is part of our everyday life. The gardens brought that to mind. In the past, we experienced spring, summer, fall and winter as changes in temperature. Perhaps whether it snowed or rained was the most important aspect of the season but daily activities remained pretty much the same. Get up, go to work, come home, watch a little TV, go to bed and then do it all over again.

Now, each season brings us a change in what we do on the homestead. There is a lot of activity associated with spring, summer and fall. But each activity is different. In general, spring time is for planting, summer for weeding and watering and the fall is all about the harvest and preserving the harvest. Some of that happens all along the way, but in general, this is how I think about my life. The primary focus in the spring is getting the planting done. The primary focus in the summer is weeding and water, though there is a lot of harvesting happening as well. It just moves around a lot from one plant to the next to the next. In the fall, it is all about getting everything in and preserved for later use.

And I never thought I would say this, but I love the winter now. It is a time to slow down, take stock of what worked and what needs to be changed in the next season. I used to hate winter. Seasonal Affective Disorder is something I have struggled with most of my life. As the winter season wore on, I would get more and more inactive and more and more depressed. Recently, in the last few years, I’ve changed my diet, eliminating most carbohydrates. My moods stabilized. Now I experience the winter with joy. I still slow down. That’s why winter is useful. It is a time to rest up and revitalize the roots so the organism is strong and bursting with energy in the spring. I’m having a great experience with that deep revitalization in the winter. And I’m ready to get up and go when spring arrives.

Losing Track of the Day and Hour

Not knowing what day of the week it is or what time of day it is can be a little disconcerting. But I really only have to think about it once or twice a day. In the morning I determine what day it is and what I need to accomplish for the coming days. Things like getting ready for the farmer’s market or doing a podcast or newsletter. These things are done on specific days so I need to be ready for that. Otherwise, I check my list of things to do and get going on the first item. In the evening there is a bit of reflection on what to prepare for the next day. One of the farmer’s markets requires me to get up at 5:15 am and the other 6:00 am. Other days of the week, the alarm goes off at 6 but we may or may not get up immediately. We have some leeway on those days. But market days, we pop up and get going as soon as the alarm sounds.

New Life

The new births that happen in the spring. I never get tired of the new births. It is stressful for me, as I’ve said before. But I wouldn’t trade that joy of new birth for anything in the world.

Tours for Kids

Sharing our homestead with kids that come to visit. They love it so much. I watched a group of 8 kids just a few days ago which they explored the quail. They delighted in watching these quirky birds. They didn’t just look at them and say, “Oh they are cute.” No, they watched and watched and watched them. They looked into each section of the cages. They opened the cage doors and looked for eggs. It was so beautiful to see.

Clean Eating

Another thing I love about the homestead is cooking with ingredients that I raised myself. I know the exact contents of everything I eat. I either raised it myself, purchased or bartered for it from another farm or homestead, or I purchased a single ingredient item in the store. This was the first and most important reason that we started our dream of living the homestead life. I get so tired of reading the labels on foods in the grocery store and seeing all kinds of things that I cannot even pronounce. There are so many fillers and everything has sugar or wheat or gluten added. Even the meats now are injected with flavoring and fillers to bulk up the product. The label says something like, “contains 10% of something or other” to maintain freshness or enhance flavor or whatever. That’s 10% of the meat that is something that did not originate with the animal. I’m so glad those days are past.

Spending Time in the Kitchen

I get to spend lots of time in the kitchen storing food and being food self-reliant. When working for someone else, time in the kitchen was a dreadful activity. I wanted to eat out as much as possible. Who wants to cook after working all day? I’m ready to sit down and let someone else do the work. Of course, I was eating a lot of really bad stuff. Chinese take out was a favorite. There is a lot of sugar in that stuff. So that is all in the past. I spend time in the kitchen when I choose. Sometimes I make a meal that will last for days. In the intervening days, I might be making jam or canning pickled peppers. Canning is another task that I used to dread when I worked for other people. It was something I had to do and I had to do it right away in a limited time frame on Saturday or Sunday. It was stressful. Now there is still stress to get the harvest processed but the window of time has expanded. I have every day, seven days a week to plan for the next harvest and canning session.

Long Term Dreaming/Planning Sessions

Long term planning of the next step in our journey or modifying the previous plan is just as wonderful now as it was when we were just dreaming. We spent years dreaming about what we were going to do once we lived full time on our homestead. We wanted to do everything. We soon found out that we had to pick and choose what to do. There are simply not enough hours in the day to do all of which we dreamed. But the dreaming and planning is so much fun. And it continues. There is always something new to be added, changed or deleted from our homestead.

