5 am Saturday morning - We start by fixing a good breakfast of scrambled eggs, oatmeal with strawberries, and homemade gluten free toast with spun honey. I have a cup of coffee with honey and Danny has water. Then it is off to pick blueberries. 11 gallons later, we have to make a couple of stops in town and back home by 11. We take care of our animals which takes about 20 minutes. We usually feed about 6, but berries had to be picked before it got too hot. We fix lunch which is usually leftovers. Today it was spaghetti with garlic bread.
After lunch, I bake gluten free apple, pecan muffins. We have a visitor who spent a couple of hours with us. We always take time to visit. We love it when we have company.
We check our emails, YT channel, FB accounts and answer comments for about an hour or so. Then it is time for supper. Baked chicken, roasted potatoes, green beans and cornbread were on the menu.
After supper, we go back outside. First we take care of our animals, making sure each has food and water and collect the eggs. Then it is off to pick strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and cucumbers.
Once more in the house, I put all the berries in bags and freeze them. I wash all the eggs and put them in the refrigerator. I wash dishes with Danny drying and putting away. I put a roast in the crock pot for Sunday dinner.
Finally, our quiet time. For a couple of hours we chill. Then bed.
5 am Sunday morning: Breakfast, feed animals, and pick corn.
We shuck, silk, wash, blanch and cut off 8 pints of cream style corn. We also have 3 gallons of corn on the cob.
I clean the kitchen up and change for church. (I have 15 minutes before we leave!) At least I washed the corn off my face and hands!
We have a great fellowship with our fellow church friends and are back home around 1 pm. Lunch is roast, potatoes and carrots.
We spend the afternoon resting and checking social media. Someone is sleeping! Late in the afternoon when the sun goes down, we are back out seeing to the animals.
We also pick all the green beans that have dried on the bush. These will be seed for next year.
We pick berries and collect squash and cucumbers.
Back in the house, we have supper, which is leftover roast. We wash dishes. I clean eggs and put up berries.
Danny and I work on editing videos that will come out on Monday.
Now our quiet time. Life this weekend on Deep South Homestead. This is why I don't blog very often. Just a little about how we spend our time.
Sunday, June 12, 2016
Monday, April 4, 2016
What was I doing? before there was prepping and homesteading?
What did you call what I was doing in the 80's and 90's? It looked a lot like prepping and homesteading. I didn't know what prepping was. I had never heard of homesteading. I was just living life the only way I knew.
I began to homeschool my oldest daughter in the early 80's. I continued to homeschool all 5 on my children from birth through high school. No one could understand why I didn't send my children to school. They criticized and tried to convince me how wrong I was to deprive my children of the interaction with other children. It was funny that my house was always filled with kids from the neighborhood or church. My children went on field trips, took piano lessons, participated in plays, sang in groups, and grew up just like all other children. They interacted with other children as well as lots of adults on a daily basis.
I started to study herbs. I was interested in the medicinal properties of the plants. As I became comfortable with my body and how it worked, I decided to have my 3rd child at home. Then a 4th and 5th child was born at home. This was something no sane person would do, there are hospitals for that! I was considered a different kind of person. No one had a name for what I was doing.
I had a garden. I canned food. When 1999 came, we started to store food, water, and emergency supplies. I tried to think of every possible scenario and prepare for it. No one ever called me a prepper.
I went from a 2000 square foot house to a house that was less than 1000 square foot. There were 7 of us living in 2 bedrooms and with one bath. I never thought of it as a tiny home.
What I was doing in the 80's and 90's was called living. That is the way life was for us. It seems funny to me now that people are living in tiny homes, learning about herbs, gardens, canning, homeschooling, home births and prepping. I couldn't get anyone on board back then. Now everyone is doing it. Is it a fad or a way of life? Whatever you call it, homesteading, farming, canning, prepping, I am still living the life. Now I call it homesteading!
I began to homeschool my oldest daughter in the early 80's. I continued to homeschool all 5 on my children from birth through high school. No one could understand why I didn't send my children to school. They criticized and tried to convince me how wrong I was to deprive my children of the interaction with other children. It was funny that my house was always filled with kids from the neighborhood or church. My children went on field trips, took piano lessons, participated in plays, sang in groups, and grew up just like all other children. They interacted with other children as well as lots of adults on a daily basis.
