UPDATE ON THE HOMESTEAD

Hello Everyone, All is well here on our little Homestead.  I have already got my Fall garden in and the collards, broccoli, lettuces and beets have all sprouted. I am going to plant some winter peas, carrots and more today. I have posted a video of my Mama Turkey taking a dust bath in the old burn pile in the wood ash.  I had pulled all her turkey eggs to hatch in the bator and she refused to stop going broody till I allowed her to raise a chick so I gave her a chicken egg to hatch and she finally came out of the coop when it hatched. She is raising one little chick and doing a wonderful job. I had pulled her eggs because many books stated that Mama Turkeys do not make good Mama's. I am here to tell you in the case of my Turkey Hen that is false. When watching the video you will see her chick. At times she completely covers the chick and the chick does not mind.

I harvested pears again this year from an abandoned piece of property. My pear tree is only three years old and I am looking forward to the day it produces lots of pears.   I canned some, froze some and my farm animals love pears. The rabbits and goats get  a pear everyday. The Turkeys and chickens love them as well.

I have harvested enough pears to fill these Tractor Supply bags x 12. I also made sure I left some for the wildlife that I am sure visit this abandoned fruit tree. The tree still has probably 150 pears still at the very top of the tree that I cannot reach and giving the tree a good shake they just won't let go as of yet.

In Spring when the elderberries are blooming I made note of a big bush in the woods to go back to at the end of Summer.  I did go back this past week and harvested some of the wonderful elderberries and made 8 half pints of Elderberry Jam. Again, I did leave some for the local wildlife to nourish themselves with.

Two days ago while wondering around the forest I found a place where wild passionflower is growing that is spread on about 5 acres and it has produced fruit. Lots of fruit.  The fruit is not quite ready yet and as soon as it is I will be harvesting some of the fruit known as Maypops to make some jelly. I need to get a wine making kit and start making my own wine. I will also harvest some of the plants to dry and make tea with. When I go back I will take pictures for you all.

At the moment I have the following herbs drying, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Stevia, Chocolate Mint and more blackberry leaves.

Sorry I have not posted much on my blog but, I have been so busy. I have decided to buy a timer that I can use to start setting time for all the projects I am working on and need to work on. Going to set the timer twice a week for 15 or 30 minutes to work on my blog. I am reading three different books at the time and trying to keep up with my magazines, Hobby Farming, Grit, Mother Earth News, just to name a few and going to start using the timer to get some of my reading done as well. I am working on becoming better organized with time to get done all I want to work on.

Before I go I wanted to mention I am also sprouting seeds to put on salads and in my tortilla snacks. I have been trying to eat more raw/live foods. Sprouting is fun and I enjoy the flavors of all I have tried so far. While I try to buy organic I have also tried sprouting many of the dried beans you can purchase at your local grocery store and all of them have sprouted. I have been successful with the Chick Peas, Black Beans, Brown Lentils to name a few. My favorite is the Mung Beans. I am starting a spicy mix of sprouts today. Also some Sunflowers seed sprouts and Broccoli sprouts for my salads. The pictures are of the Mung Beans and Brown Lentils. I have been harvesting out of the ones you see in the pictures for over a week and they just keep growing. I also share some with my rabbits and chicks. Max, my dog even ate some brown lentil sprouts on his dinner.