Been a bumpy month here at Two Moose Farm. The kids picked up a bug in town and passed it on until it has hit us all, thankfully it didn’t hit at the same time. Feeling much better now but for a few days it was miserable. Having a stomach bug makes trips to the outhouse feel like your hiking a mile uphill both ways. 

It appears dear hubby has taken lessons in grace from me. Usually it is I who can trip over air, fall up stairs and am covered in bruises but now he is the one sporting green, black, blue and purple camo bruises. Now that he’s on the mend I can make light of it but I assure you at the time it was anything but funny. The incident that caused all this started out as routine. He was moving hay from the wagon to the barn and it is quite icy out. Normally he wears his ice cleats but had forgotten to put them back on after taking them off when he went into town to check the mail. Almost finished with the unloading I walked to the cabin and started up the steps when I heard “ah oh”. As I turned I caught a glimpse of my husbands 6’3″ frame as it was mid air-almost as if it was suspended in time and the bale of hay seem to hit the ground a millisecond before he did bursting from its ties and raining hay as he hit the hard ice with a thud. Knowing better than to attempt to run I started to descend the steps when in the shower of green, he rises from the ground surrounded by goats wondering why he was rolling in their hay, turkeys and chickens rushing to see what the excitement was and Henry our Billy standing there looking at him with a confused look on his face. After what felt like hours but was mere seconds I ascertained he was alright and proceeded in to get the coffee going. Ever the trooper my dear hubby dusted himself off, finished unloading hay and then came in for a warm up and coffee. This is his account of what happened-I had just picked up the bale and turned to head to the barn when my feet grew cold and tired of the ice so by their own volition they went on strike and decided to toss themselves into the air in protest. Hopefully next time they go on strike they will do it in a softer spot! Yes folks my dear hubby can be as sarcastic as I am! I am just thankful his injuries were not much worse. Another blessing for sure.

Yes December has been a month of illness, injuries, intrigued and let’s not forget the giggles. I had been losing sleep over something attacking my chickens at night. I had just returned in and was warming by the stove when their squawking began again but this time the young pigs joined in their distress call. I woke up dear hubby and said “somethings out there I can’t see it and my fingers are too cold to handle a gun”-all in one breath with a bit of a screech to it. Perhaps I sounded a bit distressed so dear hubby in his half sleep rush grabs a headlamp and his shotgun then heads out into the night as I follow behind several steps. The investigation shows that once again something had been chasing chickens from their roost but this time one of the chickens ended up in bed with the pigs. Now for those of you who don’t know,  pigs do not like being woke up in the middle of the night much less anything crawling in bed with them. The chicken in question was my dear hen Betty a barred rock that was clearly upset and scared and was not budging from her safe haven with the pigs no matter how much we coaxed and the pigs protested her presence. Seeing that whatever had caused the distress was now gone we went back into the cabin to thaw our cold fingers when Betty began her raucous squawking…again. The pigs not happy with her interrupting their sleep squealed in protest so dear hubby once again goes outside, into the pig pen, folds his very tall frame up enough to get inside their bed and pluck dear Betty off her pig perch and brings her to the house. Yes he’s my super hero. Everyone has quieted down, Betty is drinking her warm coffee perched on my knee and I began to giggle, then full on laugh until the tears ran down my cheeks-not seeing what I am and the cause of my uncontrollable laughter hubby looks at me quite confused. Finally I am able to compose myself and explain. You see dear hubby didn’t get dressed before going outside, so here I have just viewed a long john clad man with a headlamp on completing the ensemble with a shotgun under one arm, in a pig pen with a chicken under the other and it made me think of an old movie with ma and pa kettle on the farm. Those of you who never seen the movie (or too young to know who ma and pa kettle are) may not see the humor. If you get the chance watch the movie and you will see what life is like at times on the farm!

The mystery finally ended 2 nights later when the turkeys cornered our night invader. Turkeys can be vicious creatures and the owl that was disturbing their sleep had finally met its match. We found him huddled in a corner of the shed and after pulling the attack turkeys off him and with a bit of coaxing he came out and flew off, missing quite a few feathers but apparently he decided that the giant turkeys were no match and he hasn’t returned.

Well the roosters are crowing, coffee is gone and time to get the day started. I’ll leave you all with a few random pics and a prayer that each of you finds a reason to smile today. God Bless! 

    
    
    
 

Once upon a time in a land far away there was a magical place called Alaska……

And it’s no longer a dream it’s my home! Yes, I am feeling a bit silly tonight as I sit by the warm fire and watch the snowflakes falling from the sky. 

Alaska still is very magical to me though, I’ve never felt this happiness in any other place. I have discovered it is the simple things like a woodpecker knocking on a tree, turkeys gobbling, snowflakes falling and children laughing that give me the warm fuzzy feeling of being where I belong. I only wish I could bottle up this feeling and share it.  

 I apologize now for not having anything exciting to say-oh wait yes I do have some news! In 2013 while we were still living in Wyoming someone sent one of my recipes into a contest for a Taste of Home. I was contacted by email in late 2013 and told my recipe had placed high enough to be included in their cook book. Here it is 2015 and I just recieved my copy of the cookbook. I’m on page 47. It’s not the first recipe contest I’ve won but it’s the first time I have placed in one I didn’t enter. I never have found out the identity of the person who entered me but to them I say Thank You-your entering me and believing in my abilities means more than any prize. If your interested in obtaining a copy it is called “A Taste of Home Slow Cooker and One Dish Recipes” 

 The picture below is my recipe

 

I would like to also mention time is running out to get your Two Moose Farm hoodie or T-shirt. There’s exciting things happening at Two Moose Farm in 2016 so get yours now while you still can-T-shirts and hoodies

(Trust me your going to want one of these) Big things happening!

