Annie's Bathroom Rug Freshener

 If your family is at all like mine, then you will be able to relate to our bathroom rug dilemma.

Long before the bathroom rugs are in need of a washing, they looked trampled down, old, and neglected. If I washed them every time they looked this way, I would be washing them daily.

Instead, I have come up with Plan B.

Annie’s Bathroom Rug Freshener

• Shake rugs outside.
• Spray vinegar solution that we used for our upholstery freshener onto rugs, being sure to lightly and fully cover them. Be sure to test the solution in an inconspicuous spot on your rugs first. I have never had an issue, but you never can be absolutely sure until you try it.
• Place in dryer for 3 minutes. Seriously. Just 3 minutes. That is all it takes.
• Return to bathroom floor.

You will find that your rugs have returned to that “just home from the store and looking fabulous and fluffy” state. They will smell lovely too. Trust me.

I find this works well if you have company on the way, or if your mother just called to say she will be dropping in for a visit in ten minutes.

Have a wonderful day, my friends. Enjoy this extra blessing of snow while we have it. Very soon it will be a distant memory.

Remember what Thomas Edwards said, “To rejoice in another's prosperity, is to give content to your own lot: to mitigate another's grief, is to alleviate or dispel your own.”

~Annie

Setting up the Chicken Coop

Now is the time of the year that tiny chicks are making their way into the homes, basements, and outbuildings of many a soon-to-be chicken farmer.

It is also time to learn what to do with those chicks in order to take proper care of them.

I talked about what breeds of chicks I prefer to get according to my needs, here. However, before those chicks make it to your home and you are stuck with them in your bathtub for lack of a better alternative, it is time to start planning a course of action.

Housing
Once the order for your new flock has been placed, be sure that you have a warm and secure area for them to live for at least 3-5 weeks. This can be a large box, an old washtub, an empty livestock waterer with a screen placed over it.

The screen serves two purposes: to keep the critters out, and to keep the chicks in as they grow. They will become very curious, and will try to hop out.

Water
Chicks drown very easily, so the best waterers to get are the type that screw onto a mason jar and trickle out only a little water at a time. These can be found at any local farm store.

As the chicks grow, at about 6-7 weeks, you can change the waterers over to shallow pans, never filling them with more than an inch of water at a time.

Once full grown, you can put up to three inches of water in the waterer.

Feeders
The best types of feeders that I have found for baby chicks are long, shallow, and have a bar running down the middle across the top of them. The bar keeps the chicks from hopping in the feed and defecating in it.

As they get older, you may wish to switch to a feeder with no top bar.

Once full grown, you can use a shallow, large pan for the feed so that the chickens are able to spread out a bit as they eat. Based on how many you may have in a flock, you may want to split the feed up into two pans.

As a point of reference, I have ten chickens and use two pans. This ensures that all of your happy chickens friends get enough food.

Feed
I use a special medicated feed for my just-hatched chicks. I do realize that there are different camps on this one, but I find it to be the best choice for our homestead. The feed is specially designed for chicks, and helps them get a jump-start towards a healthy life.

After the initial bag of medicated feed, I then use a grower mash for meat birds. This helps the chickens develop their meatiness.

For my future layers, I use a laying mash. This mash helps the hens ready themselves for producing wonderful, nutritional eggs. Hens should begin laying at 10-12 months of age.

You should be sure to purchase some small gravel for the chickens. Sprinkle it throughout the feed every once in a while. This gravel will make its way to the chickens’ gizzards, which serve as a type of stomach, digesting and grinding up the food. You can find this gravel at a farm store as well.

Coop
Coops can be made to fit your needs, as well as the needs of your chickens. Be sure that the sides are tall enough that the chickens do not fly out. If this is not possible, make sure that the coop has netting across the top.

A nesting box/roosting area will help your chickens feel safe and comfortable at night. I have found that although we have six nesting boxes for nine hens, they all cram into two of the boxes. They seem to like being all crowded together.

Make sure that they have plenty hay in their boxes so that they stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

I keep my chickens year round. This may be done as long as you provide a heat lamp for them if you live in a colder climate. They will usually lay from March through November.

