End of Harvest 2015

   Hey guys, I apologize for the long absence (again). It turns out I'm not a very disciplined blogger. I've also had a rough summer emotionally and physically. But as promised I'm going to share some things I learned from the past growing season. Some of our veggies and produce did swell and others were total flops. 

• Our corn was the first of our plants to rear their little heads and seemed to be doing very well until mid May. First they began to yellow which I attributed to heat. But after losing about half of them and doing some research I discovered that is a common problem with corn and is attributed to not enough Nitrogen in the soil. After adding tons of Nitrogen their color returned to normal but the damage was seemingly done and we ended up with what looked like two dozen ears of baby corn. Live and learn!
• Tomatoes.... oh tomatoes, how you let me down.... I've been known to have very prolific tomato plants until this summer. I've had one potted Roma produce more tomatoes than I got all summer from my 15 Mortgage Lifters. But the excessive rain we received in the spring had a lot to do with it. Also, I learned that excessive fertilizing causes plants to grow exponentially. The plant becomes so focused on growing that it rarely flowers and fruits. Thus I ended up with 7 foot tall tomato plants and very few tomatoes. 
• Do not ever plant anything near a jalapeno pepper. I planted all of my peppers in a single box this year and they are ALL incredibly hot. My bell peppers can't even be used in cooking because they're basically enormous, colorful jalapenos. 
• We had some success with out watermelons this year and harvested 6 total. Our largest weighed in at 12lbs. One mistake was tilling a watermelon patch outside our fenced in vegetable gardens. My watermelons were all about the size of softballs and some rabbits ravaged all the vines in a single night. We ended up with a lot of single serve melons because of this. Also, something to consider about watermelons is the price of the water they consume. While growing our water bill went up about $20 a month just for them. Is that really worth it? Probably not considering how few and how small we ended up harvesting. Also, do not attempt to grow unless you're a SAHM, SAHW, or retired- because you will be watering them 3-4 times a day in the middle of Texas summer.  

    

   I know this sounds like a lot of mistakes and problems but we actually had a very good season. On average my grocery bill was about $70 for the majority of the harvest season. 







We harvested:
18 Squash
40 Zucchinis
20 Large tomatoes
An uncountable number of cherry tomatoes
Minimal inedible tiny corn
32 Cucumbers
8 birdhouse Gourds
10lbs of Green Beans
20 Jalapenos
5 Incredibly spicy Bell Peppers
6 Watermelons
52 Red Globe and Elberta Peaches (That's 48 up from last year!)
25 Small Carrots
Minimal amount of Iceberg Lettuce (too hot for a full sun spring crop)
Minimal amount of Collard Greens (same as above)
100+ wild plums
30lbs of wild blackberries (My freezer is stuffed full of them)
5lbs of  mammoth Sunflower seeds
5lbs of Snap Peas 
10 Key Limes
5 Meyer Lemons 
4lbs of Strawberries

We also welcomed 20 new chickens and 10 ducks to the farm this season! Free range eggs are now available from our farm. If you're interested in ordering please visit our facebook page under the name of The Paschall Family Farm & Bakery.

Now time to  preserve the harvest! 

 -Colleen P. & The Little Red Homestead

 

 

All Natural Mint Tea

   Hello friends and followers! I know I'm the worst at keeping up with this blog. I just can't seem to ever sit down and finish any posts. But as I announced on Facebook I'm going to give you a step by step on how to brew your own delicious and refreshing mint tea!

   If you've ever been to our home you've probably had a glass of my mint tea. I hate to brag but it might be the best sweet (although, that's optional) tea in the South. The keys are patience and fresh ingredients. Five years ago I purchased a Chocolate Mint and an Orange Mint plant. After battling it out for domination of the pot I ended up with some kind of hybrid mint; I call it my Chocolate Orange Mint. But the type of mint is not all that important. I recommend using sweet mint or culinary mint for teas though because they're larger leaves and powerful flavor. 

