Not for the Faint of Heart

                Yesterday was January 1, the beginning of a new year. For many including myself it is a time for resolutions and goals. My last post was back in 2019 prior to the pandemic. It was my goal at that time to write My Year with Nature in the form of a blog. These last two years my sanity has been saved by spending time in nature- gardening, hiking and chasing waterfalls.  I have been blessed to find likeminded friends to share many adventures with,

            And so a new adventure begins. I have somewhat resigned myself to the fact that because I live on a suburban lot I am a bit limited as to how much I  can actually practice my homesteading skills. Fortunately, I have a dear friend who has 10 acres to play on. We have decided on a few homesteading crafts to work on for the upcoming year. The first of which is tanning.  Deer hunting season begins for archers around the middle of September, for riflemen around thanksgiving and extends to January 1. If we wanted to get hides this was our last chance. My friend was able to source hides from a processing facility called Backwoods Processing. The name was very apt. . My daughter was a little spooked about me going after dark to a butchering facility but I was undaunted. I am generally pretty fearless even in dark rural places. I have butchered chickens, ducks, hogs, sheep, rabbits, and deer so the sight of dead animals doesn't distress me too much but I have never been at a facility that processes hundreds of animals a day. Wow, the smell was indescribable. My eyes were watering and my lips could taste an almost metallic taste. We chatted with the man who was doing the rough butchering. He worked quickly and skillfully as the hunters brought deer after deer. I was amazed at the efficiency of the  operation. I asked him if the smell ever got to him. He told me only when he first arrives and the smell is iron from the blood. I learned a lot about life in the backwoods from our short conversation.

              After they cleaned up for the night they put our hides as well as some brains and fat into buckets; we will use the brains in the tanning process and the fat will be rendered for soap. It had been raining for a few days and the road was  gravel As I was turning on to the main road of course my van slid into the mud and I was stuck. I am notorious for getting my van stuck in the mud. I was about to cry but I was in the right place. If  the butcher had a chain and was able to pull me out with his Jeep Cherokee. I am so grateful that I didn't have to sit and wait for a tow truck. 

              I was home by 9:30 and it was pouring rain but I was  able to get my haul in. I soaked 2 hides in salt and vinegar and put the other 4 in the freezer. They were still a little bloody and I was worried that the neighbors might get a little freaked out if they saw. Thank goodness the rain washed it away by morning.

            This afternoon I rinsed my hides and cleaned them up a little more. The next step is going to be defleshing, stretching , and tanning. We are going to be using brains to make the leather soft and subtle. I am also going to to try my hand at hide glue. I will be writing a step by step tutorial as I go. But so far 2022 is off to a crazy memorable start. This is going to be a year filled with adventure but not for the faint of heart.

      

        

           

 I asked my friend from Bulgaria to share with me some authentic recipes from her home country.

She told me that they eat a lot of feta cheese and yogurt.She also informed me that I only need to look at the side of the  yogurt container at the culture to get an idea of how much yogurt they eat. The ingredients list milk and lactobacillius Bulgarius, The bacteria that converts milk into that lovey, sour health-filled treat gets its namesake from the country of Bulgaria.

Homemade yogurt is  simple and easy to make.. There are many turorials but this is the one that I find the easiest and most effictive.

You will need 1 quart of milk and 2 tablespoons of plain commercial yogurt or starter culture.

If you have an insta-pot it could not be easier. Simply pour the milk into the insta-pot and set it to the boil/saute setting. You can also use your stove top, Heat the milk up to 180 degrees and remove from the heat. Allow the milk to cool until it reaches between105 and 110 degrees. When the milk reaches it's target temperature add the yogurt or starter. If you are using the insta-pot then simply press the yogurt button and allow it to sit for 8 hours.

 If you are using the stove top pour the milk into a quart mason jar with  the starter. Keep it in a warm place like the stove on breadproof setting, by a heater or fireplace or wrap it in a warm blanket for 8 hours.

When the yogurt is done culturing you can store it in the refridgerator for up to a month.

Enjoy your yogurt with your favorite recipe, sweetened with a little honey and fresh fruit for breakfast, or on it's own for an anytime snack,

Paper Making with Plants

     June is here! We are inundated with sunshine,with green and living things. I am beginning to see the fruits of some of my gardening efforts.Spring is coming to an end. The summer awaits us.
With that I am planning activities to augment or homeschooling and keep us active and curious for the next few months.
     My first line of business is a business.I have long enjoyed soap-making as a hobby and sold some when we had our farmers market booth. I have always wanted to incorporate the kids in to process of  making, branding,and  selling our home made soap(for those of you new to my blog I am a mother of 6)with my youngest age 4 I feel they are all old enough to help.
      So the first step in my effort began a few days ago when we made the home made paper with which we will wrap our soaps.

