Achorn Farm

Stocking Up

2009-11-01T11:23:00.003-05:00

We chuckled as our friend backed in our yard to return our chicken plucker and this is what filled his pick-up. 50 cases of canning jars. Hannaford was selling 1 quart cases for $2.50 and 1 pint cases for $2.00. The best part is he sold me some! I bought $28 worth (12 cases). BARGAIN!!!!

Speaking of the chicken plucker that was the 4 or 5th time we have lent it out and MM has used it several times. We have made our money back+++ . The kids and MM just did up 70 Cornish rocks.

For anyone new to reading this blog MM built a chicken plucker a while back, the post is here.
According to my traffic feed that I occasionally peak at this is the #1 post visited. The second most is another of MM's post is how to skin a pig. Funny how the only 2 posts he has ever done are the most popular. Well he has been talking about building a wind turbine so if and when that ever happens I am sure he'll post about. So lucky to have such a handy man!

Happy Hunting!

2009-10-30T21:36:00.000-04:00

Had to laugh when I saw Miss Callie all comfy on Maine Man's hunting clothes....washed with scentless laundry detergent, hung to dry, in a tote with pine needles.

Honestly, I am not much of a hunter! I would never make any effort if it was not for Maine Man. It is just not in my blood. I think if I shot a deer it may be but for now that is just how it is. I do go out a few times of year and then I call it good. I do enjoy being in the woods but between having absolutely NO sense of direction and my self-diagnosed ADD ;) I don't stand a chance!.

Last year I saw a deer in the woods for the first time. I was quite excited. Even tried chasing after it. Needless to say it escaped being shot by this big bad hunter. This year for the first time MM had me try out his tree stand. I assure you it was not the one above. He had me climb 20 feet up on measly pegs nearly 6 feet apart onto a platform that was way to small for my liking. I told him the only way I'd use the stand is if he built a large deck around it. The next night when I came home from work still dressed in scrubs the kids had me jump on the 4 wheeler. They took me outback to see my surprise. A little whining goes a long way! That how the stand above became.

Wish me luck because I SURELY need it!

Banana Bread

2009-10-27T17:35:00.005-04:00

Not often do we have bananas long enough to turn brown but on occasion that happens. So I came across a quick, easy, tasty banana bread recipe that I thought I'd share and save for my archives for future retrieval. I try to cook as much as I can from scratch. That in itself is a work in progress. So as you can imagine that is a whole lot of experimenting with recipes and a whole lot of recipes that never impress me enough to save. Last night by request of Maine Man I made apple muffins and tonight it was 4 layer bars as requested by the kids. They were both ok but not good enough to share or save. Get the point! I only post good stuff here ;)

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
4 bananas, finely crushed
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Directions
1 Cream together butter and sugar.
2 Add eggs and crushed bananas.
3 Combine well.
4 Sift together flour, soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Add vanilla.
5 Pour into greased and floured loaf pan.
6 Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.
7 Keeps well, refrigerated.

P.S. I did not refrigerate and I topped it with walnuts.

Adventures in Pressure Canning

2009-10-21T22:29:00.005-04:00

Finally bought myself a pressure canner. My friend Mike assisted with the test run. I read the manual step by step as he followed direction. Little bit of a control freak you see. Since one of our other friends nearly blew the side of his face off with one last summer (most likely alcohol induced) I decided to be real careful. The night before I read the manual from front to back, unusual for me. The test run was uneventful and I finally starting canning beets by about 6 o'clock that evening. Big mistake there! Had I known how long it takes to get the canner to pressure, cook time, and cool/pressure release this would have been a project to start earlier than later. Needless to say I was up until 2 am with still 5 quarts to go. They were froze instead. Put up 14 quarts, 19 counting the frozen beets. I have some carrots to do next and might try and make some apple sauce. I am happy to finally own one. The canning opportunities are now unlimited! :)

Thanks Maine Man for the birthday moola!

Foraging for Mushrooms in Maine Woods

2009-10-15T22:07:00.002-04:00

A while back our friend Lance stopped by to visit. He and Maine Man took a ride out back on 4- wheelers. Knowing he had previous experience in foraging I asked him to be on the look out for edible mushrooms.