Enjoy your happy, cheeping fluff balls while you can! All too soon, they will grow into gawky, gangly adolescents, and finally, plump, beautiful hens and roosters.

There is nothing more relaxing than watching your flock strutting, scratching the dirt, and enjoying their new home.

As Anatole France said, “Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor by taking up another. ”

~Annie

Annie’s Easy Peasy Seedling Starters

Although there is no sign of warm temperatures in sight in my quaint little Northwest Indiana town, Spring in only two days away. This fact turns my attention to starting my spring and summer gardens.

While it is still definitely too early to be planting my real garden, it is not too early to be preparing the seedlings that will eventually find their way into the homestead garden plot.

JP and I choose to be a single income family most of the year so that I can be a stay-at-home-mom to Little Bug. Because of this, we live on a strict budget. We have no extra money for fancy seedling starters.

We have found this method to work wonderfully with all type of seedlings. From flowers to veggies, this inexpensive seedling starter recycles, as well as saves you money.

Annie’s Easy Peasy Seedling Starters

• Gather gallon sized milk jugs with lid in place. It is best to have at least one per variety of seedling you want to start indoors.
• Clean and dry out milk jugs.
• Cut jug almost completely in half, just under the handle, leaving 3 inches uncut.
• Fill with soil until one inch below cut on milk jug.. Not dirt. Dirt and soil seem to be used interchangeably, but they are totally different. Soil is used to grow plants. Dirt is usually unable to grow much of anything, including weeds. I like to use an organic, moisture holding variety of soil from the local farm store, but any soil will do.
• Using a permanent marker, write variety of seed on the milk jug so you won’t forget.
• Plant seeds. It is ok to crowd them in. They will not be in there long enough to get overcrowded.
• Water.
• Flip top of jug over onto rest of jug.
•  Place in sunny spot. It could be a windowsill, your living room floor; anywhere the sun will hit it.
• During the part of the day when the sun will hit it, flip top off of jug so that the seeds (and eventually seedlings) can get as much sun as possible. If it is warm enough, you can even take your seedling starter milk jugs outside for the day, however, be sure to bring them in at night if the temperatures get too chilly.
• When there is no sunlight, flip top onto jug, covering the seedlings. This will create a mini greenhouse for your precious seedlings.
• Once your garden plot has been tilled, the seedlings are at least several inches tall, and it is warm enough outside to plant, gently transfer seedlings. If you have more than you need, leave some in the jug to make sure that the planted ones take. If they don’t, transplant more seedlings into your garden. If you do not need the left over seedlings, give them to a friend or sell them at a farmers’ market.
• This method works great for container gardeners as well.

So there you have it, a cheap and relatively easy way to get your seeds planted and growing into seedlings.

Enjoy the remaining days of winter, lovelies. Very soon we will be wondering where all the cool breezes are as we toil in the hot sun.

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”  ~ Harriet Tubman

~Annie

My Journey Through Debt: Part 9A: Food From the Garden

Throughout my childhood, my family did not have two thin dimes to rub together.  We went for long stretches without electricity. The telephone was a luxury we could not afford. New anything was completely out of the question. However, we ate like kings and queens.

My sweet mama made sure we never went hungry. Ever. By the time she would pay the bills that she could from her meager paycheck, she would have $6.00 left to stretch through two weeks of food. Obviously a family of four was not going to make it on $3.00 a week for all the food that we consumed. Enter, the garden.

My sweet mama’s garden was more than just a tiny plot of land dedicated to a salsa garden or salad garden. My mama’s garden was meant to feed our family of four year round. You name it; we grew it.

Whatever we grew, we canned. Freezing our food was a bad option back then since our electricity was shut off so often. Instead, mama canned everything she could think of. Hundreds of canning jars lined our pantry. I honestly felt sorry for my friends that were not able to “shop” out of their pantry full of home canned goods.

That desire to have a garden and preserve food has been passed down to me. Not only is it cheaper to grow and preserve your own food, it is much healthier. When you grow your own food, there are no preservatives in them to make them shelf stable for years upon years. Those chemicals do not enter your body, leaving you a healthier individual.