I started to study herbs. I was interested in the medicinal properties of the plants. As I became comfortable with my body and how it worked, I decided to have my 3rd child at home. Then a 4th and 5th child was born at home. This was something no sane person would do, there are hospitals for that! I was considered a different kind of person. No one had a name for what I was doing.
I had a garden. I canned food. When 1999 came, we started to store food, water, and emergency supplies. I tried to think of every possible scenario and prepare for it. No one ever called me a prepper.
I went from a 2000 square foot house to a house that was less than 1000 square foot. There were 7 of us living in 2 bedrooms and with one bath. I never thought of it as a tiny home.
What I was doing in the 80's and 90's was called living. That is the way life was for us. It seems funny to me now that people are living in tiny homes, learning about herbs, gardens, canning, homeschooling, home births and prepping. I couldn't get anyone on board back then. Now everyone is doing it. Is it a fad or a way of life? Whatever you call it, homesteading, farming, canning, prepping, I am still living the life. Now I call it homesteading!
From Park Avenue to a Life of Serenity Married to a King
No one would ever believe that I lived the first 12 years of my life on Park Avenue! All my childhood memories are from that little house on Park Avenue. Ok, so to set the record straight right off the bat, Park Avenue, Columbia, Mississippi! We lived on Park Avenue extension that went out into the country. Our house was on a one acre lot in a curve. The road went in front of our house and then down one side. We had a garden on the other side and in the back. I grew up in a simpler time with gentle parents and 3 siblings that were my best friends as we grew up.
I never saw or heard my parents yelling or arguing about anything. I always tell people I lived the "Ozzie and Harriet" life. I don't remember seeing any of my aunts or uncles arguing either.
My dad started out as a service station attendant. He went into the store that was close to the station, which had a soda fountain, and there he met my mom. Dad had 6 siblings and 5 half siblings. We visited each of them a couple of times a year but they didn't have family get togethers very often
My mom was the 3rd child of a tenant farmer who had 10 children by my grandmother. He had been married before and had 6 children with the first wife. Yes, I had 16 aunts and uncles and about 75 cousins. Easter and Christmas at my grandmother's house was a blast.
The house on Park Avenue was a 2 bedroom block house with one bath at the end of a long hallway. I remember sharing a room with my 2 sisters until after my brother was born. That is when Dad decided it was time to add on. The first addition was to the back of the house. A new bedroom for Mom and Dad and the new baby boy. I, being the oldest, got their old bedroom. I loved it until a year later they closed in the porch to make my sister a bedroom. You had to go through my room to get to hers! After a couple of months, she decided to change rooms with me. Once again, I could shut my door and read without any interruptions.
The house was heated at one time with a wood heater and later with a propane gas heater. There was an attic fan in the long hallway that kept a breeze blowing through the house in the summer. After the add on we had air conditioners in windows in the living area and back bedroom. The house withstood Camille (a furious hurricane in 1969) in August and my brother was born in September. That was a long night. It was the first hurricane I remember. My grandmother stood at the back door and watched it. We were out of power for a couple of weeks and had to go into town to get water.
I have many fond memories of that house on Park Avenue. My sisters and I playing with our Barbies, making straw houses in the yard, the switches Mom made us go break off the plum tree, shelling peas and beans under the mimosa tree, and lots of love from my parents and siblings.
That house on Park Avenue set the stage for what I wanted for my life. We moved a couple of times during my teen years but none of the houses hold such a special place in my life as the house on Park Avenue. My life has has come full circle. I don't live on Park Avenue, but I have the simple life with a loving husband, whose last name is King, in a life of serenity.
I never saw or heard my parents yelling or arguing about anything. I always tell people I lived the "Ozzie and Harriet" life. I don't remember seeing any of my aunts or uncles arguing either.
My dad started out as a service station attendant. He went into the store that was close to the station, which had a soda fountain, and there he met my mom. Dad had 6 siblings and 5 half siblings. We visited each of them a couple of times a year but they didn't have family get togethers very often
My mom was the 3rd child of a tenant farmer who had 10 children by my grandmother. He had been married before and had 6 children with the first wife. Yes, I had 16 aunts and uncles and about 75 cousins. Easter and Christmas at my grandmother's house was a blast.