Daily Communion with God

And the final thing I want to say about what I love about homesteading is just getting up and going outside and communing with God. Living the homestead lifestyle makes it effortless. While all the work is going on and on and on, seemingly endless, there is always time to just stop and listen to the birds, feel the sunshine and soft breeze, and to watch God’s creations grazing in the fields, the children playing and the amazing plants growing and changing each day as they blossom and produce their fruits. We are truly blessed.

Final Thoughts

That’s it for today’s podcast. I may have rambled a bit here and there but I hope you enjoyed the uplifting ideas I talked about. Let me know what your dreams are and how you are progressing toward them. It doesn’t have to be the homestead life. We are all unique in our hopes and desires. Please share your dreams with me. I’d love to hear your story. Send me an email. Let me know what’s beautiful in your life.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please hop over to Apple Podcasts or whatever podcasting service you use, SUBSCRIBE and give me a 5-star rating and review. If you like this content and want to help out the show, the absolute best way you can do that is to share it with any friends or family who might be interested in this type of content. Let them know about the Peaceful Heart Farmcast.

Thank you so much for stopping by the homestead and until next time, may God fill your life with grace and peace.

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thecoroutfitters · 7 years

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There’s nothing better for you than fresh, homegrown fruits, herbs, and vegetables, but not all of us have the luxury of being able to plant a traditional garden. But did you know that you can get great yields on many types of produce?

Today we’re going to take a look at the best vegetables to grow in buckets, so that no matter where you live, you can eat well.

Growing in buckets enables people with limited space to grow their own food. Even if you have the land, buckets still make growing easier if you have a hard time getting up and down to weed the garden, take care of the plants, and pick the veggies. Or, if you’re simply too busy to dedicate the time it takes to care for a traditional garden.

If you’re using buckets, don’t forget to poke a few drainage holes in the bottom. After you’ve poked the holes, use some natural filters so you won’t lose the dirt. Put a layer of rocks, then a layer of sand if you want, then your soil. Don’t use regular dirt because it will likely compact and impair growth. Instead, use an equal mix of ripe compost, potting soil, and peat moss.

Do a little research on what your plants need so that you know to make the soil more or less acidic.

If you live in a cold climate, it’s a good idea to plant seedlings for plants that require extra time. This includes just about every plant except for green onions, shallots, carrots, potatoes, and radishes, and plants that are grown from bulbs. Of course, you always have the option of moving the buckets inside if it gets too cold too early.

Finally, you may look at the yield you’re getting per bucket and think, “Wow. That doesn’t sound like much for the amount of space I’m using. There’s a lot of soil left underneath that plant that isn’t being used.” You’re absolutely right. If you want to maximize that space instead of wasting it, consider growing plants out the bottom, too. Many plants grow well upside down.

These lessons of yesterday will teach you the basic skills you need for survival cooking!

Potatoes

Whether you like plain old spuds or prefer sweet potatoes or yams (yes, there is a huge nutritional difference), potatoes are a great bucket crop. Potatoes are hardy, grow in virtually any soil, and are grown underground, so they’re tolerant to weather changes. They’re also simple to prepare.

The key to getting a good potato yield is to grow them in a nitrogen-rich environment. Potatoes also self-perpetuate, so you’ll never run out.

Hint – grow clover on top of your potato bucket, or on the topsoil of any plant that needs lots of nitrogen, because clover pulls nitrogen out of the air and distributes it through its root system and down into the soil.

All you have to do to plant regular potatoes in a bucket is let the “eyes” or little roots grow from it, cut the potato into sections so that each section has an eye, and plant it. Plant the equivalent of one whole, large potato per 3-gallon of bucket, and 2 potatoes to a 5-gallon bucket.

You don’t even really HAVE to cut it into pieces. I just do because it’s how I was raised with a traditional garden. Old habits.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes grow fabulously in buckets; just remember that you’ll still have to stake them to something. This can be as easy as sticking a stake right in the bucket with it. No problem.

Cherry or bush tomatoes work the best and you shouldn’t plant more than one per bucket. You can pull tomatoes off in a 3-gallon bucket as long as you’ve got something besides just a stake in the bucket to stake them to, so that the weight will be supported.

Video first seen on ROCKNTV1.

Cucumbers/Squash

Any type of cucumbers or squash grow well in buckets. As a matter of fact, I have a little better luck with the buckets because it’s easier for me to find the vegetable. Often when I planted them in a regular garden, I’d lose a few in the foliage.

Plant one plant per bucket.

Peppers

These are nice to grow right on the porch as ornamentals. For that matter, so are cucumbers and squash because of the nice flowers. If you’re growing colorful peppers such as banana peppers or chilies, they brighten up the porch, too.

