This year we have done the best yet, but we've had help from our dear friend Miss Judy who started a few more plants in her cold frame (article 2) than she was able to use. Her generosity became a successive planting of cabbages, cucumber, kale and lettuces - what a treat!
This summer we have been hard at work maintaining garden moisture while trying to keep up with our weeding and successive planting. Successive planting essentially means that you are continually planting and adding to your garden as the season persists and/or while you harvest. For instance, when you pull up a delicious beet, put another seed in the ground - it could be another beet, a radish, or perhaps heirloom lettuce- and you'll be harvesting again soon enough! You must take care to consider when the plant will mature, how big it will get, if it will cast shadow on the crops, (sometimes you may want that- to shade a lettuce crop, for example) and ultimately, know what you want to eat.
This year we have done the best yet, but we've had help from our dear friend Miss Judy who started a few more plants in her cold frame (article 2) than she was able to use. Her generosity became a successive planting of cabbages, cucumber, kale and lettuces - what a treat!
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The difference between the farmlands of Eastern and Washington State are significant. We learned how much we appreciate all the greenery of our side (western) and how very much this depth and variance of color affects our own perception of life around us! All of Washington state is experiencing record heat and drought, but vibrant color is still apparent in so many places. You can see that Mt. Rainier does not have much snow left on it's glacial exterior and there is nothing on the hillsides surrounding; but there is still life in the trees and the grasses that are grazed by cattle. After all the days and hours of dry, brown hillsides and sparse vegetation (with few exceptions around the rivers), we were so happy to see the greenery again!
We have had the great pleasure of enjoying some recent out-of-state travel and were blown away by the many differences we encountered in just a few states. Most importantly we came home appreciating all the more, the great greens and richness of color in the western side of our state. (Especially our own home and beds, but.... ) Oh, how our eyes value the look of life in the land around us! Even in one of the hottest, driest summers in history it is still so much more colorful on the well known wet, drippy & soggy side of Washington State.
We also were able to see the great WIDE areas of industrial farmland that grow so much hay, wheat, corn, potatoes, beets and more. Lil Miss has taken several photos of her growing garden and we wanted to share them with you to inspire you in your own gardening endeavors. If you are concerned that you are too late for a garden, don't be discouraged...there is always something you can do! There is still plenty of time to plant and plan for an abundant harvest. In the past, Mom has direct seeded zucchini plants in July and still gotten more produce then purchased starts planted in June. You can do it! Ahhh, the joys of country living. Sometimes it's just a treat to enjoy other farms as we make our way home from a visiting or shopping trip.... Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon their beds. Some consistent trial and patience gave Miss Dixie the courage to face a new challenge ... As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him 2Samuel 23:31 As with all our animals, natural care and feeding is our goal; so for Dixie we have been learning more about the movement to model our domestic horse hooves after the wild mustangs, as well as keeping the horses in the type of movement they've been designed for. Words like "Mustang Roll" (referring to the hooves) and "Paddock Paradise" (referring to the best horse environment) make so much sense - as other words new to us years ago: "Multi-species Grazing" and "Hugelkultur". We learned while a local farrier worked on a friends' horse, getting to ask questions while we watched him shape new horse shoes with his traveling forge and anvil. (Praise the Lord for these AWESOME learning opportunities!) We also studied the hooves of horses we were working with (Aren't these toes too long? What are these ridges?), we've watched documentaries on wild Mustangs, videos of hoof trimming styles and have seen there are many different approaches to the perceived 'perfect' hoof. What serves the horse best, as we have come to understand, is the model of those living most like they were designed (His way is perfect); therefore we sought a hoof trimmer that could help us enable Dixie's hoof healing, building her hoof strength, traction and movement, which = soundness. We've continued to enjoy many weeks of groundwork, riding, care of other horses and study with Hannah, our horse & spinning friend Sharon, and lots and lots of research. We've studied different horse breeds and rode several on our own, while Hannah spent many hours helping us see and understand body typing & soundness. She encouraged us in the pursuit of our own horse and although we never thought our property could properly support horses, after learning more about equine natural living environments and their needs, we began to realize with some work and redesign, our homestead can be a very hospitable environment for our own riding companion.
As the seasons change there is new life everywhere... emerging from the earth, tree limbs and oh yes, Momma animals! The Lord has mightily blessed us with each ewe bringing a new lamb into the herd. At a time when many other conventional sheep breeders in the Pacific NW are sadly losing lambs and sheep to 'unexplainable' losses (there is thought that over working and 'super bugs' are to blame), we count it a great opportunity to naturally husband our Lord's creation and reap the blessed reward. We have beautiful, colorful healthy lambs bouncing around so eager to make their mark on the new world around them. We have spent several weeks with our friend learning natural care, groundwork and enjoying some light riding...but she suggested we visit her trainer and see if we might learn even more. Going from a casual environment that all of us can enjoy together, to a more structured setting was only appealing for two of the 'gang' and because she only had two lesson horses for really young riders, Mom wasn't able to participate either. (Insert 'boo-hoo' emoticon here.)
Oh, the strange terms you learn as you delve deeper into caring for horses...We were excited to experience a rather drowsy (for Miss Cheyenne) version of this common practice called 'teeth floating' or 'floating the teeth' that this Quarter Horse mare was not very happy to endure. This method, with it's crazy apparatus and 'calming drugs' further prepared and enlightened us to the many perplexities of the 'modern' veterinary practice.
Part of responsibly maintaining property is taking care of dangerous trees. Recently we had a brief assessment from a local tree service (Thank you, Gary) and Dad decided we needed to take care of this particular alder sooner rather than later. After prayerful consideration, utilizing the resources available through his scaffolding work, he was able to complete the job on his own and save funds for other homestead needs. Each scaffold frame is 6'4" tall...including the base jacks this tower was about 45' tall. We have another alder that is cracked more severely and will need to be tackled soon as well. 'Tech' was able to capture a bit of it on video and add his 'spin' to give you a taste of country tree trimmin'! Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually. 1Chronicles 16:11 We're always thrilled at the potential to learn how animals can contribute to our life and how we can learn to better enhance the lives of animals we have. With a new year we are blessed to have new experiences with an animal we've only dreamed of having, a horse! The Lord has opened the door for us to learn from a barrel racing winner and long time horse owner, at her wonderful facility, with multiple horses! This is the view from her 'ranch'... Already the potential of learning natural horsemanship methods while interacting with the horses on many levels exhilarated Lil' Miss and she emphatically announced, "This is a great start to a new year!" We agree! Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 As the cold weather moves along we have been finding more ways to utilize the plethora of wool that seems to consistently grow each year. Weaving has been a long standing endeavor that seemed a bit daunting and we never seemed to get to. Last September, at the Schafer Meadows Fiber Festival, we were intrigued and inspired when Lil' Miss got to try it for herself and we realized how simple the process was. We attempted to make our own tri-loom, even breaking out the power tools, but didn't have the nail numbers accurately varied. Either side of the loom has one quantity of nails, while the bottom has a different. Through our first fumbled weaving attempts, we learned! Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. Psalm 25:4-5 Surrender
I want my life so cleared of self That my dear Lord may come And set up His own furnishings And make my heart His home. And since I know what this requires, Each morning while it is still, I slip into that secret room, And leave with Him- my will. He always takes it graciously, Presenting me with His; I'm ready then to meet the day And any task there is. And this is how my Lord controls My interests, my ills; Because we meet at break of day For an exchange of wills. By: Anne Grannis |
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