Sowing in Winter...

Sowing in the sunshine, sowing in the shadows

Fearing neither cloud nor winter's chilling breeze;

by and by the harvest and the labor ended,

we shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

She does not fear the snow...hate it maybe, yes, but no fear.  In fact, winter is an excellent time to get caught up on all that went lacking during the summer.  Seeding being one of them.

The frost/thaw action of winter is the perfect time to plant tree and perennial seeds.  It softens those hard exteriors and allows for better germination.  On our farm, we are creating silvo pastures. Multi-storied, tree-lined, alleyways for the cattle to graze in.  We don't plant just any trees, they must meet at least two, preferably three farm needs.  We look for trees, shrubs, and perennials that provide nectar for our bees, nitrogen for our soil and a food source for one or more of the animals living on our place (including us).

Trees are expensive and creating tree-lined alleyways takes a lot of trees so I have had to get creative with my accumulation.   Seeds, cuttings, grafts, layering are all ways that I have acquired treelings.  I am also very familiar with my conservations website that offers native seedlings in bulk for great prices.  If you don't have a lot of space but would like to order native seedlings from your conservation office a quick ad on craigslist will provide you with more than enough people willing to share your order.

For winter sowing you just need to acquire containers that will act as little mini green houses... milk jugs, juice jugs, deli containers, ice cream containers.... if you don't use many of these things ask around there is always someone willing to save containers.

I have dropped some pretty heavy hints on wanting a cold frame like this one for a couple of years now. It would eliminate the need to scrounge containers from other people and stop my back porch from deserving all the "Clampett comments" it receives..  If you don't like it then you know how to fix it. 

This year, my winter sowing includes a tree I am so excited about, bitter orange,  Every year I buy a box of organic oranges and the price was painful to pay, $22 for a half bushel. While I have several indoor citrus trees they don't provide enough for my crew especially when I make my Vitamin C powder.  I need peels and a lot of them. This year the price jumped to $29 because there is a shortage and it finally spurred me to start looking for another source. 

I am that source.  

Some experts say bitter orange is hardy to zone 5 others that it is only hardy to zone 9-10.  I live in zone 6 and I have seen them here so I'm carefully picking a sheltered spot for my new adventure.  The tree it's self is ugly and thorny, the fruit is super sour like a lemon.  The rind is good in marmalade. I bought my seeds off of Amazon. 

winter sowing is easy because this is just temporary housing for them so spacing isn't an issue just toss the seeds in the dirt, lightly cover and mist a bit. Put your cover on and place outside in the dead of winter.  The constant freeze/thaw will push the seeds down into the dirt and bring them up close to the surface.  it will crack the hard exterior and also insure that only the strongest survive.... look at my lil citrus babies getting ready to provide me with organic vitamin C for my crew.

Watch them as the weather begins to warm and soon you will see tiny starts, once they are a couple of inches high you need to separate them out into individual containers....

Winter Sowing is a great time to seed perennials as well.  Remember the Echinacea root you needed for  the elderberry elixir?  Get those seeds in the dirt. but only use the leaves and flowers the first two years.  I add a new group of flowers to my patch every year. harvesting the old and growing the new.

I also put in some milk weed for the girls as well as Sage.  Healthy, hardy seedlings for a fraction of the price.

What could your kingdom use?  Here is a few ideas from our list this year...


Jujube Dates

Echinacea

Sage

Feverfew

Roman Chamomile

Catalpa ~ around my pond for fish food

Chaste tree

American Cranberry

Autumn Olive

Siberian Pea Shrub

I could go on and on..but you've got this.  Just look around, find the need and get it filled.  Seeds are very inexpensive compared to trees and plants, Winter sowing allows the jump start that they need to be large and healthy by the following fall plus eliminates the need for hardening off because they have been outside the entire time.  This also works for tender garden annuals like tomatoes and cukes but wait until the end of Feb and cover if you are expecting a hard frost after they have sprouted.

Please make this a family affair.  Littles love sticking seeds in the dirt and growing things creates ownership.   This way when summer is taking you out at the knees you can ask little Joey to water "His" trees and know he will water and weed them with care because he understands the time that has been invested in them.

