Bountiful Acres

Good old Summertime

It has been a very busy summer with the CSA, critters and all the art projects going on around here.  We've also had some fun with the babies that are hatching at the farm.  Our ducks and geese are all sitting on nests.  The duck in the barn, Aunty Em, has hatched some chicken eggs and she has baby chicks that she is raising.  The duck under the cabin, Dorothy has hatched 11 ducklings, but 10 survived.  We are still waiting on Miss Gulch and the geese to see what they hatch. 

And, I have finally realized a life long dream.  Since my last post I have gotten Shetland sheep.  Here's a picture.

And I've learned to spin on a wheel and a drop spindle and I'm now saving to buy this... This is a Kromski spinning wheel.  Reminds me of Cinderella.  I can't wait.

The temps have been really high this summer and I've got quite the tan.  Each day I'm out in the fields weeding and planting and weeding and harvesting and weeding and staking and weeding....whew! 2 acres of gardening makes for a lot of weeds. 

I've also found that as I drive to town past other farms and homesteads I get quite frustrated.  We choose to raise our food organically and we try to only add compost that we make here at the farm, and very limited organic products and so there for our produce takes a little longer to get to full growth and harvest.  I see all these farmers/gardeners who have put their crops in way after I did(I can see them from the road) and yet their gardens are huge and bountiful.  I stopped one day and spoke with the farmer across the street.  He has about 5-8 acres in produce and his tomatoes are H U G E compared with mine.  I asked him what he does to them.  He uses sevin dust and other pesticides.  YUCK!!  I wanted to run away from there.  If I wanted to put all the junk on my crops I would've just saved the time and effort and bought the produce at the grocery store!  I guess I'm weird that way, but I really want to have the best veggies and fruits and herbs that I can. I want to ingest the vitamins and the health benefits of the goods of the earth and not worry about what pesticide I'm ingesting.  (then we wonder why so many of us are sick and full of diseases-  soap box moment..sorry)

So I will continue to toil out there and I'll continue to pick bugs off and make organic spray to combat them and I'll continue to talk to the plants (not a lot <<shrug>>) and I'll continue to ask God to bless this effort and to show me how He wants me to do this.  I'll continue learning about companion planting and most of all, I'll stop looking at my fellow farmers/gardeners with envy.

Oh yeah...I finally got some items listed on etsy.  yea me.

Til later-

Be well and stay cool.

Spring has sprung

  The chickens that we put in the incubator hatched and are now 3 weeks old.  They sure are cute.  I'm really surprised that we got several gray birds.  I hope those are chickens and not roosters.  We'll see.

Our CSA is getting full and that's exciting.  The garden areas are looking good.  This year I'm even going to get some wheat planted.  I like to make fresh bread, and I usually get my wheat from Whole Foods and then I put it in my grain mill.  Once I have flour I make the bread. So I thought why not go one step further and grow some wheat to make my flour from? Yes! Why not?  So in the ground goes the wheat.  I'll let you know how that turns out.   

  and ....

These two may be giving us puppies very soon..

This is Thor and Zeus the protectors of     Bountiful Acres.  They are Great Pyrenees and we sure have come to love these wonderful mellow dogs.

Here's a picture of what I do when there is nothing going on here:   

Self portraits with me and my goats! Ü

We really do have friendly goats.

This is Bebe.

And at last some crafty goodness

 

I really like birds and made these to welcome spring.

Since I"m rambling and just posting 'stuff' I'll end it here for the night.

Happy Gardening!

Sue

CSA's

What is a CSA?  

Here's a definition from www.localharvest.org

What is Community Supported Agriculture and How Does It Work?

Used with the permission of Community Supported Agriculture of North America at University of Massachusetts Extension

CSA reflects an innovative and resourceful strategy to connect local farmers with local consumers; develop a regional food supply and strong local economy; maintain a sense of community; encourage land stewardship; and honor the knowledge and experience of growers and producers working with small to medium farms. CSA is a unique model of local agriculture whose roots reach back 30 years to Japan where a group of women concerned about the increase in food imports and the corresponding decrease in the farming population initiated a direct growing and purchasing relationship between their group and local farms. This arrangement, called "teikei" in Japanese, translates to "putting the farmers' face on food." This concept traveled to Europe and was adapted to the U.S. and given the name "Community Supported Agriculture" at Indian Line Farm, Massachusetts, in 1985. As of January 2005, there are over 1500 CSA farms across the US and Canada.

