To the Year 2011: Thanks for Everything!



The future of farming, as bright as last year?

In approximately 10 minutes, 2011 will be a bling of the past here in Central Illinois, and as is the custom the world over, folks will kiss one year goodbye while rushing headlong into the new year, making (often impossible) resolutions to carry them forward.

But, sitting at my computer in our very old and drafty farmhouse I find myself reluctant to say goodbye to the last 12 months, wondering why we are so anxious to move on, instead of taking time to reflect and give thanks.

Farmers have made great strides this last year for which they need to say to each other and to those that support them, "well done!" Tremendous ground has been broken in legislative arenas in regards to the farmers right to produce, market and consume healthier foods. The raw milk movement alone has been one such area where laws have been changed for the better (in some states) and farmers and their customers have stood side by side in rallies nationwide, refusing to allow a suit behind a desk tell them what they can and cannot put in their bellies.

Farmers markets have exploded in all states and instead of consisting of just two or three farmers now consist of enough folk to take up several blocks in larger cities all season long. People in cities big and small have tired of the mass produced "food" lacking in color, texture and nutrition and so, instead, have insisted upon the availability of decent food for a price fair to grower and consumer. Where once a Farmers Market consisted of just tomatoes and cukes, a variety of fresh wholesome vegetables, meat and dairy is now available, meeting the needs of the community.

CSA's (community supported agriculture) have blossomed, allowing its members the ability not only to buy good food but to assist, via work share programs, in the planting, weeding and harvesting of that produce even if they themselves live in concrete jungles lacking garden space amenities.

Cow share programs have grown exponentially, through the determination and hard work of local dairy farmers, despite the FDA's crackdowns and raids of small family farms, allowing folks to "own" enough of a Holstein or Jersey to provide fresh milk (or cheese or butter) to their families the way THEY CHOOSE to provide it.

Restaurants have proven themselves to be leaders in the "Buy-Fresh-Buy-Local" movement as they turn away from produce retailers who ship limp lettuce thousands of miles, grown in less than ideal conditions, working instead with farmers directly, paying decent money for more than decent produce which a chef can prepare and serve with pride.

Granted there is much work to be done. Brainstorming and follow up action must occur in order to allow young farmer want-to-be's, a way and a means to purchase land and materials for those farm businesses they ache for. Our government representatives must get out of their offices and out into the farm lands to talk with and listen to the farmers they claim to represent. Residents must take the time to get to know their local farmer and then support them through the power of purchase if they wish fresh local food to be available in 2012.

But with perserverence and continued hard work, the future of  farming remains bright for all these reasons listed above. Farmers and those who support them, work for them, train with them, write about them, and respect them, need to be proud of all that was accomplished in 2011; a very great Renegade Farmer year indeed.

Happy New Year Farmhouse Friday!

Hello Folks!

We wanted to send you warm wishes, just in time for Farmhouse Friday!

We know it's been a topsy turvy for many of you, especially in the world of farming. We hope to keep bringing you the positive, insightful, entertaining stories, and as always, we thank YOU for your support.

Here's the LAST Farmhouse Friday of the year! Enjoy!

Beyond Vagabond

Midlife Farmwife

Merry Christmas my Little Porkchop

                By Donna OShaughnessy AKA The Midlife Farmwife


This Christmas is a first for my farmer husband and I. Instead of the usual mall bought, store found, eBay won, gift that everyone and their brother gets for the Holidays, we are giving  our family something entirely different.

Meat. We're giving them meat.

Yes, I hear you, do they even make gift boxes for bacon? Why yes they do, in the form of an envelope; and a gift certificate to the farm they all grew up on. You see, up until last year when I was still working at my off the farm nursing job, we spent a large amount of cashola on Christmas. Like too many other Americans, we tended to spend as much as we made. If one toy was good for the grandchildren then why not four? If one adult son enjoyed model helicopters then by all means get him the largest one with all the accessories, and a years service agreement if the copter blades should come flying off and wing the innocent cat already hiding under the tree.

But this year, the cash flow slowed considerably as we struggled to support ourselves entirely by the income generated by farm sales. So when it came time to start the Christmas shopping ritual I realized that going further into debt for made-in-China-disposables that would not be remembered next year, was no longer appealing. Instead we took a long hard look around at all the richness we already had in place right here on our farm.

With only one aisle, our "Spotted Wattle" is no Super Store
but it serves its purpose well.