Now, girls, let's get our hands dirty.

Vitamin C powder *Extra credit

Vitamins can be a tricky thing. The problem is you don't really know what is in the pills you are popping and while I am not a conspiracy theorist, I do know that vitamin companies are not making pills because they love your family.  They are making vitamins to provide money for their own and they are going to source the cheapest resources available.  I hate to cut them out of a sale but when it comes to nutrition we can provide our own.

Vitamin C is essential to our health and it is found in so many sources.  There are a few that it tends to be concentrated in.  Rose hips, Highbush Cranberries, Seaberries, and citrus peels.

Throughout the year, I think we will cover all of these but today we will make Vitamin C powder from citrus peels.

First, we need to get our hands on organic citrus.  Oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit or a combination of them would be great.  I believe if you have to buy food it is best to make it organic.  I am also a realist and have raised six children... you can't always afford organic. Here, however, organic is necessary because we are dealing with the peels and the peels receive the majority of the spray in a conventional orchard.

As your family eats the fruit save back the peels and toss them in that handy solar dehydrator (that you have an envelope started for, right?)  Until you get it you can place them on cookie racks but it's going to take up a lot of counter space.

Check the peels daily and when they are good and hard drop them in your blender a few at a time.

grind until it is a fine powder.  Store in the freezer.

1 tsp provides your daily need for vitamin C.  Sprinkle it over your coffee in the morning. add it to your cereal or smoothie.  Soups, stews, be creative.  You can even pack it into glycerin soft gels if you feel you are missing something by not popping a pill.

this batch is waiting to be added to my elderberry elixir.


Wow,  we just made health food out of trash.... how did we ever let corporations convince us that we needed them?

Elderberry Elixir

Winter and I have never really appreciated each other.  I'm solar powered and without the sun I run dim.  Without heat, my body tries to hibernate.  I feel bad for our livestock, I feel bad for me.  The cold, the ice, the lack of green growing things just makes me cranky.   It's pathetic really, but true.

You know what else winter brings?  Colds and Flu.  I'm telling ya, nothing good comes out of winter.

I have been hesitant to write this post because I don't want a debate over vaccinations. We have kicked this dead horse enough.  Look, ladies, we have got to get out of each others space.   If you have time to start running someone else's life I promise that you are letting something very important fall apart in your own.  Tend your own backyard, sister, and let's give each other some grace.

If you decide that the flu shot is a safe precaution for your family I am happy for you.  In our home, it is not.  Not giving my family flu shots, however, does not mean that I pretend the flu doesn't exist.  Nor am I nervously wringing my hands, fearful that it is going to devour them right before my eyes.  Remember, the prudent wife?  She provides for the future.

In August the elderberries are ripe in Missouri, and in August I make my first batch of flu-fighting elixir.  I will make several more throughout the winter from dried berries but I always have the first batch in the fridge long before I need it because if you wait until you are sick to make it, you won't feel good enough to do it.

First, you need a source for elderberries.  They grow wild in a lot of states if you can beat the squirrels to them.  When we lived in Idaho I bought them here.   

Elderberry Elixir:

2 cups fresh or 1 cup dried elderberries

4 cups water

2 cups raw local honey

several pieces echinacea root  (if you don't grow your own you can find it here)

1 Tbsp organic orange powder  this is the extra credit post for this week

2 cinnamon sticks

few slices of raw ginger (optional)

few slices of organic lemon (optional)

put water, elderberries, echinacea root, orange powder, 

cinnamon sticks, ginger and lemon slices in a pot.

bring to a boil.

reduce heat and simmer until liquid is reduced by half.

strain through cheesecloth to remove bulk material. give the cheese cloth a good twist to get the last of the juice from the berries.  Careful it's hot.

Allow to cool to room temperature.

This step is important because raw honey*  provides many antibacterial properties and if you cook it, it will be of no use.

When cool add honey and transfer to a jar.  Store in fridge.

for preventative, my crew takes one tsp every day.

If they feel a tickle or have been exposed to someone ill they take a tsp every 2-3 hours.

And that is it. 

Easy.  

Prepared.

Now join me in front of the fire and let's pine for Spring......