Unfortunately, he did not recognize any on our land that were edible. A few weeks later he stopped by with some morels he had gathered on his own foraging adventures. I was so excited well........I took pictures and asked lost of questions!

Above is a Chicken of the Woods he says they are found on dead Oak trees.
Here is a link I found about them with lots of good information,recipes, and facts

Pine mushrooms aka Matsutake - He says they are found in hemlocks. Here is another great web site with information about them.

Last mushroom he shared with us is called a Goats Beard aka Bears Tooth often found on beech trees . Here is some additional information about them.

This last photograph was taken at the Common Ground Fair last month. This was a display at an Asian food vendors fried Shiitake stand. I was thinking it would be fun to try a inoculate some trees and grow these in our back yard.

I will end this post with three referenced sites for your viewing if desired and for easy access for Maine Man and I in the future if and when we ever get a chance to make these dreams reality.

Here is a newspaper article of a Mainer that has written a book about foraging along with a link to his website. Finally a you tube video on inoculating.

My Girl's Apple Sauce

2009-10-10T21:13:00.003-04:00

The other night after bath time Flower Girl proclaimed she wanted to make some applesauce.
What's a Mom to say? I was busy cleaning up so I said "go for it, but your on your own".
I think she did summon her Dad to cut up a few apples but other than that she did the rest. Last year was the first time she'd ever made it. She came home with the idea from school. I really could not remember what she used for ingredients previously so I kept to myself.

She washed

She peeled

She cored

She chopped

"10 apples"

Put the apples in a crock pot and said to me:

"Mom, Take Note... I used the one slash four cup of honey

& a small spoon of cinnamon"
Slow cooked overnight and once again another tasty treat by Flower Girl!

Homemade Christmas Presents

2009-10-07T22:02:00.006-04:00

After flipping through the pictures of my camera and coming across this one I was thinking someone must want a duck for Christmas.....dead or alive. Joking, love these Muscovies despite their occasional naughtiness. Had to chase a bunch of them of the neighbors driveway the other day. We caused quite a scene stopping traffic and all.

So I was calculating the other day, 5 more paychecks until Christmas...YIKES!!!

Gotta get a move on! Last year I made lots of goodies and I have dug through my archives and posted links below in case anyone is interested...fun to get ideas from others. Hopefully starting next weekend, myself and 3 others will be getting together every 2 weeks for Christmas crafting, cocktails, and snacks. I am psyched to see what we come up with!! I will have posts to follow up our meeting for others who are interested in making goodies for the holiday. There is NOTHING like a homemade present!

HERE ARE SOME CRAFTING LINKS FROM POSTS I DID LAST HOLIDAY SEASON:

~ Wreath Making & Making Vanilla Extract

~Soap Making

~ No sew fleece blankets

~ Earring Making

~ Body/Linen spray & Bath Salts

WHAT ARE YOU ALL MAKING FOR CHRISTMAS? IF YOU HAVE SOME LINKS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS I'D LOVE TO HAVE SOME NEW IDEAS.

Titleless Tuesday

2009-10-06T20:52:00.005-04:00

Had it been Wednesday I would have titled it Wordless Wednesday but .......it was not! God knows I can't post without writing something ;)

I have a hundred or so photos to download but not without a charged battery.

Looking for a used camera if anyone local has one for sale? I have a point and click Kodak but I want more....more....zoom, macros. Maine Man caved and gave me some moola for my birthday although all he really wanted to buy me was a dishwasher. What a guy ;)

One Potato, Two Potato, Sweet Potato

2009-10-02T22:18:00.000-04:00

This adventure all started a couple years back as an experiment with the kids.
In the midst of the winter we put 3 toothpicks into a whole sweet potato then placed it onto a glass jar with half the potato immersed in water. Before long there was a sprout coming out the top which soon evolved into a plant that looked much like an ivy.

Now it has become a yearly tradition!

Come spring we plant them in the garden even though you do not hear much about other Mainers growing them.

Viola!