CSA is a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm and a community of supporters which provides a direct link between the production and consumption of food. Supporters cover a farm's yearly operating budget by purchasing a share of the season's harvest. CSA members make a commitment to support the farm throughout the season, and assume the costs, risks and bounty of growing food along with the farmer or grower. Members help pay for seeds, fertilizer, water, equipment maintenance, labor, etc. In return, the farm provides, to the best of its ability, a healthy supply of seasonal fresh produce throughout the growing season. Becoming a member creates a responsible relationship between people and the food they eat, the land on which it is grown and those who grow it.

This mutually supportive relationship between local farmers, growers and community members helps create an economically stable farm operation in which members are assured the highest quality produce, often at below retail prices. In return, farmers and growers are guaranteed a reliable market for a diverse selection of crops.

Here at Bountiful Acres our CSA is rolling a long.  There are seeds started and emails going between potential CSA members and us here at the farm, there is planning happening at every corner.  And it is exciting.  We started the incubator this Saturday and in about 21 days we should be welcoming some new chicks to the farm.  The lotion is flying out the door...we have a wonderful goat's milk and honey base lotion that we are using now.  The hoophouse plan is going well and everyday is one step closer to reality.  We have the 7 dairy goats that we bought in December and they are all quite settled in here.  We are currently deciding on whether to start bee hives this spring or not.  And I'm still making cheese and butter with raw cow's milk and it is just wonderful    You can find us at: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/M26936 and here: http://www.localtable.net/farm_guide/farm.php?name=Qm91bnRpZnVsIEFjcmVzIENTQQ==

 

Where does the time go???

Ever wonder where time goes?

I sure do!!  I had every intention of getting this blog updated and getting new things posted and pictures taken..and then 'real' life just kept happening.

 

I want the pictures of my new product to be well done and well thought out and well presented and I get carried away with trying to be perfect that sometimes I just seem to stall out.  I've stalled.  So I focused elsewhere this weekend. I made 3 loaves of bread and fresh butter.  It was fabulous.  And all the while I thought about what the pictures should look like and if I should invest in getting a 'store' created by a professional...and then I cleaned the rabbit cages...and thought some more about what I was going to do.  All the while God has been dealing with my heart and leading me more and more to being a woman of God and what that really means.  I've thought about this for about a year now and spent time in prayer and searching the Word and as of yesterday have decided that for me in my walk with God skirts and dresses are going to be my apparel.  Will I always always wear a skirt/dress? I'm making that my goal and keeping my heart inclined to follow what it is God would have me to wear. Is it easy? Yes and no.  I like wearing skirts and I do feel more feminine but it was funny when I went out today to Target(to look at items for my pictures) I really noticed(I mean really noticed) for the first time how we dress today.  And how different I suddenly looked.  I had doubts that fired up in my head and got discouraged and then realized that was of the devil and I had to use this time to really focus on the Lord and listen to Him and seek His face and draw near to HIm. What a day this has been! :-)

But I digress.....

  Yes the lotion bars are for sale...

   Yes we have several scents... Lavender, Sugar Plum Fairy(This fragrance is a sweet, candy-like fragrance that smells like a jelly bean. With notes of Tangerine, juicy peach, lemon drop and cotton cand), Sugared Walnut(It smells delicious. I don't think the name "Sugared Walnut" does it quite justice because it has an amazing blend of Blood Orange, Asian Mandarin, Brown Sugar, Roasted Walnut, Hazelnut Coffee, Black Anise Seed, Earthy Patchouli, Madagascar Vanilla, and a Full Musk drydown. Doesn't that sound incredible?), Pomegranate and Black Currant (This fragrance is based on a delicious juice that is found at many health food stores. This blend has tart Pomegranate notes, enlivened by citrus zest and intertwined with juicy Black Currant notes with just some light hints of soft florals and leafy greens to give the fragrance depth. It is a surprisingly sweet blend, almost as if the Pomegranates and Black Currants were sugared prior to blending) Winter Grapefruit, Green Tea and Cucumber, Jasmine, Lilly of the Valley and soon to be added: Passionate Kisses (YEP! Just like the Victoria Secret scent that was discountinued)

The lotion bars are available in 2 ounce tins and the lotion is about 1 ounce. The size is 2" x 1"tall. 

