Long Days of Self-Sufficient Living

Those strawberries have been sitting in the frig for three days and many were pretty ripe to begin with.  We've put four of the flats in the freezer, tucked away in six gallon freezer bags ready for fruit smoothies, but the rest had to be dealt with.  The girls started by pulling off the stems.  They set up work areas at the table and worked upwards of two hours.  I kept strawberries rotating through the wash water and back to my smashing-station before they went into the jelly pot.

After heating the mashed strawberries up, I added pectin, kept heating to boiling, and then added sugar.  When the whole thing was boiling again, I ladled the jam into jars. Fifteen minutes in the boiling water canner and they were done.

While we were working indoors, my husband was working with that little Bobcat to clean up the manure.  This is the second full day he's put in.  It has been a big bigger mess than we realized.

After four or five hours on my feet, going hard, we have 24 jars of strawberry jam to show for our efforts.  Tomorrow when they are thoroughly cool, they'll go into the cupboard.

When it was finished, I immediately started a cheese.  Thankfully, cheese begins with warming up and letting it set for an hour.  But then it was over and time to get up and stir cheese.  

By 6pm I was exhausted and my knees ached, but walking out to check on my husband, I noticed the broccoli was starting to bloom.  Ack!  So I harvested everything and tonight I'll have to blanch and freeze all this.  Oh, I'm so tired already.

My favorite book on self-sufficient living says that this living can make for very long days.  Boy, is she right!

Moving Compost

Every time we milk we start with cleaning out the cow shed.  The stuff gets thrown into a pile next to the shed, a pile that has grown over the last six months.  It's time to move those piles.  We were able to get our hands on this little bobcat which is small enough to get into the shed but it picks up a lot of stuff at once.

In half an hour my husband alone was able to get as much moved as would have taken two hours with all of us using wheelbarrows .

The hay we buy has been treated with long acting herbicide (sad face), so we don't use the manure on the garden until it's composted for at least a year.  This pile will sit for six months, get a turn, and be ready for the garden next spring.

The cow shed is so icky.  It's been needed to be cleaned for quite a while.  Getting everything cleaned out and fresh straw down will be so nice.  When Christina came last summer, things started clean and it stayed that way until the winter set in and we ran out of straw.  This year we'll have a lot more straw going into the winter.

Strawberry Picking

We went to a local U-Pick place for strawberries.  The strawberries in the garden are keeping us in snacks, but we need a lot more. We arrived about 10am and got to work.

It was already hot when we started and the sun was strong.  The field had lots of weeds but sometimes under a big weed I'd find a whole cluster of ripe, large berries.  We picked for over an hour. 

Afterwards, our hands were well stained.

In the end, we had ten flats weighing 93 pounds.  It cost $128.

Although we were all exhausted from the sun and heat and picking, now the next phase of work begins. 

After a nap, I got two flats washed and stemmed and laid out on cookie sheets.  They filled three.  These will freeze overnight and tomorrow I'll put them in bags.  We'll use them in fruit smoothies with Christina yogurt and cream.

Grain for Chickens

After the announcement that we were completely out of chicken food, we went to buy grain first thing in the morning.  We get wheat screenings, cracked barley, and cracked corn, and then mix them together.

The first step is just getting the 50-pound bags over to the barrels.  I think it's pretty amazing that my 10 year old daughter can handle these bags.

I also think it's amazing that my 16 year old daughter can manage two.  That's 100 pounds she's carrying!

All of us have noticed that we are getting strong from this daily work we do.  My husband thinks he the strongest he's ever been in his life.  He's probably right.

After getting them all carried out, then we poured half of one, half of another, and half of the last into the barrel.  Repeat.  It's not mixed perfectly, but we figure it's good enough.

The baby chickens are really eating a lot.  We went through grain much faster than I expected.  They are getting big and there are 78 of them.  They are seven weeks old and we expect they'll be ready at about 18 weeks, the middle of September. 

Lessons Learned

After twelve years of homeschooling, my love for this lifestyle has grown, but I've also made some whoppers of mistakes.  Along the way we've learned a lot.  Here are a few of them:

#1  When the child is resisting their work, blame the curriculum, not the child.  After several years of watching the difference between serious foot dragging and speeding through challenging work, I now realize what a tremendous affect curriculum has.  But I didn't know that at first.  I cringe when I remember how I used to berate my oldest for not working harder. Now, when a child isn't learning effectively, or isn't working hard, we switch to something else as quickly as possible, until their eyes get that sparkle of enthusiastic learning.

#2  Schedule matters.  Some people name a flexible schedule as one of the benefits of homeschooling, but we have found that we are more successful when we stick to a regular schedule.  Morning is hard-core school time.  After lunch is quiet, personal work.  We follow a 36-week schedule, just like the schools, but we are able to decide which weeks we school and which weeks we don't.  Negotiating those breaks is a family affair.

#3  Everybody needs rest.   My tendency is to do too much and wear my children out in the process.  I have learned to honor their authentic need for rest, and mine.