Sweet potato fries, baked, pie....... Love to hear how you cook sweet potatoes!
We had a challenging growing season with all the rain. Most of our red potatoes never sprouted. Despite our loses we were still lucky enough to harvest approximately 130lbs of Yukon Golds and sweet potatoes.

You just never know what you will find in our yard......metal, nails, glass bottles, tons of bones. 200 year old farmhouse, some history has been made here. We dug this up while harvesting potatoes. At best guess we thought it may be the suction device from a milker?

Growing Herbs

2009-09-24T21:26:00.002-04:00

Year #2 of growing herbs. Would have done long ago had I known how easy it was. This year Maine Man even allowed me my own little section of the garden for this purpose. You see he is the true green thumb in the family, so in the garden (this being the only place.....I assure you!) I follow his direction and do as I'm asked.
We grew cilantro, dill, oregano (pictured here), basil, rosemary, and parsley.

The kiddos entered a few vegetables in the fair taking first place in everything including Flower Girl's oregano. Next Year we plan to do a Farm Display. That should be a lot of fun. You must display 2o varieties of produce and it has be educational. I have it all plotted out in my busy little head. Can't wait, it will be a good experience for the kids. There is incentive as well, first prize gets $100. Not sure about your kids but my two are always looking for ways to make a buck.

A few weeks back while visiting my sister-in-law I noticed several canning jars filled with herbs and I inquired how she dried the herbs. I have previously attempted the hanging upside down method but was never impressed with the results.....dried, brown, super crispy leaves. Did a little research then I thought to use my dehydrator. Love those AH HA moments! It worked PERFECTLY. I dried basil and oregano, took no time at all. Placed the whole dry leaves in canning jars and I crumple them us as I use them. Cannot wait for next year's herbs. Plan to grow and put up MUCH more.

WHAT DID YOUR KIDS DO THIS SUMMER???

2009-09-17T22:00:00.003-04:00

Get buried in the sand?
Go out boating?

Fly without wings?

Explore Mother Nature for hours?

Go for the ride of their lives?

Kick butt at bowling?

Go camping with their Momma?
(Dad joined us the next couple of nights)

Swim day after day?

Do lots of farm chores?
Not...a little child labor is good for them but I don't want to scare them off the farm.

Check out our high tech pea picking apparatus.
Works good for beans & berries too!

Search for sea shells?

Spend countless hours in the pond: canoeing, frogging, trapping cray fish?

Climb trees?

Read?

What prompted this post? This Spring when school was getting out I was asked by several people what I had planned for the kids this summer. What activities had I signed them up for?

My response was, "NOTHING". We had a great summer despite the lack of "planning". In some aspects of life I am a planner but in many I am not. I believe that kids will make their own paths if you foster their dreams and interests rather then force upon them.

Sometimes we're so concerned about giving our children what we never had growing up, we neglect to give them what we did have growing up. ~James Dobson

We Made it.....14 years and counting!

2009-09-16T21:50:00.003-04:00

Just a real quick post in comparison to last year's anniversary post and a picture showing our true age. You'd have to click and see the picture from back in the beginning of time.

Maine Man most of all just a big thanks for just being the man you are. We appreciate all your hard work and dedication to our family. Here's to 50 more..........

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BABE! XO

Weekly Summary

2009-09-09T20:57:00.008-04:00

Maine Man suggested I do a weekly post summarizing the chaos of our lives. Not sure this will be a regular thing but this was a perfect week to do.

* Kitten takes ride to school with MM to pick up kids......under suburban. Amazingly unharmed.

* Rabbits get loose for 282nd time this summer. MM open fires and guess what we have for dinner.

* Boxer injures 1 duck and kills 2. Last week she killed a rabbit.

* Pumpkin & Ham don't go well together! Pigs.....Pumpkin some how gets into Ham's pen and Ham nearly shred her to pieces. Never seen anything like it! THANK GOD MM had not left for work yet!

* Flower Girl & I were struck with a horid gastroenteritis.

* MM was down with a nasty respiratory illness.

Those were just a few of our finer moments so far this week, still have 4 days left.

You had to hear MM narrate of the kitten story, I laughed until tears. Glad the little man was safe.

