Disabled Farming

I had two weeks notice of my knee surgery that was scheduled for mid June this year.  I would be fully on crutches for at least 6 weeks, not able to put any weight on my left foot at all.  So I used those two weeks to prepare as best I could, making things as easy as possible for my dear husband while he was without my help.

I planted just one row of green beans in the raised bed garden, hoping to have figured out the crutches by the time they were producing.  And Frank helped me lay down silo plastic in our 20x30 garden space.  I cut holes in the plastic and planted watermelons in about a third of the space.  The other third was planted with Sweet Meat Squash.

I also planted a couple of tomato plants in pots that were next to the driveway, along with some of my favorite herbs, figuring that I could sit in a chair to care for the plants as much as they would need.

That all worked out quite well.  We bought 2 Jersey bull calves about a week prior to the surgery and they had the "assignment" of nursing the cow so that we wouldn't need to worry about milking.  I wanted to be able to visit the animals - one of my greatest joys in living on our hobby farm - so I built a seat that would fit into the weight bucket on the back of our small tractor.

Here's a picture of me sitting on that seat, from just a week or so ago, while pulling the milking machine up in the garden wagon:

The hope was that the surgery would relieve my pain enough that I could return to work and to a more normally active lifestyle, however, the arthritis in my knee worsened during those weeks of inactivity.  So, my life now is at a more sedate pace and I am learning to adjust.  I am free of the crutches, but still use a cane when away from the house.  If I walk up to the barnyard, I take a walking stick along to help me be more steady on my feet.

While I enjoy milking by hand, sitting on the low stool to do so is very hard on my knees and getting back up from that position is agony.  So I am learning to enjoy how quickly the cow milks out with the machine.  And, frankly, I get a LOT more cream when using the machine.  So, a bonus I wasn't expecting.

I plan on building more raised beds for the garden in the future, as I can sit in a low chair to work.  I will have Frank till up my "intermittent row garden" again next year and I will either sit in the grass to tend it or I will put down the side of the garden wagon and sit in it to do the work.  Here's a picture of the intermittent row garden from a previous year:

I'm moving more slowly now and sit down to work as often as I can.  I plan things I can do while sitting in my recliner with my feet up, as sitting with them down makes my knee ache even more.  Instead of working away from home, I am venturing into selling my body care products online and have been doing some writing online, too.

One good thing about all of this is that it has freed me up to be of service to family and friends who need a bit of help.  I can't do a lot, but I can drive, I can listen, and I can be moral support.  I am incredibly blessed by otherwise good health and having a direction to go now that the path has changed.

Butter!

I usually make ghee from most of the butter I make.  I guess I just haven't gotten the hang of getting the butter rinsed properly or maybe I don't get enough of the water out because it always starts changing flavor within a day or two of being made.  And I prefer the flavor of sweet cream butter.  I have tried cultivated cream butter and it is okay, but it still turns cheesy in flavor within a few days.

Yesterday I decided to store my butter in the freezer to make it less likely to change flavor on me.  So once I had it shaken up and washed/rinsed, I laid out a piece of waxed paper and made a slight crease halfway down the length of the paper.  The I plopped out portions of approximately 1/4 cup each.  I then folded over the other end of the waxed paper to cover the butter and placed it in my freezer.  It took three pieces of waxed paper to portion out all the butter I made from 3/4 gallon of rich cream and I gently stacked them up.

Once frozen, I placed the butter, waxed paper and all, into a Ziploc freezer bag for storage.  I kept out about a quarter cup of butter in a small plastic container with a lid and am keeping it in the refrigerator.  This morning, I actually remembered to take it out early enough so that the butter was nice and soft when I made my toast.

I'm really hoping that this method works because I can't stomach paying $4 per pound for butter.  Yikes!

A couple of weeks ago, I found some cream I had frozen up and decided to use it to make some butter.  I also had a half gallon of fresh cream, so I made each batch of cream into butter without blending the creams together.  Here's a photo of what the resulting butter looked like:

The fresh cream butter is on the left and has a lovely, deep yellow appearance, which means it has a lot of beta carotene in it.  The cow gets the beta carotene from eating fresh grass.  It is good for us, too!  The frozen cream butter is on the right and was from cream frozen (and milked out of the cow), in March.  Her diet at that time of year mainly consists of hay.  She also gets grain and I grow fodder - grain seeds grown hydroponically until they have a nice root mat and the tops are 3-4 inches tall.  I've found that the fodder makes her milk, thus the cream, even whiter.