Homemade soaps, free range eggs, rolled rump roasts, bacon, and pork sausage patties, to name a few, all right there in our little farm store. A years worth of hard labor ready to be shared with those we loved most. So with the little bit of ink left in my printer and the clean backside of recycled paper, I made up gift certificates for each of our grown children.

But, I must admit, it felt a little wrong, as if I was cheating somehow. Isn't that truly ridiculous? Years ago homemade and home grown items were treasured and loved but as our country (and factories) grew, allowing us to produce more for less, we became accustomed to the over-the-top acquisition of stuff. Quantity replaced quality and homemade became synonymous with "cheap" regardless of the effort that went into the handcrafted world of gifting.

Homemade treasures, like this lovely swan ornament by artist Z. Asha
are always the best kind of gifts to give and receive.

Once, a few days ago, I almost gave up on the idea of giving our farm products to our children and found myself wandering around a Super Store with an empty cart screaming to be filled. Then I overheard a husband fighting with his wife about a gift they were selecting for her mother. She swore they had gotten her the same machine knitted hat/scarf/glove set last year while he swore it was HIS mother they had given it to. Neither of them were happy.

That's when I realized that even if I did give our grown kids burger this year they would probably be happy to get it again next  year. And if not...well at least I had given them something we worked very hard to produce, something we could give with real pride. I  then filled my cart with toilet paper-since we haven't figured out yet how to make THAT-and left the Super Store that was making me feel Super Empty.

So,this year for Christmas our four offspring and their spouses are getting farm raised, pasture grown, certified organic meat (or if they prefer homemade laundry soap), the best "labor of love" we could possibly give them. No batteries needed. But please don't worry about the wee grandchildren. I did cave into commercialism slightly and bought them one toy each.

You gotta be 18 in this family to get hot dogs for Christmas. Sorry.

Holiday Farmhouse Friday....

Hello Friends!

We hope you are enjoying a WONDERFUL WINTER SEASON! Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays, however you celebrate!

We haven't forgotten Farmhouse Friday today! If you have a blog, you can participate in Farmhouse Festival Fridays anytime you'd like!

In the meantime, here are a couple of fun holiday posts for you to enjoy!

Beyond Vagabond

The Midlife Farmwife



HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Greenhouse Adventures - squeezing every penny till it screams.

By Jeanine of Local Sustainable Food Garden

Submersible well pumps and greenhouses; two seemingly unrelated objects do really have a lot in common – at least here on the Farmlet.

I have tried a couple of different greenhouses and each time that we had the handful of prolonged freezing days here that required heat…. I chickened out.  I just cannot make myself provide heat for a few trays of spinach and assorted seedlings. 

We are also on city water here (yuck) and this year my birthday present was a well.  No, in my book that is not like getting a vacuum cleaner for my birthday.  My husband knows not to come near me with diamonds and pearls – give me buckets, shovels, piles of composted poo and I am a happy camper.  So now I have the well that has long been part of my self-sustainability plan and it needs a house to go over it to protect it from freezing.

I have had a few wells in my day and the pump house has always been a small dark dingy affair that gets stuffed with insulation and, when there are more than two days of freezing weather, a light bulb is added.  Spiders, snakes, mice and other critters love it.  My own personal light bulb went on while pondering this and Voila! – Put a greenhouse over the pump!  The passive heat from the greenhouse will heat the pump for all but the most prolonged freezing periods and when I do have to provide supplemental heat I’m getting two-for-one; heat for greenhouse and pump. 

The greenhouse was ordered and has arrived.  Ominous looking box full of parts but three hours later and a minimal amount of cursing it was fully assembled.  The weed barrier floor is in place and the first of three 50 gallon black water barrels has been installed.  The first one has been filled with goldfish and topped off with a few floating plants.  In theory the water barrels will provide passive solar heat, and the fish-poo water will provide nutrients for watering plants.  Also the greenhouse can be anchored to the 50 gallon barrels to help keep it from flying away during wind storms (that has happened here in the past).

The area that was selected for the greenhouse & well is shaded during the summer by deciduous trees so after leaf drop it will receive sun all day.  This should eliminate having to cool it during the summer.  This same area is also fairly well protected from wind and with the addition of the greenhouse a kind of micro climate is created right around the outside of the green house; this area has already been planted  with spinach, cress and something else (I forgot what already).  A worm bin is planned, to be installed under the seedling benches to catch run off dripping from the seedling trays.  The runoff (tea) from the worm bin can be used as additional food for plants both inside and out.

