Why we farm.......

Why do we farm? Sometimes I wonder myself. It is not because my llama spits at me........
but it is so nice when she decides I am good enough to pet her.....for a few minutes anyway. It's not because we make good money...........(sometimes we struggle just to make ends meet)
But it is rewarding somehow to bring milk to the table, knowing it is because of your work that it is there........
It's because barn cats have kittens and they are so darling.........
It's because watching the chickens is entertainment all in itself.......
Because sheep need a shepherd.........

and they give so much in return.
It's because no matter how little we get paid or how long the hours are, we know we are needed. We know that our small participation with nature matters......

The hours are long, the work is hard and the problems that crop up are many. But at the end of the day, we farm because when we try to stop we just......... can't.

Our Icelandic Chickens

Our Icelandic Chickens are pretty shy, but I managed to get a few photos. Enjoy!

Food, Glorious Food

So I am trying to be healthy remember? Yeah. Well. Ummmmm, Diet Coke isn't healthy???


Our chickens are starting to lay and I couldn't be more proud if I laid 'em myself. (I guess that would be kind of embarrassing come to think of it......)

We are planning a trip to the homeland (which for me is Tennessee!) and the budget is really tight so feeding 7 kids, myself and my sister on take out is pretty much out of the question.


So I spent all day dicing and slicing and cooking up a storm. I managed to get 7 meals cooked and put in the freezer so that when we head south (hmmm....) we have plenty to eat without spending plenty of money. It helps that we are staying at a timeshare for free. My sister has a friend who booked a stay in Gatlinburg but couldn't go. Woohooo vacation on a shoe string!

As you can see I also got some dehydrating done. The rest of this seasons corn and the leftover parsley from today's recipes ;)

Well, I am off to check on my cheese, then finally off to bed.......

Wordless Wednesday

The fruits of our labor...

How often do you think about where your food comes from?

I have recently been thinking about that ALOT! Since I have been spending my mornings and evenings milking a cow to provide milk for my family instead of buying a gallon of milk at the store it has crossed my mind how little we work for our food.

For instance, I made cottage cheese today! (My first time!) Normally I head to the grocery store and buy a carton of cottage cheese. Not today. Today I spent about 30 mins give or take making my own. (It takes longer than that but only 30 mins involved me working with the cheese directly). Tomorrow we will have homemade cottage cheese at lunch and somehow I feel like I have fed more than the bodies of my children. I feel like I have fed their souls.....I can't really put my finger on why but it feels good!

For dinner this evening we had macaroni and cheese.....NOT from a box!! I am not even sure my kids knew this was possible. Again I can't tell you why but it really feels good!











Oh yeah, and bread doesn't always come in a bag!! Yeah, it was hard work and it took me a bit of time but it sure felt good!