March | 2014 | Simple Hobby Homesteading

Monthly Archives: March 2014

DIY Homemade “Grocery Store” Soap… Yes, YOU can do this!

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Jhenna One comment

Ever look at the ingredients list of soaps in the grocery store? Even the “natural” soaps have chemicals and preservatives that may or may not cause health issues (we can all find research to support our theories on either side, not my point today). I don’t really blame these companies because their products have to have a long shelf life (who knows how long they will be on those store shelves!). However, when I can make a product here at home I jump on it like a frog on a lily pad. Add to that the simple fact that my DIY endeavors usually get me these products for a fraction of the price and you’ve got one happy hobby farmer.

I’ve become quite the soap maker lately as Kevin and I are looking for ways to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation through the AMGEN “Arthritis Bike Classic”. It’s hard to get people to just donate money because we have become a society of “I want something for my money.” You can agree or disagree with that but its an argument for another day… even I am guilty of wanting a product to show for money I spend (not good, I know, but I’m a work in progress as far as the be more giving, loving, and self sacrificing department). Enter soap making. People seem to really love homemade soaps and I have goats that I milk twice a day so this could be (and is) certainly an outlet for using that goat’s milk and my ambition!

Today I want to share with you a super easy cold process soap that uses ingredients you could find at any local grocery store, discount store, hardware store, and even your local drugstores. I hate to say it, but I can get every one of these ingredients, except one, at my local Super Wal-Mart (bear with me, I live in a small town).

I’m going to give you step by step instructions for you to make this soap. I’m not going to go into much detail on the terms as I plan on doing a blog all about soap terms in the very near future. This is a super simple beginner’s soap and I hope you enjoy! Invite some friends over and do it together (confidence in numbers right?). Everything is weighed using mass on a kitchen scale, even liquids (in other words, don’t measure out the liquid oils trying to use the fluid ounces on the side of a liguid measuring glass).

Grocery Store Soap Recipe (makes 2 two lb loaves or you can use a couple small cardboard boxes or 1 medium box lined with plastic, saran wrap, or even a garbage bag… at the bottom of the page are some links for good ideas for DIY soap molds)

24 oz olive oil (I prefer the classic olive oil, not the virgin or extra virgin)

7.2 oz canola oil

2.4 oz soybean oil (otherwise known as Crisco)

12 oz coconut oil

2.4 oz castor oil… add at end, after trace (I’ll explain that in a minute… castor oil is often found in the medicine aisles)

18.2 oz distilled water (or fresh, clean rain water)

6.7 oz lye (pure sodium hydroxide,aka caustic soda, often found at hardware stores. Evansville, IN area you can get it at ACE Hardware). This is extrememly caustic and will burn a hole through anything quickly when mixed with a liquid so use caution)

**optional… essential oils or fragrance oils (about 2.4 oz for this recipe, meant for soap), ground oatmeal, ground almonds, fruit zest, honey, etc.

Supplies (do not ever use these supplies for anything with food after making soap with them)

Stainless steel pot (must be stainless steel as other materials react badly with the lye)

Thick plastic pitcher or glass Pyrex measuring glass (4 cup)

Thermometer (candy making thermometer is fine)

High temperature resistant stirrer ( I use Pampered Chef rubber scraper)

Rubber gloves (Decent thick ones, think dishwashing gloves. Not talking welding gloves but you better not be using those thin surgical gloves either!)

Safety glasses/goggles (optional mask… I use ones for painting)

Soap mold (see YouTube links below for cool DIY ideas)

Kitchen scale (I always keep mine in a gallon size Ziploc bag so it doesn’t get all oily or dirty)

Immersion blender (not a must but cuts down stirring time by almost an hour! Only $15-$20 in stores or online)

Spray bottle with vinegar in it (for use in case of lye spills/splatters)

Plastic wrap, garbage bag or wax paper (to line molds and for coering soap during gel phase)

Heavy blanket or towels (used for gel phase)

Big bowl with about 2 inches of water and ice (used in case you need to lower temperature of lye solution or oil mixture)

Step 1: Gather ingredients and supplies and clear away any food and food preparation things. Accidents happen and you do not want lye getting on anything you will ever put in or near your mouth or skin. If you want, you can line your soap molds with plastic wrap. People say it is easier to unmold the soaps this way but I can never get it in there right to prevent wrinkles on my soap. I prefer to rub mine with Crisco instead and just wash them after I unmold the soap the next day.

Step 2: Weigh out your oils Remember to weigh them using your kitchen scale. Dump them into your stainless steel pot (EXCEPT castor oil, weigh it out, put in separate bowl and wait until the end to add it). Put your pot on the stove and turn on lowest setting possible.

Step 3: Put on safety gear and make sure room is ventilated. Usher kids and pets out of the room. I combine my lye and water under the stove exhaust fan with my overhead ktchen fan on and windows open. May be overkill but I don’t want to take any chances. Lye creates a vapor you don’t want to breathe but the vapor doesn’t last long.