#4 Get the best.  When faced with several different curriculum choices, I can't count how many times I've bought the cheapest, didn't like it, bought the next, didn't like it, finally bought the best.  Just get the best from the beginning.  Many of my favorite curriculums are not cheap, but I've learned that we save money in the long run if I just get the good stuff in the beginning.  We spend about $3,500 a year on materials for our five children.  That's the equivalent of tuition for one child at a Catholic school, so we're doing fine.

#5 My time matters.  Sometimes the materials we choose from are about the same for the children, but the way they are organized makes a big difference in my life.  With five children homeschooling, I don't have the luxury of spending hours planning every day.  Materials that take little preparation make this lifestyle sustainable.  I've learned to argue with myself when I say, "oh, it'll be OK."  

CURRICULUM

After years of trying lots of different things, these are our tried and true favorites:
Sonlight — history and literature.  Sonlight is so good, so easy to use, and makes my kids happy.  It's easy to be enthusiastic when your kids beg you, "just one more page!"  The instructor guides are easy to use and save me hours of preparation.   My husband and I love the books too.  We have a running joke that the two of us arm-wrestling over who gets to do history or read alouds with the kids.
Teaching Textbooks — upper level math.  We started Teaching Textbooks several years ago with Pre-Algebra.  I have one daughter who excels at math and another who has a pretty hard time.  Both like this curriculum and both like math after using it.
Institute for Excellence in Writing — writing composition.  After watching my poor daughters get lots of practice at writing badly and feeling unable to help them, we stumbled upon this writing approach.  In one year their writing has gone from poor to very good.
The Idaho Adventure — Idaho history.  State history is important to me because the history of Idaho is the history of my family.  After using two books that were pretty disappointing, we laid out the money for this book and discovered that it was magnificent. 
Sing the Word — Scripture verses set to really good original music.  As part of Sonlight's Bible program, they schedule listening to these pieces.  After a few weeks, my daughters have the verse well memorized and it's a great way to start our day.

We use other curriculum pieces that we like:
Hey Andrew, Teach me Some Greek — biblical Greek.
Christ our Life (Loyola) — catechesis.
Singapore Math — elementary level math.
Think a Grams — critical thinking.
Grammar Ace — grammar.
Simon Peter School Scripture Study — Bible study.
Keyboarding Skills — typing.
Sonlight Science — elementary level science.
Artistic Pursuits — art.
First Language Lessons (Peace Hill Press) — grammar.
All About Spelling — spelling.

And then there are some that we're using, not excited about, and actively searching for something better:
Rosetta Stone — Spanish.  We have found that Rosetta Stone is fine for the first level, but after that its weakness begin to compound.  This year we will try Tell Me More and see what we think.
CLE Chemistry (Christian Light Education) — chemistry.  After two other curriculums didn't work for my teenage daughters, we settled on CLE Chemistry and it's getting the job done, but nobody is raving about how much they love Chemistry. 

Finish Line Collapse

Last night my ten-year-old twins came running in, "Christina and beefy have bloat!"  I hurried out. One look at beefy and I could tell he was fine, but I wasn't sure about Christina.  I walked her while the twins ran for my husband.  After a few minutes of walking, we decided she just looked full, not bloated.  We are so sensitive right now.

Today we officially end the 2010-2011 school year.   Rather than bursting strong across the finish line, it feels more like stumbling and collapsing right on top of it.  We have gone straight for nine weeks and that wears us all out.  There is fun stuff in our curriculum, right up to the end, but I think we all get tired of it and just want to be done.

Now we have three weeks off before starting "next year."  We already have all the books sitting on the shelf and I get three leisurely weeks to get everything organized.  I enjoy this planning time the most, I think.  I get to go through new books, figure it all out, and set up the schedule.  Plus, nobody'll be asking me questions or to correct their work.  That's probably what I like the best.

My older daughters will be studying Christian history.  They'll be reading novels I know of, but have never read: Jean Eyre, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde, Pride & Prejudice, A Christmas Carol, Treasure Island.  Plus I'm swapping in some classic autobiographies: St. Augustine, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Ignatius Loyola, and Dorothy Day.  I wish I could read everything with them.

First Bloat

The book says that bloat happens, sooner or later.  Our first came last night.

My husband came in from milking and asked me to come look at the cows with him.  With Keeping A Family Cow under my arm, we headed out.  The book said to look at the triangle in front of their hip bone.  If it's depressed, they are hungry. If it's flush, they are full.  If it's extended they are bloated.  Christina and beefy looked full, but we couldn't even see jerky's hipbone.  It was all just round and full and tight.  Frankly, I wasn't sure (because there are no pictures in the book and how would I know!) but I figured the bloat medicine wouldn't hurt him.

I ran inside, found the medicine, and mixed it up with water.  The book says to give it in a drench bottle which has a long neck, or to give it by stomach tube.  No, I'm not figuring out how to do a stomach tube!  We don't have a drench bottle, we so used the calf bottle with the tip cut off.

