Queen's Edge Farm: The Dog Days of Summer

Monday, August 2, 2010

The Dog Days of Summer

James is now 18 months old! The time has gone by fast. He walks so much better, zooming all over the place. He loves to be outside getting dirty, and loves to be naked. He is constantly removing his diaper, and I have to chase him down with another. He loves to talk and can say even more words, and it is funny how much he understands when you talk to him.

Hannah turned 7 and has a super attitude problem, acting more like 13 than 7. Lauren's attitude has grown and she often treats me like I am the child. I am buckling down on the discipline, and insisting on more respect and obedience.

After a year and a half, I am about done with the decluttering of this place. Only a few items left to remove from the place. Next on my list is to clean the carpets and clean out the woodstove. I know it is early, but I want to have the place ready to go for the Winter, as last year's was not fun at all. We now have more space to move around in here, more storage, better organization, better insulation and heating sources, plus a handle on our schoolwork.

Also on the list is to clean out behind the cabin. Grass has been cut and a few items have been moved to the barn, but the inside of the cabin has been my priority. I'd like to move all the burn barrels to near the barn, and have the outside "yard" nice and clean. Since we technically are not supposed to be living in a container here, I try to keep it clean and tidy, and "un-junky". I'd dearly love to park all the vehicles in the back by the barn to keep the focus off the land.

I have been reading a good book by Nick Rosen titled "How to live off-grid". It is primarily interviews with a variety of people who live off-grid, in various levels, in the UK. I thought we had a lot of rules and right infringements in the U.S., but man! Makes me glad to live here. That is not to say that we need to give up the fight to keep our rights. I'd hate to end up like the UK. From reading this book, one of the worst things to happen to the UK is their entrance into the EU. Confirms my belief that the U.S. needs to stay out of the UN and such partnerships. But the books is interesting, and contains good info. His most recent book came out last week, and is another book along these lines, but it is interview with Americans living off-grid. Pretty cool! I actually know one of the people in the book!

I'd love to live off-grid, but it can be expensive to set up. My most pressing need is a way to pump the water out of the well. I would love a wind mill, wind turbine or solar pump. This would pump the water into our 1100 gallon tank for storage, and fill the pond. Water would then be supplied to the house via gravity.
On the off-grid side we'd need a lot to set up. We have a generator, but I'd need batteries to keep charged for everyday use, solar panels would be nice, at least to provide power for lights and the computer. A wind turbine would be great! We have lots of wind, so it would help supplement the solar power nicely, it's just coming up with the money for these things. I am back to feeling the pressure to be as prepared as possible for an economic collapse of some sort. I know many believe we are "coming out" of the "recession", but I don't. I believe we are in the midst of a depression, and it will only get worse. People are becoming too complacent about the evidence, and are still hiding their heads in the sand.

Oh, I notice people grouping together to live in one house, or families bringing RVs to live on one piece of property, but for them it is a temporary thing. I want to know what they are planning long term.

Even people I know, church family and immediate family aren't taking this thing seriously. I doubt many of them have enough food to last two weeks, much less months. What about shelter? Water? Security? It is high time we get ourselves together Spiritually, Financially, Economically and Physically. Are you prepared for the long haul? It is not something you can accomplish overnight, unless you are wealthly. I have been working on these things since 2006, and am not near as ready as I need to be. It can be daunting, and depressing at times. But today I had my belief that God has been preparing me for this, confirmed, again. A former church member shared what has been on his heart and mind the past year, and it was what I had been trying to tell our congregation for four years! See! I am not the lone crazy person in our group! LOL!

Reading all I can, refreshing my mind with Proverbs 31 and forging ahead.