Step 4: Measure out lye and water in two separate containers (I put water in my glass pyrex… this is where we will be mixing the lye and water). You can substitute any liquid for the water but if you use milk (goat’s milk, buttermilk etc.) there are extra precautions that I will talk about in another post so you don’t scald the milk. Many people like to use room temperature teas!

Step 5: Carefully and slowly add the lye to the water as you calmly stir the water. The lye will cause the water to heat up drastically (to about 160 or 180 degrees F). It is ALWAYS LYE INTO WATER, never water into lye. Just think “I like to lie IN the water.” If you happen to get any lye on any workplace surface spray it with vinegar and wipe up with paper towel. If you get any lye (or lye water solution) on your skin rinse with cool water for 10 minutes straight. Lye will burn a hole through anything when it is “activated” by liquid.

Step 6: Check the temperature of the lye/water combination. If it reads over 160 degrees F place the whole Pyrex container in the bowl of ice water and gently stir (it will bring the temperature down). Let sit for a few minutes.

Step 7: Check your oils and give the pot some stirs. You want all the solids (coconut oil, soybean oil) to melt down to liquid. The more you stir the faster it will melt. You can raise the heat slightly as long as you continually stir. Check the temperature. You are trying to bring the melted oils the same temperature as the lye mixture (or within 5 degrees or so).

Step 8: Monitor your lye mixture and oil mixture, checking temperatures frequently. Gently stir, stir, stir. Take oils off the stove top as soon as everything is melted. Alternate as needed with the oil mixture and lye mixture in the ice bath to get them both down to between 90 and 115 degrees F.

Step 9: When both mixtures are within 5 degrees of each other (and fall between the 90 and 115 degrees F range) you are ready to slowly and carefully pour the lye mixture into the oil mixture. Stir by hand until all lye mixture is incorporated into the oil mixture (about 10 stirs). Spray the inside of the Pyrex glass (where the lye/water mixture was) with a couple sprays of vinegar, this neutralizes the lye just in case you forget there was lye in there and go to wash it. If either mixture get too cold put pot back on stove and Pyrex glass in a bowl of hot water.

Step 10: Put your immersion blender in the pot upright and all the way to the bottom. Pulse the immersion blender in short rapid spurts and you will see the mixture (the SOAP!) start to thicken. Keep blendering all around the pot keeping it to the bottom to avoid splatters. There are three traces… light trace, medium trace, and heavy trace. These are just ways of descibing how thick it is becoming. Thin trace is the point when oils and lye are mixed but the mixture is still very runny (like a thin soup). Medium trace is like a thin gravy or medium thick soup. Heavy trace is like thick pudding.

Just started blendering… thin trace. Notice the white swirls as lye/water incorporates with oils

At the medium trace point (thin gravy, for this recipe about 3 minutes into blendering) add the castor oil and any of your other additives that you want (almonds, essential oils, zest, etc.). To my batch I added 2 oz lettuce fragrance oil and 1/4 cup ground oatmeal. Continue to blender for another 30 to 45 seconds, enough to get everything mixed in. I like to pour my mixture into mold right between the medium and heavy trace point.

Medium trace

Step 10: Pour your soap into your molds. I like to add a little oatmeal to the top. Sometimes I use a bamboo skewer to mix oatmeal in and make sure it doesn’t all settle to the bottom.

Step 11: Take your soap somewhere where little fingers will not poke and prod it (including yours!) and place plast wrap or garbage bag over soap in molds and cover with blankets so the soap will go through it’s “gel phase.”

plastic wrapped, doesn’t have to be tight.

Warm and “snuggy” for the night

Step 13: Clean up. I prefer to just put everything in my stock pot and leave it alone until the next day. This gives everything the chance to harden and the lye to become inactive on my supplies (except for the container I measured the lye in, I never wash that out). The next day I just scrape off the soap into the trash and wash everything in my kitchen sink (you can use dish soap to help get the oilyness off but often you only need the soap leftover on your supplies).

I really love this step because it gives me an idea how well the soap may lather and clean and it smells awesome! My hands are silky soft after washing my soap stuff! Doing things this way has never caused a clog in the drain as I’ve heard some people experience when washing up directly after making soap.

Step 12: Wait… the hardest part for me! Twelve to twenty-four hours after covering the soap you can uncover it. Leave it to sit in molds for another 12 to 24 hours (uncovered). You may then unmold it, slice it (it may be a little soft and that is ok!), and put it up somewhere because it has to cure for 4 to 6 weeks!

unmolded 24 hours after making it

Slicing… a little soft but it will harden to an awesome bar after curing!

