• Gardening
    • Vegetable Gardening
    • Mulch Gardening
    • Herbs
    • 2016 Vegetable Garden
    • 2015 Vegetable Garden
    • 2014 Vegetable Garden
    • 2013 vegetable garden
    • 2012 Vegetable Garden
    • 2011 Vegetable Garden
    • 2010 Vegetable Garden
  • Livestock
    • Cattle
    • Broiler Chickens
    • Laying Chickens
    • Butchering
    • Pigs
    • Sheep
    • Turkeys
    • Homestead Hog Butchering
  • Herbal
    • Natural Health and Beauty
  • Homestead Management
    • Homestead Management Printables
    • Homestead Management
    • SmartSteader (Homestead Binder App)
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube

Reformation Acres

Live Your Homestead Dream Today

  • Home
    • All About Reformation Acres
    • Subscribe
    • SmartSteader (Homestead Binder App)
    • Disclosure
    • Reader Questions
    • Affiliates
  • Blog
    • The Latest Posts
    • Farm Fresh Seasonal Recipes
  • Recipes
    • Farm Fresh Seasonal Recipes
    • My Cookbooks
      • Cake Stand
    • Food Preservation
    • Sourdough
    • Dairy
  • Contact
  • My Books
  • Recommended Resources

in Links

~Gleanings From May & June~

Maybe it’s just me, but things have been slow on Pinterest lately. I’m just not finding and pinning as much as I used to. I didn’t have much to share for May and figured I’d see if we could do better this month.
Here is the best of the best followed by a few thought-provoking articles I’ve chosen to share with you-
A garden fence with chicken wire... While I think our white picket garden fence is adorable (or could be if painted up again and old slats replaced) the newer young chickens always are able to slip through while the plants are still tender. I love this idea of using chicken wire!

A basic guide to harvesting herbs.
A chart outlining symptoms of nutritional deficiencies in your plants. Very interesting, but alternately, you could join me in reading The Intelligent Gardener and learn how to increase the nutrient density of your plants which improves their health by correcting deficiencies in your soil.
It isn’t the toothpaste recipe that grabs me so much (although I might try it or tweak the one I’ve been using) as it is the idea of using the tubes. I’ve been using old glass yeast jars and a little teaspoon and my bathroom floor needs cleaned of toothpaste every day. Quite irritating.
I think this might be a good idea for cooling chickens quickly on butchering day… or maybe use racks somehow with ice below for air-chilling to get tender meat. Because not everyone scores an old floral cooler on Craigslist for $30.
What a great graphic! This could be a handy print out to keep in a medical binder for easy reference. I would add I remember that St. John’s Wort oil is good for burns too.
For when you’re down to your last four legos. (Or not. But I probably am.) This is a great, inexpensive, and visual way to teach fractions.
An herbal first-aid ointment…
Building a living fence.  I like this idea too for if you range your chickens, this could provide shelter more quickly than waiting for a tree to grow (ours use pine trees right now). If you used everbearing canes, you could also be providing them with a food source throughout the season.
Preparing condiments for our family is on my “to-learn” list. Old, chipped mason jars no longer fit for canning could be repurposed.
A summer vegetable quiche with cherry tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, and spinach… Tried this mix of ingredients using my quiche recipe & crust as a base. It was incredibly flavorful, but my children were disappointed when they couldn’t find the bacon. My only problem was there was a bit of water that leached from the vegetables while cooking, but I bet that could be adjusted somehow. I like that this could be 80% homegrown. This one is going in the family cookbook.
A lovely and possibly free trellising system for tomatoes if you have access to saplings. I fear I’ll forever be on the lookout for new trellising ideas. I just haven’t come across anything I like yet.
Espalier designs...  While I would love to learn this art form, pruning regular fruit trees makes me nervous enough as it is! So beautiful though.

~Oh the irony as I sit here writing and  you sit there reading, but I think we all struggle with balance…
About Mama’s Screen Time

I want to spend my days and my nights focusing on the things that are eternal. (This is a work in progress, friends!) But really, focusing on the things that will really matter at the end of life. Relationships. People. My walk with Christ. Servanthood. Deepening my friendships. Reaching out to those in need. Some of that can be done online, I admit. I’ve had good chats and stayed connected with friends and family who were far away through Facebook, email, etc. But nothing beats a real conversation, a real hug, a real moment. The feeling of a cool breeze on your face during a early morning jog. The sound of bullfrogs at twilight. This is life. These things are real. Time to reflect and give thanks and look up – these are the things that are so hard to do in front of a screen.

~Lots of good reasons, but number six is a pet peeve of mine (pun not intended.)
10 Darn Good Reasons to Get Married and Have Kids Young

Because having kids is better than having dogs. Dogs can’t laugh at your dumb jokes or tell you they love you in just the right way to melt your heart for the millionth time. They can’t take care of you when you’re old. You will never be your dog’s hero. Your dog will never come to you for advice. You will never watch with amazement as your dog comes to saving faith in Jesus. You will not spend eternity worshiping Jesus with your dog.