      Paper making is a fun and educational experience incorporating recycling and nature craft.
We used brown paper wrapping,old cotton and linen napkins, and our leggy lemon balm and mint plants to make the pulp.
 

Outlined is the process we used-
Materials-used paper, a mold,a blender, a container for the pulp and old towels blankets or sheets
any used paper will do,junk mail,tissue paper,napkins or brown paper bags
to make about 3 8-10 sheets you will need about 10 ish sheets of used paper or 1 brown paper bag
optional- plant fibers including 100% cotton or linen rags, leaves flower petals,  or herbs
To make a mold you need a frame (an old wooden picture frame works well or an embroidery hoop for circular sheers) to which you've attached a screen to.

The first step to make paper is to make a pulp out of your chosen materials. You must chop plant materials very finely,and tear paper and rags into tiny pieces. If the pieces are too large they will get stuck in the blades of the blender.

After the materials are prepared ,put them into the blender with half their volume of water. Process them an high until the pulp is a smooth muddy consistency. No big chunks should remain.

When all the material has been made into pulp dump it into your container.
Next you put your mold into the pulp and gently slosh it side to side, Pull it up and allow the water to drain off.
The next part requires a bit of patience and practice.
Carefully put your paper sheet face down on your towel or blanket,press the water out gently with your hands or a sponge and lift off the mold.
Allow to dry in the sun for a few hours and voila you have beautiful hand made paper, worthy to wrap soap, make home made cards or crafts with.

     Admittedly, this project was more as fun for me than was for the kids which is saying  a lot. They really enjoyed it but it was such a hot day that pretty soon I was struggling to keep Fulton from plunging into the watery pulp. I let them all play in the hose while I finished making all  the paper that I could from the pulp,which should be enough to wrap about 20 bars of soap.
     Tomorrow we will make soap and hopefully in two weeks we will debut " Little Elves Soap" to the flea market along with other up-cycled goods.
    Until then we will enjoy the beautiful  June weather and dream of fun activities to come.

   

My Year With Nature- A New Beginning

      It has been many years since I last blogged. It has been many years that I left my farm for suburbia.Much has changed. It will take volumes to explain the circumstances that required us to leave that lifestyle that we cherished.I have much to be thankful for here in my suburban Charlotte neighborhood,however there is a yearning that I find impossible to ignore. My goal on the farm was  to find an easy peace with creation, to find in nature sustenance,communion,Life. On the farm my longings were met in spite of any of the trials struggles that I encountered. Now, I am no longer the wiles of Mother Nature for my livelihood.I must seek nature intentionally. Fortunately, it is not difficult to appreciate the bounty that our Earth provides for us.Season after season,Nature has at hand sights, sounds, scents,and experiences ready for the taking.

This is my challenge-
Month by month I will share my experiences and my ideas as I glean nature's
seasonal offerings.

So here it is October and the leaves are beginning to fall. The highs tomorrow are supposed to reach a whopping 65 degrees.
 The summer found me way to busy to blog ,but here I am with a little spare time and a lot to write about. Here is a small excerpt from a draft that I never finished. As you can see I never made it past 7a.m....

It has been over a month since my last post. As every gardener knows this is the time of year where you work half days... A full 12 hours at least. Tonight I was going to fold my leaning tower of laundry but my most wonderful husband reminded me that I had been working since 6 and here it is 9. The laundry can wait another night.
Today I canned 50 pounds of tomatoes and made cheese from 5 gallons of goat milk. Yesterday ,our family harvested vegetables,made fig preserves,and pickled peppers. We also canned the pickles we made last week. Each of these topics deserves their own blog and I will get to it eventually. Today I want to give you an idea of what a day on our farm looks like during peak season.
  6 a.m. -cock-a doodle-do,literally over and over again. No need for an alarm time to wake  up.
 The goat is bellowing as I prepare my milking supplies. I am scrupulous about the cleanliness of my milk since we drink it raw. I scrub and boil the pail and anything that comes in contact with it.6:30 it's outside with the goats. Feeding,brushing, and milking  my two goats takes about 30 minutes.
 Now usually I'm inside by 7 with coffee brewing and breakfast being prepared by my husband or daughter,
This morning however we were trying to coax pigs back into their pens as my oldest son forgot to turn on the electric fence last night....