I collected most of these ideas from City Roots, an urban farm in Columbia, South Carolina.  Of course my set up will not be as elaborate as theirs.  They are growing Tilapia, micro-greens, and herbs in a fantastic greenhouse in the city.  They also have a year round garden and chickens.  They host a large number of school groups and are hospitable to anyone who just wants to drop by to look around.  What a great resource for urban folks!

So, I believe that I have multi-purposed this thing to death but if anyone has suggestions for additional functions this setup could serve I would love to hear them.  I like to squeeze every penny till it screams.

Update Dec. 1, 2011 – Since first writing this a couple of weeks ago I have learned a few things:

 Adding fish to the unfiltered well water in barrels made for a black gooey mess.  The fish poo and food combined with the iron and manganese in the unfiltered well water and became swampy smelling and almost solid black.  From what I understand this is not necessarily harmful to fish or plants but it is unpleasant to me so the fish went out to the goldfish pond where the same water and fish do not seem to have this reaction. 

Despite two 50 gallon barrels (painted black) of water and I’m not sure how many blocks of pavers and concrete blocks for thermal mass the greenhouse still registers only a degree or two warmer than the outside temperature at night.  I still have a third 50 gallon barrel to add and am going to add bubble wrap to some areas that I suspect of heat loss.

I do have various types of lettuce and some sage and basil coming up in the greenhouse and they look great.  Three other large basil plants and a pathetic Meyer Lemon that I have been dragging along for three years are doing very well in their new greenhouse home.  So the process of learning continues and I welcome any inputs and will continue to share my failures and hopefully a few successes with you as they occur.

Oh and BTW, if you want your Navel Orange tree to benefit from the greenhouse you have to actually put it INSIDE instead of leaving outside NEXT to the greenhouse like I did.

The (More Than) Great Pyrenees

By Donna OShaughnessy AKA The Midlife Farmwife

Meet Fannie. At approximately 100 pounds and covered head to toe with thick white fur, she is one huge  member of our farm family. Without her we'd have far fewer chickens, ducks, goats, peacocks and calves while the coyotes living in the woods nearby, would have fuller stomachs.

We'd also sleep much better at night.

But that is the small price you have to pay for one of the best livestock guard dogs to ever slobber on a farmer. Fannie is a Great Pyrenees who in my book more than lives up to her name. As I write this she is patrolling just outside my office window, returning each coyote yippity-yap with a deeply serious gruff bark of her own. Translated she is saying, "I'm on duty now, this is MY family and MY farm, don't even think about trespassing you lowly excuse for a predator you!" And off she goes around the house slowly and steadily increasing the diameter of her circle as the evening progresses.

By the middle of the night she will have parked herself far out in our pastures, the fuzzy Short Stop of South Pork Ranch. If the night is calm she will rest with the livestock. If the coyotes are wound up she will run back and forth around our property keeping the pesky Wile E. Coyotes at bay.

In the morning she will have returned to our inner circle, accompanying us on morning chores. If our grandchildren are visiting she latches onto them, following them as engage in top secret pine collecting missions, not leaving their sides until they return to the farmhouse.

Eventually, in the mid afternoon she will take a dog nap out in the open or inside a calf hutch often lying next to a newborn bovine to keep them company (and provide warmth); or perhaps she'll get a little snooze next to a farmer and his grandson.

Originating in  Central Asia or Siberia ,the Pyrenees is also a relative of the St. Bernard, contributing to their development. It has a long history as a guard dog of sheep. While other early dog breeds made their way to Europe, the Great Pyrenees remained in the high mountain regions until the Middle ages, when the breed gradually gained popularity with the French nobility as a guard dog. By the late 17th century, every French noble wanted to own one. Armed with a spiky collar and thick coat, the Great Pyrenees protected vulnerable flocks from such predators as wolves and bear. The Great Pyrenees has proven to be a very versatile breed working as an avalanche rescue dog, as a cart-puller, sled dog, as a pack dog on ski trips, a flock guardian, dog of war, and as a companion and defender of family and property. The AKC officially recognized the Great Pyrenees in 1933.