You have gone through the chemical process of making soap called saponification and it is time for nature to do its part. During these 4 to 6 weeks moisture is evaporating and making your bar of soap nice and hard. The lye is being neutralized so it loses all of its caustic properties and forms the awesome glycerin that is the base of great soap. Four to six weeks seems a small price to pay for awesome soap that could last you the whole year (depending of course on family size and how often you roll in the dirt). After that time you have perfectly safe and hard bars of soap that you made yourself and you’ll fall in love with!

Enjoy and feel free to post any suggestions, questions, or comments! Happy soaping!

Want to dnate for our “Ride for Arthritis? Tax deductible!

http://ccc14.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1087174&supid=400863333

DIY Soap molds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Wy7t7ZKIA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKtXsrL1uk8

Posted in Soap Making

Pig wrastlin’… added that to my resume last night

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Jhenna 2 comments

Miss Piggy

So last night I had a couple things that I really needed to do and I had planned my night perfectly to get them all done. They were simple things… get supper on the table, get youngest son to basketball practice (last one of the season, YEAH), and take some soaps to our church (while youngest son was at practice) for a care package to an amazing missionary in Lithuania (Hi Judy!)

Instead of these well laid out plans I chased a Vietnamese pot bellied pig through the corn fields, woods, and cricks of Chandler (I say “crick”, you say “creek”, others say “stream”, roll with me here or you’ll never get past the fact that I call drinking fountains “bubblers”). The supper fail was somewhat my fault… I asked my husband to pick up a few things for red and green enchiladas on his way home from work (tomatoes and tortillas) and he reminded me that we still had cavatini in the fridge (silly me, I thought he had tired of eating cavatini as it had been his lunch and dinner for the past two days). I guess you could say the pig had nothing to do with supper being a “fend for yourself” of leftovers and a 9 pm Subway and Taco Bell run for our boys but I will anyways… I blame you little pig for my boys eating fast food.

This is how it all went down and even this morning I can’t believe it. Youngest son and I pull in to basketball practice and just as I am getting out to usher son in to practice a friend pulls in with his son and said to me, “Get in, we’ve got to go catch a pig.” Ummmmm ok, yea, that’s not a weird “Hello, how ya doing?” I look at my little bag of soaps thinking, “I really need to run these to the church quick and get back in case youngest son breaks a collarbone playing basketball” (oldest son has done this). I throw caution to the wind (not out of character for me), grab my purse, and tell youngest son and his friend to “Head into practice and not break any bones until I get back.” Seriously, those were my words… not winning any mother of the year awards this year. I text my husband, Kevin, that I am off to catch a pig quick and his response is “Don’t eat it” (I’m allergic to mammal meat… weird, I know).

John and I head down to the muddy corn field where he saw the pig and he tells me someone dumped it when he was bringing his son to basketball. Opened the car door, and kicked the pig out… seriously! Really? People these days. He figured it wouldn’t be tough to catch the little pig because it was probably used to people. All I know about potbellied pigs is that they usually squeal bloody murder when they are handled against their will. Do they bite? Are they mean? Did this one have tusks? Would I have a really stupid obituary including “death at the hooves of a pig?” It didn’t matter, we were not getting very close to this pig as it was scared out of its mind, could run way faster than anyone would ever have imagined, and really had no interest in being anywhere near people… quite the opposite in fact. We chase this pig through the cornfield for about 30 minutes in freezing, windy weather (what is up with snow in March Indiana?) and even got three more helpers (John’s wife came with a banana… this pig did not like bananas. Two guys passing by also stopped to help). The pig eluded all five of us and we were seriously trying to get this pig! The pig (we had figured out at this point it was a lady pig and had no tusks to hurt us with… still wondering if pigs bite) ran off down through the cornfield/small lake and into the woods.

The two guys gave up, got back in their vehicles and took off. I suggested we go get some Fritos… I think everyone (animals included) love Fritos and maybe the crinkly bag would get Miss Piggy’s attention. I also REALLY had to get those soaps to the church so John said he would get the Fritos while I ran to make the soap drop off. We would rendezvous back in the woods for some more pig catching.

I happily dropped off the soaps, interrupting our Bible study group, all the while trying not to blurt out that I had to run to go catch a pig. I was a total muddy mess (no one seemed to notice, love those folks!) but the adrenalin was starting to pump… I could do this, Miss Piggy would be caught and saved (this area had a huge coyote population and she wouldn’t last the night). I looked at the minivan clock, added an hour because I refuse to accept Daylight Savings Time fully and change all my clocks (telling myself it’s good math practice for the boys to add an hour… add 1… yup we are raising geniuses) and realized basketball practice would be done in about five minutes.

I go to the gym, see no sign of John and his wife, so I pick up youngest son and John’s son. Call John, yup he’s in the depths of the woods chasing the pig. The boys and I head down to the woods and John’s son is super stoked to practice his skills for the pig wrastlin’ competition for the 4-H fair this summer. The boy is in shorts, sweaty from basketball, and it’s 34 degrees outside… I tell them to wait in the van. My youngest son looks relieved.

