LeArN the HERB!

(just a few of my herb books.  most, if not all of them I ordered from amazon.)

Since living on one income can sometimes be very 'trying' I think it is important as wife and mother to find ways to be frugal, but yet still effective.  When building up a farm/homestead like we are, money has a tendency to just VaNish!  I don't really know where it goes, I think it is a magical farm FaiRy that makes constant withdrawals from our very limited funds.  :)

Okay, enough joking around.  Let's get serious with this HerB stuff.

Plants have been around since God created the earth.  It hasn't been until recently that I have truly begun to appreciate their beauty and their purpose.  Herbs/medicinal herbs are all around us, and it is awesome!

Before we had these big pharmaceutical companies pushing every OTC medication at us that they can, how did people treat illnesses or injuries?  Very simply put...herbs, tinctures, poultices and salves.  In biblical times oils and spices were used, as they still are today.

I am a HUGE believer in natural and holistic healing.  I can't say that there isn't a place for Western medicine in our world today, as it has saved many lives, I just think that the more natural/holistic approach is best and should be used first, if possible. 

With that said I wanted to urge you to start learning.  Pick up a book at your local library or your local book store and just start slow.  Pick something you or a loved one might suffer from and research it. 

For example...headaches.  I like to use peppermint essential oil for my headaches.  I drop a few drops in the palm of my hand, rub it in and then cup my hands over my mouth and nose.  I take a few deep breaths through my nose and within seconds my headache is usually gone.  I can't say that it works EVERY SINGLE time, but I would say 98% of the time it does.  Also, it does depend on what your headache is from.  If it is due to lack of water, then drink water.  If it is due to lack of eating...then eat.  I know I am making lite of it, but I have experienced first hand the benefits of a more natural approach and I love it!  I also know that some people swear that by drinking peppermint tea helps with headaches...I have not tried this, but I plan to next time I feel a headache coming on. 

So I encourage you to learn, educate and apply your knowledge.  The more we learn to rely on our natural surrounds for health and better living, the less reliant we are on others.  Not only that, but I can not even begin to explain the sense of accomplishment and freedom one experiences when self-healing is obtained. 

Be warned though...once you begin to educate and apply all this herbal knowledge???  You can't help but tell everyone about it.  It is very addicting!!!  To know that you can heal an aliment with what you have growing in your garden or what you have in your spice cabinet is very empowering...so you have been warned!  :)

By taking back our health, we take back our life, and that to me is what learning is all about!

Peace and love to you all~

galloping, wilty leaves and peeking onions...

this past weekend was gorgeous!

see...didn't i tell you? 

during this very pretty and warm weekend were determined to get a lot done!

beloved added more fencing for the big kids (horse and donkey).  they now have the whole back pasture to graze on.  in the picture above if you look to the left you will see a group of trees, once they are in bloom, they will provide great shade and be a great place for the big kids to hang out in during the hot summer.  the area to the right, in the above picture is the back pasture that they now graze on. 

here is a picture of the fencing beloved worked on, all day saturday.  once the fencing was up and they realized they had more room, they ran and galloped and rolled all over the place.  it was adorable!

on friday after returning from topeka i realized that my broccoli, spinach, lettuce and strawberries were not looking too good. i had been trying to hold off on putting them in the ground because we have had some very cold days here. obviously they had other plans. i saw the droopy leaves and knew i needed to get moving. 

 

 

i quickly did my best to draw straight lines in the soil, dig some holes and then drop them in.  it was then that i added some organic compost to the soil.  after a good watering and a night in their new 'home' i came out to see this saturday morning.

 

{broccoli}

{lettuce}

{strawberries}

needless to say, i was pretty pleased.

and before i end this post i want to update you on my onions.  they are doing good.  they are peeking through and making their grand entrance.  see for yourself!

