8:51am
I crave these mornings where I am allowed to close myself in my office and get some much needed work done. I couldn’t imagine how hard homesteading would be if both of us worked full-time away from home. I couldn’t imagine this would even be possible if I had an unsupportive spouse who didn’t help me with any of it. I thank God I have a husband who has fallen in love with the farm as much as I have.
I left the chicken stock out on the counter all night but we are still gonna eat it. I usually remember to stick it in the fridge after it’s all cooked, but last night I fell asleep on the couch before 10 pm (which is early for me). I plan on making Black Bean Soup and Cornbread for dinner (not Paleo at all and I don’t even care right now). Speaking of eating according to a book…I got an email from a reader who took the liberty to tell me that he is unsubscribing from my blog because I purchased a dairy cow and that was not Paleo at all.
It gave me quite a chuckle and the thought of telling him to just “MOOOOOOOOve on” did pop in my mind a few times, however I think some people just aren’t educated in the way of farming and homesteading. There are too many “meat heads” who live the SAD life of going to the gym and pumping iron, going to work, stopping for their Starbucks, and then going home and reading blogs, like mine, and passing judgement.
It’s easier to pick up your grass-fed beef from the grocery store than to understand what it takes to raise it.
So, I took the liberty to educate him a little bit and this was my reply:
“Well since you obviously are anti-dairy, I won’t go into all the health benefits of raw milk, cheese, cream that comes from the pastured cow…especially for growing children like mine.
There’s countless other benefits of having a dairy cow. One, they are the most productive, efficient creature on earth. And for our sustainable farm, their benefits are numerous:
1) she provides rich manure for my garden and land.
2) each year she gives me a calf to raise and use for meat
3) her 4+ gallons of milk with provide my family, hogs, chickens, and other farm animals with nutritious and protein rich milk.Quite simply, the family that keeps a cow is a healthy family. I encourage you to do your research before passing judgment. We are homesteaders who raise 80% of our own food.
Do what you got to do and unsubscribe though,
Jackie”
Having a milk cow for milk is one of the main factors we purchased Holly, but having a cow that gives us a calf each year to raise for grass-fed beef is another. Not to mention all the wonderful manure that Holly will bring to my garden. I’m ecstatic!
Plus I am not one to live up to stereotypes. Sure my blog is “The Paleo Mama” but do you all really think that all us Paleo bloggers eat 100 percent Paleo (which by the way I don’t even consider myself a “paleo blogger”)? I did write an article once on why my family drinks raw milk…even though I am Paleo (my kids really aren’t).
Anyways, I’ve learned years ago to never let the naysayers spoil my day. Moving on.
1:41 pm
TONS more tomatos were blanched, skins removed, and then thrown into pint-sized freezer bags and into the freezer. I’m so happy we have freezer space and I don’t have to can them. I’m pretty sure we grew enough tomatoes for the whole year. I didn’t grow enough onions for the year, although I did braid them today and hang them up in the kitchen.
I made the soup and cornbread for lunch instead and the kids gobbled down 2 pieces of cornbread and didn’t care too much for the beans in the soup. They washed it down with some southern sweet tea and now they are in their rooms for quiet time. Neither take naps anymore and haven’t for years, but I can usually get them to settle for an hour in the afternoons. Mama needs this hour!
The hubs and his friend are building my milking area in the barn! Holly isn’t used to being in a stanchion…you simply just tie her off and give her feed. She seriously is a dream to milk…doesn’t kick, doesn’t move…just stands perfectly still! I can’t wait!
We have a lead on someone who wants our 2 nubians! Yay…just 7 more goats to go. Selling them is taking much longer than I expected. We sold 6 of them in the spring pretty quickly. I’m just praying we get good buyers who are going to take care of them. I sure will miss them…especially Snowflake.
I didn’t think about it before, but the 2 Livestock Guardian Dogs we have (Esme and Everest) are going to be so confused when the goats are all gone. They have bonded with the herd and I’m sure they are going to miss them too. Hopefully they can bond with the 3 sheep a little bit better once the goats are gone.
One more month till school starts! I wish I could say I was more sad about both kids being in school at the same time. Barefoot Boy is going into Kindergarten and Dreamcatcher is going into 2nd grade. I do feel a little sad to have school-aged kids now. It seems like the infant/toddler phase of motherhood has come and gone so quickly; however, I am so happy to be entering into this next chapter of our life.
We’ve chosen not to homeschool anymore. There’s quite a few reasons why we have come to this decision, and we know it’s the best one for our kids. They are so excited to meet some new friends in our community. We have no neighbors because we are in rural WNC so they don’t have anyone to play with this summer other than each other.
Also, it was just too much for me to take on…I am the main breadwinner, we have a large farm, I travel for my essential oil team, and so many more reasons.
This past year was so chaotic with traveling (thank God we have a trustworthy farm hand)…..
- In September we went to Salt Lake City, Utah.
- In January we went to the Dominican Republic.
- In February we went to Orlando, Fl.
- In March we went to Houston, TX.
- In April we went to Portland, Maine.
- In May we went to Savannah, GA and then down to Orlando, Fl.
We have taken the summer off from traveling and I can’t begin to describe to you how nice it is! I love being home on my farm!
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