The book says, "hold the nose by the nostrils."  What does that mean?  I read it aloud.  My husband reached over, stuck his fingers in jerky's nose and held tight.  Oh, that's what it means!  Jerky wiggled, but my husband was able to hold him still enough that I got the nipple in the side of his mouth.  As I worked I repeated the directions in my head, between the teeth and the check, all the way back, but don't let him aspirate it.  He gulped and gulped and twisted away. Ack!  Did he aspirate it?!  It took three times to get it all down.

It says, "a sound of belching will be music to your ears."  Jerky stuck his tongue out and did a slow-motion hacking.  Was he coughing?  But he kept at it and after a while we thought maybe it was burping. 

The books says to keep the cow walking.  We were doing this right at sundown as a very active thunderstorm moved overhead, so we walked him in circles in the shed.  After a while, it seemed that we could see his hipbone and it didn't feel as full.  But was that right or were we remembering wrong?  

Christina and beefy were close by watching the whole thing.  After ten or fifteen minutes of walking, not sure if things were better, we  decided to leave jerky alone and hope he was alive in the morning.

I slept badly.  I woke up over and over with dreams of finding jerky dead in the morning, or alive but with worse bloat.  Shortly after sun-up, about 6am, I went to check on him.  He was up and grazing.  Praise God!

I knew this "first bloat" would come, and it wasn't as bad as when Christina got milk fever, but it was still traumatic for me.  Part of me laughs at myself, so worried about a cow dying when we intend to slaughter this same animal in a year.  But I do feel responsible and I get scared. 

When I woke up in the night, all I could do to comfort myself was pray, and then feel like a failure for not taking more comfort in prayer.   This morning, with jerky healthy and looking as if nothing happened, the crisis is over.  Even though I didn't trust the feeling at the time, God was there with me.  In fact, I wonder if God was also reaching out in compassion to my feelings of failure.  Perhaps God was telling me, "stop worrying that you're not trusting enough, and instead just me let me show you how trustworthy I am."  Today I feel renewed commitment to watching and noticing.

Longest Day of the Year

For the first time in a long time, I feel like we're making headway in the garden.  The weeds are everywhere, but not overwhelming.  When we finish weeding a row, it looks like it will "stick" for a while.  Here is a row of corn with beans and squash after a good weeding.

The day after irrigation is the best day for getting those big stubborn weeds.  They pull right out, root and all.  This section by the wheat was almost as tall as the wheat in weeds.  We cleared it out in a few minutes.

All the weeds go to the chickens who think they're a treat.  I love how things cycle and nothing is waste.  Weeds are food for chickens.  Manure is fertilizer.  Kitchen scraps are chicken food.  Eggs shells are calcium.  Coffee ground are compost.  Everything cycles.  Everything is good.

Our peas started blooming about a week ago and now they are covered in pods.  These are shell peas, so we have to wait until they big and full to pick them.  My girls weren't very enthusiastic when I pointed these out; it means the commencing of picking and shelling.

The broccoli is starting to look good too. We've been enjoying broccoli in our daily salads.

Today is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year.  The heat, brought by the sun, will trail behind, bringing our warmest days in another month.

God the creator is at work in our garden, bringing plants and animals to life, and bringing us to life through them.  God the son saves us from the fast-paced annihilation that pulls us away from real peace.  God the spirit breaths life and strength into our bodies and our family.  Praise God!  Praise God!  Praise God!

Oh Happy Flood

Sunday is our flood irrigation day. I wish it was any other day, but it's not.  At least the water is fun.  The chickens love it when their pen floods and the bugs are forced out of the soil.

The kids all headed out to enjoy the water.  At first it's too cold to stand, but after an hour or so in the sun it warms up.

Childhood is the time of simple pleasures.  What a joy my kids can enjoy slow, quiet water filling up the lawn.

Chicks at 5 Weeks

Since we did a photo essay of the chicks when they were brand new, we thought we'd give you an update now at just over five weeks old. 

Here is a White Plymouth Rock.  We have lots of these.  One died at a few days old but the rest are growing well.  They will be our new layers and many will go into freezer this fall.

These Black Astrolorps will also become layers, although it looks some like of these are boys (they'll go to the freezer).  Roosters develop a much more prominent crest, that fleshy thing on the top of their head.

Our two Arucana's have survived these five weeks and are growing well.  These hens lays pale green eggs.

One of the White Silkies died, but the other is looking healthy.  This bantam chicken (means "little") is a pet that my daughter picked out.

The other daughter wanted a White Crested Polish for a pet.  As it's running around, it looks like a chicken with a puff ball where it's head should be.

While were out taking care of the chicks, my three-year old did some petting.

We let the chickens roam out of the coop into their pen today for the first time.  They were pecking excessively, a sign that they are too tight, so  we decided it was time to let them risk fresh air.

On the other side of the fence, our grown birds rested in the shade.  We have two layers of chicken wire to separate them.  If a baby wanders into the big pen, they would peck it to death quickly.  Chickens are kind of mean that way.