The house on Park Avenue was a 2 bedroom block house with one bath at the end of a long hallway. I remember sharing a room with my 2 sisters until after my brother was born. That is when Dad decided it was time to add on. The first addition was to the back of the house. A new bedroom for Mom and Dad and the new baby boy. I, being the oldest, got their old bedroom. I loved it until a year later they closed in the porch to make my sister a bedroom. You had to go through my room to get to hers! After a couple of months, she decided to change rooms with me. Once again, I could shut my door and read without any interruptions.
The house was heated at one time with a wood heater and later with a propane gas heater. There was an attic fan in the long hallway that kept a breeze blowing through the house in the summer. After the add on we had air conditioners in windows in the living area and back bedroom. The house withstood Camille (a furious hurricane in 1969) in August and my brother was born in September. That was a long night. It was the first hurricane I remember. My grandmother stood at the back door and watched it. We were out of power for a couple of weeks and had to go into town to get water.
I have many fond memories of that house on Park Avenue. My sisters and I playing with our Barbies, making straw houses in the yard, the switches Mom made us go break off the plum tree, shelling peas and beans under the mimosa tree, and lots of love from my parents and siblings.
That house on Park Avenue set the stage for what I wanted for my life. We moved a couple of times during my teen years but none of the houses hold such a special place in my life as the house on Park Avenue. My life has has come full circle. I don't live on Park Avenue, but I have the simple life with a loving husband, whose last name is King, in a life of serenity.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
A Blessed Day- Catch-up on Homestead Life
As I listen to the rain gently tapping on the roof, I am so thankful for many blessing that God has bestowed on us in the past few months. Danny's gall bladder surgery went well and he is healing. We have several new babies on the homestead. The plants are growing. This is a little catch-up of what is going on. I have been trying to take care of Danny and the homestead, so please forgive me for not posting as often as I should. Maybe I will be able to communicate on a regular basis soon.
Danny went through his surgery with no complications. That was something that I was a little anxious about. He had lost so much weight and had so many problems with the food he ate. We were blessed with a good surgeon and quick hospital stay, only about 8 hours. Over the past few days, he seems to be gradually recovering. He is able to walk around the property several times a day and supervise my projects. I even allow him to help with small tasks that he won't be picking up something or straining to do. He was supposed to video some of our projects, but the 2 most important ones, didn't record. I am not sure if it was the camera or the cameraman! Maybe soon we will be back in our regular roles. LOL Before the next week is over he will be doing a more but still no lifting. He is used to being outside completing many chores each day. I will be glad when he can do what he wants.
Babies are a wonderful addition! We had 7 baby chicks born on Saturday, before the surgery on Monday. To top that off, there was a cold front moved in that night and stayed for 3 days. On Sunday I tried to find a chick sitter. No luck, so the babies had to go in the "chick room" in the Chicken House. I put their heat light on, added food and water and left them for the next 24 hours by themselves with no one to check them. When I got Danny settled in after surgery, I took off to see if they were still alive. All 7 are doing great! Then on Good Friday, a friend let us get a couple of 6 week old New Zealand rabbits. They are so soft and cuddly. I built a catch tray for the poop, with my patient supervising. That is quite an accomplishment for me. The poop and pee will be caught and used for fertilize on our plants. The rabbits are going to be our momma rabbits in a couple of months. I named them Trixie and Dixie. Trixie has an attitude and doesn't want to be held. Dixie is the calm one. Danny asked how I knew which one was which because they both look alike, all white. I wait until I pick one up! That is the only way to tell.
The plants are growing really well. We have such a variety of them budding, blooming and popping through the ground. Now we are eating strawberries, asparagus, lettuce, green onion, and collards fresh. Every day for the past week we have had something from our place. I am longing for the day we eat 90% from our garden. The English peas are putting on runners. The potatoes are about 14 inches tall. The green beans and corn are about 1 inch tall, but with the light rain today they will grow fast. The huckleberries and mulberries are loaded with berries that will be ready in a few weeks to pick. Blueberries, apples, pears, peaches and orange trees are all blooming. Oh how I wish you could smell the orange blooms! That is the best smell as you walk by. I transplanted some of the tomatoes, egg plant, watermelon, cucumbers, and spaghetti squash. I planted yellow squash and top ground potatoes this week. My herbs are flourishing also. I have dill, garlic, sage, rosemary, thyme, lavender, yarrow, plantain, oregano, and mint. Everything is growing and we should have a bountiful harvest.
