Tag Archives: chickens

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New day dawning

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It’s a crisp winters morning here in Alaska,26 degrees out and clear skies. I love mornings like this when the stars are so bright they seem to come to life and the ice appears to twinkle with them in unison as if they are dancing to an unheard melody. 

I’m back to making goat rounds every couple of hours but will admit I missed one check last night as I slept-finally. Insomnia is something I have always battled but lately it’s been even worse. No new babies yet but will post when they arrive. Yay it’s baby time again! 

Spring is just around the corner and with the arrival of spring everything is fresh and new. Yes spring is my favorite time of year with the trees budding out and grass growing but all in due time. We mustn’t rush it as each season has its purpose and with the confusion our world seems to be in I definitely don’t want to add to that.

Yesterday was a fun day. My friend Kimberly has returned from the outside (lower 48). Making Alaska her home now she wants to learn to be self sufficient and part of that is raising and processing your own food. I had 11 chickens that needed to go to freezer camp so we butchered chickens. We use a cone to hold them and dispatch but one particular chicken had grown to be quite large and didn’t fit so well. It managed to free itself (headless) and began running around. It appeared to be chasing Kimberly who stood there, mouth agape, eyes as big around as saucers, looking at it as if it were a zombie chicken about to eat her. Always the trooper she is, Kimberly quickly recovered her composure when I told her grab the chicken as it flipped and flopped it’s way through the water and slush. One thing you will find that will make any job easier is enjoying the moments of surprise. We all had a great laugh including Kimberly and it made the day go much quicker.

For now we have a few days of dry weather much catching up has to be done. The last storm left many trees down and they must be gathered before they absorb too much water and aren’t usable in the near future. Dear hubby carefully selects the logs that will be used for sawing into lumber and those that will be firewood. They then have to cut them to manageable lengths and haul to their proper location. Keeping up with this after a wind storm is a lot of work and leaving them in place is a waste so it must be done. Using deadfall is one of the ways we conserve our forest. It keeps it healthier and more productive for the future.

The second pot of coffee is now happily perking away on the stove, the roosters are crowing very loudly and although sunrise is still hours away it’s time for me to get busy preparing breakfast and critter food. I pray you each are blessed with peace in your hearts and the ability to enjoy each new day. God Bless

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It’s been a great year

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Christmas is just around the corner and soon after we will begin a New Year. It’s hard to believe that 2015 has flown by so quickly. We started the year off with a new birth on Two Moose, this year we may just see that again as our goat girls are getting quite round. 

The months flew by in a blur of new life springing forth, gardening, building, hunting and fishing. With the expansion of our animals came lots of building projects.

  The children grew so much I sometimes felt they had done so overnight. Gone is the baby faced years and they have all turned into young adults with ideas, inspirations and dreams of their own. It saddens this momma to see the birds preparing to fly from the nest but warms my heart to know that with the coming years they will gain enough knowledge to be well equipped to move into the world if they decide that’s their course. 

2015 showed an old dog (dear hubby) he could indeed learn new tricks. What began as a friend needing a deck hand has turned into a new career. My dear husband who had only heard stories from me about the ocean having a life and personality of its own finally experienced it and now feels her beaconing call. I watch his face as he looks out over the inlet at high tide and see the longing he feels to return to her once again.

For me 2015 was the turning point where I could see how far we had come. I am living where I want, how I want and for the first time in my life I am at peace. There is no place like home. From the first little green sprig in spring to the latest snowfall and every day in between I find something daily to rejoice over. Our little farm is growing despite the set backs living in the wild can bring, my children are happy, healthy and learning more than anyone could ever imagine and my dear hubby is experiencing things he never dreamt he would. Yes life is blessed and I expect 2016 to be just as exciting.

As I sit here with the fire crackling, the aroma of coffee in the air, looking out the window to the light of a sliver of the moon reflecting on the pristine snow blanketed land I see the future. Our future. Where someday my grandchildren may sit in this same exact spot and wonder if granny was right-is this truly good next year country. Of course not all will see or feel the pull this land has on my heart but perhaps one will feel it as I do. 

Once again it’s time to make the rounds to check on our critters so I will leave you with random pictures of our life here on Two Moose. May your day be blessed.