Now instead of boring you with my day to day routine, let me bid farewell to summer and thank God for his bounty, for truly I have been blessed.This summer brought fresh flowers to adorn our home, and fresh veggies to adorn our plates. What we couldn't use or sell,
 we canned. Our pantry is now filled with hundreds of jars pickles, pickled okra, pickled peppers, watermelon rind pickles,roasted red peppers, tomato sauces, ketchups, and preserves of all kinds. We have 5 gallons of  homemade vinegar, 3 gallons of tomato wine, and 3 gallons of water melon wine. We are fermenting 7 gallons of hot sauce and have a half a bushel more of hot peppers in the freezer. We have a freezer full of veggies, and to top it off we picked up our pig from the butcher today.  My grandmother always told me that you can use every part of the pig excepting the squeak.With that in mind, we volunteered to accept any organ meat that was not wanted from our customers. I have two huge bags full.
So this week begins my adventure in whole beast eating.  A few years ago I experimented with head cheese, with that under my belt, salted dried pork liver should be a breeze.

Summer Sun Protection

Summer is officially here. With temperatures nearing 100 degrees it seems as if there is no escape from the sun's burning rays. Unfortunately, I am very fair, I spend a large portion of my day in the sun, and have sensitive skin. Commercial sunscreen burns my skin as bad as the sun. I can smell them a mile away and the smell drives me crazy. I have read that the chemicals in sunscreens have been linked to cancer and while I am not an expert on the matter, I don't believe in taking unnecessary risks. The"all natural" brands are often prohibitively expensive and the "chemical free" varieties ha, the sunscreen component might be, but the inactive ingredients?

So what's a farm girl to do? Figure out how to make it for herself!

One of the main ingredients in natural sunscreens is zinc oxide. It works by absorbing UV radiation and converting it to infrared heat which is harmlessly evaporated from the skin. It is very effective and a little goes a long way. When I was young my friends and I used colored zinc or diaper rash cream for sunscreen.As an adult I don't find "war paint" as cool as I did when I was eight. Fortunately, micronized zinc can be purchased from a few online sources. I found mine at www.soapgoods.com. I purchased a pound about two years ago and have made sunscreen probably a dozen times.

Sunscreen is very easy and cost effective to make at home. you need only 4 ingredients, oil, beeswax,zinc oxide and water. An immersion blender is a helpful tool but not 100% necessary.

 I like to add green tea instead of water because green tea is supposed to be good for your skin and have anti-cancer compounds, again, I am no doctor but it can't hurt. Green tea turns lotion a strange color that may be less than appealing however,it is completely transparent when it is applied to skin.
 
Most recipes call for a combination of olive,coconut, and a few other oils.. I have found that I like the feel of avocado,or olive and coconut oil.

To make about one quart of sunscreen you will need-

1 cup olive(or almond,grapeseed,or avocado)
1 cup coconut oil
4 tbs beeswax shredded
1 cup slightly warm water or green tea
2-4 tbs zinc oxide powder

Procedure-
Fill a large pan with water and place on burner.
place a saucepan inside the larger pan.

To the saucepan add the oils and wax.

Warm the oil and wax until the wax is fully melted.

If you are using an immersion blender,
place it into the wax/oil mixture and turn it on low.

If you don't have an immersion blender you can pour the mixture into a standard blender(be forewarned however, that standard blenders are very effective albeit very difficult to clean.)

You can also use a whisk and hand mix the sunscreen. I find that often times the water is hard to incorporate by hand so my method of choice is definitely immersion blenders.

Add the water or tea in a steady trickle to the wax/oil mixture. when the lotion base is well incorporated add the zinc. More zinc will give a greater spf.( Two tablespoons provides about spf 15.)

When all the ingredients are incorporated, pour the mixture into clean jelly size mason jars.

To clean the cookware, wipe out as much of the residue with a rag or paper towel. then pour boiling water on everything and wipe again. Repeat the rinsing and wiping until all residue is gone.

The sunscreen is best stored at cool temperatures or refrigerated if it is not to be used immediately. It can be stored unopened in the fridge for at least 6 months but once it is opened it should be used or discarded after 2 weeks.

This recipe is best reapplied after swimming or sweating. I usually reapply it every hour.

I

Remember that sunscreen is only one defense against sunburn and potential skin cancer.

Here are some additional precautions to take-

Wear white, longsleeve clothing, and a wide brim hat.
Avoid the midday sun if possible.

And eat a diet rich in antioxidants.Green tea has been reported to help prevent skin cancer so sipping a nice glass of iced green tea can't hurt.

Herbal Bug Repelent

A few years ago my family and I went camping in the Ocala national forest.In the middle of the night I was itching so bad that I became a raving lunatic. I threw myself out of the tent and into the rain in a feeble attempt to rub off whatever it was that causing me to itch. The next morning I looked at my skin and saw little "scabs" all over. Well those "scabs" I discovered were all over my children and my dog. My husband however, was unaffected. Pretty soon I noticed them swelling on the dog realized what I was dealing with, ticks!

