Homemaker

Money has become very tight for us and I am trying to find every way to cut expenses.

I always clean up and dig soil ammendments into the garden in the fall so it is ready to plant in the spring. Usually I buy bagged manure and compost from Lowes to dig in.

This year I am killing myself to mow with the push mower to collect grass clippings and chopped up leaves to roughly dig into the garden beds. I'm using what I have in my own yard and I'm getting more exercise. I have used leaves and grass before, just not this exclusively.

I'm hoping that by using the leaves and grass, along with the staw and chicken poo from the coop, wood ashes and my compost, I'll be able to get by without buying any fertilizer.

Great idea! I've been wanting one of those.

It's just barely on a simmer...you could even use a crockpot if you wanted.

I think it's worth it in order to get a natural, complete form of minerals that the body can easily absorb and use. The synthetic minerals in most multivitamins are very difficult for the body to deal with.

Does it cost to keep your stove or crockpot running several days? Sure, but I think about how expensive medical bills will be later when my body is suffering from the pain of weakened bones. Pay a little now, or pay a whole lot more, along with the suffering, later.

Go for it!!

(Not that I'd ever be able to find any in my clean sterile modern grocery store. I 've never seen any at my natural foods co-op either.)

Judging by how nasty people can get in parking lots trying to get the closest spot, I don't think many would be willing to walk it. They'd just sit by the side of the trail and whine, hoping the stagecoach would come by soon.

I'm sure that mice and moles could still tunnel in from the bottom.

I've had great success growing pumpkins and winter squash on mounds of straw. I just scrape back some of the straw, spread in some compost and plant.

As they grow, the straw is breaking down, and the worms are working the organic matter into the soil. After I harvest, I spread on some cow manure and let it continue rotting over the winter.

When spring comes, I plant potatoes in the rich shallow soil the worms dug for me. I layer on lots of straw as the vines come up. I get a decent crop of potatoes, but not as much as in deeply tilled soil. After that second year of straw covering, the worms have deepened the soil even more. When I dig up the potatoes, I'm giving the soil in that bed it's first real digging. I find the organic matter worked down a good 6 inches or so. I layer on more manure and straw for the winter and come spring it's ready to be planted with anything but root crops. I usually do pole beans and cucumbers.

Each year I've added a new bed to my garden using this method. I keep them all mulched with straw or leaves. My soil is getting very rich and I don't need to use a shovel. I just lightly stir up the top 3 inches when I plant seeds. The only time I take a shovel to it is when I dig the potatoes.

I love the way Ruth Stout thinks. No-till gardening is such a blessing!

By the way, Ruth Stout is my great-great aunt. I have a picture of her feeding her chickens. (Not the same Ruth stout!!)

I just got 9 more bags of apples last night. Rather than make it all into applesauce, I'm going to make a few jars of cider.

I keep the pumpkins in the garage or basement so they don't freeze. I bring them out one every few weeks. I had only 8 hens last year and they took about two weeks to finish one. even when they froze, they would thaw enough most days for the hens to peck at them. The cold kept them from molding. At first, I would break them open for them, but they soon learned to peck through the rind themselves.

The squirrels also helped themselves when the hens weren't around to chase them off.

I'm really laid back when it comes to my eggs. I don't wash them. If any are poopy, I rub off what I can and don't wash it until I'm ready to use it. Usually, I just let the dog have the poopy ones. He'll eat them shells and all!

In the summer, I keep the eggs in a bowl on the counter until morning when I use them in our omlette. I rotate the older ones out of the egg holder and put in the ones in the bowl from the day before. In the winter when we didn't have much of a surplus I didn't bother putting them in the fridge. My kitchen is around 55-60 degrees in the winter, so they keep well.

I haven't been giving my girls their oyster shell the past few months. They free range, and they're getting what they need from the bugs they eat. The shells have been nice and strong. I'll start back on it when the frosts start up.

Lately, I've been letting them run out of food after their breakfast and they find plenty out in the yard. Their crops are bulging, so they're finding plenty. They don't believe me when I tell them they don't need me to fill up the feeders with their pellets. They let me know quite clearly that they are dying and that I'm a cruel mother. I re-fill them in the evening. I'll miss that free food come winter. I'm going to look for reduced price pumpkins after halloween to give to them over the winter. That helps keep their yolks nice and dark when the yard is void of greens.

I always have bowls of kombucha going.

I'm having trouble keeping up with demand. My son has his girlfriend drinking it now when she comes over.

As soon as I get to the store, I'll make a batch of Kvass, which is a fermented Soviet drink using bread and fruit.

I'm also getting some sweet potatoes to make an african drink called fly. I've never tried it before, so I'll have to let you know how it goes.

Hey, I think I'd actually wear the pom pom poncho.

It's cute!

Stephanie,

Your kids certainly wouldn't learn canning in public school.

In fact, when I was in home ec. I learned how to make monkey bread with pillsbury dough from a can, and peanut brittle. Boy, that'll keep you going strong!

Now your kids will share in the pride when you pop open a can of pork for a meal.

I'm having my son help me build my chicken coop.

While I don't really have any building expertise, at least he's learning that when you put your mind and back to it, you can figure things out.

Alot of the time, people dismiss the idea of doing things themself because they haven't been taught. My son is learning that you can often figure it out as you go. This will be an important skill to have... confidence.

I've been using it for five years.

I stopped using all vegetable oils and shortenings for cooking and used coconut, red palm, butter or olive oil instead. It wasn't a difficult switch at all.

It takes alittle time and determination to eat it from the spoon. The red palm oil is worse, but so worth it!

I have made so many changes in my diet that I can't tell you specifically which health improvements are because of the oil. I know my skin is softer and smoother because of it.