I’ll go for now as my internet has gone from slow to sloth speed but keep smiling and I pray your all blessed with everything you need.

  

   

  

  

  

  

 I receive many questions about how we do things being so remote and off grid and decided to share some of the ways we do things. 

Q-how do your animals stay warm in the winter? 

A- Most animals are well equipped to handle the cold if they can be kept out of drafts and dry. Our solution is we raised beds for the pigs and insulate underneath then provide lots of hay for them to snuggle into. It’s actually easier to accomplish keeping them warm at 20 degrees and snow versus 60 with rain. Chickens and turkeys are much the same but even better equipped as they have a layer of down feathers which they fluff up trapping air and providing insulation against the cold. Pair their natural abilities with wide wooden perches to sit on the fluff up, bury their head under a wing and sit on their feet. They also will roost close together providing further warmth.

Q-how do you keep water thawed for your animals

A-We don’t even attempt to. What we do instead is use metal pots for watering and three times a day we fill them bringing them in to thaw and returning them out to the animals warm. Goats especially like a warm drink.

Q-Do you grow your own animal feed

A-not yet but working on it. We feed commercial feeds using organic as much as possible and our animals free range.

Q-You have lots of animals-what do you do with them.

A-Yes we do have lots of animals! Pigs, goats, chickens, turkeys, rabbits and bees. Pigs we raise for meat and we do sell some wiener pigs. Chickens are divided into 2 groups Meat and eggs. Our meat chickens not only provide us with meat but others in our community too. Goats provide milk for our family and are foragers who keep the brush at bay helping to keep fire danger down. We do sell young goats to others for meat, breeding and pets. We also use goats for meat. Our turkeys are for meat and are now beginning to repopulate naturally so we will begin selling poults in the spring. Rabbits are for meat and we sell breeders to others. Bees of course are for honey and wax. We are not experts with them yet but we did get a nice small harvest of honey and wax this year.

Q-On your blog you said you have an off grid brooder for raising chicks, how does that work?

A-necessity is the mother of invention! After much trial and error with others ideas the hubby and I sat down and discussed what needed accomplished. Between me tossing ideas around and his ingenuity we devised a brooder that is heated from underneath versus overhead and uses oil lamps instead of electric bulbs or heaters. It’s been very successful as we’ve raised hundreds of birds in the last year.

Q-how do you keep foods cold?

A-first of all I must point out that items like cheese and eggs don’t require refrigeration if stored properly. We wax cheese and keep eggs in a cool dark place like my cooler box I built out of an old crate (it’s shown in the blog) milk is kept in glass jars then put in a bucket of spring water under the porch in summer where it stays a chilly 36 degrees. We do have a freezer we use that is kept frozen by insulating well and running the generator a couple hours every other day but I will say we got by with no freezer or generator the first 9 months we lived off grid.

Q- how do you wash clothes and bathe with no running water?

A-a wash board, laundry tubs and wringer provide the ability to keep the clothes clean and we have a huge pot that we heat 5 gallons of water at a time in. Bathing is accomplished with the hot water and a washtub. We do use the laundry and shower house once a month if funds permit but get by just fine without.

Q-What do you do in emergencies?

A-knowledge is power. Knowing how to treat medical emergencies is crucial for remote folks or anyone that loves being outdoors in the wild. I’m a trained EMT my husband a trained firefighter and with that we have the basics covered. We do have alternate plans in place in the event it’s something serious.

Q-Alaska is cold a lot, how do you garden?

A-much like many places in the lower we do have a short growing season but we get our plants started in a mini greenhouse that we heat with oil lamps and bottles of water that absorb heat in the day from the sun and release it at night. Our crops are divided into 2 types cold crops and others. Cold crops are grown in a fenced in area lined with black plastic to pull the heat in until the end of June then removed or they get too warm in the long days. The other crops are grown in the greenhouse or in our case several mini greenhouses as we grow potatoes in wood boxes covering them with plastic on cold nights.

Q-what types of food preservation do you do?

A-We use many methods but by and far my favorite is canning. I can vegetables, fish, meat and poultry because it stores easy and is always available for quick meals. We also dehydrate some, smoke and as mentioned before I wax our cheese and that keeps it shelf stable.

Q-What are somethings you wish you had?

A-We want for very little as we like our simple life but I do hope to someday have a milk cow. 

Q-What is the biggest challenge of living off grid? 

A-That’s a tough one! We really don’t have any wants or needs that would be considered a challenge. I can’t think of a single thing that I would change.

Q-What is the biggest challenge to living in such small quarters?

A-Storage! There’s never enough room so we have to be creative and adjust. 

Q-Do you ever get “Cabin Fever”?

A-That has not been a problem in our 2 winters here. I attribute that to we are always outside regardless of the weather, caring for animals, gathering wood and hauling water and we all like going exploring regardless of the cold.

That covers the main questions but please keep them coming! Thanks to all of you who have messaged me both here and on our Facebook page. Have a blessed day!