The Gang
October 2008 Sweet Potatoe Harvest
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
8:49 PM | 
Posted by
Shirley
We've met several of our Amish neighbors over the past few months and are becoming better friends with our closest Amish neighbors. I have had a feeling lately that I am being accepted more into their circle of trust. I think it is because not only do we have a lot of children, but we also have a very large garden, freeze/can our garden produce, and raise a lot of our own meat.
The ladies in the Amish community have been much more talkative with me lately and just yesterday I was invited to shop at their local dry goods store. JACKPOT!! I've been hoping for an invitation to shop at the local Amish store. Today I went “shopping” and was able to buy 2 pounds of pectin for less that $5. The same amount would have been over $50 at WalMart!! They had lots of spices/seasonings for very reasonable prices along with all baking supplies. I had a pleasant conversation with the store owner and found that her husband might have a Jersey Cow for sale. I mentioned it to Phil and am hopeful that we will get an ad in the Wisconsin Farmer soon to sell or Dairy Goats so we can get a Jersey Cow.
I'm enjoying getting to know the folks in the Amish community. Phil and I are praying for opportunities to witness to them. We haven't yet learned if they are Old Order or New Order Amish which could mean the difference between Salvation in Grace alone or works based Salvation.
The ladies in the Amish community have been much more talkative with me lately and just yesterday I was invited to shop at their local dry goods store. JACKPOT!! I've been hoping for an invitation to shop at the local Amish store. Today I went “shopping” and was able to buy 2 pounds of pectin for less that $5. The same amount would have been over $50 at WalMart!! They had lots of spices/seasonings for very reasonable prices along with all baking supplies. I had a pleasant conversation with the store owner and found that her husband might have a Jersey Cow for sale. I mentioned it to Phil and am hopeful that we will get an ad in the Wisconsin Farmer soon to sell or Dairy Goats so we can get a Jersey Cow.
I'm enjoying getting to know the folks in the Amish community. Phil and I are praying for opportunities to witness to them. We haven't yet learned if they are Old Order or New Order Amish which could mean the difference between Salvation in Grace alone or works based Salvation.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Today is the day of the birds. When I got up this morning I noticed two of our baby turkeys frantically pacing along the front of their cage. I went out to check on them and found our friend the Great Horned Owl in their pen. It killed 26 of our 28 turkeys. So much for filling the freezer with turkeys this fall!
Phil called the DNR who put him in touch with Wildlife Management. Phil told them that he was not turning it loose again like we did last time. This owl has done too much damage on our farm to just let it go free again. They sent out a game warden who we thought would take it away, but instead, he shot the owl. He told us to contact the USDA to file for damages which we did only to discover that since the Great Horned Owl is only protected and not endangered they are not able to give us any type of compensation for the loss of birds. UGH!
On a happier note we butchered our meat birds this morning with some friends of ours. We did 200 birds in 4 hours. Only 23 of the birds were ours. Tonight I put 12 in the freezer and will package up and freeze the other 11 tomorrow afternoon. We'll be ordering more meat birds in a couple weeks to raise for butchering in September.
Phil called the DNR who put him in touch with Wildlife Management. Phil told them that he was not turning it loose again like we did last time. This owl has done too much damage on our farm to just let it go free again. They sent out a game warden who we thought would take it away, but instead, he shot the owl. He told us to contact the USDA to file for damages which we did only to discover that since the Great Horned Owl is only protected and not endangered they are not able to give us any type of compensation for the loss of birds. UGH!
On a happier note we butchered our meat birds this morning with some friends of ours. We did 200 birds in 4 hours. Only 23 of the birds were ours. Tonight I put 12 in the freezer and will package up and freeze the other 11 tomorrow afternoon. We'll be ordering more meat birds in a couple weeks to raise for butchering in September.
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Monday, June 22, 2009
Today began Strawberry Jam season. The local Amish are selling wonderful ripe berries. I picked up some today so Elizabeth and I could start making jam. We were able to get 13 pints of Strawberry Rhubarb and 9 ½ pints of Strawberry done when all of a sudden my stove died. AGHH!! Both the stove top and the oven are not working. I checked the fuses in the basement thinking that I had blown a fuse, but they appear to be fine. The clock on my stove still works but none of the burners nor the oven work.
The worst of it is that Phil is out of town. I'm going to try to find a dealer that sells Amana stoves to see if I can get a service guy to take a look at it. I have about 7 gallons of milk that need to be made into cheese in the fridge and more strawberries coming on Thursday and Saturday from our Amish friends. This is NOT a good week for me to be without a stove. Well I cannot think of a week that would be a good one for me not to have a stove, but this one makes life even more challenging!!
UPDATE: Would you believe that the stove was unplugged?? The only portion of the plug that was still in was the part that worked the clock. I'm so thankful that it wasn't a broken stove! We have since canned a total of 66 pints of Strawberry Rhubard and 24 pints of Strawberry. Now we are working on freezing berries whole and crushed. Whole for smoothies and crushed to serve over ice cream and short cake.
The worst of it is that Phil is out of town. I'm going to try to find a dealer that sells Amana stoves to see if I can get a service guy to take a look at it. I have about 7 gallons of milk that need to be made into cheese in the fridge and more strawberries coming on Thursday and Saturday from our Amish friends. This is NOT a good week for me to be without a stove. Well I cannot think of a week that would be a good one for me not to have a stove, but this one makes life even more challenging!!
UPDATE: Would you believe that the stove was unplugged?? The only portion of the plug that was still in was the part that worked the clock. I'm so thankful that it wasn't a broken stove! We have since canned a total of 66 pints of Strawberry Rhubard and 24 pints of Strawberry. Now we are working on freezing berries whole and crushed. Whole for smoothies and crushed to serve over ice cream and short cake.
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