We recognized the "greatness" of our Fannie as a puppy. From the first week she came to our farm it became obvious we belonged to her and it was her job to protect us. Greeting us at the door first thing in the morning and then tucking us in at night before she starts her rounds, she is worth every bit of the approximately 80 pounds of dog food (plus table scraps) she consumes each month.  She remains outside all winter, tolerating low temperatures well, sometimes sleeping on top of our picnic table in order to keep a more elevated eye on "her" responsibilities. She is as gentle with kittens and chicks and children as she is ferocious towards any livestock predators.

She is the Great Pyrenees and no farm should be without one.

Renegade Farmhouse Festival Friday!

Hello Folks!

Here's another installment of Farmhouse Festival Fridays! If you have a blog, you can also feature it along with our other Farmhouse Friday Participants. CLICK HERE to learn more, and join the fun!

Until then, enjoy today's Farmhouse Festivities:

1.Beyond Vagabond

2.Tribal Horse Designs

Farm Kitchen - Boeuf Bourguignon

When it is cold outside I crave warm food with SERIOUS flavor.  Like hardy soups and stews that simmer for hours.  Foods whose scent slowly builds into something so tempting that your mouth is watering long before the meal is ready to serve.  I’m talking about Boeuf Bourguignon.

I believe that French cooking is the epitome of farm cooking.  French cooking is based on simple, farm fresh foods that are cooked to perfection, low and slow, for a deep and complex taste.  French cooking doesn’t have to be difficult but it often takes time.  Boeuf Bourguignon is not a dish that should be rushed.  In fact, I highly suggest cooking it the day before you plan to serve it.  As it rests overnight in the fridge the flavors will intensify. 

I first made Boeuf Bourguignon a few years ago just before the Julie and Julia book and movie craze hit hard.  I had read the book before it became the cool thing to do and, having been a fan of Julia Child since childhood and since my name is Julie, I felt compelled to have my own little Julie and Julia adventure.  My husband and purchased me Mastering the Art of French Cooking and I began experimenting with many of the recipes.  Boeuf Bourguignon was the first thing I made.

This recipe is based on Julia Child’s recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon.  While it is mainly the same I have streamlined it and made a few changes to the recipe based on modern ingredients and product availability.  If you are a foodie or have a foodie friend I would highly recommend purchasing Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  Your friends and families tummies will thank you!

Before I give you the recipe for the Boeuf Bourguignon - take a good look at that picture above.  See that bread? It is HOMEMADE yeast bread that I made start-to-finish in UNDER an hour! And it was delicious!  You can head over to my blog to see the recipe! Here is a link: Fresh Baked Bread in UNDER an hour.

Boeuf Bourguignon

¼ pound of bacon
3 ½ tablespoons oil, divided
5 ½ tablespoons butter, divided
3 lbs. stewing beef
1 carrot, sliced
1 onion, sliced
18-24 broiler onions, peeled
1 pound fresh mushrooms, quartered
2 tablespoons flour
4 ½ cups of a good red wine (I used Burgundy but Chianti is also a favorite)
3 cups beef stock
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves of garlic, minced with a micro plane
2 Bundles of fresh herbs (I use thyme, oregano, bay and rosemary)
Fresh Parsley for garnish
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  Chop the bacon and brown in a medium to large enameled cast iron Dutch oven until crisp.  Remove the bacon and set aside.  Add one tablespoon of oil to the bacon fat.  While the oils heat up dry the stew meat with a towel to remove excess moisture the sauté the meat a few piece at a time until it is browned on all sides.  Remove and add to the bacon.

Next sauté the carrots and sliced onion in the bacon fat until they brown and begin to soften.  There is no need to cook them all the way through now.

Add the beef and bacon to the vegetables and season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle the mixture with 2 tablespoons of flour and toss to coat.  Place the Dutch oven, uncovered into the oven for 4 minutes.  Toss the meat and return to the oven for 4 additional minutes.  Remove the casserole from the oven and turn the temperature to 325 degrees.

Add 3 cups of wine to the dish plus enough beef stock to slightly cover the meat.  Add tomato paste, minced garlic and herbs to the mix and bring to a simmer.  Cover the dish and return to the 325 degree oven for 3 hours.  The meat should pierce easily with a fork.