Interesting pepper fact that many people don’t know:

The only difference between green, red, orange, and yellow sweet peppers is the time they spend on the vine. Green ones are picked first, then if they’re left alone, they turn yellow, orange, then red. Nutritional values vary widely among the colors, though.

Plant two peppers per 5-gallon bucket.

Video first seen on Gary Pilarchik.

Beans

Bush beans grow best. Plant 1 bush per bucket.

Carrots/Radishes

Plant 10 per bucket. You can get away with using a smaller bucket or planter for these. Just make sure that the soil is at least a foot deep.

Onions/Garlic

Green onions, shallots, and any type of larger onion all grow wonderfully in buckets. For green onions and shallots, you can use a shallow bucket or window box as long as the soil is at least 6 inches deep. Just sprinkle a tablespoon or so of seeds evenly across the top of the bucket and cover with 1/4-1/2 inch of soil. For large onions and garlic, plant 4-5 per 5-gallon bucket.

Beets

Plant 4-5 per bucket.

Eggplant

Plant 2 plants per bucket because each plant requires 12-14 inches of growing space. You may be able to get away with 3. They’re good as ornamentals, too. Eggplants can be a bit finicky to grow because they require adequate water, good drainage, and pollination. Nothing is more frustrating than growing a plant then watching the flowers fall off without bearing fruit.

For your soil, use half sand and half soil/compost. Make sure they get at least two inches of water per week – more if you live in a hot climate. It’s a good idea to give them all of this water at once so that the water reaches the roots. Test your soil between waterings to make sure that it doesn’t dry out. You don’t want it too wet, but it should be moist.

Since they’re wind-pollinated, you may have a problem with adequate pollination. If you’re worried about this, it’s easy to pollinate them yourself. Just take a little paintbrush and run it around the inside of each flower.

They’ll also need a support system just like tomatoes do.

Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage

These are great vegetables to plant in a bucket and you can grow 2-3 plants per bucket. Broccoli and red cabbage in particular are packed with nutrients.

Herbs

All herbs grow well in buckets, and you don’t need to use a full five-gallon bucket, either – they only need about 6 inches of soil to grow well. How many you can plant per container depends upon the herb, so pay attention to planting directions. You can even easily and successfully grow herbs inside.

Growing plants in buckets is a great method for several different reasons. From a prepper’s perspective, perhaps one of the biggest advantages is portability. If you have to bug out, you can take your food with you.

Since nearly all plants have seeds, you’re basically leaving with a food supply that will self-perpetuate, so it’s best to use heirloom seeds to ensure consistent growth and quality. I can’t overstate how important it is to choose the correct seeds for your needs.

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This article has been written by Theresa Crouse for Survivopedia.