*the USDA does not recommend feeding raw honey to children under the age of 1 or to people with compromised immune systems.  Again, you are the one qualified to make choices for your family.

Don't Waste Your Teaspoons..

Houses and riches are the inheritance of fathers: 

and a prudent wife is from the Lord.

Proverbs 19:14

Prudent: wise or judicious in practical affairs.

               discreet or circumspect.

               careful in providing for the future; provident.

When we first got married one of Shane's little grannies told me 

"don't be the kind of woman who throws her husband's earning out the back door with a shovel while he is working himself to death trying to put it in the front with a teaspoon."

That image has stuck with me. Man, has it stuck.

And there are days that life drags it out by the shovel full and there is nothing I can do about it.  But the things I can control.... those things, I had better be about the business of controlling.

I want to be a prudent wife.  I want the Lord to teach me to use my resources wisely.  So today as teaspoon-y as it will be we are going to talk about trash.

Think about what leaves your house as trash on a weekly basis.  Now think about the boundaries of your domain and think of where they can be used as resources...  In the near future we are going to be mapping that domain but for now, just picture it in your head.

~

My junk: cardboard boxes because I do most of my shopping online and also junk mail.  

My need:  the pumpkin field... It has poor soil and lots of rocks.

My solution: flatten the cardboard and chuck it in the field just before it rains. I don't toss it out any other time because we have dogs that drag it off but once it is good and wet it begins to break down into the dirt and they can't move it.

My solution for junk mail is a bit different.  I burn it then spread the ash in the pumpkin field.  I don't want my credit card offers accidentally getting into someone else's hands and ash is excellent for bugs and acidity in Missouri soil.

~

My junk: egg shells.

My need: my garden.

My solution is to place a cookie sheet on top of my fridge and train everyone to toss their shells up on it. When the shells are dry I either put them in the blender (this has proven time-consuming)

  

or 

double bag them and set the bag in a high traffic area of my house.    (Hey, I haven't lived through 25 years of broken items without knowing how to use it to my advantage..  just sayin')

The nicely crushed shells are spread on our fields during the winter and used in our garden around plants to ward of snails and add extra calcium during the summer.

~

My junk:  coffee grounds

My need:  again my soil.... I live in Missouri, this is going to be a never-ending theme.

My solution is to save the grounds and like the eggshells, they are put on the fields in winter and our garden in summer. BUT NOT the filters, those go in the compost bin for while they will break down and are excellent for the soil they do not break down quickly and I'm telling you from experience you will find yourself on the other side of winter looking like there is a bunch of used toilet paper strewn all over your field...not a pretty sight..

As a side note if I need to make a trip to the big city I am always on a lookout for the coffee shops and when I pass them I pull in and check their dumpsters.  I have brought home huge garbage bags full of coffee grounds in the past and my land is always thankful to have it.  Just be respectful and don't make a mess of their area.

~

My junk:  food scraps.

My need:  very little.  we have pigs and chicken that eat most of our scraps but there are a few things that I cannot feed them such as potato peelings, avocado pits, pineapple tops, hair either from shaving the dogs or the boys, stuff like that.  

My solution:  I took a lick tub, you can use a bucket, and knocked a few holes in the bottom. Then someone from my crew carelessly ran it over with the 4wheeler.  The last step added no benifit except to raise my blood pressure.

 I simply toss the trash in my beautiful lick tub and forget it. One year the boys had a few worms left over from bait and I tossed them in there too.  But honestly, it is completely neglected until I need it.

 Then I just scrape the unprocessed stuff to the side and scoop out as much as I need from the bottom to dress my tomatoes or add to a hole of a newly planted tree.

~

My junk:   scrap metal, broken parts from the tractor, trucks, cans... it is a joke around here to use a "mom" voice and say "is that recyclable?"

My need:  money

My solution:  designate a spot for recyclables, keep it as tight and organized as possible or my man will make "Clampett comments" Watch your metal prices then make a trip to town when it's high (or when the pile is making you crazy) and claim your money, honey.


*Note: there are no pictures of my Clampett pile.... a girl has got to have her pride,  ya know.



Well, there are a few ideas to get you started.  Get the children involved in looking for teaspoons and see what fun you can have. 