While the beef is cooking in the oven place 4 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of oil into a lidded skillet.  Once the butter has melted and foamed, add one pound of quartered mushrooms.  Sauté the mushrooms 5-6 minutes until they begin to brown.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Add 1 ½ tablespoons of butter and 1 ½ tablespoons of oil to the skillet.  Add the onions and sauté for 10 minutes until the onions begin to brown.  Pour in 1 cup of red wine and ½ a cup of beef stock.  Add the herb bouquet, cover and simmer for 40 – 50 minutes.

When the stew meat is tender remove the dish from the oven and add the mushrooms and the onions.  Taste the seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Serve immediately or refrigerate for later serving.  Reheat on the stove top for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

And there you have it? Time consuming? Maybe.  Difficult?  No. And I guarantee that once you sink your teeth into the first bite you will not regret a single minute spent in the kitchen.

I usually serve Boeuf Bourguignon with buttered egg noodles, green peas, and some bread.  Enjoy!

Julie Kohl writes her own blog Eggs and Herbs…wherecreativity meets the farm, where she concentrates on her love for cooking and crafting on her small Arkansas farm. Julie is also one of the founding members of Arkansas Women Bloggers, an online and real-life community where women bloggers can Gather, Grow and Connect.

The Renegade Farmer Interviews Lisa Kivirist, author "Farmstead Chef"

Hey There Folks!

Did you miss out on our wonderful interview with Lisa Kivirist yesterday? Our only radio interview for December was a special one, with a special guest!

Lisa Kivirist is a writer, farmer, speaker, activist, and author. She has written articles for publications as Hobby Farm Homes, and Mother Earth News.  She and husban John Ivanko are national speakers and consultants, and are co-authors of books such as Ecopreneuring, Rural Renaissance and their most recent book,  Farmstead Chef.
They are also innkeepers of the award-winning Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast, which is completely powered by wind and sun.

Farmstead Chef  showcases the creative and budget-friendly side to eating lower on the food chain, while taking responsibility for the food we put into our bodies -- by growing it, sharing it and savoring it.
After your meal, pull up a chair and enjoy inviting slice-of-life “Kitchen Table Talk” features: interviews with local food heroes and visionaries transforming our food system.

Find out more about Lisa's work at: www.innserendipity.com
And more about Farmstead Chef at: www.farmsteadchef.com

If you missed this great informative and fun show, don't fear, here's your second chance (with a big thanks to Lisa Kivirist)!

The Lo-Tech Farmer

By Donna OShaughnessy AKA The Midlife Farmwife

Although the initials behind our farm name are "LLC" standing for limited liability corporation, we're not all that corporate around here. We've never worn suits to milk cows, neither of us own a Bluetooth Headset and we take only cash or checks in our little farm store. And, like so many other small family farms, financial resources are limited and, therefore; items needed for daily operations are often borrowed, bartered or built.

Take for example my Gator, pictured above, minus the wheels, and the engine and a seat and a few other accessories.  Since we do not own any of those 3 or 4 wheeled devices of the same name, which are great for smaller chores but out of our budget,  we invented this modern marvel, the Milk Mobile, out of materials on hand. The materials list went like this:

     1. Discarded plastic sled
     2. Old clothes line for pulling

 Fairly simply to operate, which comes in handy since the operator herself is fairly simple; one loads the milk bottles into a crate to avoid tippage, then positions herself in front of the purple plastic piece, PULLING towards the area of desire. PUSHING is possible but impractical since the sleds back end is knee high to a raccoon.

The sled was rescued by my husband Keith years ago while on a road trip. He was driving by a dumpster when the abandoned mini-toboggan called out his name, and the rest is purple history. Annoyed once again, (I am the tosser and he is the collector of fine farm art) I ignored the additional inventory until the first snow following its acquisition. Seems the designer of said sled knew of what he was molding. The dang thing slid well through the snow even with a very full load of two  quart calf bottles; certainly much easier than this Midlife Farmwife dragging her rusty red wagon through the drifts.

Not only will it haul calf bottles, it can also be used to take 2-3 bales of hay or straw out to distant hog hutches, horses in the front pasture or to the same group of calves now finishing up their bottles of warm milk. Being as it does not possess an engine, the  nifty device does not require a garage for protection but can be stored neatly in the narrow space between the chicken house and the feed shed.

Absent of tires, there is nothing that can go flat or that will require rotation. Missing its dip-stick, oil never needs to be checked or filled and the only stain left on the ground underneath it will be water from the melting snow. In addition, once the animals have been tended to , children and adults can climb aboard for a quick ride down a nearby hill.