So here's what you're going to need to start brewing your own natural Mint Teas:

• 1 Mint Plant
• 1 Mortar and Pestal
• Someplace to either hang herbs to dry OR a brown paper bag
• 1 medium size pot for brewing your tea
• 1 small canning jar or a sandwich ziploc size bag
• 1/3-3/4 cup sugar depending on your preference
• 5+ cups of water
• 1 one gallon tea jug
• Cheesecloth, fine fabric, or tea bags

That's all!

   If you like the smell of fresh herbs in your home, and who doesn't, your best option is probably to dry your mint bunches indoors. I fill a one gallon storage pail with 6-10" sprigs of mint. This should be enough to make two or three sizable separate bunches. the smaller the bunches the more quickly they will dry and the less likely you are to experience mold. If mold does occur you'll have to toss your bunches in the trash. I hang mine in our pantry because there is very little light, air current, or humidity. I leave the bunches hanging for roughly two weeks or until crisp. 

Alternatively, you can place mint in a brown paper bag to remove the moisture and dry it for a few days for fresh mint tea.

• Once your mint is dry you're going to need to take a couple of minutes and strip the leaves off the sprigs. I just run my fingers down the whole surface and they come right off. 
• Next you're going to put about 1/2 cup of the full leaves in your mortar and pestal and grind. I like to have a mix of different size leaves. If you grind them into a fine powder you risk having bits of that in the finished product. You'll end up doing the grinding in stages because having too much at once will cause leaves to fly everywhere.
• Now you're going to cut 8" squares of cheesecloth and double it over from corner to corner. Basically it just needs to be two layers thick. If you want individual size bags and not family you can make much smaller bags.
• For family size bags you're going to put 1/2 cup in each bag. For individual use 1 tablespoon. 
• Tie those babies up tight! I use strips of cheesecloth for a tie on mine.  

Note: Typically three bunches of mint leaves will give you three family size tea bags.
Note II: I like to keep my extra bags in canning jars because it gives them extra oomph. 

• pour 5 cups of water into your medium pot and add the bag of tea. 

• Set the heat on medium low and let the tea sit for 30-45 minutes. The longer you let it sit the stronger your tea will be. Do not boil!
• Once the time is up remove the tea from the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes. 
• Add your sugar and mix
• Pour the tea into your jug and fill the remaining space with water.
• Put in your refrigerator and give 3-4 hours to cool. 

 
 

   You're all set! Prepare to have the most refreshing, earthy, cool tea you've ever tasted.

 

 All hail the mighty, prolific, and giving mint plant! 

Why I let my poultry free range

  Let me begin by saying that I love my hens dearly. I know what each cluck means, and I regularly still hold and cuddle my big elderly Red Sex Links that I've had since the very beginning. It is because I love them that I allow them their freedom. I have lost my fair share of birds over the past couple years, and I'm okay with that. In fact I've lost a grand total of 4 hens and 3 roosters to free ranging. So why do I still do it?

The nutritional value of free-range eggs makes this challenge a worthwhile endeavor for the homesteader wanting to produce higher quality eggs for a healthier diet.  Recently, Mother Earth News did an egg study comparing free-range eggs to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs.  The findings showed that free-range chicken eggs produced the following results:

    • 1/3 less cholesterol
    • 1/4 less saturated fat
    • 2/3 more vitamin A
    • 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
    • 3 times more vitamin E
    • 7 times more beta-carotene

Besides the obvious nutritional benefits, free-range eggs simply taste better!  The most likely cause of the differences between free-range eggs and those from caged, commercial-production hens is the diet the hens consume every day.  Basically, you are what you eat.  After all, the free-range chicken’s diet is all natural and varied, while the caged hen eats only what is placed in front of her.  Free-range hens are also usually healthier than their cousins kept in crowded cages in commercial poultry houses and even those kept in backyard runs.  The feeds given to commercial hens are the cheapest possible mixture of corn, soy, and/or cottonseed meals, with many types of additives mixed in.  These additives often include growth hormones, meat and bone meals, as well as antibiotics and chemicals, like arsenic, to keep the chickens awake longer and producing more.  The commercial chicken has a much shorter lifespan due to stress, illness and general disease than does a free-range hen—unless, of course, the free-range hen falls prey to a natural predator.