   
    
    
    
    
    
 

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The Runaways

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Today was a hectic day for sure. Taking advantage of the beautiful sunny day I decided to deep clean some pens-starting with the meat chickens. Due to the mud and water all of the young critters have been confined to close quarters to prevent any more drownings. Yes, the water has gotten that bad. Closed in animals equals lots of shoveling. Just as I had completed the meat chicken pen cleaning (and wrangled all the little escapees) my phone rang. Dear hubby was calling from the trail where he and the kids were working to drain some of the standing water (some spots were over 3 foot deep),placing logs over areas that had turned to soup and replaced logs that had completely washed away. Back to the reason for his call-it went something like this: Your pigs are almost to the swamp (our description of where the timber ends) call them home. Click. Hmmm, someone was clearly upset. I went out to the trees and began hollering and calling….nothing. Not a squeal or grunt to be heard. By the way have you ever noticed how “Ours” becomes “Yours” when children or critters are being difficult? Still no answer or site of the wandering pigs I call dear hubby back and he tells me they are heading back-apparently it isn’t a good thing when you fight to place a log in deep mud and a pig roots it out while your retrieving another log. Thinking the pigs have gotten sidetracked by some tasty morsel-or more likely taking a nap I am diverted to another call for help. I can hear a goat screaming like it’s been caught by the devil himself so off I head in the direction of the distress call. Two hours of hiking through willows, over and under fallen trees and through tall grass hiding said fallen trees I locate the screamer. Next to the creek, completely fine except she had gotten separated from the herd. Really?  That is all I could think of at the moment to say to her. Now all her screaming was like calling every predator in the country out and I reach down to get some reassurance that I will be okay and guess what I did not have on my belt. Yep! In my haste I forgot to get my pistol. I had purposely left it in the cabin while cleaning the pens because this acidic slop is no good on gun metal. So I find myself in the middle of the banquet table and not a weapon on me. Thank heavens the Bears, wolves and coyotes were taking the time to enjoy the sunshine and not hunting idiots or I would have been dinner and the screaming goat dessert. Of course Doris the screaming goat got a severe reprimand and my yelling had caused the rest of the herd to come to investigate.

Hiking back to the cabin to resume my pen cleaning (nine goats following) I came upon a nice patch of cranberries. Of course I didn’t have a thing to put them in but there were so many! I couldn’t leave them just sitting there so I filled my shirt front and once again headed for home. Now for normal people this would have been a great reward for the effort of saving a little lost goat-NORMAL being the key word. Well if your as graceful as I am this is just one more of those incidents better left in the woods but of course I have to share it. Now mind you I already said it was a beautiful sunny day and I was outside working. That means I was wearing a tshirt-an almost white tshirt. When you couple an almost white tshirt full of extremely juicy red cranberries with a woman who has two left feet it’s pretty much a disaster waiting to happen. Yes, you guessed it-I tripped over an unseen log and try as I might not to lose the berries or break any crucial bones I land arm protecting berries mind you, on a soft but very large moss hump. It looked like I had been eviserated. Dripping red down one arm and all over the front of me my berries were now cranberry sauce and had anyone come up on such a site they would have thought I’d escaped being mauled. No harm no foul I continued onward to home, threw the “bloody” shirt in the burn barrel and only after I lit the trash did I think “wow that would of been a cool costume for one of the kids for Halloween”!

By now it is after 3 and I’m still not finished with my chores for the morning. I finished what I could of the pens, fed the ever starving meat birds again and was just getting the stove going again to heat up a cup of coffee when I look at the clock and see its 5:30. Wow where did my day go? More importantly where is my family?  They had run into town to check the mail since they were already out by the truck and I got yet another phone call. This time it was one of the kids asking if the pigs had come home. Well, no……. 2 minutes later the phone rings again and I hear-found your pigs they are at the truck. Apparently they were wanting to go to town!

By the time dear hubby, the 3 kids and 2 wandering pigs pulled into the yard it was right at dark. Time for the evening chores to hurriedly get done and then back to the cabin where my cold cup of coffee sat there right where I had forgotten it. Supper wasn’t on the table until after 9 and it was a thrown together pot of chicken and dumplings from a jar of my home canned chicken.

As I write this it’s 2 a.m. and I have just made the rounds checking critters who are all sleeping snug and dry in their pens. 