The garden we had growing up was huge. It was my job to hoe it, water it, and harvest it. I hated that garden at the time, but I loved the food that we ate from it  all year long.

JP and I now have a much smaller garden, but we still grow a lot of our own food. As a part time agronomist, I work daily, 8-18 hours a day all summer long, yet still come home and tend the garden. No one can tell me that they do not have time for a garden. We all make choices in our lives. My choice is to have a garden so that we are able to save money and live a healthier lifestyle.

I preserve a lot of what is grown in our garden. Besides canning, I also freeze and dehydrate food in order to make it last longer. More on the “how-to” in later posts.

The money that I saved by growing my own food was put towards the principle of my debt. As I have said in earlier posts, every little bit helps.

For those of you that live in apartments or rentals and have no land that you are able to till into a garden, may I suggest you consider doing container gardening. While you will not be able to have a large harvest, you still would be able to have fresh, organic vegetables at a fraction of the store price.

As I battled the debt pit that I was seemingly drowning in, every little bit of momentum up and out of it was a Godsend.

Is it easy to keep up with a garden and preserves the fruits of your labor after a full day’s work? No. Is it worth it? Only you can be the judge of that. It truly depends on how much you want out of debt, or how healthy you want the food your family consumes, to be.

To me, it was definitely worth the time and effort to keep a garden. Remember, you are not in this alone. If you have a family, get them involved. Or ask your friends to help you. The garden can be a place of laughter, joy and fun. A place of family. A place of healing.

As Alfred Austin said, “Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are.”

Have a wonderful day, lovelies!

~Annie

Annie’s Natural Upholstery Freshener

As spring-cleaning time approaches, I will be sharing little tips for your cleaning pleasure. I love to organize. LOVE it. Cleaning? Not so much. However, I do realize it is necessary, and try to make the best of it while I clean away.

To freshen up the upholstery on furniture that has started to have an odor from daily use, pets, too many gym socks, etc., here is a tried and true, inexpensive idea.

Annie’s Natural Upholstery Freshener

• Obtain a 32 ounce spray bottle.
• Pour 8 ounces (1 cup) of white vinegar into bottle.
• Pour 24 ounces (3 cups) of water into bottle.
• Shake well.
• Test spray on hidden section of upholstery to ensure that it will not ruin the fabric. (I have never once had this mixture ruin anything, but you can never be too careful.)
• Spray entire piece of furniture with mixture, paying special attention to highly used areas. The piece of furniture will be damp.
• Allow upholstery to dry before using. I have found that a fan will help in the drying process.
• This spray may be used on carpets as well.
• While the white vinegar does have an odor while wet, once it dries, it will have no odor and will have taken away most, if not all, of the odor in the treated upholstery or carpet.
• If necessary, repeat steps until odor is gone.

A wonderful friend once gave us a much-needed sofa bed that had been left in their new home when they moved in. The former owner of the house had smoked around the couch for years. When I first got the couch to our house, I set it outside and doused it with Febreeze and other products like it. All it did was mask the odor for awhile.

My mom, who is my go-to person for all things natural, suggested the above vinegar-based spray. While it did take three applications, the smoke smell did come out of the upholstery. We were able to freshen up the sofa bed for hardly any money, and we were able to do so without using harsh chemicals.

I now use this mixture whenever I have upholstery or carpet that needs to be freshened up a bit. It is quick, easy, and inexpensive. If only all spring-cleaning projects were as easy as this one….

Enjoy your day, lovelies. And remember, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.”

~Annie

Annie’s Chickens

I grew up with chickens as a part of my everyday life. As long as I could remember, there was always a chicken coop somewhere in the backyard. Always a rooster and a few hens. Always fresh eggs.

To me, chickens are a soothing presence. The clucks, the struts, the cackles, the crows. All of it combines into a little taste and remembrance of fond memories of my childhood. Within a week of moving to our little homestead, I proudly came home with a mama hen and her 10 little chicks. JP just sighed and built a coop. I was in chicken heaven.

If you are thinking of joining the growing trend of owning your own chickens for eggs, meat, or pure enjoyment, there are several questions to keep in mind.