 Free-range chickens are also a wonderful source of entertainment on warm summer days.  A single insect can cause mass hysteria among a flock of free-range chickens.  Where one goes, they all go at a run and a massive chase scene can ensue over one juicy bug.  They can also perform amazing duck and cover routines if something so much as an airplane shadow should appear overhead.  You will learn just what a free-range chicken will eat, and you will also become adept at construction of chicken barricades to protect everything that you don’t want them to destroy—such as your garden—while they are in one of their feeding-frenzies.  

What it all boils down to is if you're willing to allow your hens health and happiness be the priority over control in a small environment. While I do not have anything against anyone who keeps chickens in runs and coops alone, I do stand by the fact that their counterparts who free range live healthier and happier lives.  Free-range chickens are definitely worth the effort needed to take care of them, as the fresh eggs and meat are by far the best that you can obtain anywhere. 

Update time!

   Well it's been a little over a month now since I've posted anything but I've got a completely reasonable explanation.

   About a year ago I started taking the medication Paxil in 40mg dose. It was for severe chronic depression, and initially it really did help me. However, around August I started to feel nothing. Literally nothing at all. Its the weirdest thing in the world to have absolutely no emotions about anything. I felt like a robot. So I tried going cold turkey. This was a colossal mistake that almost landed me in the emergency room. I went from "ok" to vomitting on myself, shaking, passing out, and having convulsions in the bathroom in a timeline of about 45 minutes. Luckily, my ever level-headed husband was there with me the whole time. From that day forth began the tedious and unpleasant process of weening myself off of the nasty drug. Do you know what helped immensely? Raw milk. I think raw milk actually saved me. Thankfully our dairy goat, Buttermilk, was in full milk and producing about 3/4 gallon a day being milked just once. I've read a few studies about the effects of raw milk on the body and the general conclusion is that even thought here is a miniscule risk (and if handled properly I believe there is none), raw milk can have antidepressant and other positive effects on the body. The only negative side effect was that the Paxil made it impossible to lose weight and the raw milk made it very easy to put it on. Needless to say I gained about 18lbs in 6 months. Getting off of Paxil took me a full two months. I was pretty ill, and miserable during the whole process too. The thing no one had warned me about before taking Paxil is that it can take up to a year to fully leave your system and you can still experience withdrawal symptoms at 6-8 months.  I started having a relapse about two months ago and it got pretty bad. It's been an uphill battle since. 

   Moving on... I also had a minor tragedy and blow to my self esteem and enthusiasm when all of my seedlings I'd started inside damped off and died. I lost every single one. It was a huge thing to me since my seedlings are like babies to me. I'd never even heard of "damping off" before. But if you'd like to find out more or just take preventive measures of your own read up on it here:

https://extension.umass.edu/floriculture/fact-sheets/damping-bedding-plants-and-vegetables


   But as they say live and learn! I've since started all my seeds outside and everything has been going swimmingly. We got all the beds tilled, fenced, and seeded within a few weeks. As you can see to the right we've also had some new additions on the farm in the shape of surprise chicks! I'll try to post again soon since in truth I don't have any updated pictures of the seeds I started (again). It's been so muddy out that my opportunities have been few a far between. 

-Colleen P. & The Little Red Homestead 

Happy Valentine's Day from The Little Red Homestead!

 
   I've been dragging my feet on an updated post for three weeks now. I believe I have a case of the "winter blues" since I've been sleeping 9+ hours a day and eating my weight in food daily. (either that or my husband finally knocked me up). But thanks to the wave of gorgeous weather we're having I've been more active again this week. 

 
Firstly I want to wish anyone who reads this a happy Valentine's Day. I don't typically brag about myself but I went 22 years without a kiss, candy, a date, or a boyfriend on Valentine's Day so I'm going to brag! Kent and I have actually been married exactly 18 months tomorrow too. He took off work and we went to the zoo while it was completely empty and 65 degrees. Which he followed by taking me to my favorite, and only decent, pizza restaurant in Texas- Olivella's in Highland Park. And just when the day couldn't have gotten better we hit Society Bakery on Greenville Ave. I really though that was the end of it but then last night I also got two dozen roses and a brand new tiller! I'm one very excited wife today! 