It’s a crazy, hectic and sometimes frustrating life here on Two Moose farm but as I climb the ladder to kiss each forehead of my sleeping children I thank God for his blessings he has bestowed upon our family. Now time for a quick nap before I have to start another day. 

    
 

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Days getting shorter and the rush is on

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There never seems to be enough time. Taking time out to teach my children about the world around them has been a priority and as we quickly see the berries maturing and fireweed complete its bloom it’s now time to go from foraging lessons to fishing and hunting. My kids love to fish and have been doing it since they were old enough to hold a pole but that was lake trout and panfish-now it’s time to work on catching the big boys! I grew up fishing the waters off the coast of California. I remember being 5 or 6 and halibut fishing with my paw paw. I also remember catching my first halibut. Yes it was bigger than me and yes I needed much assistance but I also remember wanting to just let paw paw real it in as I was tired. He was having none of that and asked me “do you really want to let that fish beat you”? Of course my little arms were screaming yes but I knew how good halibut tasted and I really wanted that fish so I persisted. When we finally got it close enough to the boat and he gaffed it in I was an excited little puppy and asked if we could eat it for supper. Mind you that fish was big enough for many meals but my only concern was right now. We headed in and with his help once again we filleted it and I was pleasantly surprised when instead of loading into the station wagon he headed for the beach. Right then and there he built a fire with drift wood and we cooked halibut strips wrapped over sticks and secured with hooks. THAT was the best tasting fish ever and I want my children to experience that feeling of being able to provide for themselves and take pride in it. Never mind we cooked it with the skin on and it burnt or the fact it was covered in sand it was my catch and it tasted like heaven. Memories like this not only warm the heart the  knowledge stays with you a lifetime.

I will post pics as they come available.

Hubby was able to get some Alaska commercial fishing experience in the past couple of weeks. A friend needed a deck hand and he was more than ready! Made a few bucks and got a few salmon all the while enjoying the sights and new experience. I might add he had such a good time he is looking forward to next season already. Our son Caleb was able to go on one of the overnight trips to observe and he too is anxious for next year.  

 I canned the salmon except for one meal of fresh and made salmon patties out of one quart jar already. Once you have fresh salmon store bought is no longer an option. Yes it’s that tasty!   

   
    
   
Hubby even caught a shark and was excited! 

 We have been so blessed living here I wake every morning and thank God for another day. We are finally achieving our goals of self sufficiency and are assisting others when we can. Many still question why we want to live off grid and without the basics like indoor plumbing but for us it’s a dream come true. We can work beside our children and teach them ways that are quickly being forgotten. 

Our garden is doing well for our true first year with the exception of a few potatoes the chickens managed to dig up, the pigs are growing, our goat herd has doubled in size not including the Wethers we have sold and now we have turkeys and chickens reproducing too! 

    
   
Time has been an issue but soon I will make time to harvest the honey from the hives and am feeling very accomplished at splitting a hive for the first time. 

Yes it has been a busy summer and I apologize for not updating more but will get back to a more regular schedule as soon as hunting season is over. For now I will leave you with random pics and a prayer for peace in your hearts. God Bless! 

    
    
    
    
 

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Crazy days of summer

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Hi all, I apologize for the delay in posting but summer is such a busy time!

Lots of new baby critters including 10 little piggies. A broody hen who will literally kill anyone or thing that goes near her best-2broidy turkey hens that hide in the woods (found one!) and lots of work to be accomplished like hating. 

I’ve been butchering chickens for weeks now and ending this batch this coming week with more to arrive at months end-whew it’s work!

Not much time for a thorough post but will share some pics and promise details later when I have time. Praying God blesses you with plenty of work to keep you from being idle and bountiful energy to complete your tasks!