 

i know it sounds weird, but i love my growing garden!

i hope this post finds you doing well and i hope you all had a great and productive weekend.

i am linking this post with The Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Homestead Barn Hop.

peace and love to you all!

overcast skies and onions...

so even with cloudy skies and a chilly breeze beloved and i headed back outside yesterday to get a second tilling done on the garden.  before the tilling actually began i sprinkled organic compost, which i purchased at a local nursery, all throughout the garden. 

once that was done, the tilling began.

 

 

 

as beloved tilled,  i spent time raking and leveling everything out.  i didn't take a picture of it right after the tilling/leveling off, but oh-well.

 

anyhow,  after realizing that i couldn't plant in a straight row without some guidance, beloved quickly threw something together for me, hence the extension cord and t-posts.

 

 

don't laugh!  it was harder then i thought to evenly space out and make straight.  i have lots to learn!

 

after planting 4 rows of onion sets, we had to call it a day.  the weather was getting worse and we were starving. 

 

before we could clean up, i had to properly water the onions i had just planted.  little did i know that i hadn't left myself a visual clue as to where i had JUST planted.  dang it!  beloved took mercy on me, helped me find my planted onions and then hammered in a few sticks in, in order to help his beginner wife refocus.  he joked and told me that the sticks reminded him of tombstones for a family pet.  i smiled and agreed.

 

after a quick clean up, we headed inside and called it a day.  i couldn't believe how tired i was from just the little work i had done.  whoever called homesteading easy living had no idea what they were talking about.

 

fingers crossed that we are seeing the end to the cold/frost mornings here in kansas.  i have more seeds and plants to get going!

 

i am linking this post with Titus 2sdays and Teach Me Tuesday.

 

peace and love to you all!

 

 

 



electric fences, a pole barn, tilling and thankfulness...

 

 

so here we are.  we had a very busy weekend.  mother nature came through for us and gave us a few great days to work with.  this is a pic of what we have accomplished, so far.  isn't it absolutely gorgeous?  i almost tear up every time i see this.

 

so, on to our preparations from this weekend.

 

electric fences...a must here.  now that we are the owners of a jennett and a rescue horse, we knew we needed to provide them with more pasture to graze on, along with a greater area to run and play in.  beloved got off work early on friday, we headed to the local farmer/hardware store, bought what we needed and headed home.  i had some errands to run in town, so after a quick diaper change and a few kisses, mama was out the door.  after running all over the place and hitting every store imaginable, i headed home and found this...

 



 beloved got the electric fence up in no time and it looks great!  gypsy and salty were in heaven!  it was the first time she had been out of the pen and soon after i got home we found her running...running and prancing and i think i saw a smile or two.  it was great!  what a wonderful reward.  to see her acting like this brought smiles and laughter to both of us.

early the next morning beloved went back to work on this...

pretty sweet huh?  once again i must say, this man totally amazes me.  there is nothing he can't do or build. 

as you can tell, there is still a back wall to put on along with the right-hand side that needs to be finished.  some of the roof is bowing in so that will need some attention too.  but all in all, i love it! i love our pole barn, as so do our animals.

saturday morning once again came very early.  mama headed out to pick up some plants, compost and some other odds and ends.  i couldn't wait to get home.  i couldn't wait to get in the dirt and start workin' it. 

it wasn't long before i found myself there.  in the pic above i am working on a few herb plants that i purchased.  i had considered starting my herbs via seeds, but realized that i was biting off more then i could chew.  hence...the plants!

(oregano)



(oregano) 

(basil)

the rest of my saturday was spent cleaning up and prepping the garden for the following day. 

 

 

here is the garden before the tilling began.  here is the garden during the tilling...

 

 



(daddy's audience)

 

 

 

 

 

this man worked so hard today on my/our garden, even though he had to go into work tonight, without a nap apparently.  we hung out and talked, and i was instructed to rake dirt, or rake dirt there...so that is what i did, along with some earthing!

 

 

after all was said and done, he had just enough time to shower, eat and head out the door.  oh how i love that man!  we plan to finish the tilling/composting tomorrow and fingers crossed...get in some seeds and plants.

