The Homestead at Timber Lakes

Fall is in the air!

11:25, Tuesday, September 23, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link
Well the girls are laying, giving us about a dozen eggs a day. We have started selling the eggs for $3.00 a dozen, they are finally starting to pull their weight around here!
 The garden this year was a bit of a letdown. I think the soil needed to be amended. We added fresh and rotted horse manure in spring, but I don't think we added enough.
Everything in the raised bed did great! Kale, cabbage, lettuces, and the corn was out of this world! however we didnt plant nearly enough, so we know how much to plant next year so that we will have some to put up.
Tomatoes did well, we are still harvesting and I have been canning spaghetti sauce this week with lots of fresh herbs from the garden thrown in, next year I will plant twice as many. Green beans did awesome, but could have planted double what I did, at least. Peppers did well, but again I didnt plant enough. I have used most of them to make salsa along with the garden fresh onions, tomatoes and cilantro. Carrots did well, we got some potatoes early in the season but the Colorado potato beetles wiped em all out by mid summer. When I went to harvest they were all green.
 Sweet peas did horrible, I think we planted them too late in spring. Cucumbers and squash petered out as well. Spinach never grew either, again i think we planted too late in the season. The area where we planted them flooded in early summer after heavy rains.
We got 1 pumpkin, no melons, no eggplant. And a total of I think 4 cucumbers.
 We learned a lot this year. We have re-arranged the fence so that the chickens have free access to whats left of the garden to 1. fertilize 2. help clean up before we til. We will also be adding manure  within the next few weeks.One pleasant suprise we had was that we realized what we thought was a crab apple tree is actually a real apple tree. And we have been getting a bumper crop of apples. I have been making apple sauce, butter, you name it!
Anyway pictures to come later, need to head out and pick up the kids.

Blueberry Picking

04:37, Monday, July 21, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link



It's that time of year again! Plump, juicy blueberries are in season here in the mountains. A bunch of us jumped in the car today and headed out to pick early this morning. I came home with 3 gallons of berries, which have all been put up already. I have put some aside to make a blueberry pie. YUM!
We're going to head out a few more time this week, I would like to have at least 9 more gallons.

I will put some pictures up of the garden when I get a chance.


Yummy Meal

08:20, Friday, July 18, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link
Wow, I have'nt updated in a while! Guess I have had a good excuse. 
We have all been working hard out in the garden, trying to keep the weeds under control.
My camera broke so i haven't been able to take many pictures, I went to use my sons and found that the card reader had died! Grrrr.
 Anyway I will purchase a new camera hopefully this weekend.
The garden is doing pretty good, not as abundant as I would have liked, things seem to be growing very s-l-o-w... I am sure it is because we didn't do a whole lot to prepare the soil before we planted.
Well we are starting to enjoy some yummy home grown meals. Here is what we had for dinner tonight

Fresh garden veggies (new potatoes, with local turkey kielbasa, fresh peas, red pepper, onion, broccoli, and fresh herbs) fresh salad from the garden, as well as a sprinkling of herbs (rosemary and thyme).

More cuteness has arrived!

12:06, Friday, April 18, 2008 .. 4 comments .. Link
I can hardly stand it!Photobucket Photobucket

Decisions....

03:22, Saturday, April 12, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link
It has been an exhausting week around here, sure we are physically wiped out from all the tilling, building, clearing land, weeding etc not to mention the everyday responsibilities like cleaning, school and trying to unpack and weed through boxes from two houses.
 My husband and I have been evaluating our school year, and are feeling we fell way short this year. It's true that we moved in October and the year has been spent trying to settle in, make new friends etc. But we feel as if the kids have had too much idle (video game/electronic) time, can you say electronic babysitter?
 We are also throwing around the idea of sending the kids to school in the fall although right now  we do not  feel total peace about it.
We are praying about this and seeking the Lord for direction. We are 100% submitted to His will for our lives as a family. It is hard work raising children and sometimes it seems as if there are no immediate rewards, or few rewards especially when it comes to raising teenagers.
 We are also looking into a few online schools for our 15 year old son Sterling, Keystone High is one, and he seems pretty interested.
 The kids have been working pretty much on their own this year using ACE Paces and teaching textbooks for math. . We had always been more 'Charlotte Mason' in style, but with everything going on this year we decided it just might work out better, and it really has especially for my 10 year old daughter Lily.  I totally lack organizational skills and structure in my life and the kids are paying the price, the paces have really helped them stay on task and actually finish something they have started without having to wait for mom to work with them. The kids are also involved in a local co-op and have just started 4-H (Archery, geocaching, chickens and gardening)
Although spring is a wonderful time of newness, it is also when most homeschooling families get burnt out and question their choices. Seems thats where we are right now.

Spring is in the air!