 

$5.00 is what we are asking for the 1 ounce size.

Refills for the tins are $4.00

We also have a larger heart that is $6.00

We will be adding more scents in the future.  And, our goats milk soap, shampoo bars, lotions and creams are coming soon.

Our etsy store will be updated soon with aprons, the lotion bars, and soap and other 'old fashioned- vintage' inspired goods.

If you are interested in these items please send us an email. 

ourbountifulacres@yahoo.com

We'll send you an invoice and you can pay with PayPal and then we'll mail the product to you.

For those who are not familiar with Paypal here's a link so you can see what it's about:

Paypal

Update Coming Soon!!

Wow! It's been so long since I've attended to my poor little blog.  Yikes! Can it really be that many months?  

Lots of new and exciting stuff has been happening at Bountiful Acres and later today I'll have the new info posted.

Here's some of the items I'll tell you about...

New Lotion bars and goats milk soap...shampoo bars...new goats...geese...ducks...aprons... cheese and butter making...and lots of vintage goodies.   

 Check back this evening for all the latest.

See ya'll then!

Night time at Bountiful

 I love the nights here at Bountiful Acres.  It's quiet. Well, sort of. It's free of human sounds and the sounds of daytime life.  But it's as loud as a symphony out there!!

 Tonight as everyone was getting ready for bed I thought about going outside to see if it had really cooled down like the weatherman said. So I stepped out onto the deck...and breathed a deep sigh of relief.  aaahhhh.  b r e a t h e  i n .....  b r e a t h e  o u t.  Oh my. It's wonderful out here!  So I ventured off the deck and just stood there and listened for a few minutes. Crickets and frogs and other sounds begin to overwhelm me and I start to walk around.  As I pass the chicken coop, I hear a soft thump and  what sounds like a tousseled chicken..then it's quiet again.  Do chickens sleep walk? Hmm..something I'll ponder another day.  I look up and there are the guineas.  All asleep and huddeled together.  Ahhh peace.  The guineas are nice that way.  There is no noise.  Really nice.  Then I notice that my final sunflower has opened and it's T A L L .  Like the guineas could be looking at it face to face up there on the coop.  And it's in just the right place that our security light seems to be a spotlight on it.  Wonderful!

Then because I'm looking up I finally see the sky...full of stars!  So many stars I don't know where to look first.  Is that the North star? There's the dipper! Where's Orions belt? Is that a plane? or a satelitte? or a falling star?  Wow!  How can one see and hear all that is happening around me and not think of God and how awesome and powerful and fearfully wonderful and Holy He is. He made this. And it's beautifully quiet and peaceful and at the same time a riot of sound and colors.  Colors? In the dark? Yep.  There are shades of gray out here. And the trees that surround us look so majestic at night. The sunflower shows up, the green of the barn roof, the white and black and carmel and brown bunnies that are awake and hopping around their hutches, the greens and yellows of the garden plants, the way the garden ornaments catch light..simply amazing.   Oh how many people have missed such wonderful moments like this.  It makes me wonder what some of the poets and artisit were thinking or where they were sitting when they wrote and created some of our best loved works of art.                                            

I see trees of green

Red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

 

I see skies of blue,

and clouds of white
The bright blessed day
The dark sacred night
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

 

Luis Amstrong

 

Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.

                                                                                              Henry David Thoreau

 

         Good Night.  Take some time to go outside and just listen.  You might hear the voice of God.

SURPRISE!!!