My husband and I have been tilling our flowerbeds by hand
using a pickaxe, which has been a nightmare to say the least. But the tiller is going to make a world of difference. Instead of just doing the boxes we're also going to till about 1/4 an acre now. More room = more food for us. My seedlings have really started popping up this week too. I don't usually start seeds because A] I'm impatient and B] I've spent $150 on organic heirloom seeds and had maybe a 50% germination rate in the past. This is my first really successful year with seeds but I'm also a lot more educated about cultivation and farming in general than I was even a year ago. My Mortgage Lifter tomatoes were the first to rear their pretty green heads. Which, as an avid tomato enthusiast, is very exciting. Mortgage Lifters are know for their enormous size and flavor. I see a lot of salsa in our future considering my jalapenos, onions, and cilantro have also started poking through.

This is Paprika "tolerating" human attention

   I've also been trying to find homes for the excess roosters we have from last summer. My mother-in-law and I didn't know how to sex chicks last summer and boy has it come back to bite us in the ass. We were up to 14 roosters briefly. I'm attaching a really helpful link about sexing chicks so you don't make the same mistakes we did: 

http://animalsciences.missouri.edu/reprod/ReproTech/Feathersex/sld006.htm

   Starting chicks ourselves has been a really wonderful experience in general however. The chickens I was given are tolerant of human interaction but I'd hardly call them friendly. However, the chicks we raised and handled daily are very friendly. I really spoiled our Mille fleur rooster to a fault. He demands to do morning chores while perched on my shoulder or head. He also coo's while you pet him. The hens have just started laying the last couple weeks which was great news since my New Hampshire Reds have reached 3 1/2 years old and are no longer laying age. 

   I'm most likely going to update again this weekend with a review of the Cub Cadet tiller and some pictures of the garden "in progress."  But for now I hope you have a wonderful weekend and Valentine's Day. 





-Colleen P. & the Little Red Homestead

 

Homesteading Spring preparations and some confessions of an inexperienced home builder

    A majority of the last six months has been spent prepping for this spring. This is our first year seriously homesteading and it's going to be a year of experimentation. 

   Last summer our 11 acres produced enough lavender to stuff several small pillows, 3 red globe peaches, more eggs than we could eat or sell, several dozen gallons of goat's milk, some inedible goat cheese, and a very small portion of our vegetables. It was a fantastic way to dip our toes into farming. But it was definitely not enough to sustain a family throughout the year, let alone the summer. That's what we're hoping to change this spring. 

   My husband and I first discussed the homesteading movement several years ago after watching a series of food related documentaries on Amazon Prime video. We thought it sounded like a great idea to save money on food and eat healthier. We didn't really know what to expect since neither one of us had ever lived or worked on a farm before. So, when we did move out to our land (confession: We lived with my husband's mother for 5 months to save money.) we began putting our plans into action. However, money has been very tight and homesteading is not cheap. No one ever told me that a load of top soil would be upwards of $200! Now imagine buying 6 loads- all at once- unexpectedly! This is what 2014 was filled with. I felt like I was bleeding money. But I have to say I'm a much smarter and heartier woman because of it. (confession: we didn't have a working shower for 4 months and showered outside using a garden hose until we saved enough to put a shower in.) Even though we were extremely lucky that my husband's boss just happened to be getting rid of the steel building we made our home, it still came with a lot of unexpected costs. When we planned the blueprints for the inside of our home we estimated it would run us about $35,000-$40,000 to build. I'm not going to tell you how much it ended up costing- but if you multiple that by three you'll be in the ballpark. We weren't entirely prepared for the costs. Luckily we're both extremely frugal and resourceful. (confession: we had about 1/3 of the total cost saved prior to building and that made a world of difference.)  It all boils down to what my father-in-law told me the day we poured the slab:

 "everything in construction takes twice as long and costs 

at least double what you estimated."

   What can I say, I was an overly optimistic 24 year old and knew nothing about construction. 

