Chicken pupmkinn carving

Garden update: chaos and destruction

Well there's not much left of the garden.

The twins flattened the corn with their tractors.

The garlic and onions got lost in the weeds but we did get a nice little harvest of onions, I haven't tried to lift any garlic yet.

The goats ate all the leaves off of the tomatoes 

And the twins picked all the baby green tomatoes to play with.

The chickens pecked open and ate all of the watermelons before they got much bigger than a football.

There are green strawberries but I have yet to see any last long enough to ripen the first hint of pink and someone gets them.

The cukes however are still churning out delicious "mumbers" 
as little O. calls them.

And the herb garden is thriving beautifully.

Orchard Update: New fences, fewer goats and a Peach!

So we fenced in out little orchard to prevent any further damage, I'm afraid one of my baby apple trees didn't make it but the rest seem to be ok.

In fact, I harvested my peach.

 Only one single peach was this years entire harvest but it was the best peach I have ever tasted in my entire life, no joke. It came from our Georgia Belle of the South variety tree, we also have an Elberta but she didn't bear this year. I can't wait to get baskets full of juicy peaches!

My Amazing Recipe For the Best Moisturizing Mosquito Repellent That Smells Great

I've seen reports of a new mosquito borne virus called chikungunya, pronounced chick-un-goon-yay, and I'm pretty sure it's safe to say nobody is happy about it. We all know those pesky skeeters can carry many blood-borne diseases, so here's another nasty one to add to that list.

 We live in a mosquitoes paradise here at the Crafty Homestead, we have a lovely forest, with lots of pines and plenty of moisture in the South Carolina heat and humidity. 

I have tried every type of mosquito repellent possible and I have finally created after much research, and many field tests, what I believe is the best ever mosquito repellent and it smells great too.

I absolutely hate citronella, it gives me a headache, and I hate using harsh sprays with Deet. So I came up with my own "recipe" and my entire family has been using it for the past month with amazing success, 

There have been a couple evenings that I forgot to put some on before our evening walk and believe me I  instantly regret going into the woods without it because I get eaten up, they love my pale sensitive skin. but as long as I have my repellent on I don't get a single bite, it is amazing. 

And it's easy too, but before I go too far taking the credit for this recipe, It's just a combination of a few products, it's not made from scratch, but who cares? This stuff works!!

My Amazing Recipe For the Best Moisturizing Mosquito Repellent That Smells Great Too

1. You will need a Bottle of Avon Skin so Soft whipped body oil, it doesn't feel oily though, it feels like a lotion and goes on like a lotion, non greasy. I am not an Avon distributor, I don't even know anyone who sells Avon, but somehow I ended up with a bottle and I will definitely be buying more. You could probably use any lotion as a base for the essential oils, but Avon SSS has a reputation as a insect repellent in it's own right already so I'm gonna stick to what I know works.
2. Essential Oil of Lemongrass. 1 drop per ounce of lotion. I have a 12 oz bottle of SSS so I used 12 drops
3. Essential Oil of Lavender, 1 drop per oz of lotion, I used 12 drops
4. Essential Oil Blend:  Repellent Blend, (I used Terra Shield) 1 drop per oz of lotion, I used 12 drops

That's it, just add the oils to the SSS and Shake well! apply before going outside, reapply after 6 hours or as needed.

In April, Dallas County health officials began urging people to start taking precautions against chikungunya, even if they didn’t travel. “We’re telling people to use mosquito repellent all day whenever they go outdoors,” Previously, the county recommended using repellent only from dusk to dawn to avoid another West Nile outbreak. The expanded guidelines are taking into account one important difference between West Nile and chikungunya. They are spread by different mosquito species with different biting habits. West Nile carriers bite at night, chikungunya’s by day. “The mosquitoes that carry it are both here, and they’re quite pervasive,” said Spencer Lockwood, a Dallas County microbiologist, who focuses on mosquito surveillance. “They are aggressive biters,” he said of the expected chikungunya carriers. “They’ll try to get their [blood] meal. If they can’t get it, they will keep on trying.”

Tips for preventing mosquito bites

• — Cover exposed skin by wearing long-sleeved shirts, long pants and hats.
• — Use an appropriate insect repellent, containing DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus or IR3535. (or try My Amazing Recipe For the Best Moisturizing Mosquito Repellent That Smells Great Too)
• — Use permethrin-treated clothing and gear, such as boots, pants, socks and tents.
• — Stay and sleep in screened or air conditioned rooms.
• — Use a bed net if the area where you are sleeping is exposed to the outdoors.

SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

via New mosquito-borne virus is a threat, experts say | Dallas Morning News.

Sourdough Bread: How To Make Your Own Easy Sourdough Starter

I absolutely love fresh from the oven sourdough bread. I was feeding my starter culture this morning and wanted to share my love of sourdough with you. If you're interested in learning to cook with sourdough you're going to need a starter, that's the bubbly, living batter where your yeast colony lives, waiting to be turned into delicious wholesome bread. The easiest way to get a starter is to ask a friend to share their starter with you. anyone who keeps a sourdough will usually be more than happy to share their starter with you and may even help show you how to care for it.

I didn't know anyone with a sourdough starter, so I studied up on how to make my own from scratch.