Our YouTube subscribers have been a blessing with the calls, emails, messages, cards, letters, gifts, blessings, support and most importantly prayers. Danny received graft tape, rooting hormone and black walnut seeds. Another box had a scoby to make kombucha tea, turmeric root, tree collards and jungle peanuts for us. I went out and planted the tree collards, I didn't want them to ruin. The next day I started my kombucha tea. This is something I made about 15 years ago, but had quit making after about a year. I was excited to start it again. The turmeric was something I had been looking for. I wanted to plant some. I am thankful for our friends thinking of us. Our homestead is about permaculture and growing edible plants all in our landscape. Soon we plan to start a walk around the property and explain how things are working for us.
Danny went through his surgery with no complications. That was something that I was a little anxious about. He had lost so much weight and had so many problems with the food he ate. We were blessed with a good surgeon and quick hospital stay, only about 8 hours. Over the past few days, he seems to be gradually recovering. He is able to walk around the property several times a day and supervise my projects. I even allow him to help with small tasks that he won't be picking up something or straining to do. He was supposed to video some of our projects, but the 2 most important ones, didn't record. I am not sure if it was the camera or the cameraman! Maybe soon we will be back in our regular roles. LOL Before the next week is over he will be doing a more but still no lifting. He is used to being outside completing many chores each day. I will be glad when he can do what he wants.
Babies are a wonderful addition! We had 7 baby chicks born on Saturday, before the surgery on Monday. To top that off, there was a cold front moved in that night and stayed for 3 days. On Sunday I tried to find a chick sitter. No luck, so the babies had to go in the "chick room" in the Chicken House. I put their heat light on, added food and water and left them for the next 24 hours by themselves with no one to check them. When I got Danny settled in after surgery, I took off to see if they were still alive. All 7 are doing great! Then on Good Friday, a friend let us get a couple of 6 week old New Zealand rabbits. They are so soft and cuddly. I built a catch tray for the poop, with my patient supervising. That is quite an accomplishment for me. The poop and pee will be caught and used for fertilize on our plants. The rabbits are going to be our momma rabbits in a couple of months. I named them Trixie and Dixie. Trixie has an attitude and doesn't want to be held. Dixie is the calm one. Danny asked how I knew which one was which because they both look alike, all white. I wait until I pick one up! That is the only way to tell.
The plants are growing really well. We have such a variety of them budding, blooming and popping through the ground. Now we are eating strawberries, asparagus, lettuce, green onion, and collards fresh. Every day for the past week we have had something from our place. I am longing for the day we eat 90% from our garden. The English peas are putting on runners. The potatoes are about 14 inches tall. The green beans and corn are about 1 inch tall, but with the light rain today they will grow fast. The huckleberries and mulberries are loaded with berries that will be ready in a few weeks to pick. Blueberries, apples, pears, peaches and orange trees are all blooming. Oh how I wish you could smell the orange blooms! That is the best smell as you walk by. I transplanted some of the tomatoes, egg plant, watermelon, cucumbers, and spaghetti squash. I planted yellow squash and top ground potatoes this week. My herbs are flourishing also. I have dill, garlic, sage, rosemary, thyme, lavender, yarrow, plantain, oregano, and mint. Everything is growing and we should have a bountiful harvest.
Our YouTube subscribers have been a blessing with the calls, emails, messages, cards, letters, gifts, blessings, support and most importantly prayers. Danny received graft tape, rooting hormone and black walnut seeds. Another box had a scoby to make kombucha tea, turmeric root, tree collards and jungle peanuts for us. I went out and planted the tree collards, I didn't want them to ruin. The next day I started my kombucha tea. This is something I made about 15 years ago, but had quit making after about a year. I was excited to start it again. The turmeric was something I had been looking for. I wanted to plant some. I am thankful for our friends thinking of us. Our homestead is about permaculture and growing edible plants all in our landscape. Soon we plan to start a walk around the property and explain how things are working for us.