   
    
    
    
 

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Wonder Woman

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I have decided I am going to use Wonder Woman as my alter ego. After all I already wonder where I put things, wonder how I don’t break bones every time I trip over my own two feet and wonder how I ever get anything accomplished with my short attention span! Let’s take yesterday as an example-As many of you know we have been building a fence to keep the pigs and goats out of the cabin as they think if the door is open that it’s an invitation inside. While dear hubby was at the sawmill cutting more boards I was cleaning up the yard area of debris like small stumps and roots. Now this particular task requires the use of an axe. It was just here as dear hubby (DH) had just used it tackling a larger stump. As I searched for it, it was just here! I tripped over the stump that was in my sights for removal before I lost the axe and proceeded to do moves that would of put many break dancers to shame.(if you remember break dancers you just gave away your age). Anyway, I found the axe it was under my backside-well right where I landed and after dusting myself off I began the original task of chopping the stump out. Now anyone who has ever swung an axe properly knows that concentration is key to not removing limbs of the personal kind. As things happen in my world (remember I am Wonder Woman) just as I swung the axe a turkey flew by.  Of course worried about why a turkey would fly without something chasing it I looked up……this started a chain of events that only took seconds. When I looked up I turned the axe ever so slightly (mind you the momentum was still there) I missed the stump which was positioned between my legs and the axe not having anything to stop its momentum continued on and I had 2 choices-hang on to the axe or let it go in a yard filled with children and critters. Of course being Wonder Woman (who by the way really should have been endowed with a cape as all crusaders should) I held on. This attempt at saving anyone or anything from harm resulted in swinging the axe between my legs which through me off balance and after my feet went flying again I am sure beyond any shadow of a doubt the flip I did would of put Bruce  Lee to shame! Had I of had the cape on I could of trimmed the tree tops in seconds instead I had to just land amazingly on both feet with multiple children and critters looking at me like I had just had some sort of siezure. Not one could appreciate the fact I had saved them from certain doom. Oh well Wonder Woman never truly got the recognition she deserved either. The excitement over I did remember the task at hand and removed the offending stumps before DH returned.  The fence is now 2/3rds complete, 1/2 the yard is stump less and the kids and I managed to move the woodpile to its new location without a single injury!

I am still waiting on Miss Charlotte to farrow-I am beginning to believe she will be pregnant for a very long time. A pigs gestation is 3 weeks, 3 months and 3 days. I expected piglets on Mother’s Day-apparently that date was wrong-very wrong as here it is many weeks later and she just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I pity the poor girl as her teats are very close to dragging on the ground. I have actually thought about creating her some sort of bra but not sure how to make one with 19-yes 19 cups!   

       The chickens and turkeys I recieved in the past few weeks are growing like crazy. We have had many losses due to the fact it takes 4 days to get them here but am happy to say both hatcheries-Murray McMurray and Ideal poultry have been very good at replacing the losses. It’s always comforting to know that your doing business with companies that you can trust to make things right even when the conditions are out of their control. 

         It’s been terribly dry here for weeks now. I know that some of you in drought areas think weeks of no rain is nothing but when the Eco system here is almost tropical in the summer and everything depends on rainfall from the plants and trees to the fish in the rivers and streams we are beginning to show signs of critical times. There are fires everywhere, the moss has not grown, berries are stunted and it all has a delicate balance that is off kilter. Praying for rain now when this time last year we were praying it would stop. 

The gardens are doing amazing though and my tomatoes are beginning to set fruit. I have had more than one fantasy moment of fresh mater sammiches! The only thing I have discovered that isn’t doing well is my squash plants so next year I will plant them in raised beds and lower the acidity in the soil. Onions, tomatoes and potatoes love this soil though!  

     Well it’s time to get the day started and first off I have to check hives so I will rouse Cati so she can be my helper (she loves the bees) and proceed with the day. Please take a minute to check out our website though as we have farm products for sale that keep our little farm going. www.offgridalaska.net Also take a look at our farm Facebook page, give us a like and share to be entered into a contest for a surprise pack giveaway July 5th. (Open to US residents only at this time) www.facebook.com/twomoosefarm

Have a blessed day and as usual I will leave you with random pics of our world as we know it. 

         

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Heatwave, Fires and The Crazy Chicken Lady

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Who would of thought we would experience a heat wave like what we have now.  The normal highs for summer are 72 degrees-we have surpassed that and while enjoying a normal summer day the extended forecast is calling for more hot weather. Couple that with the wind and dry conditions we are experiencing it makes for a dangerous fire season.  Although we are not in the midst of the flames our neighbors to the north about 40 miles (as the crow flies) are going through very tough times.  Many have lost their homes and it saddens me every time I read another news report.  Please keep us and our fellow Alaskans in your prayers as we need rain desperately.