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Grandma's Yummy Cinnamon Rolls

2 pkgs active dry yeast or 5 tsps if using bulk yeast
1/2 cup warm water (not too hot)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening, butter, margarine
2 tsps salt
2 cups milk, scalded
1 1/2 cups cold water
10 to 12 cups flour (white or whole wheat)

Yield: 4 loaves

Soften yeast in warm water, springkle in a tsp of the sugar
In LARGE mixing bowl blend sugar, shortening, salt and milk until shortening is melted. Add cold water, cool to luke-warm. Stir in yeast. Gradually add flour to form a stiff dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth and satiny, 5 to 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover with foil or damp towel. Let rise in warm place (85 to 90 deg) until light and doubled in volume about two hours. Punch dough down by plunging fist in center. Knead dough for about 5 minutes.

Roll out one fourth of dough to a 16 X 12 inch rectangle. Brush with 2 TBSP of melted butter. Combine 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1/3 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon (or more to taste). Sprinkle mixture over dough. Starting with 16 inch side, roll jellyroll fashion. Either cut into 16 1 inch slices or leave as a whole loaf. Place on a greased pan, cover and let rise in warm place until light, about 30 to 45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees about 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Mix one box 10X sugar with 2 tbsps water. If too stiff, add more water until icing consistency, add a drop of vanilla too. Spread on baked bread while bread is still warm.

2010 Homestead Stats

Laundry Soap

Homemade Laundry Soap:
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
~You will also need a small washpan or bowl that holds about 2 gallons.

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the washpan. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Transfer soap (using a funnel if necessary) into empty plastic laundry holders, milk containers (I use my empty glass milk bottles and old Fab containers) Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use ½ cup per load.

Wild Mustang Grape Jelly

Wild Mustang Grape Jelly

5 cups grape juice (about 3 1/2 pounds of ripe grapes)1 (1 3/4 ounce) box of sure-jel pectin7 cups sugarBefore getting started it is best to clean the entire kitchen, making sure the sink is empty. Bleach the sink and all utensils used in making jelly (I do this as I sell my grape jelly as part of my homesteading business.)

Wash the canning jars in warm soapy water, and rinse well. Set off to side.

Place a large pan of water on the stove to heat. Once it starts steaming, place lids and rings in the bottom, and 2-3 jars (depending on if you use actual jelly jars or pints) to sterilize.

Next make the grape juice using clean washed grapes (make sure you use rubber gloves when picking or washing wild grapes)To 3 1/2 pounds of clean grapes (6 cups of grapes) add 1 1/2 cups water.Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 10 minutes.Strain and squeeze out all of the juice with cheese cloth (see paragraph below)
I didn't have cheese cloth, so I poured the grape mixture into a large spaghetti strainer with a large pan underneath. I had to stir it around some as the skins and seeds would sink to the bottom, and clog the colander up. Stirring allowed the liquid to drain out. I then used a large metal spoon and squished it some to get more of the juice out.

In a very big pan, put 5 cups of the juice (it’s okay to add no more than ½ cup water to even out amount)Add the fruit pectin to the juice.Mix well.On high heat, bring to a full rolling boil, and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.Stir in sugar all at once, and bring back to a full rolling boil, again boil hard for 1 minute stirring constantly.
Remove jelly from heat, skim off foam
Use a large spoon inserted inside the jar to lift CAREFULLY out of the water. DO NOT TOUCH THE INSIDE OF THE JAR OR THE RIM WITH YOUR HANDS.
Ladle jelly into hot jars, place a lid and ring onto jar (do not tighten yet).
Set jars to the side. After a while you should start hearing “pings” as the jar seals.
When jars are completely cool, tighten rings and store on pantry shelf.**SIDE NOTE: Wild Mustang Grapes are normally ready the end of June, so be prepared. Keep an eye open for vines on the side of the road, or any that friends and family may have growing in their yard. Many people just let them grow and don’t do anything with them, so it shouldn’t be hard to find a good supply. Also, the more you pick off the vine, the more the vine produces new grapes, so you probably won’t EVER run out of grapes to use until the vine dies or you get sick of making jelly. Good luck and feel free to contact me at queensedgefarm@yahoo.com for questions.