Friday, February 26, 2016
Dealing with Fear in Children
All of us are afraid of something: spiders, dark, close spaces, heights, crowds, speaking in public, etc. Yesterday, it was tornadoes and bad weather for my 8 and 6 year old grandchildren. Last month, they were in a mobile home when a tornado went directly over them. They were safe in the bathroom with their parents, but the trauma of it has taken a toll on their minds. Fear has set in where it did not exist before.
Bri, the 8 year old, was always afraid of weather. The storm caused her anxiety to increase. Cayde, the 5 year old who knew no fear, has developed an intense fear of any slight rain storm. How do you help them overcome those fears? At least help them to remain calm, unless there is a real threat.
With impending weather predicted for the afternoon and late night, my daughter came to stay with us because we live in a house and have a storm shelter. Every time it started to rain, Cayde would cry with such heart wrenching anguish, that it broke my heart. Bri would pace, look out the window , and refuse to eat. This went on all afternoon, even though it was just raining. I would take Cayde to the door and let him see that it was only rain. He asked about what time it would be over. We told him that by 10 everything would be past. Big mistake! Every few minutes, he would ask what time it was and count up to 10. He knew he still had several hours. We started telling him it was almost 10, even though it was only 6 o'clock.
Danny had the radar pulled up on his computer and he showed Bri how to watch the weather system move toward the area. He showed her how to know what was dangerous and what was just rain and where we were on the map. Knowledge can help alleviate fear.
Around 4, the radar showed that a line of severe weather was headed toward our area. Danny made the call to head to the cellar. The kids were suddenly relieved. They had wanted to go stay all day in the cellar. Bri loaded up everything she owned, including school books that she didn't want to work in earlier but said she might want to work in the cellar. Really!
We were in the cellar for about an hour. During that time, Danny showed the kids survival tips. Number 1 - How to use a compost toilet. Number 2 - How to conserve toilet paper. Number 3 - How to eat bugs for energy. They laughed and enjoyed their time in the cellar. It took their minds off what could be happening outside. In the cellar, there were no windows and hardly any sound could be heard from the storm.
We had a good night. The storm passed by a few miles down the road. The kids slept in their bed all night. Overcoming these fears will take a long time for these two, but as they learn to watch the weather and know when it is a good rain and when there is potential danger, they will become more at ease.
Blessing to you all,
Wanda from Deep South Homestead
Bri, the 8 year old, was always afraid of weather. The storm caused her anxiety to increase. Cayde, the 5 year old who knew no fear, has developed an intense fear of any slight rain storm. How do you help them overcome those fears? At least help them to remain calm, unless there is a real threat.
With impending weather predicted for the afternoon and late night, my daughter came to stay with us because we live in a house and have a storm shelter. Every time it started to rain, Cayde would cry with such heart wrenching anguish, that it broke my heart. Bri would pace, look out the window , and refuse to eat. This went on all afternoon, even though it was just raining. I would take Cayde to the door and let him see that it was only rain. He asked about what time it would be over. We told him that by 10 everything would be past. Big mistake! Every few minutes, he would ask what time it was and count up to 10. He knew he still had several hours. We started telling him it was almost 10, even though it was only 6 o'clock.
Danny had the radar pulled up on his computer and he showed Bri how to watch the weather system move toward the area. He showed her how to know what was dangerous and what was just rain and where we were on the map. Knowledge can help alleviate fear.
Around 4, the radar showed that a line of severe weather was headed toward our area. Danny made the call to head to the cellar. The kids were suddenly relieved. They had wanted to go stay all day in the cellar. Bri loaded up everything she owned, including school books that she didn't want to work in earlier but said she might want to work in the cellar. Really!
We were in the cellar for about an hour. During that time, Danny showed the kids survival tips. Number 1 - How to use a compost toilet. Number 2 - How to conserve toilet paper. Number 3 - How to eat bugs for energy. They laughed and enjoyed their time in the cellar. It took their minds off what could be happening outside. In the cellar, there were no windows and hardly any sound could be heard from the storm.
We had a good night. The storm passed by a few miles down the road. The kids slept in their bed all night. Overcoming these fears will take a long time for these two, but as they learn to watch the weather and know when it is a good rain and when there is potential danger, they will become more at ease.
