Old Fashioned Life

I have been thinking a lot lately about what is old fashioned living in a modern world. You definately capture it in the small choices each day. It is a journey. Here is a look into an old fashioned morning at our home.

I woke at 4:30 am and spent some time in bed reading. It seemed extra cold. I got up, dressed and went to the living room and called the girls to get up. While I waited I worked on the socks I am knitting and the quilt I am quilting. My hands tingle, so I switch back and forth between projects. After sending a daughter and son out for morning milking, another daughter and I started breakfast.

We usually work outside for 3 to 4 hours each day and that requires a good breakfast. Today we had leftover french bread that a daughter made yesterday. Along with that we had from the canning room - peaches, pear jam, raspberry jam, and catsup. Potatoes were gathered from the cellar for hashbrowns, eggs were fried, and a couple of pounds of bacon were cooked up. This was all served with milk and juice from the peaches. I used my 2 cast iron pans so the food has to be cooked in stages. Butter was churned yesterday which the kids generously spread on their bread. The only ingredients in this meal that did not come from our farm were the salt, pepper, flour and sugar.

I do not have a wood cookstove in the house, so for now I cook on my electric one. However, we do shun modern equipment to do our housework where possible.  We sweep by hand, wash dishes by hand, knead bread by hand, grate potatoes by hand, and so on and so on. Whenever possible we find older equipment to use as it is sturdier and better made. Part of living old fashioned is recognizing the disposable nature of society today. Everything is made to be quickly broken and replaced.

Today is a sabbath rest day for us. We take things a little slower and we will spend additional time studying God's word. While we sing and worship, I will work on knitting socks, quilting, or spinning. We have a bunch of household projects to finish inlcuding rugs and table linens, so all older girls are busy every evening with hand work.

This is just a glimpse. It is hard work, but the pace is slower. You can think while you work or pray. You see God in everything you do. The creation and the Creator. There is rhythm. We also enjoy ourselves. We sing while we work. We laugh. We are together and talking. We share our lives together.

Cold and Flu Season Natural Treatment

We are not quite done with canning and there is still a lot of produce to put away in the cellar, yet the children are already suffering with the first colds of the cold and flu season. This appears to be respiratory and Jon woke up breathing very loudly. So here is how I am treating the children naturally.

I had Jon get in the hot shower and breath in lots of hot steam. When he got out I rubbed peppermint and eucalpytus essential oils on his chest and feet. I then covered his feet with socks and wrapped him up in extra blankets.

Next, I made some horehound and honey cough drops. We grow horehound in our herb garden so I boiled some in to a tea. I then added the honey and a little lemon juice. I boiled it to hard candy stage and with a little cream of tartar put these in a pan rubbed with oil. For exact instructions you should look at thefamilyhomestead.com website. Once these set up, the kids were excited to suck on them. If you haven' had horehound before, it is very bitter. These are not too bad because of the honey in them and the honey is great for sore throats and coughing.

Finally, I am brewing up some chicken soup to feed them. I had cooked some chicken bones the other day in to a nice broth. I cooked some onions and garlic to some of the chicken fat, added some brown rice, and the chicken stock and meat from bones. I also added some lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. When this is fully cooked, I will added some kale cut in ribbons. This soup is packed with all types of things that are good for sickies as well as having lots of vitamin C.

There are lots of treatments that are natural for colds and flu. It is good to plan ahead and have the items on hand before someone gets sick so that you can respond with the best possible treatments. If this really settles in to someones chest, I will use an onion poultice to move it out.

Flavored Vinegars

Each fall we take apples from our trees and put them through an old fashioned cider press. We then brew the cider into vinegar through the winter. Grapes are steamed and then fermented before the vinegar "mother" is added to make more vinegar. Unpasteurized vinegar is said to be very good for you.

We then take some dried peppers from last year, a few garlic cloves, and/or some herbs to create these lovely flavor infused vinegars. Packaged in a nice jar with an easy pour top, they will look nice on your counter and taste great on your food. Try one this spring on some fresh salad greens.

Finally . . . Spring Planting

The feel of the earth this time of year is both warm and wet, crumbly and smooth. It is a great feeling to finally put plants in the ground and feel the dirt on your skin.

Sunday we continued transplanting while Mr. Makalea was able to get the upper garden disced and harrowed. Monday brought more nice weather and the rows were cultivated in nice straight lines across the odd shaped triangular corner of the upper field. Just as quick as he finished our planting teams followed behind. One person laying down onion sets from each end of the row while a planter followed easily poking down each little plant.

The dry weather continued early on Tuesday and we were able to get broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower starts planted in between the onions. Several years of interplanting have proven to us that this combination helps control pests - onions and brassicas. Throughout are also plants of catnip to help with aphids.

But that's not all the exciting news. We have some new farm animals! Baby chickens, turkeys, geese, and ducks are spread around the farm in their brooders. As soon as they feather out, they will have the opportunity to either free range or be on pasture. In addition, we have a new milk goat, two new Icelandic ewes, and 2 new Icelandic baby ewe lambs.

At the end of this month, beginning of next, we are expecting our milk cow Daisy to calf. A fine Jersey heifer would be nice but most of all we look forward to some fresh milk.

Cabbage and other veggies

We had a great time transplanting cabbage the other day. The seedling flats look lush and full which means we have far more seedlings than we need. We transplanted and transplanted like a little assembly line until we were tired. We only made it through a half of a flat. We still have another flat and a half of just cabbage. More pots are needed.



The hoop house has been tilled on one half and then half of that will contain rows of kale, swiss chard, carrots, and beets. While they do not need the extra protection, the soil is dry enough for us to begin working it. The garden areas are still quite wet and with our clay we are not able to start planting yet.



During a brief dry spell we did get the peas planted. The other day I checked on them and they are starting to poke their heads up. Lettuce and peas will be the first crops we will harvest.



Other crops were also started this weekend. We got both tomatoes and peppers started. Eggplants will be this coming weekend along with a second pea planting.

Last Season's Farmer's Market

We enjoy spending Thursday afternoons, May through September at the Polk County Bounty Market in Dallas, Oregon. Early in the season we have lettuce and peas along with seedlings and craft items.

Goats Milk Soap with oats and honey in a variety of scents is one of our most popular products.

The scents create beautiful color variations, like this dark brown that is coconut scent.

We are busy getting ready for a new season. A new 30' x 60' greenhouse will extend our growing season on both ends. We have onion, lettuce, and herbs started and are finishing our seed orders. This year we are excited to be able to offer our pasture raised chickens and turkeys throughout the season. Our egg production has increased enough that we plan on having eggs regularly available. We also have salsa and jam for sale that is processed from all our own fruits and vegetables.

Our CSA season begins June 15th and runs for 20 weeks through the end of October. A full share is $420 and half shares are $220. Sign up early as space is limited to 15 shares.