06:34, Friday, April 11, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link
Things are starting to come to life around here! I love spring! Chicks are growing like weeds, flowers coming up and peepers peeping away.
 Here are a few pictures I took this week.

Heres a picture of the new coop!

And of course a few of the babies in their new home.





Rico the Roo
The Orpington Girls!

Here's A picture of the Duck Pond.

And The Goat House (still under construction)

And here is the beginning of our garden. We have been tilling and pulling up rocks all week!

Crusty No Knead bread

09:11, Sunday, March 30, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link
I just love bread, I try to make a fresh loaf weekly in my bread machine, it comes out great for sandwiches, but sometimes I just gotta have a nice crusty piece of bread smeared with sweet butter and maybe a touch of honey, YUM.  Usually it takes a bit more effort than I am willing to give.
Luckily I came across this recipe a few months back, it is SUPER easy to make (no knead) and is just as good if not better than anything I have picked up from the bakery. I hope you enjoy it as much as our family has!


No Knead, Dutch Oven Bread

1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting. You may use white, whole wheat or a combination of the two.
1 1/2 tsp salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran for dusting

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended. The dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at least 8 hours, preferably 12 to 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it. Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or to your fingers, gently shape it into a ball. Generously coat a clean dish towel with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal. Put the seam side of the dough down on the towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another towel and let rise for about 1 to 2 hours. When it’s ready, the dough will have doubled in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
At least 20 minutes before the dough is ready, heat oven to 475 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven and lift off the lid. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side up. The dough will lose its shape a bit in the process, but that’s OK. Give the pan a firm shake or two to help distribute the dough evenly, but don’t worry if it’s not perfect; it will straighten out as it bakes.
Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the loaf is beautifully browned. Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and let it cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.
Yield: One 1 1/2-pound loaf.
Adapted from The New York Times.

More critters coming!

03:52, Saturday, March 29, 2008 .. 2 comments .. Link
Well, it looks like the fever has hit! We placed another order from Ideal Hatchery to arrive April 17!
We have ordered some standard sized Cochins of various colors, all pullets, 2 more Rhode Island Reds, buff brahma. golden penciled hamburgs, and my 10 year old daughter Lily has ordered two bantam silkies, a blue and a white straight run, for 4-H.
Also we ordered 12 ducks to be shared with a neighbor, and found a really nice large doghouse to put them in at night.
we are on a waiting list for 4 sebastopol geese, they are absolutely gorgeous and supposed to have very gentle dispositions.

we have a small pond on our property and hope they enjoy their new home!

It looks like we will be getting 2 Angora goats early may from a small scale breeder outside of Asheville. They are mainly fiber goats, and they will be a fun addition to our small homestead. Also our neighbor has graciously offered us two of her goats.  Here is a picture of an angora. Now we need to get those fences up!

So yes phase one is coming along nicely.
We have been busy preparing our raised beds, and berry patch.
Seeds have been started indoors under grow light (pics to come) I did'nt realize that we would have so many flats of seedlings and am afraid they may not be getting the light they need, so we are going to pick up some plastic shelving from Lowes tomorrow and flourecent shop lights and add hopefully that will give us more much needed space.

They are here!

06:19, Tuesday, March 25, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link
It has taken me a while to post, been real busy starting seedlings, caring for chicks, putting up fences etc..
Spring is in the air! Well some days more than others, woke up this morning to 2 inches of snow, but it warmed up tis afternoon to 55 or so.
Chicken coop was delivered today , and hopefully the chicks will be out there under a heat lamp real soon, Right now they are in our master bath in a huge refridgerator box. they are getting way to rowdy in there.
Here are a few pictures.






So it begins

02:04, Wednesday, February 27, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link
   

It is finally happening!  That which we have dreamed about is finally taking place. We recently purchased 14 acres in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of NC, and are in the early stages of establishing a homestead of our own,
 We are settling nicely into our brick victorian home here in the mountains, and having a wonderful time planning 'phase 1' of this experience.
Seeds have been ordered for the spring 2008 garden and will be started this week up in our finished attic, hopefully to be set out late April, early May.
We plan on setting out a 70' by 20 ' garden, but first two trees must come down, which will be used for firewood in the coming years.
 We will be adding two goats to our small homestead, hoping they will help us clear a bit of land, which will later be used by our future jersey cow and horses for grazing.
 March 10th will be an exciting day around here as well! We will be picking 25 baby chicks up from the post office! We ordered a variety Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, New Hampshire reds, speckled sussex, Delawares, and silver laced  Wyanndottes.  Cortunix quail eggs are in the incubator, due to hatch next week.
 So there ya have phase one on our journey to self reliance.
Here is a picture of the incredible rainbow we saw the other dat while on our front porch.


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Fall is in the air!
Blueberry Picking
Yummy Meal
More cuteness has arrived!
Decisions....

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