Kids' first bread

We'll they did it CC and Ace ground wheat, mixed it, let it rise, and then baked it. The rest of the family loved it! Good job you 2!

Oh SHEEP!

Well our most expensive livestock yet arrived today! Two pure, Fair-breed Suffolk wethers (a little less manly boy lambs) came today at the cost of $200/head! The boys will be training and raising the lambs to go to the County Fair in August through 4-H. The kids are looking for sponsors for these guys until they can save up enough to buy them so anyone interested can send me a check and you can receive a picture of your name painted on the side of a lamb and weekly updates by the kids on their growth and development. What a deal! (Who knew marketing was such a big part of homeschooling?)
One wether is all black named Guppy and the other dirty white with black nose and legs named T-bo. They were really on edge today because of all the change. MR. B (who does not associate with the animals if at all possible) had to literally pick one up and carry it across the field back to the pen. I don't see how catching a pig could be any harder-man those things are fast! There sure is a difference when they are born around kids and people to when they aren't. These will take a while to break in.

Why the chicken shouldn't cross the road...

Well the kids did the math to find that killing and eating our chickens would greatly effect the breakfast menu. Also the hens we have are already named and raised from chicks - so killing them will be a little psychologically rough on the kids. Therefore we decided to double our flock with meat chickens.
We went to a CSA farm an hour south to pick them up and it was so fun. We could have stayed and played there all day. There were brand-new puppies, U-pick veggies, and at least 40 chickens! It was like releasing the hounds when I told the kids to go catch 10 chickens. These chickens all look exactly alike and are called the 'chickens that shall not be named' or fatties. We put the chicks in boxes and came home. Well the box on top must have got too hot being closest to the window so when we arrived back home one chicken was dead and the other wasn't moving but her eyes were still open. Well I'm not sure if it was my frugality of not wanting to waste $25 or if it was my practicality and logic of ,'we got them for food anyway' or responsibility for the life of God's creatures, but either way we cooked them for dinner. (We kept the family/biblical tradition of if you kill it, you're expected to eat it.)

 After 3 quick YouTube videos and some help from my parents and nephew arriving for dinner, we harvested and safely ate our first farm chickens! I must admit I had to pinch myself a few times to come to grips with the fact that I was really doing this. It still seems a little surreal, and yet I have my list of things to have ready for next time: flame torch, more rubber gloves, sharper knives, and a chicken anat/phys book. Please feel free to learn from my mistakes.

Work and our new addition...

5/22/14 Two thought provoking things happened today. First we were at the Community Garden doing some service by mulching the walkways in between the plots when a 3rd grade school group came by on a tour of the Heritage Museum next door. CC, BIP boy, and Ace were filling wheelbarrows with mulch when one of the kids said, "Man, they are working hard! They must be in trouble." CC responded back, "No, we're homeschoolers." And she was thinking, we don't just get to see it, we get to live it. But I think the kid was thinking work is a four-letter word to be avoided at all costs. So I asked my kids, 'What is the purpose of life? To sit and be entertained and be good just to avoid bad consequences? Ace said, "No it's to fulfill the mission God has for you to do." I was stunned! What an insightful kid! So much for my 'teaching' moment not much to say after that.
We also went and got a new baby turkey. We found out they are called poults. We got a white one named Christmas and a brown speckled named Thanksgiving last week. In the spirit of the two occasions that we will celebrate with them we decided to get one more poult to give away to whomever needs it when it comes time: her name is Charity.
When the executive order came through that if we wanted meat we had to kill it ourselves, two things happened we reevaluated our stock and BIP boy asked for a sling shot to use on the Canadian geese and quail that he chases out of our pasture. Mr. B is looking up the laws that pertain to sling shots and wild animals now. Here is fair warning- Do not wander in the pasture early in the morning!

Not just your typical farm adventure...

Well we're off to experience life in a more basic, earthy, home-y way. But as in all we do, it will be a wild ride and a great adventure. We are researching homesteading, backyard farming, each species and their uses, and the Little House series. This definitely won't be the first or last crazy, divinely-guided thing we do. So hopefully you can keep up with us and learn vicariously some good, old-fashioned farm values from our mistakes, successes, and guesses!

5/21/14 And we're off on the new adventure of farm life!

So we are a fairly adventurous, religious, eccentric family. Our family consists of Mr. B, Mom Satt, CC, BIP boy, Ace, Camo Tutu, Girly Girl, and Little Bear. We recently moved onto a farm in order to experience animals, work, and how the 'other half' lives.  And because the kids have always begged for animals and Mom Satt's constant reply has been, 'when the last kid is potty trained then we'll talk about me cleaning up after something else.'  Well the unattainable has just about happened Little Bear is about half way there to the wonderful land of Underwear Utopia. So one day, led by the Ring Leader herself - CC, the kids trapped Mom Satt into the animal council.
Well hopefully they have learned a lesson about being careful what they ask for because not only are they getting animals for each to take care of (including but not limited to: rabbits, laying chickens, meat chickens, turkeys, dairy goats and kids, lambs, and maaaayyybe a horse or pig) they also get the extra grand prize of an orchard (ok, well its only 5 fruit trees), vegetable garden, 21 container garden, herb garden, pond with fish and all the maintenance that goes with them.
So today to make our adventure complete Mr. B announced we are produce everything we can ourselves. Mom Satt is only allowed to buy food at the grocery store that cannot be made from what is on our farm and has only one ingredient on its ingredient list! In order to have time to take advantage of this adventure we are taking a summer break from all outside activities to focus on farm life! So here we go! Hang on to your Homesteaders' Club here comes Satterfarm!