~You wouldn’t expect Joel Salatin to throw a cog in the wheel of the local food movement, would you? Excellent article.
Home Centric Food Systems

If we truly ponder the idea of “Local” we have to admit the most local we can be is to produce and prepare food at home. Too often talk about local food ignores the home and simply sees it as an arrival point for food, a consumer perspective, rather than also a production center. Thus Joel, as always, seems to find what should be at the heart of the Local Food movement: The Home.

~I’m doing the best I can and sometimes that’s 50/50 white/wheat that my family will actually eat and rarely is it soaked- only if I’ve noticed it reduced digestive troubles for the little ones. This made me feel just a smidge less guilty.
That Whole Grains Question: Is it Time For To Soak or Not To Soak

If I make my mom’s biscuit recipe with unbleached, unbromated wheat flour, home-rendered pastured lard, Real Salt, and organic, grassfed milk, but the flour happens to have all the bran and all the germ sifted out of it, is my resulting biscuit – which will be so fluffy and melt-in-your-mouth smeared with pastured butter that you’ll think you died and gone to Heaven – is it junk food? Is it real food? Or would some even say, “It’s not even food at all!” just because of the refined grains?

~I’ve seen Doug Wilson talk about organic foods (search Youtube) and simply can’t agree with his conclusions. Steak from petroleum products????! Huh?! I doubt that will solve the global food crisis and more so doubt that when God said we were to receive all food with thanksgiving, nothing to be refused that’s what He meant. If scientists can turn something that isn’t food into something that looks like food and perhaps even tastes like food, that doesn’t make it food, but I digress. Most recently, he has concluded that Christians with food allergies should eat the foods that will knowingly make them ill if served them rather than bring substitutes because it will interfere with fellowshipping and church unity. Maybe you’re lactose intolerant? I wonder if taking a roll of toilet paper with you and spending the time in the bathroom would interfere with the fellowshipping?? Thankfully none of my family has any food allergies at this time, but I’m offended on behalf for the many of you who do, ironically, most likely as a result of human intervention and manipulation of the food system.  I don’t often rant (to you), but I think I just did- sorry. Here are two articles that address the issue much more eloquently than I am able to.

Jesus and Junk Food

My concern is that Wilson’s writings are fuelling these judgemental attitudes towards those who want to be healthy. Consider a few examples. In a Credenda Agenda article from 2009 titled ‘The Fat is the Lord’s’, Wilson wrote that if you are zealous for healthy’ food, the chances are that you have been infected by false religion, and he compared health-conscious Christians to both the 1st century Judaizers and to 19th century cult leaders. In his article ‘Allergic to Other People’ he goes even further and suggests that those who have food intolerances and take their own food to someone else’s house are enemies of church unity. “If you have ever showed up to a dinner party (not a potluck) unannounced with your own food, then you are an enemy of church unity.”

Just Eat It

Should we really tell someone to “get over it” and eat whatever makes them sick simply to please our sense of fellowship? Should we tell them they should eat what is set before them because when they bring their own meal (in an effort not to inconvenience anyone) it irritates us? Where is the charity? Is Christian unity found in the food we put in our mouths or in gracious fellowship?

~A 4 part series…
Can’t Afford to Homeschool

Homeschooling may look daunting in the best of circumstances, but when money is in short supply, it can seem practically impossible!
According to 2006 numbers, the government spends more than $9,000 per student per year, and they have a whole staff to help each child “succeed,” from teaching, to counseling, to physical activity and even nutrition. It’s more than enough to intimidate the most confident parents.
But please don’t be discouraged!
We have a great, big God who is in love with us, yes, and He cares for us more than we can comprehend. How do I know this?–because Jesus said that God even knows when a sparrow falls to the ground, and that His care for us is far greater!
You may not own a desk, or wall maps, or even one teacher’s manual, but you are more equipped than the best teacher in the whole world if you have one very basic thing.

~A little encouragement for home educating moms who sometimes feel burdened by feeling their work is never enough.
Not Enough Syndrome

As mothers we ought to give all we can give. Our eyes are open to where we might make adjustments or improvements. But we are also faced with human limitations. Perhaps you have felt that your children aren’t getting enough or that you aren’t able to do enough. Take heart. Here is a truth that is trustworthy. If we are Christians we can place our trust in God to bring fruit from the seeds we lovingly and dutifully sow. Remember the parable of the loaves and fishes. The boy who offered the loaves and fishes gave all of his lunch, sacrificially. Was it enough for the multitude? No. Did our Lord Jesus make it enough? He blessed it, multiplied it and made it more than enough. He is able to do exceedingly more abundantly than we ask or think.

Filed Under: Links

« The Cat Lady
15 Easy Care Perennials to Encourage Pollinators »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Welcome to Reformation Acres!

I'm Quinn and I hope to encourage you to not wait until "some day" to experience the satisfaction found in a simple life. You can begin living your homestead dream today!

READ MORE

As an Amazon Associate, this site earns from qualifying purchases. We may also earn small commissions on purchases from other retail websites.

Categories

Your Favorite Posts

Homestead Printables

Let’s Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
Butternut Squash Pie fresh bread
30 Homesteading Skills to Start Learning TODAY fresh bread
Plant Free Chicken Food fresh bread
Dexter Cattle – Pros & Cons dexter cattle

Copyright © 2023 · Privacy Policy • Disclosure

Copyright © 2023 · Market Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in