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pranamee · 7 years

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It's 7pm

It was 7pm. I was leaning against the couch staring at the tv which was switched off. I browsed through the channels a few minutes ago, but hardly could concentrate. I put on the DVD player. The DVD is still inside from yesterday night and its rolling now. I had been thinking of her the whole day today and smiling to myself. Yes, we had called each other inbetween our office hours, quickie calls, but that didnt quench the thirst nor the excitement. She had totally occupied my mind. My colleague, Raj, who sat in the adjoining cubicle caught me red handed at one instance when I was struggling with a smile. “Rohan Sir, what’s the matter? Are you blushing? Your face looks as red as a freshly picked ripe tomato from the garden”. I gave him a stern look and didn’t reply. It was frustrating, sitting there. I repeatedly leaned on my chair, adjusted the seat, tried to sit straight and stare at the computer screen and tried to do some work. But no, i was very excited today. I recalled what happened yesterday and smiled to myself for the umpteenth time. It was getting so difficult for me to hide that smile and excitement from my colleagues. I came home early. I called her a few minutes ago, she was on her way, boarded a cab, will be reaching in an hour. I took a shower; put on my best pyjamas, the one she gifted me day before yesterday and a jack and Jones t-shirt. It’s a navy blue pyjama with white dots uniformly placed at decent distance from each other, following a pattern. Although, very general, the only speciality of this pair of pyjamas was that she gifted it to me. It smells good. I feel good wearing it. Now a days, I love anything which has her touch in it. Also, it reminded me of what she specially said while giving it to me. I was lost in the wild thoughts when my phone rang again, it was her. “hey”, i could hear the voice I cherish the most in the world, but it was layered with tension. “where are you?”, i too got tensed. “Am just at the gate, a guy is coming with me.” she spoke. pause. “who guy?”, i was irritated and confused. *pause* “i am downstairs, coming. Bye” and she hung up the phone. “hmmmm…..oh, is he by your side?” I realised I was talking to the disconnected line. I threw the phone away. The carpet saved it from breaking. I felt betrayed. I had been waiting earnestly for this moment the whole day and she was least concerned, she had her friends and she was busy with them. I was all occupied in her thoughts the whole day and she had time for another guy. Sometimes, during instances like this, I remember the quotes said by some wise personalities, “don’t give your happiness in someone else’s hand, they will surely drop it”, “ love yourself, everyone else is taken” and similar many quotes started echoing in my head. The bottom line was, I was giving her more value than the value she gave me. I was thoroughly upset. The bell rang. I took a deep breath. There’s guest. I put the cushions in place and cleared the side table. The bell rang again. Nimi was always an impatient girl by nature. I opened the door with a straight face. There was Nimi smiling at me with her beautiful bright eyes and asking why it took me so long to open the door. I saw a boy accompanying her. I didn’t answer Nimi and instead said hello to that other person. She introduced both of us. “This is my husband, this is Ajay.” I had no clue who this Ajay was. I expected a rich, spoilt corporate brat, maybe one of her colleagues but here stood a petite, dusky, thin guy who had a hunch at his back. He looked nervous. I was confused how to greet him or to be precise, what to do with him. She waited for a moment looking at both of us and then rushed to the bedroom like a thunder and shouting on the way, “Ajay, I am just coming with your thing.” Nimi had this habit of befriending people of all types. Rich, poor, younger, older. She felt for everyone. Specially the less privileged class. She had a good rapo with the laundryman, gardener, plumber, watchman or vegetable, fruit vendor of the apartment and help them with money, food, this, that, medicine and what not. I call her Florence Nightingale at times. She is empathetic. She would always be in a ‘may I help you’ mode. I felt bad, “She could understand the need of the whole world except mine. I love her so much and she didn’t even look at me when she came” , my inner voice shouted, full of angst. 'With your thing?? what the hell is going on?’ I recollected what she told last and got more and more furious. I looked at Ajay. He was standing in the same spot with his head down. I asked, “hey , who are you?” he looked at me, speechless, like a dumb! i didnt invite him inside and went to the bedroom. i was angry with Nimi, first, because she was so busy with another guy and second, because she was so busy with another guy and third,…..! I entered the bedroom. She was standing with one foot at the stool, on her toes with the heel in the air and the other foot at the upper shelf, her hands reaching out at the top of the wardrobe shelves. i stood there silent and she was unaware i was in the room. Next, she put her other foot on the shelf, basically she was climbing the shelves, one after another and her eyes and hands on the upper shelf. i went near her, stood just behind her, so that i could manage to hold her if she fell down. After all she was my wife and i was her better half. i cleared my throat. i was angry with her. “oh, you are here……… the honey cough syrup bottle, do you know where is it? i am trying to reach out to the first aid box. Do you think its there?” She was least bothered about my anger. Ajay was more important for her. “Ajay seems to be a very important person” i said sarcastically. She looked at me, blank and unresponsive, as if a little child was complaining for some toys. She resumed back to her game. By now, she was half inside the wardrobe and I prepared myself more to save her lest she fell. Showing least attention to my sentiments, she explained, “Ajay’s mother is in hospital. She has brain cancer. His father died when he was young. He is just 13. His mother had faced a lot of struggles to raise him and his two little sisters. one is married but her husband is also a drunkard and……………..” “Ok, I got it. But why you need that