Maybe not its intended purpose...but nonetheless, it works,

Herbal Holidays

 By Catherine Love of Still Room Herbs

The holiday season is in full force at my house. We go from Thanksgiving right into the Christmas season around here.  Herbs play a part in all of our holidays, just as they do in daily life. Spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, bay … all associated with Christmas whether in delicious baked goods, pomanders to scent and decorate the house, or fashioned into ornaments for the tree or gift giving, herbs are definitely front and center in our holidays and I hope will be in yours too.

I like to buy the potted rosemary ‘trees’ that are found at most garden centers and even grocery stores here at this time of the year. After the holidays they usually get planted in the garden or a larger pot and are allowed to grow in a more natural fashion; but for the holidays they make a pretty, fragrant tree that can be left unadorned or decorated for the season. If you plan ahead, you could always make one of these yourself, but I’ve yet to accomplish that feat! Another way I’ve used rosemary as holiday décor is placing small potted rosemary plant as place markers on the table, tying a name tag to each plant. Guests can then take theirs home with them when they leave, a nice gift that will last long after the holidays are gone.

Other herbs that are used often this time of year are vanilla beans and lavender. Both make delicious flavored sugar for baking and gifts for the bakers on your gift list. It is as simple as taking a vanilla bean or a lavender filled sachet and tucking it into a jar of sugar to infuse for a few weeks. For gift giving, tie a pretty ribbon around the jar, add a favorite recipe on a decorated recipe card and you are done! Both of these infused sugars can also be turned into a lovely sugar scrub for the bath or shower, which make great gifts, as well. Here’s a simple recipe for those:

Simple Sugar Scrub

1 cup sugar (white, brown, organic, vanilla, lavender … your choice!)

½ cup oil (almond, olive, jojoba, grapeseed … a combination of your choice)

5-10 drops of essential oil, optional- lavender, peppermint, again the choice is yours!

Mix all ingredients together and pack into small jars for gift giving.

What herbs do you use most during the holidays? 



Happy Herbal Holidays!
Catherine

Farm Fresh Holiday Gifts

As this holiday season most rapidly approaches, we might be looking for little gifts to warm the hearts and homes of our friends and neighbors. Exchanging small gifts with neighbors is a tradition in my neighborhood, and with few exceptions is usually food. Mostly sweets. With a little ingenuity, however we can step out of that box and give something different this year...Something from the farm!

Greenery Wreaths: I love bringing the outdoors in all year long, but the changing of the seasons offer us a wonderful time to do this. Evergreens can be trimmed and turned into wreaths or swags easily with a little ribbon and wire.  Do not think that this has to be overdone with all kinds of decoration. Or even that it has to be traditional greenery. Many varieties of bushes are evergreen but not pine! Simple is elegant, and a hand written note adds a special touch. (photo from wernertreefarm.com)

Seed pod Ornaments: Seed pods or heads that have been left on the plants can make lovely natural ornaments or wreaths. Pods can be glued together to create a ball or small wreath to hang on the tree with a ribbon. A scrap piece of cardboard can be cut into a wreath shape and wrapped with twine or raffia and seed pods attached.

Pinecones: This is hardly a new idea, but I love pinecones in the house. SO many things can be done from simple ornaments hung with ribbons to more complicated painted or glittered wreaths. Pinecones dipped in scented wax can be used to fill a basket, and lasts a long time. A group of three large pinecones can be hung from a ribbon to create a lovely door hanging alternative to a wreath. If sticky sap is an issue, simply bake the pinecones in the oven on a foil lines baking sheet at 200 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Scrap wood candle holders: A small branch from the scrap pile can be laid on its side and drilled with holes just big enough for tea lights to be dropped in. That same size branch can be cut into pieces of varied height turned on end and drilled for those same tea lights. Group these together and tie with raffia for a nice centerpiece or hostess gift. (photos courtesy of Shelterness.com and sasinteriors.net)



Farm Fresh Goodies: Let's not forget that not everyone bottles garden goods. Would a nice jar of canned fruit be appreciated by a neighbor or a loved one? Maybe Honey or Applesauce? I have a neighbor who always brings us a little homemade jerky around the holidays. It is naturally made, tastes amazing and is much appreciated, especially because that is something that I could not make for myself. This goes for sure for all of the homemade greatness that comes in the form of soaps and yarn and or even a nice basket of eggs along with a favorite recipe. Eggs? For Christmas? Why not!