Life still goes on here at Two Moose Farm and I am proud to announce I do have the website functioning and although not complete by any means we do have a few of our products on there with more coming soon.  You can take a look at www.offgridalaska.net and to celebrate this major accomplishment we are running a contest!  it’s really easy to enter just go to www.facebook.com/twomoosefarm “like” the page then share it! We will draw for a surprise gift pack on the evening of July 5th.

Its Official-I am the Crazy Chicken Lady!  If you doubt it my dear hubby will verify.  I now have around 200 turkeys and chickens of varying ages.  Do you have any idea how difficult it is to come up with that many names?  I mean really…Fried, Broasted, Roasted, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Ala King I am running out of names!  Of course I am kidding……almost. I am also running out of room! Chicks are everywhere!  The good news is my big girls are laying well now and I am getting eggs of many colors.  Blue, green, brown, tan, olive and one hen is laying eggs that look almost lilac colored!

IMG_5026 IMG_5016 IMG_5030 IMG_5031 IMG_5028 IMG_5013We do have one little guy in the nurses station he has somehow torn the bottom of his toe and needs a bit of tlc.IMG_5025Frankie, Our newest little addition to the farm is having trouble fitting in.  He does fine when just the youngsters are around but the older does are terrible to him.  He is finally venturing out to graze if one of us accompanies him but he doesn’t stray far from his “people” family.  I do believe once his hormones kick in and he gets some size to him he will adapt and keep those ladies in line.IMG_5037

The gardens for the most part are doing well and I have to tell you my potato peels I planted are growing nicely they are producing little potatoes already! I am growing them in feed sacks so when its time to harvest I can simply split the bag and harvest.  Of course I have potatoes planted everywhere in boxes, in the ground and in multiple locations because we love potatoes that much.

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Still waiting on Charlotte to have her babies and by the looks of things she will be having a bunch.  She is getting so big her belly is almost touching the ground.  She is being very needy right now and lays down every time I am at her pen for me to scratch her belly. I have to tell you it is so cool that when she does this I can feel the little feet kicking inside.  It is times like this I realize just how blessed I am to be able to experience this life.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a human baby or an animal baby each ones creation is such a wonderful and beautiful event. IMG_5033

Well its time to get busy once again but I want to thank each and every one of you for reading my blog and allowing me to share my life with you.  I have found my peaceful place and pray each of you are living a life that makes you happy and content.  I will leave you with last nights sunset as it was such a beautiful sight at 11:30 p.m.IMG_4990

 

 

 

 

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Alaska comes Alive at 3 a.m.

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Awoke this morning to daylight and roosters crowing……at 3 a.m. Now officially the sun doesn’t rise until around 4:30 but when it’s light enough outside to see clearly it’s morning. It was a very short night after a very long day so I am getting a vision here…..wait…..yes I can see a nap in my future!  As I sit here waiting for the stove to heat up enough to perk my coffee so I can begin my day I wonder what trouble I can get into thinking without being fueled by caffeine. 

I spent the day switching hosting companies for my website and I have come to the conclusion that all computers are evil and hosting companies are only on earth to expedite making us all crazy. Perhaps I am being a bit dramatic but I discovered a new level of frustration today. I would much rather be out playing in the dirt than sitting in front of a computer-ALL day!

The weather has been incredible! Sunny, warm and breezy enough to keep the bugs away. Not that we have seen many mosquitoes this year but the no see ums are horrible. The kids have hijacked hubby’s wood shed deck and put a picnic table on it so they can eat outside and enjoy the fresh air. 

 Hubby got the head gasket on our 4 wheeler replaced so it’s up and running and we acquired a couple more wheelers that weren’t running and he has 1 of those going with a lot of help from our friend Dan. We are so blessed to have such great friends and neighbors in our lives! 

 I painted another beehive the other day as I’m getting prepared to split a hive. I had found a box of paint cans at the dump and inside it was a can of msha purple. Well as you can see from the picture msha purple looks more like woo hoo pink! Oh well at least the bees will be able to see it. I just hope they aren’t too embarrassed to call it home. I can just imagine the little bee conversations now. A couple of bees meet on a pollen run and one says to the other “hey are you from that hippy hive across the pasture”? Yes like I said its early and my caffeine level is very low. 

