Seed Catalogs

I am really enjoying the seasonal life. Normally January would be a really depressing much but not so when you have seed catalogs coming in the mail. Each day I wait eagerly for the mail and hope for seed catalogs. Here is one of my favorites

                      
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I love the classic look of it. I feel like I am taking part in a tradition that goes way, way back through my generations, which actually is exactly what I am doing.

Of course seed catalogs like any other catalog are designed to make consumers buy something, and that is exactly what I want to do when I look at them. But rather then purchase some ready made item produced in a factory some where I am purchasing something to add to life.

This year we are examining the Slow Food USA “Ark of Taste” and selecting some varieties from there. I can almost taste it now!

I am still waiting for some of my favorites– Johnnies, Seeds of Change and Seed Savers Exchange.

What to do when your child hates you

As a parent I think one of the hardest things is when your child tells you they hate you. Especially when they do it over and over again. My children have been able in most instances to tell me when something is wrong and they are not feeling happy. For Avril though that usually comes out as “I hate you.” She is my middle child and balance is always a problem with 3 young children. Mavis the baby of the family is teething and learning to walk. She has been very demanding on my time, especially at night, leaving me exhausted.

Yesterday started out innocent enough but after nap things started to go down hill. We had had a particularly strong battle at nap time but I didn’t really think anything of it because we normally have battles at this time. Two wanted to visit his cousins so we prepared to go, that is when Avril said, “I want to live with Oom (Cambodian for Aunt) Luoth, I love her. I hate you.” It continued all evening, even at Luoth’s. For awhile I was able to keep positive and remind myself,

1. I am an adult and she is 3
2. She is not responsible for my feelings
3. I don’t have to listen to my feelings
4. She didn’t mean it
5. She was probably feeling bad about something that I needed to address
6. I am her mother and I should help her out of these negative feelings

But I was battling my own negative feelings. When we left Luoth’s I wanted to go home, put a movie on for the kids and go curl up in a ball and cry. Instead I talked with her and I said
“Why do you hate me?”
“I hate my family.”
“Why do you hate your family?”
“Because they hate me.”
At this point I said a quick prayer and said, “That is a lie Satan wants you to believe. Your family loves you and you know it. You don’t have to listen to Satan. Let’s pray and ask Jesus to help you.”

I said a prayer outloud for her and another quiet one for me so that I to could chose not to listen to Satan and my negative feelings. When we got home I was still feeling bad, but then I remembered how powerful hugs are. Even though I didn’t feel like it, I walked into the living room and asked Avril for a hug.
“I love you .”
“Why?”
“Because you smile and laugh and are a good big sister and a wonderful helper for me and you are mine.”

This time she chose to believe the truth. She said, “I love you” and has since acted like nothing happened. I was still exhausted so I made a batch of cookies and ate half of them. Cookies always help.

Recipes: Chicken Style Seasoning

One of the most useful items in my pantry is a good sized jar of homemade chicken style seasoning. Bouillon cubes have a ton of salt and depending on brand food coloring. If you have the time to make homemade stocks and keep them on hand great, but it is hard to keep just the right amount. What has been a lifesaver for me is powdered seasoning I can mix in the right quantity. Some recipes only call for a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of broth others much more, with this you can easily mix your own. Also you don’t have to wait for the bouillon cubes to dissolve. I sometimes even add it to chicken soups to enhance flavor.

Chicken Style Seasoning

4 cups yeast flakes (nutritional sometimes called brewers)
3/4 cup onion powder
3 TBSP garlic powder
1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP salt
1/2 cup Italian seasoning (may use basil)
1/2 cup succanat or other raw sugar
1/2 cup dried parsley

Mix all ingredients, may blend for a finer powder. This will give you roughly 2 quarts of seasoning. I usually keep one and give the other to my mom. It will last you several months. To mix use one rounded tsp for one cup water, more if stronger broth is desired.

From The Best of Veggies, by Mary Bernt

The Homestead Pantry

When you are living on a tight budget and saving for a farm there are a few things that can really help a busy family get by. One is a pantry. About a year or so ago I was reading an article in Countryside Magazine about having a pantry. The article recommended a book from Backwoods Home Magazine called Self Reliance:Recession-Proof Your Pantry. Though money was tight I promptly ordered it and got started. The book has great tips for how to get started.

The first thing I did was buy an industrial shelving unit at Sam’s Club. I have since discovered you can get really high quality shelving at Menard’s and the like.