medicine?” “His uncle is having a bad cough; he is attending his mother in the hospital while Ajay comes to work. Now, his mother is on drugs and needs to take rest, but due to the constant cough of his uncle, she is unable to sleep. He asked for some money to buy medicine, I gave him some money and thought this medicine might help. It worked for me last time” I looked around and saw it at the bed side table corner. I pointed it to her. Next, I collected her from the wardrobe, in my strong arms, to help her get down. By that time, my heart already had melted seeing her helping the poor and needy, but upset. We boys, as usual, take it as our inborn responsibility to even fight demons to protect our loved ones from any harm but wish they had known what we need is a little appreciation and attention from them. I decided to not speak anything to this woman who had the biggest heart and always thinking about others except me. I was still offended at heart for the 'being busy with others and not giving me any attention’ part. I let loose my hands and let her slip by, as her feet touched the floor, when I felt the warm, quick, short kiss on my lips. “You had always been there for me to fall back to….. I missed you today, the whole day, very very very much I am going all insane in love with you.” she said looking into my eyes, her hands still around my neck. My heart was beaming with joy, like that kid who was given the toy he was crying for. “OMG, today, you know how funny it was. Whatever happened yesterday kept coming to my mind again and again, and i couldn’t do a single thing. And on top of that, what you know, Maya caught me red handed, smiling. Even Roshni. It was so embarrassing and they were after me to narrate them the stories. How could I? And……Ummm, wait, let me finish with that person outside, first!” she realised she had a guest outside. Butterflies in my stomach, I was so uncomfortable. I let her loose to go although I didn’t want to. “Ok” I mumbled. In a moment, she disappeared to the living room. I stood there with my hands in the pockets of my blue gifted pyjamas, looking down at the floor and again, a smiled struggled through my lips. I was standing at the spot pondering over what happened just now and what was I thinking, when, all of a sudden, I was pushed to the wall and she was all over me, kissing. It went on for a minute or so. Giving and taking and lust and love and what not. She rushed back again, saying with the naughtiest smile, “Will be right back”. I couldn’t even see her; I just felt the after effects of the sensations running through my body. I felt I was the luckiest man on earth at that moment. I sat on the bed and took a deep breath. I looked up. I heard her shouting outside, “a-j-a-y”. I saw my reflection in the mirror and saw the smile, which was adorning my lips since morning today. I freed it this time. It escaped out by the right side of my lips perhaps because I saw a tilted smile in the mirror and adorned with that smile, I looked exactly like a red ripe tomato freshly picked from the garden. I checked myself out yesterday night also, in the same mirror but I looked happier today. Hope I look the happiest tonight. Fingers crossed! “R-o-h-a-n……………R-o-h-a-n”, I heard my wife shouting for me. I rushed to the living room. “What??” I asked. “Ajay is not here.” she told, then paused for a second and rushed out towards the balcony. “Where will he go?” I ran out of the door, to the stairs, looked down from the balcony towards the lane leading to the main exit. I shouted at the watchman of our wing from the balcony who sat at the ground floor near the stilt parking. I could hear no reply. Nimi, holding her bottle of cough syrup, leaning against the glass railings of the balcony, shouting even harder for the watchman. We stayed in the second floor. When there was no reply, she looked at me and I looked at her. “What’s happening?” I knew not what else to ask her. “Exactly, what happened?” that was her reply to my question. Suddenly, she rushed inside as if she had got a clue. I followed her. “Just check, if anything has got stolen.” she told. It’s been only a few days we were married. All the stuffs were brand new. “He could steal also?” I questioned, while looking around “ Nimi, first of all, would you tell me, for God’s sake, who was he? Who the hell was he?” “He was the cab driver of the morning” she shouted, “Today - morning - while going to office - remember?” she said with many pauses, word by word, to remind me that Ajay was the driver of the cab we hired today morning to our respective offices. When I reacted in the affirmative but still doubtful, she resumed, “While returning back from office, at the apartment entrance gate, he stopped me and introduced me, told his entire story. And hence I bought him home and….” I stared at her for some time, “but why did he vanish?” “I have no idea.” she said, pulling in and out all the drawers of the TV console to check. The watchman arrived to enquire why he was called for. I asked if he had seen a petite young fellow leaving the apartments. Next there was a long descriptive conversation between Nimi and the watchman, about how the boy looked. When I realised that the conversation had gone beyond being simply futile, I interrupted and shouted, “have you or haven’t you seen any boy going out of our wing?” “No, I was in the bathroom, when you called for me” the old watchman with tired eyes and trembling hands said. He also had a hunch at his back. He was in his late 80s. I asked him, with due respect, to leave. “What do you think, what had just happened?” Nimi asked me with awe, closing the main door, after the watchman left and again pulled the console drawer. “Wait a minute, wait-a- minute”, I saw, just behind Nimi, the play station’s light blinking, I stoop down and checked, “the dvd isn’t here” I looked at Nimi. She stopped by my side, her hand on my shoulder, balancing her body on her toes while the heels on air again, somehow balancing herself in that position and with wide eyes looking at the play station, shouted “the dvd isn’t here” And we both looked at each other and said in chorus, “the dvd…………isnt here”, understanding for the third time. It was Nimi who busted out laughing first, I tried holding onto it, as the matter was, in fact dangerous, but couldn’t anymore and joined her. Soon we both were in rofl position, literally.