 My little chicks and one remaining turkey poult that Robin hatched out for me are doing incredibly well. I felt horrible that I lost 3 poults and a chick after she and Dan put so much work into hatching them but it’s just the way it is with chicks and I am so happy with the ones I have. One little black one has 6 toes on each foot! How cool is that! We have named it lucky.  

    I’m about to officially be over run with chicks though as my order for 100 meat birds and 20 turkeys will be arriving today. These will not only feed our family well but will also provide an income as we will sell dressed birds later in the summer and turkeys in the fall. With all the craziness in the lower states with bird viruses I’m so glad we are able to grow our own.

A couple of days ago Dear Hubby was taking our friend Kimberly back to her place after spending a couple days with us when he discovered a gentleman buried to his axles on the trail. After a brief conversation it was discovered that he had purchased the property directly south of us-sight unseen. A local realtor had assured him there was a cabin there that needed a little work and it was but a short ride on an ATV by trail to get there. After pressuring the man to close on the deal before viewing the property the deal was done and he not only is stuck with a property he cannot use (he isn’t physically capable) he also paid about 40k more than the place is worth. Very sad situation so I urge you all to never get in that type of situation-ever!

It’s been very busy around here with gardening and critters. Dear hubby has built some planter boxes for potatoes (yes I have around 100 planted so far) and my strawberries. I also got a few more cabbages in along with broccoli and cauliflower. My experimental corn is coming up as are my carrots, kale and squash. Praying for a bountiful harvest as I have many friends who can also use fresh produce. 

   My hubby is so wonderful. Some fellow homesteaders north of us (that I’ve never really met except on Facebook) had a breakdown on their ATV and needed a part welded. He went out and used one of their neighbors welder to fix it. I sent along Stitch-remember the chick with the severed neck I stitched up? We are getting too many roosters so I will be thinning them out by sending them to canner camp but could not bring myself to butcher him. He is a beautiful and sweet rooster so he will make a nice addition to their farm-I’m sure he’s crowing about now. 

The kids are enjoying summer and finding many things to keep them busy. Cami loves building things and has been cutting toy rifles out of wood, Caleb is always “mining” for gold-I think he has found 1 large rock and a whole lot of mud but no gold yet and Cati has kept busy cooking new things and being a milk maid. For 10 years old that girl can milk goats! The best part of all is my children are happy.  

        

I did take time to take a walk and get a few pics of the forest around us. It comes alive at this time but there’s even beauty in the trees that have died. 

                 Well the coffee is done and I must start on chores soon-moving chicks to make room for the others that dear hubby will be getting from the post office soon. Have a blessed day all and I have one request…..Please pray that I can get the website up without much more frustration and that I don’t use the computer for target practice. Thanks All!

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Playing in the dirt

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Finally!!!! Yes I got to play in the dirt yesterday. I guess you can never out grow or outrun that desire once you’ve experienced the feel of it between your fingers and inhaled the earthy sweet aroma. Gardening to me is really just an excuse to play in the dirt and now I have people encouraging me to do it!

Yesterday we recieved more care packages from Cathy up in North Pole and Steve from down south. Both included seed packets that I hope I can turn into a vegetable garden. Gardening has always been an important part of my life (I can’t seem to stay out of the dirt ever) but I have come to realize that there are many issues to deal with that are unique to Alaska. First off the soil is so rich in peat moss and so acidic most plants dislike it immensely-except for potatoes, tomatoes and cucumbers that seem to love it. The second issue is it is too wet in many areas so one must get creative. I had planned to try straw bale gardening but breakup came to quickly so that will have to come another year. The mini greenhouse is complete and so far I have filled 146 pots with soil to get my plants started. I did go out at 11 last night to see if it froze because the temps dropped to 26 and ice on the outside of the plastic but inside was toasty!  Yay! Today I plant!

While the seedlings get there start we will construct the main greenhouse and the plan is to have it then a fenced in area on each side for cold crops and yes I must at least attempt to grow my sweet corn. Anyone who knows me knows that before Alaska I had huge crops of sweet corn every year-I will again even if it means building more greenhouses! I carried 5 pounds of my heirloom seed here that I harvested from our 2013 crop and have done a germination test its sprouting about 95 percent so I’m going to give it a try!