I have to admit that we are farm-rookies!  Oh yes we are.  We were given two goats last summer and have been learning about goats since we got them.  Then in early March we bought a third goat at our local flea market (where lots of farm animals are bought and sold...we live in the country) .  Lately, we've noticed that new goat, Daisy, hasn't looked 'right'.  We've been reading and trying to figure it out.  Well, we got home from work today and found out what Daisy had been working on.....

May we introduce to you the latest addition to our farm...

Miss Flower.

At least that's what we believe we have.  (Of course we also had two girls bunnies...and now we have 11)

Here's another picture of our new baby in the barn.

  I got to hold her and cuddle her and she is just as sweet as can be.  Tomorrow in the sunlight we'll get some more pictures.

Blog negelect..or busy Spring??

  I can't believe that once again I haven't posted in FOREVER!!  So much has been going around here at Bountiful Acres.  We have our chickens and guineas..all 45 of them! They are about 1 month old and getting big.  Or at least big compared to what they looked like when we first got them.  And, we also got 4 ducks..that are about the same age.  Our older chickens aren't so happy that we moved the chicks into the coop this weekend.  But the brooder boxes were getting so full of 'chick' that we had to do something.  We built a partition in the coop so the chicks and guineas are together and yet seperate from the 'girls'. 

 I've also recently gone back to work full time. That's been tough on me.  I love my life here at Bountiful Acres and Spring is very very busy.  We have a garden that is roughly a half acre in size and we have all the critters and I have all the projects going..painting, sculpture,sewing,knitting,crocheting,spinning,crafting in general...that it's just hard to be away for 9.5 hours a day.  But I'm learning to just git'r done.  After being off work so long with my injury we really just need me to work for awhile.  Farkle has been wonderful in his support, but it's time to share the burden.  We also just lost our third pregnancy.  That's been one of the hardest things we've gone through.  We got married late in life..and it looks like we won't be having children.  When we got pregnant this time we really thought this was it!  New circumstances, new home, new state, hopefully things were gonna be different. But when we went for the ultrasound there was no baby.  And my hcg levels were way to low for as far as I was in the pregnancy.  The doctor seems to think that I don't make progesterone and that if (if) we want to try again, she thinks that shots are the answer.  But it's hard.  It's hard to be 8 weeks pregnant and go through the changes and symptoms..and not be pregnant anymore at week 9.  And, it isn't getting easier at 43. I totally trust God and I totally know that He has all this in His hands, but I'm not sure that I want to be pregnant a 4th time.   If you are the praying type I'd love your prayers for wisdom here.  And, for hope and healing.

  This year is my 25th high school reunion.  Do I go?  I couldn't wait to get out of High School.  You see I wasn't one of the 'popular' kids and didn't make lots of lifetime friends.  I have one friend that is my closest friend at this point in my life.  Kathy and I have been through a lot together and I love her like I love my sister.  She is amazing! Anyhow, it would be nice to see some of the people, but I don't think they'd know me from a hole in the wall...and that doesn't matter to me.  I never really cared if people liked me.  Sure I wanted to be liked, but I had so much going on outside of high school that I could've cared less what the party-goers thought of me. Does anyone else think about high school that way?  Do you plan on going to 25? Or did you? Do you have friends from high school?  I do wonder sometimes what became of some of my classmates. And, I'd love to see how some of them aged! (Evil laugh!! bahahahaha) And, of course we live in Tennessee now, so I'd love to go home for a weekend and see some of my friends and family and maybe throw in a reunion to boot!  I have until October to decide......

I'll get some pictures posted soon of the chicks and ducks and other happenings around here...

 

 

It's funny what gets me excited these days...

After the rough day we had with our chicken loss, we went and ordered more from the feed store.  I mentioned that we had ordered 27 and got 11.  Well........  hold on to your socks...... we ordered 44.  44??!!!  OH MY!!!  We ordered with the idea that some won't make shipping again.  But imagine if they do.  LOLOLOLOL!!!!  That will really be something.  We ordered extra roosters this time, so hopefully at least one of them will make the shipping.  We ordered some Araucana.  Also known as the easter egg chicken, because they lay different colored eggs.  And, we ordered some guineas.  I'm hoping that with that large of an order we will be eating some of them.  And, we will also be able to hatch some so we don't have to buy anymore at least for some time. 

