Homesteading Honey

Well, it's been awhile since I've blogged, but really, I've been busy!  My husband is calling me his homesteading honey!  I have surprised myself - don't know who I've become, but am actually enjoying the learning process, the creativity, and the accomplishments.  And along with all of the homesteading ventures I continue to be a wife, mom, home educator, friend, homemaker, and just recently have been ministering in music and message at a local church!  I can't even believe it!  Who am I and what did I do with me?  I am who God says I am!  Blessed!

So back to the homesteading part - within the last several weeks we've experienced a brooding hen sitting on her eggs resulting in a new baby chick!  We've had a new hen given to us bringing our grand total to around 40 chickens!  Not all are laying yet, too young, but we've brought in as many as 10 eggs and as few as 4 a day!  Pink, aqua, and brown - everyday is an "egg hunt" around here!  We've tilled up the summer garden, continue to harvest some of the summer garden, planted a fall garden and receive a bounty of fruits and veggies from other unexpected sources!  Blessings! 

I have been busy making cloth napkins and cloth reusable "paper" towels and reusable "swiffer" dusters.  And forming the idea and gathering the raw materials to make some craft items.  I have been drying basil, sage, orange peels, cantaloupe and green onions.  Made fruit leather in my dehydrator.  Been making tinctures and essential oils with all but the cantaloupe and green onions.  Also orange extract!  I have canned beets, cherries, carrots, more beet pickles and pickled carrots, a green veggie blends for soups, lime juice, orange juice, orange slices, chicken broth, red wine chicken stock, chicken chili, chicken vegetable soup, and potato soup.  We're running out of storage space!

Been making new friends, spending time with them, having them over for visits and dinner.  And I've cut my own hair!  And discovered making coffee cubes from our leftover morning coffee - just pour into an ice tray - let freeze - then bag.  Great for making iced coffee drinks in the blender!

And recently I have the opportunity to do some work from home with a company out of Colorado!  So I'll be making some much needed extra income!

All of these ventures are interspersed with homeschooling, laundry, meal preparation, cleaning, and the usual everyday duties.  Wow!  I love being productive but this is getting ridiculous.  I find myself not sitting down sometimes until 9:30 in the evening!  And that's with an early start to my day.  

So here are a some pics of a few of the aforementioned ventures.  Probably forgot to mention some venture - And now you know why I haven't blogged in awhile.

                                                             Shadow and baby chick

                                            A Sampling of our pink, brown, and aqua eggs

                                                                    Beets

                                                                       Cherries

                                           Another of Shadow and her chick

                                                     Processing the limes

                                                       A few of the lime juice jars

                                               Green veggies for soups

                                                  Canned green veggies

                                                   Drying cantaloupe

                                                        Dried green onions

                                               Peeling and prepping oranges

                                                 Abundance of oranges for free!

                                                             Oranges being processed

                                  Drying orange peels for essential oil and extract - waste not, want not!

                                                 Juicing oranges for canning of juice

                                                       The orange juice process

                                                        Coffee cubes!

"You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country."  Deuteronomy 28:3
"The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you."  Deut. 28:8