Long story short, we chase this pig around the woods and cricks for well over an hour (added to the 45 minutes of cornfield chasing). At several points the pig comes up to the gravel road and I sprint after it to wear it out. I guess my training begins today (Kevin and I are doing a 550 mile bicycle ride in the fall to raise money and awareness for the Arthritis Foundation… I haven’t started training yet) and I have to tell you this was not on the agenda for tonight. I run full out behind the pig for about a quarter mile each time and when I think I’m going to vomit I overtake the pig and turn it on its heels to run back the way we came. Little piggy legs should wear out quickly right? Wrong! All in all we did the road run about a dozen times (you do the math, I don’t like to do anything beyond add 1). When she made it back to where John, his wife, and two hysterically laughing boys were she would dart down the bank and into the woods.

At this point it was well after 8 pm and the only light we had was from the moon (headlights from our vehicles actually made things worse because we couldn’t shine them down into the woods and they screwed up any night vision our eyes were trying to attain). However, the headlights did shine brightly on every road run that me and Miss Piggy engaged in. Apparently this is funny to 9 year old boys. Branches, logs, thorns, crick, and mud made this ooh so much fun. At one point John and I were both chasing Miss Piggy, him from behind and me in from the right when I heard a loud crash and hear John go to the ground. He got clotheslined by some good size tree limbs and as I ran I shouted, “You ok?” He assured me he was so I kept going. Got a hand on that little pig and dove down to cover her. She wiggled from under me and took off. Seriously? At this point I told her that I hope she did become a coyote’s dinner… coyotes deserve to eat too! However, out of the corner of my eye I see two boys and John’s wife on the edge of their seats trying to get a glimpse of whether or not we would emerge from the woods carrying Miss Piggy. I just couldn’t give up.

More road runs to try to wear the pig out and back down into the blackness of the woods more times than I can count, this pig could run! Finally, and I do mean FINALLY I was sprinting on the road behind Miss Piggy and I saw a huge pile of brush to the side of the road with the crick directly below (we were farther up than we had been all night). Before, when she would get to the water’s edge she’d stop for a split second every time so I knew she could smell/sense the water… this was my chance. I caught up to her, zagged to the left directly at her and she headed straight for that brush. She dove into it and realized the water was right there and she froze. Her legs were caught up in the brush and I dove on her, reaching around her with one of my best wrestling moves… yes I was a wrestler in high school. She squealed and squealed and I had to have the biggest smile of relief known to man on my face!

I yelled for John and his wife to bring up their minivan, I had caught her!! It seemed like forever until they finally came up, all the while playing a game of Marco Polo in the pitch black night. I was buried pretty deep in the brush with a pig under me so I’m glad no one decided to pull out a camera. I wrapped an arm around Miss Piggy and John grabbed my other hand to try to pull me out. I left behind a shoe but after Miss Piggy was in the van I was able to dig around and find it… wet, muddy, but full of memories, I really get like these shoes. John had a bloody head but seemed in good spirits.

Yup, so that’s what I did last night. Even funnier yet was the text conversation I found on my phone between my two sons (one in van, one at home).

I really love life but man am I sore this morning! No, I didn’t keep the pig… I asked Kevin, he said “No”… he is the practical one in the family. Hmmm maybe some comments here can change his mind? Just kidding, I don’t want to push my luck with animals on the farm… or do I … notice I am not deleting that sentence. LOL, I must be a little nutty!

Anyone out there have pot bellied pigs? How are they as pets?

Posted in Day in the Life

40 Signs You’re a Mom

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Jhenna 2 comments

All right, depending on what “stage” of motherhood you are in some of these will resonate more than others… As of today I have a 15 year old and a 9 year old so that gives you a clue of where I am coming from! Go ahead, judge me, it’s kinda fun… I write this as my sons are daring each other to shoot the other (bare chests) with nerf guns and nerf bows and arrows… so I guess I know I’m a mother when I don’t step in to stop them. Darn that Duck Dynasty and its introduction of “Red Belly Rules”

“Owwwwww why would you shoot me? I didn’t think you would really do it!” Moving on…

