A garden is born.......................

I have been without a real garden for a while. We moved to the new property in August, the weekend before the fall semester started. Then I had back surgery, which really slowed the garden progress down. Thanks to a helpful husband and a really mild December, the first four raised beds are built and partially planted.

The project began with free wood I drug home.

Prickly Pear Jelly...........

I have been eyeing a rather large Prickly Pear just up the road from the farm ever since we moved in this fall. I comment on the ripening fruit and my desire to turn it into jelly. Thanks to a post from a friend about the need for gloves during this process to avoid bright purple hands, I finally went and picked some today. I am a huge fan of free fruit you can turn into jelly and other goodies!

Good Morning from cold and wet Suwannee County Florida.........

Good Morning from cold & wet Suwannee County Florida. This was the view from my back door at 0700 this morning. I have never seen the boys lined up against the fence like this. Ribeye is on the left, he will transition to the freezer this spring. Little man is in line for next spring. Our plan is to start a new steer every spring raise them on pasture and butcher at roughly two years old. By starting a new calf every spring we have one ready for the freezer every year. I buy dairy breed bulls locally when they are a few days old. We have many dairies in our area so newborn bull calves are always available and very affordable (usually about $50). When I buy them they have had a couple of days of colostrum and transition to milk replacer nicely. It takes one bag of milk replacer to transition them onto grass. After they are on grass they do not get fed any grain (other than what they may steal from the horses).  I band them shortly after they arrive thus turning our bull calves into steers.

Thrift store finds of the week...... and paper or cloth?

My husband swears I will break something glass at least once a week and lately he has been correct. Yesterdays booboo was a big one! I broke the coffee pot! I was putting away the mixer, I had unplugged it but did not realize that its cord was under the coffee maker. I will be darned if the whole coffee maker didn't do a flip on the counter. Boy howdy what a mess (the pot still had coffee in it plus grounds from the basket). As soon as I cleaned up the basic mess I headed into town to my favorite thrift store (The boys ranch opportunity store in Live Oak). Thought never needing them in the past I had taken notice of a large collection of coffee carafes there before. The had lots but not the one I needed (Murphy's law) but then I spied this beauty for $5. It is a cuisenart and low and behold it works!

Apologies, updates and the farm gets a new home....

It has been almost a year since my last blog post. So very much has happened!

First, as you may know I am in nursing school and will graduate with my RN in May. School is the main reason for my woeful lack of posting.

Second, the farm moved this year. It was not planned and happened rather suddenly. Although initially traumatic it was a true blessing in disguise. Scurvy Elephant Farm now calls Suwannee County home. We are on 9 acres with a lovely 2br 1 bath home built in 2008. The property was already cross fenced into 3 pastures and a large yard and has multiple outbuildings. It is almost like it was made just for us! We are surrounded by forest land and have no neighbors within sight distance.

I Love Thrift Stores! ........But, there are rules......

I love thrift stores! After all what's not to love? You never know what you are going to find, so it is an adventure. You are saving a lot of money by buying used. You are reducing the amount of "stuff" that fills our landfills. In many instances you are coming home with higher quality products than otherwise fit your budget.  You are also keeping your hard earned dollars at home working in your community, many times going directly to a local charity. So, thrift store shopping is good for your wallet, good for the planet, a rewarding pastime and ultimately good for the soul :)

Here are some of today's treasures  ( solid maple bench/table $5, 3 yards of flannel $1, milk glass mixing bowl $3, pastel metal hanging planters $1, huge bag of paperback books for daddy .25 each, three nice flannel shirts $2, white leather nursing shoes $3.......

THE GOLDEN RULES OF THRIFTING

Rule #1 You don't always find what you went looking for, (if you went with an agenda), but you almost always will find treasures, so slow down and really look.

Rule #2 Don't bother stopping at a thrift store when you are in a hurry. This relates back to rule #1, you need time to slow down and look.

Rule #3 If you significant other is not into thrift store shopping, DON'T TAKE THEM WITH YOU! Seriously, you will not enjoy it, you will feel rushed and there are laws against killing them for ruining your adventure.

Rule #4 Think outside the box. You may not need a giant clear glass cookie jar but that same cookie jar would make an awesome terrarium that you can keep to enjoy or give away as a gift (think cheap, unique, personal gift).

Rule #5 It is not ALL about YOU! Keep your eyes open for cool gift ideas for Christmas and Birthdays. This is a win-win situation. You get to save money on gifts, plan ahead and have your very own adventure doing it.

Rule #6 Take the largest vehicle you own when thrift store shopping, you never know what you will find. Wouldn't it just suck to find the hot tub you always wanted, its only $25 and you are in a car when you have a perfectly good pickup in the driveway at home?

Rule #7 Be careful who you share your adventure with. If you and your dear mom collect the same thing, DON'T TAKE HER! Think harmony in the family, you don't want a wrestling match in the middle of a store you would like to be able to come back to. Plus, as mentioned above, there are laws against killing people while thrifting.

Rule #8 Vacations are awesome thrifting opportunities. While in different locals you may find region specific treasures that would never show up in you hometown thrift store. Plus, thrifting is cheap entertainment while traveling.

Rule #9 If you have friends and family that are "above" thrift store shopping, for heavens sake don't tell them thats where that lovely set of silver you just gave them came from.

Rule #10 ...... This is the very most important rule of all.........Have fun :)

Smelly bones..... A Theory......

Ever since we started eating grass fed meat we have notice how quickly bones/carcasses start to smell REALLY BAD.  I am not referring to fresh bones but cooked ones. It does not matter if it is a rotisserie chicken carcass or bones from a roast.  In no time at all they smell really foul in the garbage. Scenario, boil a chicken for dumplings, bone the chicken and discard the bones in the kitchen trash, by the next morning they stink. Do the same thing with a factory raised chicken and the bones do not smell that foul that quickly.

My hypothesis is that all the crap (preservatives etc) that are pumped into factory chickens when they are processed makes them not rot as quickly as naturally processed chicken bones. It reminds me of the twinky that will live longer than I do. Do I want to consume something that doesn't rot naturally. If it doesn't rot naturally what does it do to my body when my body tries to digest it? Just a random thought.....