   If you're planning on building a home because it looks so easy and fun on HGTV and Pinterest- I say go for it! But expect the unexpected, like showering outside. Also hope for the best but be financially prepared for the worst. All in all I couldn't be happier with how our house turned out and am beyond thankful for the amount of man-hours my husband, Kent, and his father, Jeff, logged into building it themselves. (confession: my mother deserves a mention for listening to my daily construction and financial related meltdowns for an entire nine months. Sorry, Mom.)

Back to homesteading now! 
 

   We've just constructed a series of raised beds. We chose differing sizes and depths for companion planting and a higher yield.  This year we've chosen to grow corn, cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, watermelon, carrots, collard greens, and squash. I've actually just started some of the seedlings this past weekend on account of the 75 degree weather we're having in central Texas. Also a majority of them take about 6-8 weeks to mature large enough to transplant into our raised beds. 

   Earlier today I took a walk around the property and was greeted by about a million buds on our fruit trees. It makes me kind of nervous that they're budding so early. One of two things will probably happen now: A] we're going to have an early and scorching hot summer or B] we're going to get a late freeze this year and lose a majority of our Plum, Peach, and Nectarine crop

   Like I said before, this year we're experimenting. We've planned out how much of each plant to grow to feed us but it's all based of web research and several dozen library books. I'm going to try to update at least once a month on our progress, yield, and some old timey wisdom and experience.


 


 Colleen P. & The Little Red Homestead

To be a housewife in 2015

   Let me begin by saying that I am by no means ashamed of what I do. I work as hard as some women, less than others, and probably harder than a few. But being a housewife always earns me a few sideways glances and a certain level of disrespect. I feel like I am doing the job both God and I have always planned for myself. I am very domestic at heart and have never felt at home in the workplace. So when I met my husband almost four years ago we immediately discussed the possibility of this lifestyle for ourselves and our family. We understood the consequences and the rewards of having a single income for our family.  

Buttermilk

   I ended up going back to work for about eight months at a church well over an hour away from our home. It was a temporary job to help pad our bank account for building our current home and partially fund our wedding. This was the first time I had ever held a job while in a serious relationship and it was just not going well for us. I left before 6:30am every morning and didn't come home until 5pm. I was struggling to keep up with housework, laundry, dishes, cooking, shopping, wedding planning, and gardening.  This is where a lot of people began to assume things about my husband and I's relationship. Yes, we do adhere to traditional gender roles. Yes, I knew that from the beginning and I'm more than okay with it. But with the stress of wedding planning, building our first home, my domestic chores, and my new job- I was drowning. I've struggled with depression since my early teens and it started hitting me hard during this period. My husband finally drew the line when they denied me a full week off for my honeymoon, despite agreeing to it during the hiring process.

Gingersnap

   This is when my life as a housewife really began. I was finally able to finish planning our wedding with two weeks left to go! And after a blissful honeymoon we settled into our roles as husband and wife. Everything is more difficult with one income but it has really taught me how to budget and manage our money with an iron grip. My husband is also very happy to come home and truly be able to relax. Because I'm home all the time I'm able to do all the shopping, run all our errands, pay our bills, manage our money, keep a clean home, prepare breakfast and lunch for my husband, feed our chickens, take care of our garden, do our laundry, etc. We also plan to run a small farm in the near future where we'll grow a majority of our own food, and butcher our own meat. I feel I also need to mention my husband and I planned the home we built accordingly to our lifestyle. We went with a steel building for durability, low taxes, and inexpensive materials

Salt & Pepper

    So why do I still get the sideways glances? I work hard. I take care of my husband and someday, hopefully soon, I'll also be taking care of our children. I'm just sick and tired of the assumptions that I sit on my ass all day and watch soap operas. My husband and I are a team and work together like a well oiled machine. Being a housewife or a stay at home mom does not make you any less successful than a career woman. If that's what you choose to do with your life, and you work your hardest at it, then there is no shame. So, why is it so looked down on? Why do some people assume that gender roles make you weak? I feel that it's up to the individual and couple to decide what your role is in a relationship and it's no one elses business or place to judge that decision. There are women out there who are able to work full time and manage a household (my mother) but I'm not ashamed to admit I'm not that woman, and that's okay.

Colleen  P.