Bountiful Acres

Smith County Fair and more ducks...

We went to the Smith County fair the last weekend in July.  It is a small fair for a small county.  We went the day that they were showing the sheep.  I may have picked out another breed of sheep that I really like.  I like small sheep because I have to handle them and most of the care along with my sister.  When a ram is in rut he can be mean and dangerous.  I'd rather a ram that is about 50-60 lbs then a ram that is 150 lbs. So on to some pics....

Someday we will have a tractor.

Yep...they had camels there.

Saturday I made some pumpkin butter with the early pumpkins.

They started like this

 

That's our barn in the background.

Then they went through some processing and ended up here

These are the last three jars in the hot water bath

I ended up with these beauties 

(Please note: pumpkin can NOT be processed in a hot water bath and left on the shelf...any pumpkin that is processed and put in jars has to be kept in the freezer or refrigerator for up tp two weeks.)

Here are some recent produce pictures.  I love the colors. 

These are green bell, white bell and banana peppers, amish paste tomatoes, green heirloom tomatoes, yellow (habenera?)peppers

Cleaning the butternut squash

My helper and sis, cleaning the veggies we had just harvested.

One more thing...our duck, Dorothy has been at it again and we have more new ducks.  We came home from church and there she was, so I looked a little and sure enough there were babies.  She hatched 11 from what we can tell(same as last time).  We let her keep two and we have put 9 in the brooder box.  Here are some pictures of the new babies. These ducks are not even a day old at this point

they are just soooo cute.

And here's one last picture of one of my favorite chickens. She was sitting on the porch railing and I just had to take this picture. 

This is Jasmine.

It's a beautiful day and there is so much to do.....

Take Care!! Have a beautiful day!

Swaps

  I'm doing another swap! And another, and another.  :-)

I haven't participated in swaps for a little while because the last one I did I got burned.  Ever have that happen?  It was a Christmas one and there were guidelines and yada yada yada...I followed the rules and sent off my package and then got my package way later than expected and it had a bunch of junk in it.  Nothing vintage(part of the swap), nothing homemade(part of the swap) and some stuff that seemed like it came off of the clearence rack because it was defective.  Oh well.  So I stopped doing them.  Then last month I thought I want to try again..I was aching for the comraderie and the desire to share craftiness with others...so I joined "favorite things" swap.  I read my partners blog and made her an apron in her favorite color for her new craft studio, she likes to scrap so I included scrap goodies, and several other things.  I mailed it on the swap deadline date to mail. I emailed her to let her know.  Then I emailed again almost a week later...she emailed me back with "I got the stuff..what swap was this for? Were we partners?" Ugh. Again. Well she says that she didn't get the email, ok, I'll buy that.  She told me that she has now mailed something... 

So I've joined a Pin Swap.  I'm really excited about this one.  We get to make pins for everyone in the group, mail them all to the swap mama and then she'll mail back pins to us.  One from each of the other ladies.  Cool huh?????  I've got the creative juices flowing and have so many ideas running through my head.  Now to get some ideas down on paper and get them made!  I'll let you know how that goes.

I've also joined the "I heart pink and aqua swap"  and it has been fun to shop and create for that one.

I thought I had joined a Fall swap, but I just checked her blog and she's matched names and I'm not on the list.  Drats! I see my name on the comments, but somehow I just got skipped.  Well, there will be more fall swaps........or maybe this is just a clue that I need to stop swaps....hhhmmm, something to think about.

Well...off to pin making and pink and aqua creations!

I wanted to include this little collage I made of pics of my sheep

New Banners

Not only have I changed the banner for the blog, but I've made some new banners for the etsy store.

This shot didn't fit on the screen all the way...drats.

And I had to back way up to get this shot.

And it was a windy day when I took this picture so the background fabric is blowing.

Oh well, I'll take another shot when it isn't windy and rainy like today.

Happy Crafting!

The in home studio at night

Currently I am using our third bedroom as a studio.  We have a 12x30 foot building outside that is to be my studio, but we have stuff stored in there right now from our family.  When they lost their home in Florida and moved in with us we had to have some place to store their stuff.  So we make do and I have this room as my studio.  It's kind of scary right now, as it is stuffed to the brim....so I dream of the day I move into the studio outside.

For now, here's a lookie loo at some of the projects I'm working on

The star is a paper mache scultpure in the works...and see the little birds in the front? I make those from clay and paint and glitter and then I give them 'jewelry'. 

Here's one in progress.

And there's this sign that I'm working on.

And, of course what studio is complete without a stash of vintage wallpaper and a fabric stash that is CRAZY???

So that's all for now.  When these projects are finished I'll show you the finished items.

 

Bounty from the garden

 

 This is what it looked like last Saturday evening when I had finished the CSA deliveries and some tomatoes, sweet peppers and hot peppers left over.

So I made this:

  Salsa!!

 

Tonight for dinner I served up salads from our garden also.  We had Field Greens, tomatoes, sweet banana peppers, and an english cucumber.  Topped it with some Tuna.  It was fabulous!

 

It's great to eat fresh

from the garden and know that it's free of pesticides and other  junks.

And it tastes great!

 

And, how about this weather???  It's been fabulous to have a break from the 90+ degree temps and have evenings and early mornings while we are out feeding the sheep and goats in the upper 50's.  How wonderful.  Thank you, Father God.

 

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!