I belong to wholesale buying club that buys natural and organic food bulk called Country Life Natural Foods. Every four weeks we purchase grains, beans, dried fruit, pasta, oil, honey, maple syrup, etc. Of course we don’t order all those things every month and now I am looking for more local options for things like honey and maple syrup. We purchase jasmine rice in 50 pound bags at our local Asian store. With our staples purchased once a month we try to go to the grocery store no more than once a week or every other week if we can last. Here we purchase fresh vegetables and fruit and some of our meat. We are hoping to raise our own meat chickens this year but that is another story.

Here is a picture of our pantry
                
                                                              

It includes some both home canned and purchased canned food. The bins on the bottom shelf hold 5 lb bags of beans, dried fruit, nuts, and some flours. We also purchase and keep on hand extra oil, maple syrup and honey. For the Asian tastes in the house we have cans of coconut milk, Pho broth and sardines in spicy tomato broth.

What is great about having a pantry is it allows you buy food when you have the money and store it for when you don’t, like this week. I discovered we have less then $100 to live on until the next pay day, over 1 week away. Oh did I say the car needs gas. But even with this extremely tight budget we have the pantry we can eat out of. There are multitudes of options with dried beans (my favorite) pasta and rice. We have eggs steadily from our chickens now and some meat in the freezer. We have plenty of canned fruit, pickles and tomato sauce.

The only thing I would do different is I would have canned more diced tomatoes. I started the winter with 28 pints of diced tomatoes. I thought that would be plenty. But home canned tomatoes are soooooooooooooo much better then store bought I didn’t realized how often I would use them. Proeun and I used to struggle with heartburn every time we ate canned tomatoes, not the case with our home canned, certified organic, heirloom tomatoes. I only have 5 cans left. Can I possibly eat store bought tomatoes?  Next year I will have to do more.

Favorite Books–Harry Baerg

I was born into a family of readers. My favorites gifts growing up were books. Now I am happy that it appears I am raising 3 readers (well at least 2 of them show that inclination and the other likes to be read to). What a treat it was for me to find this trio of books by naturalist and illustrator Harry Baerg at the local bookstore. I grew up with these books as did my mother and now they have been reprinted again for my children!

Each of the books follows the main animal through a year. Humpy the Moose does go through a life span. They are illustrated beautifully and the kids love them. They are Two’s favorite. They are a bit long but they make a special treat for long cuddling and stories. I have also found that they really get me in the mood to go outside at least, camping at best. We still haven’t gotten up to the Boundary Waters but that is one our to do list for sure. There is a very visible beaver lodge on the way to our favorite camping site. It’s wonderful to learn more about the animals around us.

A word of caution though, these are realistic books. They handle the subject of mating and death very well but it is present. In my opinion these type of topics are not something to run from but an opportunity for parents to teach children about life cycles. A return to the land necessitates an understanding of these.

Sibling Rivalry?

Way back when I was taking Early Childhood Family Education Classes with Two the instructor insisted that young children do not play together, they simply play side by side. But I am sure that Mavis plays with her older siblings. Today they took an ordinary roll of tape and were rolling it back and forth to each other. Mavis was monkey in the middle happily going back and forth.

A day or two ago Two and Avril were playing hide and seek. They would go stand against the wall and count. Mavis hadn’t joined yet but when the opportunity came up she went to stand face to the wall and count.

My favorite thing to see is Mavis scoot over on her butt to one of her siblings and stand up and give them a hug. We are a hugging family if you haven’t figured that out.

                             

  

It was a major goal for me to raise children that love each other and enjoy spending time together.  I firmly believe that if you cannot get along with your family you have missed out on the greatest blessing in life. Afterall the Lord designed families to live together and even the solitary will be placed in families in the Lord’s ideal. 

From the time I discovered I was pregnant with my 2nd child I wanted Two to feel that this baby was another gift to our family from God and not going to replace him. 

Later when I was pregnant with my 3rd I decided to step up my efforts a notch. I was introduced to an amazing book–Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends. The book is actually written by  the 3 Mally siblings. This book opened my eyes to the roll our siblings play in our lives and that good relationships with siblings are possible especially when the members of the family see the highest duty of life as serving. With sorrow I realized as the oldest sibling all the opportunities I missed with my sister and the damage I had done to her life simply by always focusing on making myself happy. If I was generous it was only because I felt good about it. I didn’t realize the duty we as Christians have. When I apologized to her she said, “Oh you were just a kid,” But I replied, “even a child will be known by his actions.” 