 

There are only a few simple steps to becoming a sourdough baker. To begin, create a starter (a bubbly batter you keep in your fridge). By adding the starter to dough, you can make it rise. Bake and serve. Yum!

Craft your own Sourdough starter from wild yeast

So the first step is to create your starter. This is a living culture made of flour water and yeasts, it's kind of like a kitchen pet, that requires a small amount of regular care to be healthy and happy.

It's pretty simple really:

1. mix equal parts (1 cup) flour and (non-chlorinated) water in a glass bowl - no metal bowls or utensils please
2. wait 24 hours
3. stir twice a day
4. feed equal parts flour and warm water (discard half of mixture before feeding)
5. repeat steps 2-4 until you have a bubbly sour starter

With regular use and feeding your starter will mature into a wonderful source of delicious sourdough bread

For complete and detailed step by step instructions on making your own sourdough starter check out Sourdough Bread: How To Begin (easy sourdough for the beginner or novice).. This is the exact recipe and tutorial that I used to create my sourdough starter here at The Crafty Homestead.

Or just buy a ready made starter

If you're just starting our with sourdough, or if you're having trouble starting your own sourdough culture, it's better to start with a good established starter so that you can learn what a healthy starter looks smells and acts like.

You can purchase a starter culture from Donna at Cultured Food Life She has a wealth of information about sourdough and other live probiotic foods. 

 I believe that along with the overly processed foods, soil depletion, and the loss of fermentation and probiotic foods that heal and protect our bodies, our diets are wreaking havoc on our guts. This, in turn, is causing the rise in all kinds of food allergies. Our diets are a dim reflection of the nutrient-dense whole foods we used to eat years ago. Someone at a recent class asked why we are living longer if our diets are so bad. But this is actually not the case any more; we are not living longer, this trend has stopped. Not only that, the quality of our lives is in sad shape. How often do you see someone living vibrantly and without sickness or ailments?  It is increasingly becoming the exception and not the norm. Pharmaceuticals are the norm and not the exception, and food allergies and gut issues are rampant along with a host of other health issues. The average consumer is unaware of these changes in our food supply and then labels gluten and breads as the enemy, when they don’t realize the culprit is the dramatic changes in the actual process of making bread today.

Or get this one for free

Another good source for a starter is Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Starter. The starter has been in his family since at least 1847 when his family moved west on the Oregon Trail. I haven't actually tried this starter yet but I have just sent in a request for some.

 Carl T. Griffith,gave a sourdough starter to anyone who asked, or who sent him a self-addressed stamped envelope, he died early in the year 2000 at the age of 80. He is known for his generosity and the high quality and vitality of his sourdough starts, which came from a sourdough culture carefully nurtured and preserved in his family for over 150 years.

Carl always gave his starter away for free and when he passed away his family and friends carried on that tradition. You can still get his starter for free. I just sent off for my sample and can't wait to try it. Get Carl's Free Sourdough Starter It's totally free just send in a SASE, but it would be well worth a couple bucks donated to the folks who keep Carl's tradition alive.

photo credit: V. H. Hammer via photopin cc

Orchard Update - the goat damage was inevitable

Those darn sneaky goats got into the orchard and were eating my trees, they ate the raspberry canes too. We're going to have to put up complete orchard fencing to protect them since we also have deer nearby. I'm hoping the trees can survive long enough to get well established, they had trampled one poor peach tree almost to the ground.

This is a fairly common problem on the homestead if you have goats, they can and will find a way to get into everything you try to grow and ruin it even if they don't actually eat it.

In fact, does anyone want to buy some goats? they make great weedeaters....sort of.

Make Healthy Dog Treats for weight gain and healthy skin and coat

There's only one breed of dog at The Crafty Homestead,

you might expect it to be a livestock guardian breed,

but you'd be wrong.

Bree smiling on our nature trail

We love Boxers!

And Boxers are such high energy animals that it can be hard to get them to gain weight.

This is a recipe I found at Holistic Dog  I have been using for the past 3 years with my boxers and I wholeheartedly recommend it as a healthy treat and weight gain supplement.

My Bree is a picky eater and this helps her keep a good weight.

I give my girls 3-4 treats daily to maintain beautiful coats, energy level, and a full appetite.

For weight gain I give 1/4 pound up to three times a day.

A Reader's Recipe:

5 pounds ground meat

5 cups Total whole grain cereal

5 cups oats (slow cooking type)

2½ cups raw wheat germ

¾ cup oil

¾ cup molasses

6 egg yolks

5 packets gelatin

2 ½ tablespoons Solid Gold Sea meal supplement

• Mix up, form balls, freeze, feed as treats or food supplement.
• Mix all ingredients together thoroughly like you would a meatloaf.
• Roll into balls no larger than 1 inch diameter.
• Divide into at least 6 separate containers or bags. Freeze. Thaw as needed for feeding.

Mixing it all up can be a bit of a pain so I usually make two batches at a time just so I always have plenty on hand.

I haven't met a dog yet that didn't wolf them down and beg for more so they're great for even the pickiest pups.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must confess that I don't bother separating the eggs. We eat whole eggs here, shell and all. ok, not really.