Real

Come visit our farm and take a look at our garden and you won't find perfection. No, what you will find if reality. You won't see perfect beds with perfect rows of crops free from any weeds. Everything isn't completely tidy and neat. You will find the reality of the never ending struggle with weeds, the challenge of keeping the row fabric on the beds to help crops grow faster, and maybe some empty flats from the last rush to transplant before a rainstorm. You will find real work that has been done and plenty more to do. It might seem a bit untidy with all the grass along the fences and certain corners that look like a wilderness. It can all be so overwhelming at times and yet it is also beautiful. We have healthy, abundant crops in the midst of it all. Lush zucchini, beautiful lettuce, and colorful swiss chard. The pine trees just behind the garden give a wonderful woodsy, mountainy scent, especially after a rain. The little birds sing and play in the especially wild, grassy corner. Sometimes I think that I like a little bit of wildness better than complete perfection. We do continue to work to make things better, we try to reduce the number of weeds, to make the garden tidier overall. But somehow I have a feeling that we will never reach perfect and that is okay with me.

Into the Freezer

Recently I have been trying to get the freezer stocked with some quick and easy meals for the busy days of summer ahead. This week so far I have added one rhubarb pie, one empty pie crust, and four packages of ten homemade pita bread. I am planning to use the pitas for some picnics this summer. We have a delicious recipe for pitas with lamb, cucumbers, and yogurt. I will post it in a future post. For now I am going to give you the pita recipe. It of pretty simple to make and they turn out delicious. The most time consuming part is rolling them out.

Pita Bread

1 Tbsp. Yeast

1 Tbsp. Honey or sugar

2 1/2 Cups warm water

1 1/2 tsp. Salt

1 Tbsp. Oil

6 to 7 Cups whole wheat flour

Dissolve yeast and honey in water. Add salt, oil and 6 cups flour. Knead 5 to 10 minutes adding more flour as needed. Let rise until doubled about one hour. Divide into 20 equal pieces. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick. Let rest on greased cookie sheets for about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Just before baking flip pitas over. Bake 8 - 10 minutes switching position of pans halfway through. They are done when puffed in the middle and slightly browned. Sometimes I have some that don't puff completely but they still work, I just have to cut them open carefully with a knife. These pitas are not real big

Rhubarb Pie

We have been enjoying some yummy treats made from the rhubarb growing in the garden this spring. So far I have made 2 pies, muffins and ice cream. Maybe I can post the recipes later.

Cute Cowboy

Morning Sunshine

This morning I went out to the garden early in the morning. The sun was shining and it was already beginning to warm up. It was so peaceful and fresh out there. First I fed all the chickens, then watered some seeds we planted recently. A pair of honking geese flew overhead. I think I need to get up earlier more often and enjoy the fresh new mornings.

Technical Difficulties

This week I was going to post more details about my weekly routine and post my daily planning sheets... but all my info is on my laptop and the cable shorted out. So that will have to wait for now while I look for a new cable.

My New Weekly Routine

Recently I have been working on getting organized. Part of that process has been to create a regular daily and weekly routine for getting chores and projects done. So far it has been working pretty well. It is not super strict, just a basic guideline. I have my week divided up into days for certain household chores. So for example Monday is kitchen day. That means making bread, making yogurt, kitchen cleaning, etc. If for some reason something else comes up on Monday like an appointment in town I can simply switch and do the kitchen work on Tuesday, then Tuesday’s work moves to Wednesday and then I am caught up because Wednesday is town day, but if I go to town on Monday then I will do my errands then and not go in again on Wednesday. It will not be quite as flexible in the summer because we have to go to town on Wednesday for the Farmer’s Market, so I won’t have a catch up day. But the other nice thing about this routine is that if I just can’t do everything on Monday’s schedule this week then the next Monday comes around and it is time to clean the kitchen again.

Here is the basic breakdown of my days of the week:

Monday- Kitchen Day, Planting Day, Sewing Day

Tuesday- Laundry Day, Weed/Harvest Day, Soap Day

Wednesday- Town Day/ Farmer’s Market

Thursday- Cleaning Day, Weed/Harvest Day, Paper Day

Friday- Project Day, Farmer’s Market

Saturday- Office Day, Sunday meal prep day

Sunday- Church, Fellowship, Rest Day

I have tried to keep it simple and also versatile enough to use year round with our changing seasons on the farm. That is why most days have several titles. As the season changes so do the main areas of focus. The household chores are supposed to get done year round (although probably cut back a little in the summer), and the other options vary with winter and summer. For example on Mondays during the winter/ early spring I will work on sewing projects, in the summer I will be busy planting in the garden. I have found that each days household chores take about two hours. I will post more details on the daily routines soon. I got some of these ideas from the book "Large Family Logistics" and simply made them fit better into my lifestyle.

The Provision Room: Blog Givaway

Recently a good friend drew my attention to a new blog about providing good healthy food for our families. And the new blog is also run by another friend. Well they are having a giveaway over there this week and it looks like fun. Go on on over to the Provision Room to check it out!

Cleaning the Bathroom

David enjoys helping me with whatever I am doing. I even let him help clean the bathroom. I try not to use any chemical cleaners so we aren't breathing any toxic fumes. On the mirrors I use white vinegar and wipe with a clean floursack towel. Of course I had to wipe the fingerprints off when he was done, and I made sure to wait to clean out the sink until after he was was done standing in it.

Little Quotes

David has been talking more and more lately. He says the funniest things sometimes. This is such a fun phase! Here are some samples of his little speeches.


David in church reading a Jonah book to himself, suddenly he points to Jonah and says loudly “Dod(God)!” Then he turns the page and points at Jonah again “Nother Dod!”

“Im’s helping Mommy make dinner.” as he drags a chair into the kitchen.

“Im’s” helping Daddy with his work.” after coming in from outside with Andrew.

One day while talking about the baby in Mommy’s tummy David pipes up, “Me has baby in my back.” and points at his back.
“Oh do you?” I respond.
“Yeah” matter of factly, “Daddy has baby in his back, too.”

If we say “You’re so cute/ funny / smart or whatever”, David responds “Im’s not cute/ funny/ smart or whatever we said, Im’s just Dadid.”

I walked into the living room to find David with Andrew’s stethoscope trying to listen to his heart. As he moved it across his chest he stated, “I can’t find my ‘art, I lost my ‘art.” He has been fascinated with his heart since Andrew showed him a picture of a heart and blood vessels in his EMT book.

A conversation with the baby chicks overheard last Sunday morning. “Bye bye baby chicks. I has go to church now, sit still and be quiet.”

While outside with Daddy, David commanded, “Go ‘way ice!”
Daddy replies, “We want the ice to go away don’t we?”
“Yeah! Then we can walk in the mud!” David exclaims.

Yesterday I had my fabric out and was making hot pads to sell at the Farmer’s Market and telling David what I was doing. Pretty soon he came over with 4 or 5 Legos. “We can sell these at ‘arm market” Next he comes back with the whole box, “And we can sell these at ‘arm market.”
“Are you sure you want to sell them?” I asked “Won’t that be sad, you won’t be able to to play with them anymore?”
“Yeah, it will be sad,” He replied “but we can sell them at ‘arm market.”