You have a secret candy stash that you don’t even tell your husband about.
You unconsciously rock back and forth in the presence of any baby or little animal.
You take it personally when strangers do not wave back at your baby/toddler.
Legos, plastic animals, and matchbox cars are your personal World War II mine field.
Olive Garden IS fine Italian dining.
You have to feign interest in things you really have no interest in (think GI Joe story plots, what fingers smell like, how often the dog farts, fun facts about Hitler etc.).
Your kisses can cure the near amputation (as a child would have you believe) of a limb.
You can’t wait for them to say “mama” and then when you become their personal slave you wish they would hurry up and learn to say “dada”
Goldfish crackers are their own food group
You take a million and one pictures for the kids’ scrapbook that will most likely never be completed (or in my case, started)
Yes, you have teeth, hair, and possibly a belly button cord “stump” in a treasure box somewhere… you are creepy… oh wait, you’re a mom…same thing.
You find yourself playing ” I dare you” with your child when it comes to eating vegetables. It may even go to double dare, and if it’s brussel sprouts you are talking double dog dare.
You’re first kid has an awesome detailed baby book. Your second, not so much. Your third child…you are sure you got one as a gift but can’t find it. Your fourth child… ummm they look a lot like the first child so they can share a book.
College savings plan? More like “future therapy” savings plan (yes I made my oldest son help me butcher chickens so we are upping the amount we add for a couple years)
Your husband says, “This is why we can’t have nice things” way too often.
You wish there was a drive thru everything.
You clean the house and the kids ask, “Who’s coming over?”
You cross your legs when you sneeze or cough.
You fake diarrhea to get a 10 minute immediate break in the solitude of the bathroom.
You seriously wonder what you did with your time before kids. Did you just sit around and look longily into your husband’s beautiful eyes? Yup, I’m sure that’s what we all did
You watch Sesame Street long after the kids have left the room and then justify it to yourself or anyone else by saying, “They have really cool singers, entertainers, actors, actresses on there and cookie monster is teaching me good eating habits now!”
You hear yourself say things like, “Don’t bite the dog”, “Take your foot out of your mouth” (literally), “Do not eat your toenails”, “No I will not smell your finger… well ok I will.”
That 10 minutes alone in the bathroom is like a mini vacation especially if you are able to sneak in a cool beverage (or coffee), your phone (or iPad), or a book!
Someone is conversing with you while you are sleeping.
You mix your kids’ names up (sometimes even interchanging them with the pets’ names) especially when you are angry or frustrated
Your young kids drop their pants in public, comparing parts, and you simply say, “Where is your mother” with a serious face.
You seriously cannot stand the “man hugs” that they give their father in which arms go out, they move towards each other, but there is no contact, UGH! That is not a hug!!
You literally cannot stand the phrase “Oh I forgot” or if you have teenagers, “I don’t know”!
You swear up and down you will never make 3 different dinners for picky eaters, but you do.
You can’t help but smell the tops of all babies’ heads.
Cutting a tiny person’s fingernails terrify you.
Therefore you chew off tiny person’s fingernails.
You have chewed up food to feed to your baby (think meat)… don’t try to say you haven’t!
You beg your oldest child to get his/her license ASAP so he/she can run errands for you.
You think you can cut hair (I thought I could, I can’t).
You have whole conversations through the bathroom door because you refuse to leave your little fortress of solitude.
Your husband takes the kid to the park so you can relax and you instead spend the time “cleaning up”
Everyone tells you to sleep when the baby sleeps and instead you sit, obsessively watching the baby sleep.
Your heart feels like its going to explode the moment you hold that child in your arms.
Your heart feels like its going to explode again the day that child leaves the nest.

What are your “You know you are a mom when…” moments? Let me hear them!!

Posted in Day in the Life

Itchin’ for a chicken!

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Jhenna 6 comments

Katja hanging out with a buff cochin and black cochin.

Stephanie asked a great question just the other day and I bumped this topic to the top of my “gotta blog this” list immediately. What kind of chickens should we get and what basics do we need to know?”

Chickens are the perfect starter livestock for any hobby farm, homestead, and even urban backyards. I get the following questions a lot about chickens and am so excited to share what has and hasn’t worked for us…

What is the best kind to get
What basics do I need from the start
Where is the best place to get my chickens

What is the best kind to get? Chicken breeds/types are a lot like dog breeds/types. No matter what the breed is known for there will always be exceptions and a lot of your outcome depends on how the animal is raised. Basically, you need to ask yourself, “Why do I want these chickens?” and that will determine what type you get.

Do I want great egg layers?
Do you want meat birds (dinner table)
Do I want dual purpose (decent egg layers but also good for butchering)
Do I want good free rangers/pest control
Do I have extreme winters/summers
Do I want my kids (and me) to be able to easily handle them?
Do I want certain color eggs (brown, white, blue, green, pink etc.)
Do I want quick egg layers (chickens can start laying anywhere from 17 to more than 26 weeks old)
Do I want heritage breeds or hybrids?

Delaware chicken searching for yummies to eat

This may seem a bit overwhelming and an awful lot of questions to just get a couple chickens but it cetainly helps guide one in the purchase of the best flock.

What is the best kind to get? I absolutely have preferences on breeds based on what we have had. At one time I kept a flock of over 200 chickens which had the freedom to roam the entire hobby farm (including our front porch which did not make my husband and kids very happy). We had 23 different breeds of chickens and they all had their pluses and minuses but one breed certainly stood out amongst the others. The great cochin! We have had bantam (miniature version) cochins, standard cochins, and even frizzle cochins (their feathers are all frizzled and stand out on end) and I have loved them all for their gentleness, great egg production, ability to withstand cold and hot temperatures, beautiful looks, and great mama skills when we wanted to hatch out some chicks.