 

one thing i do have to admit is that i found such joy in our whole tilling experience.  i knew that for every clump of dirt that was overturned and aerated, it was just one step closer to our plentiful garden.  one step closer to self-sufficiency.  one step closer to becoming the homesteaders/farmers that we long to be. 

 

it was at that moment that i realized just how thankful i was.  i was thankful for the beautiful property that the Lord has blessed us with.  i was thankful for the sun, the soil and the sweat that goes into preparing the land.  i was thankful for my marriage and for our unconditional love for one another.  i was thankful for my children, my grandchildren, my animals and my home.  i hope i never stop being thankful.

 

i hope that this post inspires you to try to homestead right where you are.  weather it be in an apartment, a condo or a mobile home.  you can grab a few cheap pots from wal-mart, along with a few tomato plants and what not, some soil and then you are good to go.  experience growing something...anything...even an herb garden that is prepackaged.  put that on your window sill and let it do its thing.  you might be surprised at how easy it is.

 

i am linking this post with The Homestead Barn Hop, The Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Simple Living Wednesdays

 

peace and love to you all!

 

 

 





why we prepare...

living in "tornado alley" is a new one for this california-born-and-raised-city-turned-country-girl.  i have not experienced a tornado personally, but i hear they can be terrifying.  i am a thrill-seeker at heart, bungee jumping, parachuting and base jumping are all things i would love to do one day...but storm chasing?  eh...not for this girl.  for some people the difference between jumping off a building and chasing a storm are one in the same...well i don't believe they are.  there is something about messing around with Mother Nature that makes this mama run and hide.  i believe that the Lord created this planet for many reasons, one of them being a source of survival for us.  by working the land, we not only become less reliant on the government to provide for us, but we learn to rely more on the Lord.  we learn that sweat and blood and hard work were part of the Lord's plan for His people.  we are command to work, and to work hard...for this brings glory to the Kingdom Of God.

case in point...


(Prvb 12:11)  He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding. 

(Prvb 21:20)  There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up. 

(Prvb 10:4-5)  He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.  He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame. 

not only do we prepare because we are instructed to, but we fear that the very government that we are under is headed for financial collapse.  now by no means do i consider myself an extremist, but i am a wife and mother.  i am also an auntie, a grandma and a step mom.  i take those roles very seriously.  i believe that it is my God-given duty to provide, to the best of my ability for my family and my extended family. 

please do not misunderstand me.  i believe that all things happen either because He allows them to, or causes them.  unfortunately our government is very greedy and self-destructive.  we see the direction our country is going and it is not a good one.  we believe that we have been called to not only be good stewards of what he has currently blessed us with, but to also do what we can, within our financial means, to prepare for any uncertain times that may lie ahead...hence prepare.

i believe me that everyone should prepare, regardless of their financial or social situation.  i have seen so many people lose their jobs, or a tragedy strikes their family, and because they weren't prepared in any way, they lost their homes, their cars, they self-respect and all hope.  if they would have just taken the time to stock pile food and water here and there, then things may have turned out different.  i am not saying that because you have extra cans of food or bottles of water in your basement that you will be fine, because i am not.  what i am saying is that by preparing for any uncertain or unplanned event can not only provide one with security and some stability, but it can relieve some definite pressure. 

so getting back to the title of this post...why we prepare.

we prepare in order to be able to take care of our family if an emergency did happen, ie...tornado, flood, economic collapse, emp, loss of a job or any other number of things.

we prepare because there is a sense of security in knowing that you could provide for your family, friends and even neighbors if there is a need.

we prepare because uncertain times lay ahead.

we prepare because it is our job as parents and as Christians.

we prepare because we don't want to rely solely on our government for food hand-outs or protection.

we prepare because God instructs us to, and if that isn't a good enough reason, then i don't know what is. 

i am linking this post to Simple Living Wednesdays, Wise Woman Link-Up and Homemaking Link-Up.

i hope this post finds you all doing well and hopefully dry, as compared to us here in the midwest.

peace and love to you all...