I purposed to avoid silbing rivalry at all costs. Luckily I am blessed with children that enjoy each other. Rather then avoiding each other and choosing other playmates they love playing together. Of course there is the occasional scirmish but when I see them playing together laughing and joking it makes my heart sing. Now instead of having children upset about new siblings coming to take the attention from them I have a 5 year old boy who says, “Mommy I want you to have this many children,” While holding up both hands, “but you can have them one at a time,” and a 3 year old girl who says, “when the next baby comes can I hold it?”

Even our Brittany Hiro loves to play with us. Later in the day the request came for me to play with them as well. I am trying to spend more quality time playing with the children and avoiding electronic media so I knew I needed to jump in. It didn’t take long for Hiro to decide he wanted to play to. Two is the photographer in the below pictures.

Livestock–Chickens in the City

About 2 years ago I heard about a growing movement referred to simply as “chickens in the city.” This movement was of urban families keeping chickens in the backyard. I knew there was at least one rooster in our neighborhood. My first interest was as a writer. The Hmong people I knew personally and through work would be really interested in this I thought. However in the course of studying up for my article and interviewing the then leader of the movement I became hooked. In April 2008 we bought 4 chicks at a local feed store–a Rhode Island Red, Patridge Rock, Blue Cochin and Americana. I didn’t know there were breads of chickens!

We brought them home (no cats at the time) and let the kids play with them. I was completely fascinated as well. I loved the way they walked and watching them for any signs of change. As their feathers started to change from down to their adult colors I finally got to see what they would be like when were older. Oh and when they laid their first egg I had to call everyone and tell them.

One day my big tough brother-in-law was over. By now the chickens were in a coop behind the house. He dared Two to go get a chicken. Two walked over grabbed one and brought it to his uncle, who immediately changed his tone and said, “I don’t want it.”

I do have to admit there was a turning point for me as well. The bigger they got the more nervous I got. One day when we had them in a pen on the porch waiting to transition to the outside world I went out to feed them only to discover they had escaped and were perching on the side of the pen. I had a momentary panic attack and was ready to go get Proeun to put them back when I realized, “if I am going to live on the farm I have to be confident handling the animals. I can do this.” And so I did. Now I am the primary one to handle them.

It is hard though to care for only 4 chickens. Most books about housing and such are geared at least towards a hobby farm with more space then we have. The other “chickens in the city” folk view their chicken different then country folk. We are having negative temperatures here and have had them for about a week with no end in site. We did go buy a heater for the coop but last year we used only a 100 watt lightbulb for heat during the day. Others on our google list advocate bringing them indoors as according to them chickens can’t handle the cold. However the main concensus is that they are doing just fine.

Also we had a period from October to December when 2 chickens were molting. They don’t lay when they molt. The 3rd one was not  laying either whatever her excuse was. So we had only one chicken laying and she didn’t lay everyday. We were in conservation mode. Finally I had to buy a dozen eggs. Now luckily they are all laying again even in the cold weather. One nice thing about having different types of chickens is you can tell what eggs have been laid by which chickens. Here is a picture of our bounty.

                      
 

Soule Bags

                                            

A few weeks ago I got a couple books by Amanda Soule from the library–The Creative Family and Handmade Home. I had found them on Amazon while doing a search for homeschooling books. I got the books and was immediately inspired. I was on fire to go create things. Then I tried and human nature kicked in. It seemed like I was having a hard time finding time or energy to create and when I did I felt I was neglecting the children. When I tried to create with them someone ended up in tears or bored and asking to watch TV. Pretty soon I was disillusioned. Why couldn’t I be like Amanda Soule? Why wouldn’t my children sit and draw or make up their own games? I was reminded that we are not to compare ourselves to others. I can not look into the Soule family home. All I can do is the best I can with what the Lord has given me. Furthermore my children do play and make up their own games, I just have to work harder to give them the opportunity. So I decided not to stress out about it.

On Saturday things started to turn around. Proeun gave me a little time to myself to read and journal and I even had time to cut out this bag, a pattern from Handmade Home. On Sunday I got a repeat and was able to finish it. I had the fabric on hand. The outside was part of a smaller piece I got as a wedding present. I wasn’t really sure was it was intended for since the fabric was not suited for a towel. In any case I loved it but didn’t know what to do with it. Now it is intensely useable as a “Soule Bag” as I call it. The inside is left over from the first dress I ever made all by myself. How appropriate it was for my first daughter.  She doesn’t wear it but that is another story.

Anyway you really can’t have enough of these fun, unique bags. My aunt Patty gave each child each a handmade bag with their Christmas gifts inside. So I got a trio of them for Christmas.