Generally, when we board a cab, which is so common now a days, we always forget that there is a human being sitting at the driver’s seat who can hear us, see us and understand what we are speaking, although he behaves like a machine, doesn’t speak a word while driving, except one time while starting the trip and next when we reach our destination and he gives us the bill of the trip. We got our lesson to keep that in mind and never speak about our personal details specially bedroom details in future when going in a cab. We hid it from our closest friends but discussed out loud in the cab, as if it was our bedroom.

#short stories #long story #story #ts4 story #storybook #storytelling #reality #real couple #writing #humour

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hortascountrysidenotes · 7 years

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Biscuits Bootcamp and Bodging

Canine progress first - a proper training session yesterday with big dogs and one baby! Kindergarten first which went well, then a good hour with the big dogs pushing them back onto unknown dummies over ditches in a great area down by the River Wensum - rushes, reeds etc providing proper hunting ground. Then across the road to a rough old field where 4 unseen tennis balls had been put out round a mound - big dogs all had success though Inca does need to sharpen up - usual form in the spring after a lay off. Another short outing for Mavis but she was flummoxed by the lack of a clear path to run along and was distracted having watched the big dogs. Its a fine line between watching the other dogs and wanting to get involved and being on a one on one with me with maximum concentration. Making a big effort now to get Mavis on the stop whistle and improving her recall so a slack handful of biscuits in the pocket and today she has really grasped what is required - stopping a good 30 yards out and sitting down - might not work if a rabbit leapt up but its another building block coming into position. The good thing is that when I took her out this evening for some basic retrieving which she did brilliantly, she is not spitting out the dummy hoping for a biscuit so one hopes that will continue and she will understand that retrieving is not rewarded with food, the pleasure of pleasing me should be enough, but coming back from a free run is rewarded - its all psychological stuff!

Also highlighted yesterday was the chaos when Scout Inca and Mavis are let out of the kennel as Mavis is so excited that she bites at the legs of the others and launches herself at me nearly knocking me over. Therefore as of this morning bootcamp started - she is able to take a bit of firmness, so I have gone back to making her sit and stay while the others come out, going into the run and putting her on the lead to come out. I had been doing this and thought I had cured the habit but it has crept back and with her being nearly full grown is now a real nuisance.

Turning to matters horticultural - first tomatoes have germinated, cosmos nearly 100% but a few blank sweet peas - I think I have enough however for the lovely wigwams! Broad beans can go in the ground tomorrow. Planted two Stipa gigantea and two Eryngium bourgattii in the gravel surrounds to the raised beds which completes my token gravel garden in this area. Good to see the Dierama Merlin are looking strong - their third home in this garden and I think finally the right place! Rhubarb really coming on now we have had some warmth. We actually need a little rain - it was promised for Friday night but never really materialised.

Went to a talk given by Luci Skinner of Woottens of Wenhaston, in Whissonsett Village Hall on Thursday night - Propagation - most useful, picked up some great tips and was particularly taken by the compost this excellent nursery uses for propagation which is Wool and Bracken - Herdwick Sheep Wool which gives a nitrogen release and the bracken provides a natural source of potassium. Inspired me to try far more cuttings - division is easy, but root cuttings, soft tip cuttings, semi ripe cuttings and hardwood cuttings are sometimes tricky bar the easy favourites such as pelargoniums, salvias, penstemons etc.

Weather set to stay cool - well in keeping actually, just into double figures but we have a nagging wind at the moment - one assumes due to the equinox, but its blowing off the wonderful wild plum blossom a bit prematurely.

First kingcups are out in the bog garden and saw my first bluebell today and there are lovely primroses on the wood edges. Two planting jobs to do this week and then only one more remaining for this season so the bare root roses will be gone from my raised beds and I can get going on the veg. Finally, the little metal table and chairs have been painted - cleaned off the green algae and the worst of the rust and bodged the thick metal paint on liberally - they are awful things to paint but they look much better!

HORTA

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peacefulheartfarm · 4 years

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Canning Tomato Sauce

Canning tomato sauce is the name of the game this week. I have about 150 pounds of tomatoes picked so far. I think I will only be canning about 50 or 60 pounds of them between today and tomorrow. Some of them are still quite green. We shall see how it goes.

I want to take a minute and say welcome to all the new listeners and welcome back to the veteran homestead-loving regulars who stop by the FarmCast for every episode. I appreciate you all so much. I’m so excited to share with you what’s going on at the homestead this week.

Our Virginia Homestead Life Updates

There is so much going on right now. It is harvest time in the garden. Not just to the tomatoes, though that is the big one. However, I’m going to start with the creamery and animals and finish up with garden updates.

Creamery

Scott is taking a break from working on the creamery. He finally got the entire project “dried-in”. The next big event will be putting on the metal roof. That will happen later, and in the meantime, he is using his time to clean up the construction mess and tidying up the property in general.