First of all, what is the purpose of your soon-to-be flock?  The answer to this question will lead you down the right path of selecting the ideal breed. 

If you are looking for a meat bird, a Cornish Cross could be for you. Cornish Cross are ready for butchering within 6-8 weeks. They are raised specifically as a meat bird. Be prepared to pour the feed into them towards the end of the 6-8 weeks. Poultry has a feed to meat ratio of 2:1, meaning that for every two pounds of feed you give your chicken, it will gain 1 pound of meat. I find my Cornish Cross to be plump in the breast and the thigh area. Perfect for stewing, roasting, or frying. Warning: In my experience, Cornish Cross chickens are VERY aggressive. I do not allow Little Bug to help me care for this group of chickens. I also keep them separated from the other breeds, as they will attack and peck at will.

If fresh eggs are your goal, I recommend Araucana chickens. These gentle ladies take almost a year to mature, but once they do, they will lay you the most beautiful eggs ever seen. Blue, green, pinkish, and yellowish brown, the eggs are so colorful that it almost seems a shame to eat them. However, once you do, you will be amazed at the rich, full flavor.

If you would like to raise a breed that will give you both meat and eggs, I recommend Buff Orpingtons. While not as meaty as the Cornish Cross, Buffs have a wonderful disposition, lay beautiful brown eggs, and are good in a stew pot.

Secondly, where will you be keeping your flock? Will you build them a coop? Will they be free range? I have had chickens both ways, and I have found that my ladies are happiest in their coop. They feel safe and lay better. In the winter months, they nestle amongst the hay and enjoy the heat lamps. In the summer, they go outside to catch a cool breeze. If they are in a coop, I have an easier time finding the eggs as well. Make sure to keep your coop clean and loaded with fresh straw or hay and plenty of fresh water.

If you decide to allow your chickens to free range, make sure you have plenty of room for them to roam. Unless you have very understanding neighbors, you do not want your chickens roaming away. It is not fair to the chickens or your neighbors. Also, be sure that you have fresh water available for them at all times, as well as shelter from bad weather.

Lastly, where will you obtain your chickens? I usually purchase mine through a local feed store of farm store. While you can get them through mail order, you do run the risk of them arriving dead or injured. By selecting them at the farm store, you can handpick the best ones for your new flock.

When ordering, you will be asked if you want a straight or mixed run. A straight run will be all one gender. This is ideal if you are ordering for egg layers. A mixed run will be a mix of hens and roosters. They are usually cheaper and are fine for meat birds.

If you decide to invest in egg layers, I HIGHLY recommend obtaining a rooster. Any breed will do, as long as the rooster has a good disposition and can control his lady friends. We have a Bantam rooster that keeps all nine of our hens in line. Without him, the hens were constantly fighting and pecking at each other. Once our rooster was introduced into the coop, the hens settled down into a much more peaceable existence. Make sure that you have a friendly rooster. This is essential to the happiness of your coop. This can be done by raising a mixed run and noting the friendliest rooster as the one to keep. Note: Our rooster needs a break from his ladies every now and then. Every day he takes himself over to the goat pen to hang out with Ellie the goat. I have found that by allowing him to do this, he is a much happier, stress-free rooster. This may be true for your rooster as well.

There are several breeds of chickens from which to choose. I have shared with you the breeds that work best for my situation. Each situation is different. I urge you to research which breeds are best for you.

Remember, Frank Lloyd Wright said, “Regard it just as desirable to build a chicken house as it is to build a cathedral.”

Enjoy your new additions and stay tuned for a future post on how to care for your new chickens once you get them home.

~Annie

Dirty Jobs

Dirty jobs are a given on any homestead. Most people run, screaming, from those jobs that include vast amounts of dirt, grease, or gunk. Those jobs that smell so horribly that you long for Vicks to be smeared under your nose. Most people, but not me.

I enjoy these jobs. I love making something that was dirty and gross into something clean and wonderful again.

JP is more than happy to let me have all the dirty jobs I desire. The most recent major dirty job involved the gray water tanks for our clothes washer.

Our washer was overflowing and backing up. This led to us digging up the gray water tanks. We found them to be filled with decades of grime, grease and roots. The smell was overwhelming. I was in my element.