Some other great all around chickens for any type of environment are the orphington, brahma, australorp, cornish, polish, ISA browns, and golden comets, Rhode Island whites, Plymouth Rock, and New Hampshires.

We love the look and color of eggs (rich dark brown) we get from cuckoo marans but I have to say these ladies are not very friendly. We also had a Cuckoo Maran rooster, Stanley, who was pure evil. He would even chase our German Shepherds around the farm, horrible guy. The boys wouldn’t go out the door when Stanley was out. He got his own pen because we needed him to raise other cuckoo marans from our hens but I really really really did not like him. Needless to say I was not all that sad the day old Stanley kicked the bucket however I was scared to death to go in the pen to get his body to bury because I thought he might be faking it to lure me in to attack me.

On the flip side there was Meathead, the most amazing (and HUGE) rooster you could ever find. He even visited grade school classes for kids to learn about chickens and hobby farming. He loved to be held and everyone loved him. Sadly Meathead passed away last fall and he will serioulsy be missed!

Meathead

Meathead…photo by Casey Braden

Next item to consider is whether you want:

chicks (male and female)
pullets (female less than 1 year old)
cockerels (roosters less than 1 year old)
full grown hens
full grown roosters

I’ve always preferred chicks because they are so darn cute and we could raise them up accustomed to being handled and returning to their coop at dusk. In spring you can get chicks from many feed/farm stores (around here it’s Tractor Supply Company and Rural King), mail order (my favorite is Murray McMurray Hatchery, link below), and from local breeders (check out Craigslist or local farmers).

What basics do I need from the start? This depends on what age you get.

Full grown egg laying chickens:

Coop or hen house with nest boxes
feeder
waterer
feed (at least initially so you can entice them to return to the coop each night if they are free ranging. Make sure it is NOT “meat bird” feed if you are raising egg laying or dual purpose breeds), protected run (depending on predator level and which, if any, livestock guardians you have) and chicken first aid kit. Pretty easy right? Yup, which is why they make great starter critters for any homestead.
If your birds do not have access to dirt ( I highly encourage as much access to “foraging as possible) then you need to provide grit for their digestion. A small bowl or feeder of it is sufficient as they will eat what they need.
Calcium of some sort. Some people provide this with oyster shell (we do) given freely as the grit would be. Others crush up egg shells and give it to them (we also do this).

Pullets/Cockerels: All of the same things above except you will not want to feed the egg laying feed. Instead get the starter/grower or grower/finisher feed depending on age of pullets. They will probably not be free ranging at this age (due to their size they make too easy of targets for predators) so you will be giving them more feed than full grown, free ranging chickens.

Chicks:

Brooder of some sort. There are a million ideas on the internet for “homemade brooders” that range from super simple to complex. In the past we have used a baby pool with square mesh wire surrounding it or refrigerator boxes laid down with the “top” cut out. We now use a big stock tank with high walls similar to what you see the chicks in at the feed stores. It’s a bit of upfront investment but if you plan on having new chicks again it is worth it. If you only have a couple chicks feel free to make something or use boxes.
Brooder light. Yes you need this even if it’s summer. Chicks need to be kept warm so you will have to adjust the height to get it just right. The chicks will let you know.

If they are all huddled directly under the light most of the time they are cold, lower it. If they are most often in the far depths of the far corners trying to get away from the light it is too hot, raise it.

: PERFECT!

: Maybe a little low but all in all this is fine

3. Waterer. Do not use a bowl of water as they will probably tip it over and/or drown in it. Fresh water every day is super important for chicks. When you first get them home add 1 TBS of sugar per gallon of water and make it slightly warm the first time.

4. Feeder. The round ones are great (pictured above). I have often found that my chicks get their food super dirty and icky with the long trough type.

5. Feed. You will need chick feed (starter). DO NOT Get the meat bird starter (it is designed to grow chickens super fast to butcher sooner and that will be bad if your chicks are used for egg laying or dual purpose). You can get the medicated feed if your chicks were not immunized (Marek’s Disease) but only feed it for 1 to 2 weeks. You can also get feed with antibiotics but I have found I don’t need that as long as I keep the brooder clean and water refreshed daily. When we hatch out our chicks here on the farm I give the medicated feed (for Marek’s Disease) but if I get them from a hatchery I have them immunized there before shipment.

6. Grit. If your chickens do not yet have access to the outdoors (dirt) put a bowl or feeder of grit out for them. THey will eat it as they need it to aid in their digestion.

7. Bedding. If they came from a hatchery or someone’s incubator at first you will want to have paper towels down for the chicks (newspaper becomes slick when wet and they could easily hurt their legs). You can put hem on top of wood chips or just have it down on the floor of your brooder (I suggest the latter). Change this paper towel out daily. If you put them on wood chips when they have not been accustomed to them they often mistake them for food, eat them, get impacted crops, and could die. If they came from a feed store you can put them directly on wood shavings or chips as they are accustomed to them and shouldn’t eat them

8. Chicken first aid kit. I will have more on this soon as I am working on a blog post all about general chick/chicken health and ailments. Basically you want scissors, antibiotic ointment, dressings, pressure tape, gloves, magnifying glass, and thermometer.