Mowing the fields is also happening. Cleaning up the grass in the orchard and garden area got done. General cleaning everywhere. It makes the building look so much nicer when the grass is cut and the scrap wood is gathered up and hauled off. Re-organization of supplies and tools also helps. And then there is helping me with various garden projects. I can’t turn that down. What a blessing he is when lending a hand in the garden.

Cows

Yet again, we had the ag tech out for AI purposes. Will it ever end? Violet showed signs of coming into heat yet again. Well she is taken care of yet again. Now we wait another three weeks to see if it took this time.

The calves are getting fat. They get two gallons of milk per day. I like to spoil them. Wendell is big enough to live on grass but I keep giving him the milk. He would push Virginia out of the way if I did not. He is quite committed to getting his twice daily rations of milk.

Goats

Several goats have had to have their heads removed from the fence yet again. It seems that every time they get access to a new area of pasture, they have to experiment will eating the grass on the other side of the fence. Nope the new grass is just not good enough for them. And some of them just never seem to learn that sticking their head with horns through the fence will get them caught.

Blue Herons

We have a pair of blue herons on the big pond now. For the longest time there was only one. Now there is a pair. Have you ever seen a blue heron? They are majestic and graceful in flight. I love watching them. I have heard that when you have blue heron’s it indicates the pond is healthy.

Quail

I am so pleased with how our quail operating is progressing. The hens are in full production with their laying of eggs. I have 15 hens and get 15 eggs nearly every day.

The incubator is humming along. Today the eggs in there are one week old. This process is so exciting. We have an entire life cycle operating quite efficiently. It is the one place on the homestead where everything is going smoothly at the moment. Perhaps I need to knock on wood now. I may have just jinxed them.

Donkeys

I’m thinking the donkeys are just about ready for another hoof trimming. They really don’t like it. Daisy and Sweet Pea will stand still while it is going on, but they really only come up for their trimming because of the sweet feed. Donkeys are the friendliest of animals and we love our crew.

Let me pass on a bit of trivia regarding the donkeys. Did you know that they all have a cross on their backs? There are a couple of Christian legends that say it is a gift our Lord gave to the humble donkey that carried Him into Jerusalem. They are similar stories but not the same.

According to one legend, the little donkey so loved his Master that he followed Him to Calvary. Grief-stricken at the sight, he turned away but remained at his station at the foot of the cross. The shadow of the Cross fell upon him and from that day all purebred donkeys wear the Master’s Cross on their back.

Another story recounts that when Jesus was carrying his cross to the mount, a little donkey tried to help him but couldn’t get through the crowd. When the crowd dispersed, the donkey went up to Jesus, and stood behind the cross and as the sun went down, the shadow of the cross fell across the donkey and now every donkey has the cross.

According a theology lecturer at the University of Notre Dame, the tales never actually appeared in the Bible. Other facts about donkeys and the Bible is it is the only animal in the Bible other than the serpent to speak, and it plays a significant role in more than one Christian prophecy. The prophecy of Zachariah comes to mind.

Garden

Sunflowers

Let me start with the sunflowers. I hope to harvest them in the next couple of days. The really big ones are bending over the stalks. What is happening right now is the seeds are forming. That makes those giant heads really heavy and thus the bending over. The harvesting can be tricky once the seeds become fully ripe. Shaking the plant in any way can cause the seeds to come loose.

Scott and I have a plan to work on them together. I will hold the stalk while Scott cuts it through close to the ground. Then I will gently lower the stalk to the ground. At that point, we will cut off just two or three feet of stalk with the flower. They will get tied together in bundles of three and hung up to complete the drying process. The birds are going to be really happy this winter.

Beans

I have harvested the black beans. Perhaps I already mentioned that last week. Still to harvest are the red and white beans. Then all will need to be shelled out. That’s a fun project that Scott and I will do together while watching Amazon Prime originals in the evening.

I’ve also picked the baby lima beans. The green ones I cooked and we ate them days ago. The dried ones also need to be shelled out. All of these dried beans will be used to plant again next year.

Peppers

I made a really neat string of cayenne peppers and hung it up to dry. That’s all you have to do. After they are dry, I can do a couple of things with them. I might powder them up to make my own cayenne pepper seasoning. And I can chop them up into flakes and roast them in the oven. That adds a kind of nutty flavor to them. Then just toss them into soups, stir fries, and so on. Use them as you would store bought stuff. Using your own homemade seasonings is very satisfying.

The hot cherry peppers are producing like crazy. I have so many of these lovely peppers. They are not too terribly hot. Unlike the serrano peppers that I have. The serrano peppers are the hottest ones that I am growing this year. My jalapenos are quite mild. In fact, I made some pickled hot peppers and was informed by a customer that they simply were not hot. Next time I make a batch, I’ll add more serrano peppers to the mix and fewer jalapenos. In the meantime, I need to re-label the pickled hot peppers. What should I call them? Probably just pickled peppers.

