The Girls Grow Up

Our baby chicks are almost 3 weeks old and moved out to the big girl coop today albeit in a separate area under the heat lamp. This batch of babies seems much more robust than the ones we got last year. They are eating ridiculous amounts of food and have grown at twice the rate as our last batch. These girls look to be about 2 weeks ahead of their age. They got their pin feathers on the second day but the last babies took a whole week to feather out. They are funny to watch and are already starting to fly and stretch their wings. But they were making a huge mess in the brooder and starting to smell so it was time to move out. Our Silkie Rooster looks at them thru the wire and clucks loudly at them. The other girls seemed unconcerned with the new additions to the coop. They will stay separated for several more weeks but can get used to seeing each other thru the fencing.

A few of the babies. It's so hard to get a good picture of them-they are always moving and I had to shut off the red heat lamp because in all the pictures they look like chicken under rotisserie lights. These girls are just for eggs.

Their feathering is changing daily but this big yellow girl has now been named, "Butter".

This is "Ginger". No idea why Patrick decided to name her Ginger. I think we may need a Maryanne and maybe Mrs. Howell to round it out.

Morgan found some twigs and made the babies a cute little roosting perch.

This is my new food dehydrator. Love it.

I dried sage, mint and basil to add to my herb jars.

I dried some overripe apples too. Not too pretty to look at but the kids devoured them. I dipped them in lemon juice and they naturally sweetened up. I have some pineapple going in next.

Let me just put a plug out there for Stark Brothers. http://www.starkbros.com/

We ordered 3 fruit trees and 4 blueberry bushes from them last year. One apple tree and one blueberry bush didn't make it through the winter. I called them today and they are replacing both-no questions asked and the customer service was friendly and incredible.

Since I wanted to buy some more fruit trees, I was very pleased that they gave me a 25% discount on my next order. I ordered another apple tree and will probably order some grape vines and maybe an asian pear tree. All of it will be able to get the 25% off discount. I love companies that treat their customers with value. Nice to have them.

The Changes We've Made and What's to Come

I have been reflecting on the past year and all the changes we've made in the way we live. If I have to be honest, we made them out of financial necessity. But we've discovered that living with intention has brought our family together and made us realize our place on this earth. Some of these adventures worked really well, others-well-we are still learning. While our budget has been cut back drastically in our efforts to get out of debt, I don't feel like I'm missing anything. In fact, I feel all the richer (in spirit) because of it. We've done a lot this year. A lot.

In the Garden

We found resources to supply us with free manure for our garden. One of our neighbors has a horse farm and always has free manure. We used all 5 yards that we took away. We could use another 5 yards to top dress our perennial gardens.

We planted raised bed gardens this year and used cheap straw from the feed store to cover the aisles in between and cut down on weeding. If our crops grow like we hope, we may need to expand the garden next year. I didn't have room for potatoes and onions this year. We have 2 rain barrels made out of recycled plastic that we use for watering and two compost bins that our food scraps and yard waste go into. We also used the composted chicken manure for fertilizer. We are hoping to reduce our produce bill by growing much of our own food this year and preserving as much as possible.

We planted 36 Tomato plants

12 Broccoli

8 Eggplant

12 Peppers-green and red

6 Chili peppers

12 Romaine Lettuce

12 Spinach

12 Leaf lettuce

12 Corn

8 Cucumber

6 Zucchini

6 Summer squash

Pumpkins

Loofah gourds

Birdhouse Gourds

Peas (didn't do well)

Sunflowers

2 Apple Trees

1 Cherry Tree

Dill

Tarragon

Basil

Rosemary

Lemon Balm

Sage

Marigolds around plants for pest control

We went apple picking last fall and picked 65 pounds of apples that I made into pies and preserved applesauce. We will go back again this year until our own fruit trees start producing.

Around the Home
We no longer use paper napkins or paper towels and instead use cloth napkins and rags for cleaning. I purchased dish towels at Job Lot for $0.25 each and cut them in half and sewed an edge on them for really pretty napkins.

They work well, and launder easily.

We eliminated all chemical cleaners from our home. Not only is this healthier for us and for the environment, it has been a huge money saver.

We now make our own all purpose cleaner, laundry detergent, dish soap, bath soap, dishwasher soap, floor cleaner and window cleaner. The basic ingredients are very cheap and the kids really enjoy making the cleaners with me.

The Pantry

I learned how to stock pile my pantry by hitting deals, store sales and replenishing only those supplies that are low. I can now shop about once every three weeks. My last bill for 3 weeks of shopping was $169.00. I shop for produce weekly and have my milk delivered from a local dairy so that price is not included in my grocery bill.

We really got a good handle on using coupons combined with store sales and I can now save an average of $50-$60 in coupons alone when I shop. Looking for freebie coupons have allowed us to get many items for free. Shopping carefully has allowed us to save over $1200.00 since February. It's been great for our budget. I shop with only canvas tote bags never using the plastic bags any longer. I'm still trying to find a way to eliminate ziploc bags but am having difficulty with this.

We decided to switch to all organic, pastured meat. It is more expensive but we've been making more vegetarian meals and creating meals that can be used at multiple sittings like chili, lasagna and Shepherd's Pie that all help to stretch the dollar. This meat above was bought at Stop and Shop. The pile to the left is all the fat we cut off. This was a 7 pound roast when we started, after cutting out the fat-it was down to 5 pounds. Not much of a savings there. We've been more conscious of where our food comes from too after watching films on the milk industry, meat and chicken industry and especially the ill effects of genetically modified food/seed from the Monsanto company. We are trying to make better choices for our family.

