Around The Homestead: St. John's Wart

Yesterday:

Thunder is rumbling across the mountains this afternoon, it has been a stifling hot day. 

 Thankfully,we only have a few of these 90-some degree days per year. 

 Earlier, as a scattered shower cooled things off a bit,

 I eagerly sought my way out of doors to pick the fully bloomed St. John's Wart. 

 It grows all over the place here.

 I had noted on my walk the other day that it was nearly ready to be gathered in and hung to dry.

This winter we will make tea of the blossoms, added to our mint and chocolate mint,

 making a Happy Winter Tea, as I call it. 

 St. John's Wart is known for aiding depression,

 (it is common to get a little low with our 5 months of winter here) 

and... well, 

I have always thought of mint as being a happy flavor and smell. 

 Other goodness growing on our homestead.....

 the goats, getting fat on rich grass, abundant brush, and prolific tree limbs.

  We stake them out in new locals each day, since we lack proper fencing for a pasture.

We have four raised beds in which are growing lots of squash, several tomatoes,

 carrots (just barely up) and potatoes. 

 I am so thankful that, so far, the deer have stayed away.
It is not much, but it is a start, I keep telling myself.

The strawberry patch is doing well for it's first year. 

The berries are sooo scrumptious!
Nothing tastes better than homegrown/ homemade food!

Mint too, is ready to harvest for winter teas.

 That is on my "to do" list, still. 

 Usually a job for the younger children, but they are indoors (making huge sleeping bag forts)

 hiding from the heat today.

 Jim has taken over Anna's herb garden. 

 In it's third year, it is coming along quite well. 

 The garden contains mostly culinary and medicinal herbs,

 but Jim planted several hundred perennial seeds this year to add beauty and color.

So far, we have sage, mullen, horseradish, mint, chocolate mint, tarragon, lavender, and chives for our herbs. I would love to get some echinacia and fever few.
Perhaps next year.

The meadows are brimming with daisies, which makes me happy happy happy!
Don't you think daisies are a happy flower?

  I do like to keep fresh flowers on the book table,

 and I will beg, borrow, or, um, yes, steal (from a vacant homestead) if I must...
but this time I didn't, since they are abundantly everywhere.

And what does our family do here when it is 97 degrees out?

Why, legos while listening to the Man From Snowy River soundtrack,

 dress up, card games, playing with the new kittens,

 and reading, of course!

From our homestead in the woods to yours,

Blessings This Day!

Julianne

Woodland Warfare

Joseph just turned 15.

 Amazing! 

 The time has flown since we brought him home from the hospital to join his older three siblings!  

Here he is now,

 a big, strapping manly fellow,

 a good friend, a leader, a hard worker,

 a delightful son.  

His greatest longing for his birthday 

was to invite 17 friends over to play woodland warfare with him.

(paintball, you know)

At the end of the day,

 despite his amiable nature,

 he had shot them all in the head--at least once. 

You may not find this quite as humerus if you are redneck deficient....for us, it was great fun!

Joseph filled his big brother's shoes nicely, 

leaving  some battle scarred, 

(which is quite a trophy to be proud of, by the way)

...and all in awe of his extra long barreled Tipman.   

Boys practicing to be heroes, competing to be the last man  standing....

....this is the good stuff for young  rednecks.... 

a day to be proud of, to tell stories of for years to come-

-the day he shot his cousin in the wrist and made him bleed...."ya, that was awesome!"

(smile)

They all loved it, returning to the porch in between rounds with huge grins on their faces. 

 Gabe and I were bystanders on the porch listening to the battle sounds echoing form the woods.

  I can't believe I did not get a picture of Gabe in his camo, face paint, the works. 

 He was as excited as the rest of them, just waaaay  more cute!

As for Joe,

 he had so much fun shooting his friends that he is already making plans

 for the next time.

Benefits of Children Raising Livestock

Rose adores her goats.  

She now has four years of goat tending. 

Currently she owns three alpine/nubians and one lamoncha. 

This farmer-wanna-be takes complete care of  the goats.

When their pen needs fixin, she is responsible.  

She did bribe some local help, though.

Together they doubled the pen size, which will be nice for the winter. 

 In the meantime, they are staked out every day on free food consisting of grass, tree branches, 

brush and plenty of weeds, all in abundance here.

This hand feed orphan thinks she is a puppy, 

and follows Rose everywhere..including getting in to Rose's car whenever Rose does. 

 Although Rose is very fond of her baby, she still does not prefer goat kisses.

Pretty adorable, and milk and cheese to boot.

 I am a big fan of children raising livestock.

Growing up in a 4-H predominate culture myself, I see the value in caring for animals. 

 Children who are brought up with tending livestock have an early maturity in dependability, responsibility and spotting needs without someone having to tell them what to do.

Raising goats has been a very practical help to our family, 

and Rose benefits as well by the training in responsibility that animal husbandry requires.  

There is no, "I don't feel like doing my chores this morning" with dairy animals. 

 They MUST be milked rain, snow, sickness, or come what may. 

 Of course, there is also being responsible for something other than just yourself, 

there are costs and profits to be figured, 

and a huge learning curve on fodder, illnesses, breeding, culling, shelter, pasture, and on and on.

In my perfect world, 

parents would replace worthless video games  in their children's hands 

with a farm animal to care for.

Working with your hands and tending animals, 

this is rewarding work that satisfies the soul.

And that would be a lovely gift to give our children.

We Build A Rocket Stove

The last few weeks have been full of fun and blessings.

  Our married daughter, Anna, has been visiting us while her husband is gone on a trip, 

that has been delightful...well, for us that is...she still misses her husband terribly.

Rose has been perfecting the art of home made goat cheese. We are getting so much milk from her two does, we have extra to make cheese once a week.  Next, a cheese press for harder cheeses.

With the amazing weather, we have been outdoors.
 We have been working in the garden, burning slash piles from the winter logging, fixing up the homestead, and just sitting on the summer porch enjoying each other.
We also went to the Air Show at Fairchild.  It was incredible!!

Here is one happy 10 year old in a Black Hawk:
"A BLACK HAWK, mom!!  I was sitting in the pilot seat of a BLACK HAWK!!!!" 

Today, Jim decided he wanted to make a mini Rocket Stove.
 It happened to be daddy's day off, so they went to work ravaging my pantry for the right sized cans,
and in about an hour,
they were finished and boiling water for tea on the newly built stove!

The instructions were found on Pinterest.
 Just one #10 can, and three 26 oz cans, and a wee bit of insulation,
a few snips here and there, and...tea.

Now to build a full scale Rocket Stove for inside the lodge!
Hmm, well , that is the stuff dreams are made of.

Blessings,
Julianne