I also have to tell about something that happened last week that made me very happy.  Growing up my sis, Miss Kitty, and I and our folks were very close with my cousins, aunts and uncle.  When my sis got married that stopped talking to her.  It was weird!   Then when I got married, just three years ago, that was it, they stopped talking with me also.  Two of those cousins and I used to exchange birthday phone calls each year and then nothing. I sent Christmas cards and heard nothing. And it hurt.  And, I have to admit it also made me angry.  Well, Aunty has moved in with us and her birthday is April 7th and mine is several days later, well oldest cousin called.  And....he spoke with me!!!!  That was nice.  And it was long overdue.  And did I mention, it was nice.  I asked him about the silence.  He didn't have an answer and that's ok.  At least we are now talking again.  I hope it's more often then birthdays, but even that would be enough.   

Life is good here at Bountiful Acres as I hope it is there also where you are.  

Farm life

Today I learned another hard lesson in farming.  Things die.  Last June we got 11 chickens.  We had ordered 27 but 16 died in shipping, so 11 was our starter number.  We didn't think that was a bad thing because Farkle and I were both rookies in this whole thing.  We had heard that baby chicks die and they can be hard to raise.  We were blessed and didn't lose any.  We decided to raise them as free range birds so that they would be as healthy and natural as we could help them be.  We have a 12 x 12 shed that we turned into a coop and we treat them like pets.  We had thought that we would be raising these for food as well as the eggs that they give us, but it soon became apparent that we would not be eating these birds...we got to like them to much.  (There's a lesson there for our next batch of birds)  We have lost 5 of our chickens to predators,4 to hawk attacks and 1 to Miss Kitty's dog.   There is one chicken who has really become a pet.  I started calling her ChickChick and she comes running when you call her name.  She likes when we turn over rocks and other things for her.  She eats the worms, bugs and spiders and moves onto the next rock impatiently waiting for it to be turned over.  When I walk through the garden she walks with me and 'talks' away.  I even find that I talk back to her.  When I'm digging in the garden she's right there scratching the ground as if to show me "No, this is how you do it".   She really is quite the hen.  Well, today I went outside and I couldn't find ChickChick.  I went to the coop and there she was.  She was dead.  I don't know how, I don't know why, I just know I don't like it.  I don't like that my favorite chicken has lost her life.  And, I don't like having to learn another hard lesson in farming. 

We moved here to the farm last May and found ourselves in the middle of a drought.  Our pond dried up, the pasture was looking like firebox tinder, the trees were losing their leaves and we didn't get to plant a garden.  So far this spring, we have had rain, lots of rain, TONS of rain.  One day I looked out at the creek that borders us on two sides and I could see it from my kitchen window...It was pouring into the pasture.  Ok, I' had to remind myself,I'm grateful for the rain.  I really am. As the creek receded  I realized that it cleaned away a lot of the junk that the former owner had down by the creek.  That's a good thing. (And we have our pond back)

Another lesson I've learned this spring, is that we need a storm shelter.  We have had a LOT of tornado activity here in middle Tennessee and we live in a manufactured home.  Today was another day of wall to wall coverage on TV for about 3 hours as the storms were knocking on the door.  Another blessing was to be ours...lots of rain, some wind, and no tornado.  For us at least.  Neighboring counties to the southwest got hit. Again.  Please pray for them.

These are just some of the things that I'm learning as we live here.  Farmers are tough folks.  They have to deal with a lot of stuff.  Can I learn to deal with it also?  Do I have the stamina to do this?  Can I learn to lose more animals and yet have the gumption to go on and raise more?  I trust that with the guiding hand of our Lord and Savior Jesus, I can and I will.  I wouldn't trade this life in for one in any suburb in the world.  Not even if someone bought me a house and handed me the keys.  I'm learning about life as I watch the cycle of life right before my eyes, I'm learning that I'm made of some tough stuff.  I'm also learning that to cry over a chicken is ok.  I just have to remember to get up and move on as there is still so much to do.