Please don't mistake this for bragging, but, since I transformed my health five years ago, people think I'm my kids sister instead of their mother. When I'm with my daughter and her baby, people assume I'm the mother and are shocked when I tell them I'm the proud grandma. Because of this, my daughters use the oil as well. They want to keep their skin and hair looking young.

I have a friend who eats the way I do and she is about 50 years old. I think she looks around 40. Her skin is still soft and smooth and glowing.

It's not just the coconut oil. There's no quick fix.

Wow, I didn't know there were local chapters.

I looked up my closest chapters, one in Roanoke, and one in Botetourt/Rockbridge.

I was also delighted to see that Harvey Ussery has a chapter in his area. I attended his homesteading conference last month.

Coconut oil is solid in cooler temps. and softens as it warms up.

To eat it off the spoon, work your way up. It takes a while to get used to the oily feeling. You may want to eat it with your meal to wash it down with bites of food. That way you feel satisfied sooner and eat less.

I highly suggest the cookbook, Nourishing traditions. It's more than a cookbook. It's also packed with information on nutrition and the effects of food on your health.

Great links. I added them to my favorites so I can check them out later.

I get my five gallon buckets of oil from Tropical Traditions. I get their gold label organic oil. It's around $250 including tax and shipping. Quite expensive, but we view it as our medicine to avoid drugs, doctor visits, surgeries and pain and suffering. It's quite affordable when you look at it that way. My Mom spends around $300 a month out of pocket for her drugs just to be able to move around.

It's like the old saying goes... Let food be your medicine, and medicine be your food.

We just started the oil pulling for oral health,(swishing oil around in your mouth before eating in order to dislodge and remove bacteria from your mouth so you don't swallow it,) so I will be getting the cheaper expellier expressed oil for that and for skin and hair. This will save the more expensive virgin CO for eating.

Thanks so much for posting this info!

Sally Fallon and Mary Enig aren't the only ones who believe this.

The truth is getting out about the healthy way people used to eat, but the big cooperations and those who live out of their pockets are still trying to hide it. They made big bucks and entire financial empires were built whey they showed "simple ignorant" people that the foods they were eating could be "improved" by buying their product.

If anyone is interested in learning about cholesterol and how it is actually a healthy omega 3, needed by your body for immune system support, there is a book called The Cholesterol Myth. You can also just google the cholesterol myth and read a lot of articles on this important subject we have been deceived about. I would post some links if I knew how, but maybe someone else can find some and post them.

My family loves coconut oil and what it has done for our health and skin and hair that we buy it by the 5 gallon bucket. We go through this in about a year. Even my daughter who married and moved out brings back her empty jars to be re-filled from the tub. She is using the oil on her baby to control diaper rash, cradle cap and the irritation babies can get in the folds of their skin. She also rubs a little into her eyes and nose to keep her nasal passages moist and germ free. My other daughter got her boss' family using it in cooking and on the skin and they in turn got another family using it. That is how this information spreads. You'll never hear about it on tv or in a women's magazine. It's going word of mouth, or, "word of skin, health and taste-buds!"

I pick up some elderly ladies once a month to take them out shopping and banking. At the assisted living center where they live, a lot of residents garden in those large rubbermaid tubs.

They use 2-liter bottles with the bottoms cut off, upside down in the dirt to fill with water.

I am so glad the center allows them to do this. I know I would lose heart and prefer to die if I lost my connection to the soil. If I cant till the soil... bury me under the soil!

Don't worry Tracy, I'm not shocked about the bones from your plate. As they say... waste not, want not.

We may find ourselves discarding a lot of our modern, civilized notions as things get worse. We may find ourselves healthier because of it!

It's funny, I was just looking this stuff up last week.

Vitamin C deficiency is very common, maybe not full blown scurvy causing deficiency, but mildly.

The different sites I looked at listed different steeping times. Also, the variety specifically mentioned was white pine. You can use other kinds.

It's good to know of a highly consentrated source of vitamin C. I'm just concerned about the whole abortion thing. What is the substance that causes this and how does it affect non-pregnant people? Nothing I looked at even went into that. It would seem like an important thing to know.

I've read that elevated insulin levels can cause hair loss, at least it did in a study on mice.

I don't know if you can re-grow hair, but everyone could benefit from controlling their sugar and grain intake to prevent spikes in blood sugar.

I know I had heard something about eggshells being used to boost calcium and other mineral levels.

I googled it and came up with two ways.

You can add the shells to any bones you are making stock from,( remember to add a little vinegar) or just simmer the eggshells alone.

You can add crushed shells to plain vinegar and let it sit for several weeks to make a mineral infused vinegar.

We tend to focus on the calcium that eggshells and bones contain, but they also contain the other necessary minerals in the right proportion in order for your body to use it. You can't build bones with just calcium because it's really quite brittle. It's when it's combined with the other minerals that it can be used.

Also, your body won't be able to use those minerals if you don't get enough vitamin D. So, get out in the sun, or stock up on fish oil or vitamin D3 which is easier for your body to use than the other vitamin Ds.

Slingmama, you're right about the weeds. I've seen a lot of them sold in seed catalogs.

I'm not sure how to cook the bones without electricity. I guess we'd need to keep a fire going if solar didn't work.

That's an area I need to focus more on for prepping.

I told my husband what was in it, but no one else.

We had leftovers, so we ate it for several days. No one complained about any problems. I know I felt fine.

My husband was very impressed about my idea. He was all for it and loves the idea of saving money and boosting nutritional value.

Tonight I'm making the meat mixture again and using it in swedish meatballs or maybe as salisbury steak. I'll cook it with onions, mushrooms and mushroom soup.

Now don't forget... If anybody has other ideas let me know.