I finished drying a batch of sweet bell peppers. I did two trays of green and one of red. Right now, I have a few more green ones that are turning red. I’m ripening them in a window. I hope to have lots more of these great peppers for cooking throughout the winter and spring.

Scott has prepared the potato beds for the next planting. I’m not sure. It may be too late in the season for fall potatoes, but I’m going to give it a go anyway. We shall see how big they get.

Green Beans

The green beans bloomed again and I will have another picking from them within a day or two. The purple hulled cow peas also put on a bumper crop. Those may need three or four days yet before picking. Both of these lovelies will be fresh veggie for dinner soon.

Onions

I successfully grew a small batch of red onions. They are currently in the drying process and will be ready soon. There are a few white onions still out in the garden. They do not look like they are going to get very big. Some of the tops are already dying and that means they have grown all they are going to this time around.

Tomatoes

Now let’s talk about those tomatoes. The row is set up with tomato cages that were tied to rebar every so many feet. The sheer amount of tomatoes on the plants soon pulled that apparatus down. Yesterday, Scott went out there and tried to shore up the row. Many of the plants were laying on the ground, having broken down the make-shift trellis completely. I went out there last night to pick some and found some of the cages fell over yet again. I just need to pick and pick and pick to lighten the load.

The problem with that is I am running out of space to ripen them. I’m okay with picking my tomatoes just as they begin to turn. Once they are yellow or orange, I bring them in else the raccoon will get the results of all my fine work. I bring them in and put them on the shelves I used in the spring to start the tomatoes and peppers indoors so they are large enough to plant in the garden at the proper time. Once the seedlings are done, those shelves remain empty until this time of year when they fill up again with the fruits – literally – of my labor. The shelves are filled with tomato fruits and a few peppers.

I have four shelves currently full. There are also two 5-gallon buckets sitting in my kitchen at this very minute waiting for me to finish this podcast and return to them. They are red, ripe and ready to be turned into sauce.

Tomato Sauce

Here’s my process for making tomato sauce. It’s fairly easy as long as you have the proper equipment. I start with cleaning up the tomatoes, taking out the cores and then quartering them. I put them in a pot and start heating it up very slowly on the stove. Once they are cooked, it’s time to get the seeds and skins out.

I have a Kitchen-Aid mixer that has lots of nifty attachments. One of my favorites is the food mill. Once it is set up, all I have to do is turn it on and start dipping the tomatoes out of the pot into the hopper. The seeds and skins come out in one place and the juice and pulp come out in another place. I usually run the seeds and skin waste through a second time to get the most pulp and juice possible.

Once I have the pulp and juice, it’s a matter a cooking it down to the desired thickness and then starting the canning process. Sometimes this is a two-day project. Today is one of those times. Likely I will only get the tomatoes cleaned up and cut up today. Tomorrow will be the cooking, separating seeds and skins, cooking down to desired thickness and finally canning.

Canning the sauce is as easy as dipping the thickened sauce into sterilized jars, cleaning the rims, putting on the two-piece lids and setting them in a water bath canner for 15 or 20 minutes. Zip, zam, zowie and it’s done.

What do you think? Are you ready to give it a try? I don’t do videos, only audio. But I can recommend finding a YouTube video or two to get the details of how canning is done. One day in the future I will have a class or two here at the homestead on canning. I hope to meet some of you when that day arrives.

Final Thoughts

That’s it for today’s podcast. I hope you enjoyed the donkey story. They truly are blessed creatures. We love them so much. The quail are such a blessing. And yes, the sheep, lambs, goats, and cows are a blessing as well. Our life here is full. There is always so much to do and every bit of it is a blessing. Some things are a bit onerous, like all of the cleaning. And the quail and cow waste smells something awful, but when taken in context with everything else, you just can’t beat the joy of living every day in the presence of God’s creation.

Being able to grow our own food and preserve it for the winter is also fulfilling. It gives us a security that I would not give up for anything in the world. Especially in these days of uncertainty at the grocery store. I hope I’ve inspired you to try a bit of self-sufficiency for yourself. You don’t need a big place. A few plants in pots on your apartment balcony can provide a similar experience. Grow a few peppers and tomatoes. You’ll be glad you did.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please hop over to Apple Podcasts, SUBSCRIBE and give me a 5-star rating and review. Also, please share it with any friends or family who might be interested in this type of content.

Thank you so much for stopping by the homestead and until next time, may God fill your life with grace and peace.

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