Last but not least, Where is the best place to get my chickens? I’ve bought them locally (breeders, farmers, fed store), ordered them, rescued them from inhumane conditions,and hatched chicks here at The Shepherd Hobby Farm. I love getting rare breeds and funny breeds from a hatchery but cannot help myslef in spring when I go into the feed store so I end up bringing a few home from there as well every spring. My all time favorite though is hatching them here at the farm… if you are ever able to do it I highly recommend hatching your own out.

Hey maybe I should start an “incubator rental” business, so fun!

When you get them from the feed store choose chicks that are moving around and curious. You may be tempted to “rescue” that one huddled by herself in the corner but you are setting yourself up for more work and probable heartbreak if she doesn’t make it. “Straight Run” means they haven’t been sexed (male and female) and you have no idea what you are going to get (hens or roosters). Pullets are female and cockerels are males as we stated before (though I’ve never seen a feed store sell just cockerels). You do NOT need a rooster for hens to lay eggs. Roosters are great but that is for a whole nother blog post!

Quick links that will help even the most seasoned chicken enthusiast!

Murray McMurray Hatchery: http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html

Mother Earth News did an interesting survey all about different breeds and chicken management techniques. The results can be seen here… https://www.surveymonkey.com/sr.aspx?sm=Ng1SFU0PmWjHUT7ofHi5hKvyLiYkduQuX0GzIJnw6z0_3d

Another tool from Mother Earth News is their “Hatchery Finder.” You type in what you are looking for and it comes up with the mail order hatcheries that have what you want, cool!

http://www.motherearthnews.com/find-chickens-poultry-hatchery.aspx

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Pics of your poultry friends? Let me hear it and see them, post here in the comments section and feel free to share our site!

Posted in Poultry

Chocolate Covered Strawberries… YUM!

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Jhenna Leave a comment

I really can’t imagine many things more delightful than eating chocolate covered strawberries… they are just amazing! However, I am a slight cheapskate and refuse to pay the insane amount of money places charge for these delectable bites of happiness. Add that to the fact that I am not a fan of mushy or bruised strawberries that I have convinced myself places use because no one can tell once they are covered in chocolate. So what do I do? I make them myself and it is so easy! Let me show you how…

What you will need:

Strawberries
“Dolci” chocolate wafers (you can use chocolate chips… we’ll talk about that in a bit)

*Dolci is often found in the produce section perhaps by the jars of minced garlic, look around, it’s there.

White chocolate (chips or baking bars of white chocolate work equally well)
Wax paper (not a must have but handy)

Dolci, my preferred chocolate for dipping!

Step 1: Rinse strawberries. Do this just before you start. If you wash strawberries days in advance they won’t last long in the fridge. You can wash them by putting them in a strainer and rinsing them under cold tap water or fill a big bowl with water and dump the strawberries in (my preferred method).

Step 2: DRY THE STRAWBERRIES! This is a key step and one that will determine your success or failure. Chocolate does not stick to wet or damp strawberries. I take the strawberries out of the water and put them on paper towel. I then pick a few up at a time in a paper towel and gently dry them and then place on a different towel.

Step 3: Put some wax paper on the counter or a cookie sheet. The beautiful thing about using Dolci is that it hardens at room temperature. Woohoo! For anyone who is remotely like me and plays a challenging round of “Tetris” when attempting to put anything in the fridge you will be glad that you don’t have to worry about balancing an entire cookie sheet of strawberries on a mayonnaise jar which is balanced on a stick of butter.

So now we have strawberries dried (admittedly I do a bunch at a time and don’t have room to dry them all at once so there are always strawberries hanging out in the different stations (water bath, drying towel, and dry/ready to dip towel) awaiting their turn.) You are doing great and it’s ok if you are trying to be quiet as a mouse so no kids (or spouse) will run in and steal all your strawberries… a common occurrence at our house.

Step 4: Pull out that “Dolci” chocolate and get really excited because in just seconds you will have your first chocolate covered strawberry ready to “taste test”!

* The concept of heating the chocolate is the same if you use chocolate chips but

the microwave times may differ (probably one extra 30 second interval) and you

will most likely have to refrigerate the strawberries for the chocolate to harden

(all depends on the temperature in your house).

Peel off the plastic on top and put container in your microwave (setting high/normal) for 30 seconds. Stir the contents and put in for another 30 seconds. When you pull it out this time and stir you may see quite a few big pieces or just a couple. Keep stirring for a couple seconds and if there are still big chunks put back in microwave for 15 seconds. Stir, stir, stir and those chunks will melt. Yes, all microwaves are different but I have used this method in 2 different countries, 4 different states, and over a dozen different houses with different microwaves and I have never had to microwave Dolci more than 1 minute and 30 seconds TOTAL. Don’t be that person.