Blessing to you all,
Wanda from Deep South Homestead
Just My Thoughts
I am starting this experience as a way to help others learn about herbs, gardening, gluten-free cooking, and just living a simple life, debt-free. Just 3 years ago, I was living in a college town, in a one-bedroom apartment, with a view of a Lowe's loading dock. There was no where to go to be outside. Everything I did was inside: work, gym, shopping, and eating. It was a concrete jungle. Daily, I wished that I could find a place in the country to call me own. I had been in the apartment for over 2 years. Before that, I had lived in the country, and had loved the freedom of simply walking out my door and enjoying nature. Life happened and I had to leave the country and move to the city.
In April 2013, I met Danny and my life changed. God had given me the desires of my heart: a companion, a country life and a beautiful garden. I am still amazed at the handiwork of God. He knew I needed a simple life and that Danny needed me. All I asked for was someone to spend time with. I didn't ever want to remarry. Be careful what you say, because you will do what you say you will NOT do. We were instantly attracted to each other after a 6 hour phone conversation. We didn't meet for 2 weeks, but talked nearly 8 hours each night. We married in July and have spent nearly every moment together since we met.
Danny and I spent the first 6 months just talking and enjoying the beauty that God had put here for us to use. We discussed plans for the future of the property and started a small garden. We picked the wild huckleberries and blackberries that grew in the woods we owned. That year, most of what we canned was jelly. We had an obsession with jelly. We made huckleberry, wild blackberry, tame blackberry, dewberry, mulberry, peach, plum, apple, pear, strawberry, strawberry fig, and blueberry.
After looking at our stash, we decided we needed to plant veggies and have something besides jelly to eat.
In 2014, we planted a variety of veggies: English peas, green bean, field peas, okra, cabbage, potatoes, corn, and many more that I fail to recall right now. That provided us with more variety in our diet that we didn't have to purchase. We then decided we wanted a fruit utopia. That lead to us planting more berries and fruit trees. In the spring and summer, this place is a utopia. At all times from February to October, we have something blooming, something producing, and always something to eat. When you eat in season, you eat what is growing in your garden at that time.
In 2015, we added to our list of fruits, veggies and berries. We wanted a way to share with others what we had growing and how beautiful it is. In December, we started a YouTube channel called Deep South Homestead. We are reaching people in all walks of life and in different countries. God has blessed our journey. We hope to share through YouTube and this blog our way of living the good life.
Blessing to you all,
Wanda from Deep South Homestead
In April 2013, I met Danny and my life changed. God had given me the desires of my heart: a companion, a country life and a beautiful garden. I am still amazed at the handiwork of God. He knew I needed a simple life and that Danny needed me. All I asked for was someone to spend time with. I didn't ever want to remarry. Be careful what you say, because you will do what you say you will NOT do. We were instantly attracted to each other after a 6 hour phone conversation. We didn't meet for 2 weeks, but talked nearly 8 hours each night. We married in July and have spent nearly every moment together since we met.
Danny and I spent the first 6 months just talking and enjoying the beauty that God had put here for us to use. We discussed plans for the future of the property and started a small garden. We picked the wild huckleberries and blackberries that grew in the woods we owned. That year, most of what we canned was jelly. We had an obsession with jelly. We made huckleberry, wild blackberry, tame blackberry, dewberry, mulberry, peach, plum, apple, pear, strawberry, strawberry fig, and blueberry.
After looking at our stash, we decided we needed to plant veggies and have something besides jelly to eat.
In 2014, we planted a variety of veggies: English peas, green bean, field peas, okra, cabbage, potatoes, corn, and many more that I fail to recall right now. That provided us with more variety in our diet that we didn't have to purchase. We then decided we wanted a fruit utopia. That lead to us planting more berries and fruit trees. In the spring and summer, this place is a utopia. At all times from February to October, we have something blooming, something producing, and always something to eat. When you eat in season, you eat what is growing in your garden at that time.
In 2015, we added to our list of fruits, veggies and berries. We wanted a way to share with others what we had growing and how beautiful it is. In December, we started a YouTube channel called Deep South Homestead. We are reaching people in all walks of life and in different countries. God has blessed our journey. We hope to share through YouTube and this blog our way of living the good life.
Blessing to you all,
Wanda from Deep South Homestead
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