As for rabbit meat, we all love it. I think it tastes better then chicken. The first time MM cooked it he used a slow cooker. It was ok. Along with it he cooked a duck. FG's exact words were "I liked the bunny better!" I had to agree. I really did not care for the duck. Second time around he coated it and baked it in the oven, yummy!

P.S. BOXER FREE FOR THE TAKING!

Drinking Water

2009-09-06T22:19:00.004-04:00

Are you tired of buying water? I am! We are looking into buying a water distiller. Just curious as to what others do? Do you or anyone you know own a water distiller? If so, how many gallon? Where did you purchase? Would you go that route to do it again? I have also heard a bit about reverse osmosis filters??? Any advice appreciated!

Community Treasure Chest Rant

2009-09-06T08:16:00.001-04:00

So if you haven't started the tote thing in your community...WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

If you have no idea what I'm talking about read here or I mentioned a bit about it on the bottom of this post.

The above picture shows goodies that I received from 2 totes this summer. Free & clear!! Imagine that? 2 pr of crocks, leather shoes for Momma, cookbooks (can't have enough of them, can you?), several pair of earrings for Flower Girl (just in time for school), magazines (even 1 for Maine Man), recyclable grocery totes, chain lube & wire, LL bean shirt for moi, and shorts for my girl.

So here is my tally of what I have obtained while doing this tote thing since May 09'

Keep in mind I am involved in 3

3 pr of shoes

12 pr of earrings

7 books

1 pr of curtains

5 pr of jeans/pants/capris

knot tying book/kit

1 hat

5 shirts

3 vases

1 necklace

1 dvd

1 book on cd

1 scarf

3 candles

1 pampered chef dish set

gameboy w/ 5 games

candle holder, decorative jars, Christmas cards, recyclable bags, chain lube & more.....

All with virtually no work involved. Many of the items above were not necessarily for me but I knew someone who could use them. For example the curtains went on the kids "fort" windows, the unused x-mas cards I gave to my MIL, the crocks I passed on to my niece.

If you are frugal, resourceful, looking to recycle I encourage you to start one up. I shared this idea with a co-worker who is involved in her town's recycling committee, come fall they are planning to go town-wide with this project.

It has been a fun experience and I hope that it continues on. I will admit there are times when I have received the totes and there was a whole lot of junk in them. The circulation of the totes have slowed down a bit over the summer. Me the rule maker has been involved in breaking the rules. I had 1 tote well over a week... but gardens, camping, life got in the way. Excuses.

I hope this post inspires just one of you to start one up, in your workplace, church, your neighborhood.

*Side note: For obvious reasons from here on out I have decided to refer to my daughter as Flower Girl(FG) and my boy as Country Boy(CB).

Simplify!

2009-09-05T14:47:00.001-04:00

They'll eat just about anything including my laces.

Finally a follow up note to my previous post the good, bad, & the ugly.

My rant about being overwhelmed with all the work of the farm, especially the animals. This summer I came to the realization that raising animals is a lot of work and can be rather costly to feed and maintain. Most days we literally worked from dusk till dawn and beyond. I often found myself dreaming of the cool winter nights kicking back shortly after dinner..... Not......there was always SO much to do! We just had too much and we were not optimally set up.

While reading through my comments on the above post mentioned there was one that really caught my eye. It was from Trapper Creek. It was then I had an ah ha moment.

She wrote, "A big thing for us here is minimizing the daily chores and making some weekly, like having a big enough feeder and water setup that the pigs only need to be serviced once a week. Same with our laying flock. Things like that made a huge difference in my attitude :)"

That is the key! Get optimally set up! Make life easier! So that is the plan. We are downsizing on animals for the winter. We sold the goats, 1 flock of laying hens, and the meat rabbits will soon meet their maker. One last batch of broilers before winter. Thankfully they are only a short term commitment, 6-8 weeks, I can handle that. My plan for next summer is 2 pigs (1 for ourselves and one for a friend, same with the cows), 2 cows, layers, broilers, and a few ducks for the pond. That's it!

It is thorough our journey that we have come to realize our purpose here on the farm....raising animals for food not hobby.

Farm Lesson of the Summer "Work smarter Not harder!"