Extra Credit

The Food 4 Less in Springfield had bananas for $.25 a pound.  So last Friday when Shane had a few errands to run in town I hopped in the truck and went with him.  Yes, people stare when you are pushing a cart full of bananas through the store but you get use to it.

my knife was long enough that I could spoon four bananas together and slice them all at once.

They do not require any added sugar just lay the slices out and let them go.

I have an electric dryer that I use in the summer because Missouri is too humid most days for a solar one but in the winter I hang my solar dryer by the fireplace and make our heat pull double duty. This year the price of bananas was so good I'm running both dehydrators.



If you don't have a dehydrator, the easiest way to get one is to start an envelope for one.  Put all loose change and spare cash into it until you have enough to purchase it.  I buy most of my homemaking eguipment this way. A solar one like mine is under $14 and won't take long to get, electric ones take a little more.  Amazon offers several nice solar ones but you'll find my favorite one for indoors  here  These solar dryers are also excellent for drying homemade soap  (that project is coming up soon).

That's it!  Easy and effective and now I have dried bananas to add to my muesli.... at least until the crew finds their hiding spot.


What is on sale this week that you could stock up on?

Breakfast

I love making breakfast for my family... okay, the truth is I don't.  I love my cup of coffee, my bible and the sun coming up while I sit on the deck...... trust me, it is a rare thing for either option to happen.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and while our house has a good supply of bacon, eggs, waffles and yogurt some days just try to rip my feet out from underneath me before I can even get out of bed in the morning...... you too huh?

Well here are two guilt-free cold cereal options to have on hand for mornings when the crew just needs to feed themselves.

P.S. both are good on yogurt too!



Muesli:

mix together Oats,
dried fruit (bananas, apricots, pineapple, dates, raisins, whatever you have)
and nuts (sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, again, whatever you have)
to make 8 cups of dry ingredients.

then in a separate bowl mix

1 cup honey
1 cup butter (melted)
4 TB brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon


pour over dry ingredients and stir well

spread in a roasting dish and bake at 350* for 30 minutes stirring every 10 until golden brown.

this will brown up quite a bit after removing from oven, do not overcook.






Grapenuts:


2 cups water
2 cups milk
1 cup honey
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
7 cups wheat flour

mix all ingredients together to form a cake like batter.

divide between two lightly greased rimmed cookie sheets.

Bake 350* 35-40 minutes switching and checking half way through.

after baking and while still warm break cake into small pieces and grind in a blender.

I drop small amounts into the blender and use the ice chopping button. once ground I dump those and add more chunks to blender.

You can also wait until it is completely cool and run through a meat grinder but I find it to be too much to clean up.

after it is all crumbled up put back in the oven at 300*  stirring often until dry and crisp.
This one takes a lot longer than the Muesli to brown and dry out but it is so worth it.

Both recipes can be adapted to your needs.  We use honey because we keep bees. You may have maple syrup or molasses on hand neither are unpleasant.

It is a great idea to make both of these on the same day because you will only have to wash the roaster pan once.... and that is a win in my book any day.

Enjoy your kingdom today, Ladies!

1Tim 5:8

Fifty-Two

When Shane and I got married I had no idea how to be a wife or a mother... I was a latchkey kid from a broken home who was later taken into foster care..... firm foundation would not describe any part of my life.  I was determined, however, to give it my best and care for my own. Twenty-seven years later I have learned a thing or two.... mostly of what not to do.  I look at my daughter and they are years ahead of where I was at their age but I know that there are a lot more gals like I was....

I wanted to be a Proverbs woman, a crown, a glory to my husband, a blessing to my children but  mostly a woman who could rely on her God to give her wisdom.  There were no older women so I learned by falling on my face.... a lot...

I want to offer something different.   I am certainly not confessing that I fill the role as an older woman teaching the younger but here is my goal for 2018.

Fifty-two weeks.

Fifty-two skills.


one a week.

precept upon precept; line upon line; here a little, and there a little.


blessing our children, loving our man and providing for our own as God's word instructs us.

I'm scared to death to make such a commitment, providing for your own takes a lot of time and leaves little time for writing about it.... my blogging has already been spotty at best but I am stepping forward in faith.


join me, won't you?