Organizing

In order to save money we needed to create a household notebook to keep all of the everyday information we use. Some areas of this have worked well, like my garden section, plastic keeping envelopes that I keep stamps, church tithe envelopes, address labels etc in. We also have a section for recipes, pool care and homeschool. The other sections I created for coupons and grocery shopping didn't work out because I do this in my office where I can spread out the papers and coupons. I need to look at this book again but because it's in a 3 ring binder I can easily change out what works and what doesn't.

We bought 2 plastic shelving units to keep our stock piles and supplies all in one place. I make sure that it stays clean so I can see what I have and what I need.

All of our closets were organized to help us see our supplies. This is the closet in my office and has mostly craft and homeschool supplies.

We also bought 2 very nice bookshelves for all of our homeschooling books. Each child now has a shelf for all of their own books and we can easily find eveything. This was one of the best things we did to help us organize.

Homeschooling

We streamlined our homeschool day to only include one subject per day. It has helped tremendously with stress and staying organized.

We saved a ton of money this year by ordering the kids curriculum from Amazon. Some of the books were used but in great condition. We saved $483.65 by buying closeouts and used curriculum. The rest of this money was then placed in our homeschool budget.
Having a homeschool budget allowed us to take many field trips this year. In years past this was not possible for us. Careful planning has made for a very enriching year.

Home Cooking

We bought a food dehydrator and use it frequently. I have dried herbs from the garden, apples and fruit that were too ripe for the kids to eat but makes wonderful fruit snacks and we are going to try some Turkey jerky soon. It's been a money saver because these foods are now not getting thrown out. We also bought a Cuisinart ice cream maker and make ice cream once a week. Since we can control the ingredients that go into this, we know the kids are eating healthy.

I mostly bake my own bread with whole wheat flour. I still buy some bread but am hoping to cut that out as well. I've been buying organic flour and the smell of fresh bread in the home is just delightful. Unfortunately, the kids like to be taste testers so it never lasts for long.

I've been doing more canning/preserving and using things from my yard to cook. This year I made Wild Violet Jelly. All 6 jars are gone and I made extra to give away to some of our homeschool moms. It was was delicious.

We took our first adventure in raising chickens and building a coop after watching http://www.chickenindustry.com/ and seeing how our meat chickens are brought to us and how the eggs are massed produced. We order our meat chickens from another homeschooler instead of buying them at the store. We know that they are farm raised without the use of antibiotics and growth hormones and the price isn't much different than the store.

We have 4 laying hens right now and 11 more babies in the brooder that will hopefully start laying this fall. They grow so fast.

Yes, Patrick loves his chickens.

In return for all that chicken love, they give us very pretty, delicious eggs.

Things I'd Like to Change

• Learn to knit so I can create my own dishcloths and blankets
• Get Goats for milking and making cheese and soap
• Learn how to make soap-real soap
• Expand the garden so I can plant potatoes and onions
• Work every inch of our property to benefit our family
• Have a huge yard sale to clean and purge stuff I don't need
• Double my canning/preserving efforts
• Buy more fruit trees
  
• The changes we've made have not been hard. It takes research and patience to make things work and things don't change overnight. It's all been for the better for our family. I hope you decide to make some changes too.

Closing Out the Homeschool Year

It's been a very full school year and we are all ready for some down time, some summer fun and some swimming. It is always at the end of the year that makes me the proudest at how much we've accomplished and managed to fit into our lives. We have finished our third year of homeschool. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Some books we managed to get all the way thru, others we have yet to open and maybe will enjoy them under the Willow Tree while enjoying a picnic lunch. The kids did well this year with a more relaxed curriculum. We took every possible opportunity to attend field trips and get together with friends when time and finances allowed. Getting out to learn about the world really helped the kids learn new things and expand their horizons.

We took our first adventure into raising chickens for farm fresh eggs and currently have 11 more babies in the brooder. The kids have been a huge help in constructing coops, feeding and caring for the birds.

The field trip to Johnson and Wales Culinary Museum was great fun.

Tae explored his creativity and imagination.

He colored and cut and learned numbers and letters.

We made Gingerbread with some friends.

We experimented at the kitchen table.

Had family time at the beach.

Mummified Barbie dolls when we learned about Ancient Egypt.

We made new friends as our homeschool group called The Meetinghouse was launched. This month we celebrate our one year anniversary. It is an amazing bunch of kids who have all become friends and the mom's have become my friends and support system as well.

We did a fundraiser for my husbands Hearing dog and raised enough to sponsor a total of 4 dogs for hearing impaired, injured vets and a wheelchair bound person. My friend Lori helped with fundraising. Here she gives me a congratulatory kiss.

We created lots of art work. We painted, colored, chalked, etched, sculpted, molded and glued some beautiful creations and keepsakes.

The kids took an Art Class for several weeks and enjoyed it immensely.

We learned how to make rubber eggs and how to bend bones.

We took field trips and learned about Sea Creatures, 1800's working farms, visited Air Museums, prowled the Zoo, visited a Reptile show, took many hikes and nature walks and learned to be more self sustaining in all that we do.

We stayed active in our church and welcomed Burundi families for a potluck, learned how to worm compost and make natural cleaners to help protect mother earth. Patrick visited other faith communities as part of his Neighboring Faiths Curriculum and Morgan and Tae learned about our 7 principals of our Unitarian Faith. We carried those lessons into our homeschool days and brought back the family dinner and saying grace. I worked in our Small Group Ministry program, Worship partners, our Church Visioning Weekend, the Capital Campaign and Larry joined the board of the church.

We learned to bead and share and enjoy what the day offered.

We read (devoured) books that interested us and took utter delight in reading for enjoyment.

We walked and explored and watched and listened to all that was around us.

We learned how to learn and did it together.

Our family has become closer and enjoys being with one another.

That has been the greatest gift of all.

Wordless Wednesday

Playdate at the Playground