Step 5: When you have smooth chocolate (resulting from stirring) tilt it slightly and gather 7 mar 2014 iphone pics 031 as much chocolate you can to one side to give the deepest “pool” of chocolate in which to dip the strawberries. Start with the biggest strawberries and gently but firmly (that makes no sense, I know) hold by the leaves (or stem if you are lucky enough to get some with stems) and dip in the chocolate. Dangle for a second to get the chocolate to stop dripping and lay on wax paper. Repeat repeat repeat. If a stem or leaves fall off while you are dipping and a strawberry is lost at chocolate sea go in after it! Pull it out with your fingers, plop it on the wax paper, and know which one you’ll be taste testing first. You washed your hands before you started right?

Step 6: When you get low on chocolate in the Dolci container and the strawberries start coming out less than pretty because you have to smoosh them all around to cover in chocolate just put the container down (do not throw away) and get another container of Dolci. If you only have one container skip to step 7. Microwave it according to directions in Step 4. Come back to your workspace and scrape the contents from the first Dolci into the fresh container and stir. It will melt in with the new chocolate and you can resume dipping happily.

Step 7: There will come a time when you are done dipping strawberries and there is a little chocolate left in the Dolci container. Offer some to others if you want or be very quiet and happily grab a couple strawberries, pretzels, marshmallows, or whatever you want chocolate on and dip away and eat directly. Yum! Have the camera ready if you call in the troops (otherwise known as kids and spouse) because one will very likely try to stick their face in the container to lick out the last bits of chocolate and the resulting chocolate face is adorable!

You can be done at this point if you want or you can really get fancy (this is not difficult) and go for the gusto with white chocolate drizzle.

Optional Step 8: Get a plastic Ziploc (or off brand, I don’t care) bag (I highly recommend a “freezer” strength one as the regular sandwich bags may melt with the heat of the chocolate), open it, and place in a coffee cup to give support to the bag.

Melt white chocolate just as you did the Dolci in step 4. However, chips and baking bars often take 30 seconds or so longer to melt than Dolci. Melt at 30 second intervals even if it seems they are hardly melting. Stir after every interval. After 3 or possibly 4 intervals, with stirring, you will have smooth creamy white chocolate. Pour it into the Ziploc bag, press the air out as best as you can, seal, and cut off the bottom corner of the bag (the bigger the cut the thicker your drizzle). Squeeze and drizzle over the strawberries in whatever fashion trips your trigger. I like to drizzle each strawberry individually instead of down a row because it helps prevent strings of chocolate connecting them.

Unless it is really hot I have never had to refrigerate the strawberries to get the white chocolate to harden… perhaps the Dolci talks to the white chocolate and tells it to “quit your whining and harden up!” If you have any white chocolate left feel free to “draw” designs (squiggles, hearts, letters, etc.) on wax paper and let it harden to decorate your platter of strawberries. I hate to waste chocolate so I often do this even though my oldest son almost always swipes the designs for delivery to his tummy instead of my pretty platter of strawberries. 7 mar 2014 iphone pics 066

There you have it folks, you can easily make these strawberries and they taste AMAZING! Give them to friends, family, teachers (your kids will get some MAJOR brownie points), pastors (you’re welcome Pastor Ernie), or keep them all for yourself… I won’t judge lol!

Enjoy and let me know how they turn out. I’d LOVE to see pictures and any tips on how you made yours even better.

** I did not receive any payment for suggesting “Dolci” or Ziploc brand. I just really love using Dolci and have no clue what one would call those Ziploc bags other than “Ziploc bags”.

Posted in Recipes

Hello World!

Posted on March 8, 2014 by Jhenna 2 comments

Me and my horses, Pepsi and Mercedes!

I’ve known three things my whole life…

I wanted to be a wife.
I wanted to be a mother.
I wanted to be surrounded by nature (especially animals).

Amazingly enough, I now have these things and so much more. Pinch me, I’m dreaming. Don’t really pinch me, I seriously have a crazy irrational fear about being pinched.

How did I get to where I am today? Simply put, by the will of God. I’m no stranger to hard work and sacrifice but am truly blessed by God to the deep depths of my being.

To know me is to know a Christian wife, homeschooling mom, Air Force veteran, stroke survivor, hobby farmer, animal enthusiast, dog trainer, wood chopper, homesteader, and lover of all things culinary.

Impulsive to the core and easily distracted, I’m always up for a challenge… Hmmmm sounds like I’m applying for the A-Team. Buckle up, helmets and flak vests on and join me on this roller coaster adventure we call life. Freely share your own adventures, tips, tricks, ideas, and questions, I love hearing what others are thinking (probably because so many times it makes me feel way more normal!)

Posted in Day in the Life