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.~Confucius

2009-08-28T21:17:00.001-04:00

Nothing Worthwhile Comes Easy

2009-08-26T11:54:00.003-04:00

There is nothing like digging up your dinner an hour before you sit down to eat.
The taste and satisfaction of it makes the work involved seem so small. And no worries FDA did not approve this food so there is no fear that the food we eat has been sprayed with toxic chemicals or that a meat was injected with antibiotics and/or steroids. We know for sure the animals we are eating have never been mistreated from farm to slaughter because it all happens right here.

P.S. I finally finished reading "In defense of food". Looking for another good foodie/agricultural book to read...suggestions?

Ha, enough preaching!! We are not all good I assure you. My kids love oodles and noodles and we eat plenty of food that does not follow the above statements. Change comes slow and over the last couple years we have progressed. I am confident that things will continue to evolve here on the farm. We estimate that we are raising approximately 75% the meat we consume and 100% of our own eggs. As far as fruit and vegetables are numbers are much lower. We are working on that by learning ways to extend our season, preserving, and connecting with local resources. We hope to get the greenhouse up soon in anticipation of growing greens this winter. I had big plans for salsa and spaghetti sauce this season but our tomato plants were devastated by blight as many other Maine farmers.

I am planning to make sauerkraut with the above cabbage even though I've never liked it in the past. Homemade is always better, right? A few weeks back I made some fermented dilly beans that Erica from One Busy Momma posted. They were SO easy to make and mighty tasty. All you need is garlic, peppercorns, dill, salt, and beans of course. The whole family enjoyed and it took all of 5 minutes too put together.

Bunny Fun

2009-08-21T17:47:00.000-04:00

The TOP 10 lame excuses why I have neglected blogging this summer.

The kids are out of school!
Maine Man has been working days!
Their is always work to be had in the garden!
We have TOO many d*@$ animals!
The lawn always needs mowing.
There is 6 cord of wood screaming "cut me, stack me."
Facebook is distracting.
Kids birthdays, pig roasts, day trips, camping.
Cooking, Dishes,...Laundry.....A maid would be nice but I'd settle with a dishwasher.
I'm SO stinkin' TIRED!!

Stay tuned life will be changing real soon kids are back in school, John will be back to his regular schedule and we are in the process of downsizing animals.

P.S. I contemplated titling this post Farm P%@# but MM thought it may attract the wrong audience. Ha I agree, never thought of it. He is so darn logical! It would not be the first time my impulsiveness has got me in trouble.

Life Learning-Growing your own ~ pictures only~

2009-08-16T21:50:00.002-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAINE MAN

2009-08-06T08:24:00.000-04:00

It is hard to believe we are getting close to our 40's. What the .......? Seems like we just graduated from high school a few years back.

We always get a good laugh when people come visit the farm and they get a glimpse of this water color of us in our teens . We often get the same reaction. "Very nice... wow you two were young". Ha, that's when we realize we are getting older.
What the hell, at least we are doing it together!

The other day we were joking about something and Maine Man said "You'd need 3 men to replace me." We had a good laugh and later in the night I was thinking about what he said and damn he is right but I am not sure 3 would suffice.

He is a man of many talents and we appreciate all he does. I assure you this farm would not be a farm without him nor would this family be complete. In addition to all he does Maine Man is a wonderful, kind hearted, husband, father, son, friend, brother, and nurse.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE, WE LOVE YOU!

Another First here on the homestead

2009-08-03T22:25:00.002-04:00

Isn't he sweet? Not Maine Man THE PIG! (ok he don't look so bad either)

Ham just a few hours before she delivered.

Just after 9pm Sunday night I went out to check on her and I found her delivering piglet #1
This is just a few moments later.

I ran in the house grabbed my camera and yelled for the kids & MM to join me .

In their pj's in the rain with owls hooting overhead they watched with much excitement.

Luke said, "I bet no one else I know is out this time of night watching a pig have babies."

About 30 minutes later piglet #2 was born.

(The yellow glow was from a flashlight MM was holding. )
Queenie mentioned in a comment on a previous post that piglets are born in a sac and sneeze their way out. She was right! As you see above the piglet has a coating and soon after they come out of the canal you hear some sneezing going on.