I took it as my personal challenge to thoroughly clean the tanks of all the nastiness. While JP assisted me, I bailed out the water from the tanks, and then started in on the three feet of gunk.

After hours of cleaning, hauling, and washing, I was finished with my task. JP ran a new line, and we were back in business.

These gray water tanks remind me of my life. Overtime, gunk and grime build up in my life. It could come in many forms: extra pounds, regret, not forgiving wrongs committed against me, and so much more.

I am working on learning to be just as zealous to clean out my life, as I am our gray water tanks.

People ask me all of the time how I remain so positive. How I can seemingly be constantly joyous. The answer is found in the Bible. Psalm 51:10 says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”

Everyday, with God’s help, I CHOOSE JOY. I ask God to help me forgive those that have wronged me. To help me forgive myself for any regrets I may have. To help me sustain self-control when it comes to the delicious foods that are placed in my path. To remind me of ALL of the BLESSINGS that are in my life. I choose to cleanse my life of the grime and become clean again.

Dirty jobs happen in everyone’s life. I challenge you to face them head on, with a joyful spirit, choosing joy.

As Henri Nouwen said, “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.”

~Annie

Blackberries

Blackberries

Every summer JP makes his way to the back of our acreage for an annual tradition: blackberry picking.

When we bought our property, all but two acres were in cultivation. We chose to let our land return to its natural state. Over time we watched with great delight as wild blackberry bushes began to grow and spread. We now have about three acres of blackberries on our property.

The very first season that we picked blackberries; I accompanied JP to the berry patch. In the hour that we were out, I picked maybe a pint. JP on the other hand, had picked over a gallon and was going strong. From that day forward, he was delegated to be the homestead’s main blackberry picker.

Over the years we have had slim pickings (less than one handful of berries,) and bounty beyond measure (eleven gallons and more on the bushes to share with friends.) On those years that we have extra, we try to put them up so that we never run out.

When I go to the grocery, I see 6-ounce containers of black berries selling for $2.88- $4.59, depending on the season. When I see this, I thank God for His gift of free berries, and renew my promise to not let them go to waste.

We use blackberries everyday. JP loves them mixed with plain yogurt for a healthy snack at work. Little bug enjoys them when they are made into blackberry jam and spread on toast. We all devour them when I make them into cobbler. (Stay tuned to tomorrow’s post for my blackberry cobbler recipe.)

So, as the snow and cold of winter surrounds our little homestead, I will keep my mind on this delectable treat of summer. On how JP is teaching Little Bug the skills of berry picking. On the memories we have made picking, sorting, and preserving our blackberries each year.

Our blackberry patch has a lot that it can teach us. While is seems to just be a briar patch, full of thorns, most of the year, if we are patient, it will produce the sweetest, most succulent berries one could imagine.

May we go out into the world, ready to tend those seemingly prickly areas of our lives and the lives of those around us. May we patiently wait for the first fruits to come on. May we enjoy the bountiful harvest of our lives, living each day to the fullest.

Do you have a berry patch available to you? If so, what do you do with the berries that you glean from the branches?

As an old Irish proverb says, “What will come from the briar but the berry.”

~Annie

Welcome to Homestead Annie!

Hello!

For years I have been told to write. Write a book. Write a paper. Write a cookbook. Write a blog. Writing is my release. It is my way to make sense of  my journey through life.

I have many interests, and I enjoy writing about all of them. I love cooking. Recipes.  Homesteading. Canning. Animals. 4-H. Education. Firearms. Tomahawks. Reading. Living.

My crazy, eclectic family will make appearances on a regular basis, as well.   God has given me a wonderful husband, a precious little girl, and a fabulous cast of characters to round out our family. I hope you stick around to find out more about them. I assure you that you will love them as much as I do once you get to know them.

Many things have changed in my life,and I am excited to share them with you. I am no longer the same Annie that I was three years ago. I have delved deeper into myself. I have realized that life is a crazy, exciting, mixed up journey, and I want to experience every minute of it. 

 Every day I CHOOSE JOY. Everyday I live life to the FULLEST. I invite you to come along for the ride.

~Annie