I'm not sure exactly how many I pulled off of everyone but it was hundreds. Now why on earth did we get ticks and not Shaun? We discovered the answer when I looked for an herbal remedy to rid the dog totally of those nasty little creatures.

Prior to our camp out Shaun and I had been reading a most interesting book by Stephen Harrod Buhner;Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers. He was intrigued by a beer that contained the herb artemisia absinthium also known as wormwood,the ingredient that gives absinthe its flavor and bad reputation. He was also interested in a beer with yarrow, and one with juniper. Well he was interested in all the recipes and couldn't make up his mind so he mixed them all together. Now I'm sure he didn't measure so I can't give you the recipe but it doesn't matter because the stuff was dreadful ,absolutely dreadful.It was so bitter that one swallow was all I could take. He however, wasn't going to waste all that good beer so he sipped it throughout the entire campout. I suppose the bugs must have felt the same way about Shaun's herbal healing brew as I did because they didn't touch him.

When I consulted my herb books for an insect spray it read something like this- "Herbalists have used different combinations of aromatic herbs to kill and repel pests for millennia. Wormwood, yarrow,and juniper are most effective." He got the last laugh on that one.

I always question the long term safety of deet based repellents and even if they are proven safe, the smell is just nasty.

Health food stores sell many all natural repellents that are effective and smell pleasant however they are all expensive.

Tick season is at  it's peak and the wisdom of God is such that the very herbs that repel insects are now ready to be harvested. Most likely you have an "weed" or two growing in your yard that can be used to ward off skeeters, ticks, no see ems and other pesky bugs.

                                 A simple repellent can be made  

                                   crushing the fresh leaves of                                 

                                  mint, basil,and/or lemon balm. 

The list of insect repellent herbs is exhaustive.
A few of the most common include:
Artemisia/wormwood
basil
bay
catmint
cedar
citronella
clary sage
coriander
elderflower
fleabane
ginger
juniper
eucalyptus
frankincense
geranium                                                                                  
juniper
lavender
lemon balm                                                                                            
lemongrass
mints
pennyroyal
rose geranium
rosemary
rue
sage
sandalwood
thyme
vanilla
yarrow

There are many ways to make repellents.
1.You can do it my husbands way and drink it. Apple cider vinegar and garlic are the most commonly recommended internal remedies.  If you are brave enough to try herbal brews consult the book Sacred Herbal Healing Beers. Remember the evidence for effectiveness and safety is purely anecdotal.
2. Tinctures are effective ways to extract the active constituents of herbs.Tinctures are simply herbs soaked in a solvent, usually alcohol or vinegar.
3. Essential oils are highly effective albeit expensive insect repellents.

Here are 4 recipes to get you started. Remember, be creative and feel free to experiment.

Garlic and Apple Cider Vinegar Tick Drink
In a quart mason jar crush a clove of garlic. Add 2 tbs apple cider vinegar,preferably organic unfiltered.
Allow the mixture to steep for 1 hour. Next add a tbs honey or more to taste. Then fill the jar up with fresh water.
Hold your nose and drink up!You can also rub it on your skin without the honey.
The results should last as long as you can still taste the garlic.
Unfortunately, bugs may not be the only thing you repel!

Everclear Bug Be Gone
1 handful fresh wormwood leaves
1 handful yarrow leaves
1 handful fresh mint leaves
1 tbs dried basil ( it's not in season yet)
5 bay leaves
1/4 cup juniper berries or cedar berries
Place all ingredients in a quart mason jar. Cover the herbs with Everclear or another clear flavorless alcohol. You can use isopropyl alcohol but it tends to dry out skin.
Allow the mixture to steep for at least a week.
Gently swirl the mixture every few days.
When the tincture is made strain it through cheesecloth into a clean mason jar. Add 1/4 cup per quart of water. Place in a sprayer and use like store bought spray.
You need to reapply every few hours or after sweating and swimming.

Herbal Tea Bug be Gone
Use the same herbs as above but instead of alcohol use a quart of water. Bring the water to a boil and pour over the herbs. Steep for an hour. Strain the mixture.Place it into a sprayer and use it straight.

Essential Oil Bug Repellent
rose geranium essential oil
citronella essential oil
lavender essential oil
eucalyptus essential oil
or a combination of three from the list above
olive/grapeseed/almond oil
Fill a pint jar with a carrier oil such as olive.
To it add 10 drops of each of the chosen oils.. You may add more if you want a stronger fragrance but do not exceed 75 drops.
To use, dip a cotton ball into the oil. Dab it onto the backs of your legs and wrists.
This is very long lasting.Reapply after swimming or sweating.