I blended the two together to cook down into ghee, and it is as delightful as ever, I'm happy to say.  I took the picture because I've always "known" that there was a big difference between summer and winter milk/cream/dairy products, but I wanted the evidence before my eyes.

Making body care products

Two weeks ago, I spent the day at my friend's horse farm, wandering around with Cathy and picking herbs for making into salves.  It was a glorious fall day with a deep blue sky, and just enough of a light breeze to keep it from being hot.

Our husbands were busy splitting firewood, so we had plenty of time to catch up on family news and just chatter.  The kind of thing that drives the guys crazy, but women thrive on.

So, in the intervening time, I have been extracting the herbs into oils and making salves from their goodness.  Wilding Salve is potent against bug bites and stings, rashes from contact with plants such as nettles and poison ivy, and viral rashes like herpes.  It is filled with the goodness of orange jewelweed, plantain, and comfrey.

Country Garden Salve is very good on bumps and bruises, encouraging circulation with Nutmeg EO.  I also use it on healing sores and scars.  It is rich with calendula, plantain, comfrey and essential oils.  It so pleases me to make these salves and help my friends and family with their healing process.

I've also been making body butters and sugar scrubs per order.  Happy Honeybee is based on two essential oils that make honeybees happy - Spearmint and Lemongrass.  Lemongrass-Lavender is a feminine yet refreshing scent and is very popular.

I only use good quality essential oils in the products I make, never fragrance oils.  I gather herbs in a responsible manner, always leaving plenty to more than replace what I have harvested, scattering seed from those plants that re-seed themselves.  I use high quality oils (mainly organic) from a reputable source to extract the essences of the herbs, and fats harvested from animals raised here on our farm.

Here's a picture of a recent order that I sent out:

Christmas Balm is a combination muscle rub/decongestant that warms and cools with the essences of cayenne, ginger, and menthol.  Essential oils such as tea tree and camphor help open the pores as well as the respiratory tract and I add aspirin to the blend to sooth my arthritic joints and sore muscles.

Body butters and sugar scrubs come in an 8 oz plastic jar.  The scents I described above are available in either one and I can also scent them with any of the essential oils I have on hand:  Lime, Sweet Orange, Lemongrass (combine the three citrus scents - whoo!), Pine, Spruce, Texas Cedarwood, Lavender, and Clove.   Choose a combination of your own, if you like, as there is no extra charge for special blends.

I also sell lip balms in 1/2 oz tubes in the following varieties:
 - Smooth Cocoa:  made with natural cocoa butter, so has a light chocolate flavor
 - Lime Coconut: with lime EO
 - Cooling Citrus: with three citrus EO's and menthol. Very refreshing!
 - Mint Cocoa: natural cocoa butter and spearmint EO

The lip balms are also offered in a lightly tinted version, which gives just a hint of color when applied.

Shipping for combinations of lip balms and the 1/2 oz samples sizes will be a flat rate of $5.95 as they will fit in the small flat rate postal box.

I send a free gift of my choice with each order placed and will also include a product guide with descriptions and usage tips for each of the products I offer.

Stay tuned - I'm hoping to be able to make soap again soon!

Fall on the Homestead

I guess today is the first official day of Fall.  We've had many autumn-like days throughout the month of September but today the temps are in the upper 70's and the humidity is almost the same number.  Fall?  I don't think so!

As I drive around the countryside, though, I see that leaves are changing.  Most of the soybean fields are ready to be harvested and much of the corn is turning pale with the ears starting to turn downward.  For West-Central Wisconsin, it is very late in the year to have not had a frost yet.  I'll take it.

I've been harvesting apples for a couple of weeks now and just recently we bought a half a pig, to get us through until our piglets are ready for freezer camp.  I love apples with pork, they just go together.  Although I don't remember my mom pairing them up together, I do remember the episode of the Brady Bunch when Bobby Brady imitated Humphrey Bogart and said they were having "Poa-k chopsss and applesssaucccce" for supper.

One of my favorite ways of preparing a combination of the two is to brown pork chops or pork steaks in a bit of butter, then covering the meat with 3-4 cups of cut up apples, peeled and cored.  Sprinkle with a little ground cardamom, cover with a snug-fitting lid, and turn the heat down low.  Let it cook long and slow for about an hour.  Yum!

After browning, it could be put in a crock pot or slow cooker, if you have time earlier in the day to prepare ahead.

Thanks for joining me!  I hope you come back soon and often.  I plan on giving meanderings about doings on the homestead, share some recipes, and offer some of my bath and body products for sale.  I hope to hear from you soon!