So, this holiday let's get creative. Look around the farm or yard and find things that perhaps could get a little makeover and a second life, even if just for the holiday season.  And certainly Don't forget our Renegade Farmer Holiday Vendor List  for a little shopping too! Happy Holidays and please share those ideas...

Leslie is a self-proclaimed simple minded girl; raising 4 kids along side veggies and chickens all with the help of one entirely Hunky Hubby and blogging about it over at NatureGirl for no good reason.

A Few Quick Notes About What's Going On Around HERE!

Hey Folks!

 We know the High Holidays are probably leaving you busy--we wanted to do a quick posting about a few things to keep you in "the know":

Speaking of Holidays, you DO know that we have our own holiday list of local, homemade, handmade businesses, right?  Yes! We've gathered a nice list, by state, of farmers, small local businesses, artists and artisans! So all your purchases go to local, small, honest businesses that make their living from handmade or handgrown hard work; your money goes directly to these merchants and their families, and your get a great gift...sounds like a win-win situation to us!

You can find these merchants by clicking the button in the RIGHT hand column, with the title "Buy Local for the Holidays" (in other words, over there ------------------------>)


In other news, our one and only radio show for December is special--we'll be interviewing prolific writer, rural advocate and author Lisa Kivirist. She's written for such publications as Hobby Farm Home, Mother Earth News, and has co-authored several books with her husband, including Rural Renaissance, and her latest, Farmstead Chef, a wonderful collection of recipes made of homegrown foods, along with interviews with the farmers, and chefs, who create the sustainable, delectable menus. It's a show you shouldn't miss!

FIND IT HERE DECEMBER 11th, 5:30pm EST.

Happy Holidays Farm Friends!

Homemade Laundry Soap

I started out as a hippie, a Janis Joplin singing-Earth- shoe- wearing-sage-burning-hitchhiking-hippie. Then the kids got hungry so I got a job, and went to college, and acquired a long career in nursing. Then the babies grew up and mama decided she was tired of suits and loots and came back to the farm.

Now, after being home full time for over a year, I am slowly, one by one, returning to my hippie roots (with the exception of the hitchhiking: at 52 I am not so likely to score a ride) and eliminating those things that require me to have a full time job. You know what I'm talking about, things that reward you with tons of prestige but require an equal ton of money. Glamorous things like...laundry detergent.

In my past, being able to afford fancy smancy laundry products was a sign of success. The more "products" in someones laundry room the more important they must be, or so I thought. Attend any corporate meeting and spill a dab of mustard on your clothes and instantly 3-4 people will start waving their Max-Force Stain Remover Gel in your face. "Here, try mine!" The speaker would pause while I would dab a strangers wand on my chest while hundreds watched waiting for the magic to appear, for about $6 a product. I always worried that if the item could remove mustard in 1/2 a second what was it doing to my skin under my blouse?

So, I pitched out my stain sticks, pre-wash liquids, stain removal sprays,  laundry detergent powders, laundry detergent gels, fabric softener cloths, fabric softener liquids, and last but not least, my fabric softener balls. And then I did the unthinkable, I started making my own laundry soap.

It wasn't even difficult.

An Internet search will produce many recipes , try a few until you find the best one for you, but feel free to use mine which goes something like this:


One cup finely grated homemade bar soap. Avoid any made with artificial colors or perfumes, or botanicals. May substitute Fels-Naptha Bar Soap
One cup Sodium Teraborate (20 Mule Team Borax)
One cup Sodium Carbonate (Washing Soda)

Mix all together well, a food processor works best. Store in a container with a lid. If you want a little fragrance add a few drops of lemon or lavender ESSENTIAL oil. Now here comes the best past. Are you sitting down? You only need to use one tablespoon for an average load. Not 1/4 cup or 1/2 or even a whole cup as there are no fillers to this laundry soap. If you have really dirty chore clothes like we have on our dairy/beef/pork farm you may need two tablespoons.

The other bonus? No need for fabric softener as the ingredients are natural water softeners in themselves.  There will be no static cling and you clothes will smell...clean. The cost? About 5 cents a load (I bought my washing soda and borax in bulk from SOAP.com)  In addition, this recipe adds no phosphates to your septic or the earth but don't let the lack of suds fool you, the dirty water after each load is proof of its effectiveness.