Poor bubbles was in misery yesterday, with twins to feed you would think she would be sucked dry but that isn’t the case. The twins are thriving and she still looks like a jersey her bag is so big and full. I milked part of her out yesterday and got a quart-no where close to emptying her so beginning today she will get milked twice a day. From the looks of her milk she will be a high butterfat content so more cream in our future! I have a separator now and will be putting it to use frequently. With 3 more goats left to kid we won’t have a shortage of milk!

Made 2 more pounds of cheese yesterday and it’s in the press. Going to make cream cheese today or perhaps tomorrow. Cati has been wanting to bake a cheesecake and we finally are producing enough cream and eggs to do it! What a great way to celebrate yet another small victory in our lives.

There are still some who question our sanity. Living out where roads don’t exist, water must be hauled from the spring or creek and everything we cook or heat must be done with wood but each day I see my children growing in knowledge, discovering new things, using the gifts God gave them to tackle problems or designing ways to do things that improves our lives I realize we truly are doing what is best for them. They have knowledge of survival and reasoning way beyond their years. 

No posting in a muddy month would be complete without a bit on my latest gymnastic moves in the mud so I won’t  keep you in suspense any longer. Those who have followed my blog know when God was giving out gracefulness he missed me. I can take a simple 10 yard walk and turn it into something that would rival any Olympic floor event! While walking back to the cabin to retrieve more supplies for potting I tripped over a chicken-yes it is possible. Not wanting to squash the poor thing I attempted to hop onto my other foot that snagged in some unseen cranberry bush that I swear deliberately wrapped itself around the toe of my rubber boot. Trying to extricate my self from it while remaining upright ( yeah like that was gonna happen) I somehow twisted, turned, half leapt and finally landed in the opposite direction on my backside-in the mud-with Henny the bossy chicken between my legs ranting in chicken talk and I’m sure she wasn’t using polite words but who can blame her? I’d be upset too if a giant almost fell on me! Of course my goats heard the commotion and never want to miss out on anything so they had to make a scene running over bleating to the world (as if Henny hadn’t already made enough noise) and while Ginger, Snap and Princess Longhorn were showing genuine concern by nudging, nosing and licking me I swear Bandit and Bella were smirking and laughing! Thank heavens Jack the rooster heard the commotion and with a few flaps of his wings and much squawking dispersed the crowd enough that I could right myself.

Yes homesteading life holds many dangers but if I do encounter a bear it will probably be laughing so hard at my ungraceful moves it won’t have time to eat me!

I’ll leave you with a few random pictures of life on the farm and continued prayers that you have a life blessed by the Father. 

                   

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Let it snow-No! make it go make it go!

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I guess I have been spoiled all winter by the lack of true winter weather. Now that spring fever has hit full force it becomes bitterly cold and now I see white flakes falling from the sky. Make it stop!!!!!! No really, I’m done, bring on spring in the form of sunshine, skip the rain, mud and all things that could possibly hinder my progress and just let me have sunny days and green grass…..please! 

The latest cold snap has little frost bitten ears on my goat baby, a chicken with frozen toes now residing in the cabin and we lost several baby rabbits who got out of their snuggly nest and froze. Oh how I hate to see little ones suffer. 

As I sit pouring over garden plans and day dreaming of green grass I must remind myself it will be here entirely too fast and will leave even sooner but I just can’t help myself. I do this every year and after all these years it hasn’t gotten any easier.

The cold has increased the workload immensely with constant thawing of water dishes, bottles and bowls for all the critters and I have lost feeling in the tips of several fingers now due to frostbite. It will return, it always does but somehow whining about it makes me feel a tad bit better-you know misery truly does love company! On a good note the weather man says we have warmer days ahead so I’m holding him to it! 

I am on high alert now as it is typical for momma animals to pick the worst weather to have babies in so night checks will continue indefinitely which translates to a lot of sleepless nights for me. I really am not complaining about this though as I love seeing new life enter this beautiful world and it does bring me joy.

Still waiting on parts for our 4 wheeler. It seems to take forever sometimes but once again I am getting impatient.

Not much else happening in our neck of the woods so I will bid you all a good night and pray health, happiness and dreams of Flowers blooming, chest high hay and fields of grain dancing in the breeze. God Bless you all.