          

Avril is housing her shell collection in one. My knitting is in the other and the 3rd has become the “sock bag.” It is great to have fun, unique, handmade and beautiful things around the house especially to be used for really practical things. But honestly the sewing didn’t go so well for me, I spent just as much time fixing as sewing. One thing I learned from the experience is there are many ways to be creative. For me I think writing is it, plus cooking and knitting first–sewing occasionally.

CSA Time Again

For the past couple of months I haven’t really thought about farming. I have been enjoying a bit of a respite if you will. Proeun said that when we are actually on our farm he hopes to use the off season to work on crafts and projects indoors. I have done some of that, but now I am dreaming of farming once again. Seed catalogs have started arriving and I am eagerly awaiting my favorite (Seeds of Change). Territorial Seeds is already here and they have captured my interest. Johnny’s is yet to arrive.

This year we are focusing our efforts on a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). I first heard about this amazing opportunity 5 years ago before planning to farm ourselves, but it never seemed the right time to join. Last year as a farmer at the Minnesota Food Association we received some boxes containing our and other farmer’s produce. From a consumer standpoint it was wonderful. It was so exciting to see what was in the box this week and plan and use all the phenomenal produce that I knew was 100% safe. Not only did I know it was safe I knew who grew it and where but that they were passionate about what they did.

This year we have decided to offer that experience to other consumers. I knew from researching CSAs that the East side of St. Paul had few if any drop sites. And from meeting neighbors here and around I felt that there would definitely be some demand. So we chose the Eastside as a drop site and I am so syked about eating all that great produce and sharing it with our neighbors.

So if you have if you have ever considered joining a CSA I hope you will consider joining us. Here’s the basic info.

Dropsites:  Eastside of St. Paul (35E and Maryland)
                     South Maplewood/Woodbury (Century and Highwood)
                     Rosedale (TBA)

Season: Mid June-Mid October (18-20 weeks)

All vegetables are certified organic

Cost: $495 ($27.50/week roughly)

If you are interested in joining us please post a comment and we will respond to you. If you do not want your information to actually go to the website let us know.

Priorities equal Time

Now that the holidays are over and the New Year is upon us it is the traditonal time to reflect–the whole New Year’s resolution thing. Honestly I have never made a New Year’s Resolution and I will not this year. Instead I am culling. Every couple of months I need to do this in order to keep my sanity. We have 3 children, 2 cats and a dog in a 2 bedroom 900 square foot house. I love the closeness of our quarters, but it does take some organizing and there are times when it seems like someone is always underfoot–normally the dog.

The hard part is organizing on a budget. When you have all these bits and pieces lying around and no money to buy containers or shelves or such it can be rather frustrating. But it is also motivating. I realize that I just need to just get rid of the things we are not using. I told my mom that I am preparing bag for the epilepsy foundation and she said, “You’re not giving away clothes!” Sounds like my husband. But the fact of the matter is there are clothes that Avril has never worn that have been passed down to Mavis and she also has never worn them. I firmly believe most children only need about 3-4 pair of everyday pants, 5-6 shirts (either short of long sleeved depending on the season). In other words about 4-6 outfits. In my case anything more then that tends to get pushed to the back of the drawer or closet.

With my time to it is also time to cull. One thing I am trying to focus on is my time matching my prioritites. My number one priority is raising my family and staying connected to my husband. Everything else either helps me in my goals or hinders it. Some things are necessary even if they hinder. For example my work as a free lance writer can take time away from my children, but without that income I would have to look for part time work outside of the house which would take away even more time.

Farming is another example. It can take away time from our family, but we do it together. It is great to get out there with the kids working the fields and planning for a farm. Lately the children have been choosing to give up things like candy and other treats to save for the farm.

Before the holidays I was really busy with writing and getting ready for the holidays. It is all too easy to check out on the kids and leave the TV to babysit. Now I must reprioritize yet again. Last night I was doing a lot of soul searching. Here are the steps I came up with.

1. Limit work and try to confine it to a specific time of day, try not to let it spill over into an all day thing. This includes checking e-mails and making and returning phone calls.
2. Try to include the children in my work whenever possible. Today my household work includes making bread, sweeping the floors, laundry and sorting clothes. Note to self–children are not good and sorting things to get rid of, they will want to keep everything!
3. Schedule time for fun with the children. Make sure to plan time for stories, playing games, going outside, making cookies and just being together.

So my 1# goal today is to reconnect with the children and include them in my life on multiple levels–in short, to make my time match my priorites.