With Christmas coming up quickly, homemade laundry soap also makes a great gift for a small investment of your finances and your time, and just think of of the space you'll save in your laundry room once you've disposed of all the laundry products that used to hog the shelves in there. You might even have room now for some...laundry.
                      

Farmhouse Friday #4

Hey Folks!

We're STILL doing our Farmhouse Fridays, even during our holiday season! If you have a blog and would like it featured, or are not sure what Farmhouse Fridays are about...check it out, HERE.

In the meantime, enjoy this installment of Farmhouse Fridays!

1. Glory Farm
2. Beyond Vagabond

Lucky Dogs

Shiny, happy puppies. 

At our house, we eat almost no processed food. Our choice isn't about deprivation, it's about food that is both healthy and delicious. We are, admittedly, big time foodies, and my love for cooking is almost pathological. Every year I have enjoyed growing more and more of what we eat, and every year I'm learning more about how to preserve what we grow. As a result, we rarely eat anything that comes in a box, or from the middle of grocery store. Because my husband is both a Doctor of Chiropractic and a Doctor of Naturopathy, our farm dovetails nicely with his practice. Patients will often comment that it's nice to know we practice what we preach.

A few years (and two dogs ago) we were featured in our local newspaper in an article about alternatives to traditional dog feeding. At that time, we were feeding our dogs a high quality, holistic brand of dog food, supplemented with things like raw or cooked eggs, cottage cheese and some other supplementation. One day when my parents were visiting, my Dad came along on a dog-food run. When he saw the price of the grain-free dog food I was buying, he said, "Wow. Or you know, we could just go buy them some sirloin." Which made me wonder.

Why was I buying this processed food in a bag and feeding it to my dogs? We don't even eat cereal at because it's so toxic (yes, even organic cereal is toxic.) Organic cereal was my last processed food strong-hold because I viewed it as a "healthy snack." We didn't change our way of eating overnight, but the more I read, and the more I realized what I was actually eating, I just didn't want to put anything made from a slurry, extruded, and heat-processed into my body anymore. Yet here I was, buying a ginormous, expensive bag of processed meat/veggie pellets for our dogs.

Local real-meat dog food.

So when my husband was buying our meat from a local farm (so far we've only raised chickens) he asked about dog food. Guess what? They have it. Their dog food is made of actual ground meat scraps with NO filler and cost one quarter of what I was paying for dry dog food! It also cost 1/4 as much as the frozen dog food in our local big name pet-supply store.

Interestingly, the third ingredient in the big name frozen dog food that rhymes with 'Kill Jack' is something called 'cereal fines.' What are cereal fines you ask? I wondered too. Wikipedia to the rescue:
Cereal Food Fines are a byproduct or left-over of breakfast cereal food processing. Usually the source is unknown and sometimes this product is used in low quality dog food. The quality is unknown and fines may contain possible chemical residue, sweeteners or other additives. A patent definition states that they "often will contain a significant quantity of sugar. Generally, the total sugar content of the deformable core will be in the range of about 15% to about 27%, preferably about 18% to about 20%"

AAFCO defines cereal food fines as "particles of breakfast cereals obtained as a byproduct of their processing."

The third ingredient in expensive, frozen, big-name store dog food, billed as "fresh" and "healthy" is ground up sugary breakfast cereal. Yes, really. 

About $1/lb from the co-op.

So here's what we do instead. About once per week I make the biggest possible batch of organic brown rice using a rice cooker. (I am not a kitchen gadget girl, but trust me, if you're human and you're reading this, just get yourself a rice cooker.) My dogs are giant, so I brown 3# of frozen dog food. It smells like ground beef, because that's what it is. Each dog gets 1 1/2- 2c brown rice and half the browned dog food. Every few days I either add an egg or some veggies (frozen peas, chopped carrots, spinach, etc.) If we have any dog-appropriate leftovers, I throw them in. Today I had a little chicken. Stir it, cool it, feed the beasties. I've read that the ideal mix is 40% meat, 30% veggies, 30% starch. This is so much healthier than processed, bagged dog food with fillers that our dogs are not built to digest. If you buy your meat locally, ask if they have dog food. Your dogs will thank you!

Brown rice, egg, chicken scraps.

Browned dog food.

The waiting really is the hardest part.

Karly Aslaksen Golojuh and her growing farm can be facebook-stalked at Kayak Farms.