MM was up a few times throughout the night and only 1 other pig was born.

Total count thus far is #3. I was thinking more like 8 , 10 or more?
I have heard they can have more then 1 placenta. We are now wondering if one got stuck in the canal. She is in no distress and was up and about today. MM is out further inspecting her as I type. The problem with doing things for the first time is the mistakes that are made, there are bound to be screw ups.

Time will tell!

Best Pineapple Upside Down Cake

2009-07-31T10:30:00.000-04:00

My in-laws come over weekly to get my FIL's pill boxes set up. We always try to cook up a nice dinner and dessert. I am always looking for something new and yummy to cook. A few weeks back I found a keeper of a recipe! It is amazing as is but even better right out of the oven with a dab or cream or vanilla ice cream. The recipe is here found on a blog called Food Blogga.
She has lots of other recipes that look and sound good, check it out!

What is your guess?

2009-07-28T20:55:00.001-04:00

We are sure they are pregnant but by our estimations they should have piglets by now. The borrowed boar, "Romeo" came to stay with us for a little over a month starting April 1st.

They are suppose to carry for 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days. Hmmmm, any day. Maine Man consulted with the old farmer just down the road. He came up to check them out and he guessed 1-2 weeks. What is your guess, how many piglets do you think Ham will have?

P.S. I have yet to respond to the comments in my last post but plan to in my next post.

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

2009-07-20T22:23:00.002-04:00

Who needs a Topsy Turvy? This brilliant idea came from Unusual Unusual Farm Chick's blog. She has lots of good ideas! The basket is from the dollar store. I bought it a couple years back and it was just stashed away in the hay loft.

On the top we planted some morning glories. Flower Girl also made a post about this a couple days back over at her blog. She has posted more than usual this summer thanks to her buddy Morgs. Morgs also has a blog, check it out. Flower Girl also recently posted some pictures of the fish birthday cakes that I made back in the spring. The idea came from Family Fun.

Ok, enough with the good. Now onto the bad & the ugly. Recently I have been overwhelmed with the tasks around the farm, mostly the animals. It is time to cut back! After much contemplation I have decided to sell the goats. My intention when I first bought goats was for milking. I have since come to the realization that adding another chore morning & night would send me over the edge. It is MUCH cheaper & easier to buy from my local farmer then to keep goats. I do not have to be responsible for watering and feeding day in and day out, no injections to give or hooves to be trimmed. Same goes for cows. I dream about having cows grazing in the back field but in reality it is just not in the cards right now. My garden needs more of my attention and we have a greenhouse that needs to be assembled. Oh yeah and we have LOTS of wood that needs to be hauled off the back forty, split & piled. At this point if I want raw organic milk it again easier to go support my local farmer for $4/gallon. As far as meat goes it would in our best interest if I put a little more time and effort into deer hunting. It is good, lean, meat that we do not have to tend day in and day out. Until this past year I have always taken for granted the deer meat in the freezer. You always miss something when you don't have a lot of it. From here on out I will cherish every morsel!

I am not quiting farming, just cutting back. Learning from our experiences and our mistakes. God knows I have made plenty of those, that is a topic all on it's own! After my pullets are all laying I hope to sell of last years hens, the turkeys are soon to meet their maker followed by those egg laying ducks (khaki campbells) Maine Man had to have. If the pigs ever have their piglets, we swear they are pregnant! They will be off to freezer camp as well. Maine Man is a little hesitant about that after bonding with "Pumpkin & Ham" over the last year but I volunteered to be the trigger man. Can you believe that? That is how badly I want to simplify & minimize before winter. 2 years ago even I would have said "NO way" but I must say this farming stuff has hardened me. I am jaded, kind of like working in the ER.

If it don't produce (eggs/meat) I am all set. Never use to be like this. This whole farming bit was never even intentional, it just happened.

My plan is to go through the winter with 24 layers, 2-4 muscovies, and a few rabbits. That's it!

Sorry for the rant but d@#! I feel better now! A bit hormonal ehh? The planned post to was suppose to be about thriftiness. Ha, Ha, Add PMS & ADD and this is what you get.