So I had a plan for today, the guys were going to trim the goat's hooves and I was going to shoot some video and go through hoof trimming on the how-to Tuesday blog post. Great plan!
Never make a cast in iron plan as a homesteader. Plans are like a poke in kidneys to mother nature, goddess of all things homesteads. This morning mother nature decided that I would not be shooting video of goat hoof trimming, instead, we have been dealing with a goat in shock with a mostly shut down rumen. As I mentioned on facebook yesterday, Miss Avril was in heat, so around four pm yesterday Reiley and I drove Miss Avril for her 'date'. By the time we arrived back home, it was pushing six pm and dark. When Avril is in heat she gets aggressive, (well let's face it she is aggressive most of the time), the best we can determine is that after we brought Avril home she either picked a fight with Pepper or Pepper was caught up in a fight between Avril and Ivan. Whatever happened, when Reiley went up to do chores this morning he found Pepper standing off in the corner in deep shock.
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Goats in shock exhibit the same symptoms as most animals, even 2 legged ones. They appear dazed or blunted they also tremble or shiver and their temperature, especially in the extremities, is much lower than it should be. They also present with pale mucous membranes, the gums and inner eyelids, and rapid shallow respiration and rapid irregular pulse.

Pepper had all of these in spades this morning, my guess is that she was like this most of the night. We brought her into the house, wrapped her into her little coat that I had made her for pro-show, and set about assessing her and warming her. She has no obvious injuries, she is tender in a few spots but nothing major, she can walk and has no signs of internal bleeding. This is good, she needs supportive care. So strap on your boots it's going to be a LONG day. 

S​o we have spent the entire day coaxing fluids into Pepper. She is not well yet. We have been giving children's aspirin for inflammation and pain, she is getting fluid syringed every hour, she has not developed a fever so we are confident that we are not dealing with anything other than a bruised and sore goat. We have given her about a quarter cup of probiotic yogurt, this is helpful in keeping the gut populated with good bacteria. It really is remarkable how fragile goats are when something goes wrong. The same slow digestive system that allows them to digest sticks and bark rapidly becomes a hindrance when a problem occurs.

So, for now, she is holding her own, she is continuing to nibble hay, pass urine and stool. We will keep her in the house overnight and continue supportive care. If she is no better in the morning we will have her seen by the vet.

Ahhhhh, self-reliant homesteading at least you can't say it's boring.....

Have a great day everyone.

Canadians spend roughly $300 million dollars a year on household cleaners. Most of these contain highly toxic chemicals that harm the environment, threaten the health of our pets, our children and us.

Current regulations do not require companies which produce and market these products to list the ingredients. Under the current regulations companies insist that this is proprietary information and would be detrimental to their corporations, read bottom line, to do so. So not only are we paying to poison ourselves and those we love, we are not even allowed to know what compounds we are doing it with. Some companies are now offering up ingredient lists, mostly buried deep on their websites, but it is worth having a look.

We have all seen the hazardous warning labels on cleaners, but think about the last time you actually had a good look at the array of bottles in your cleaning supplies cupboard. If you have not yet made the switch to natural cleaners I challenge you to open up your cupboard. Send the kids out to play and take all your stuff out of the cupboard and lay it out on your table. Have a good look at the labels, how many different warnings are there? How often do you use these products? Do you wear gloves or masks when you use them? How many say to use only in a well ventilated environment? How many list the ingredients?

Those hazard labels are for short term acute exposures, there is no requirement for companies marketing these products to tell you what kind of effects low level long term exposure will do to you or what effect this might have on the development of your young children. Since they do not have to report this most companies do not even test for this. Nor are they required to report, and therefore test, the cumulative effects of these products.

It is entirely possible to have exposure to a dozen hazardous chemicals between getting up and leaving the house in the morning. There is very little testing being done as to the health effects of this continuous low level exposure. When we use these products in our homes they "off -gas". This is due to a nasty little group of chemicals known collectively as VOC's. Volatile organic compounds.

According to the United States Geological Survey, 2005: "Many VOC's are human - made chemicals... They are often compounds of fuels, solvents, hydraulic fluids, paint thinners, and dry-cleaning agents commonly used in urban settings. VOC contamination of drinking water supplies is a human.-health concern because many are toxic and are known or suspected human carcinogens"

VOC's form particulate matter and react with nitrogen oxides to form smog. In our homes these compounds linger in the air and we breathe them in. If your product has a fragrance you are breathing in VOC's. New car smell, new carpet, plastics, fresh paint and my personal pet peeve: air fresheners? All of these are off gassing VOC's. Research into VOC's has found an increase in leukemia and lymphoma rates linked to prolonged exposure of VOC's in the indoor environment.

If this blog does nothing but make you ditch those poisonous, toxic fragrances marketing has made you believe you need I will be a happy camper. As far as I am concerned, those behind Febreeze, Air Wick, Glade and anyone who pedals paraffin candles with synthetic fragrances should be taken out and shot.

As I said yesterday, I began actively trying to purge our home of toxic chemicals back in 1993. If you had asked me in 2003 I would have said we had a relatively toxic free house. Then came Gary's accident.

One of the most debilitating long term aspects of his injury is the environmental illness he has. He has no tolerance for VOC's. Just walking into any Canadian Tire store will give him a migraine for a day or two. The man can smell the school bus coming. This has become a major factor in our lives. It dictates where we live, everything that is brought into this house needs to be assessed. VOC's have become such a ubiquitous part of North American life style that even when we think we are culling them they are there.

Unfortunately, VOC's are not the only culprit in this chemical warfare. The chemicals in these products absorbed through the skin and ingested as residues on our dishes and through household dust.

My top three avoid at all costs ingredients are:

Triclosan
This product really pushes my buttons. Triclosan is the antibacterial component in the plethora of antibacterial products on the market today. It is toxic, the European Union lists it as an irritant to the eyes and skin. It is a suspected endocrine disruptor and is very toxic when it enters aquatic environments. It can also react with other compounds in the environment to form dioxins. Dioxins are bio accumulators, meaning they persist and concentrate as they move through the food chain, and are a known carcinogen. They are also suspected in the rise of antibiotic resistant microbes. The Canadian Medical Association has called for a ban on all antibacterial products.

Triclosan is found in dish soaps, disinfectants, sanitizers, deodorants, liquid hand soaps, laundry soap, tissues, mouthwash, toothpaste and antiseptic ointments. It is also impregnated into plastics for garbage bags, children's toys, babies teethers, high chairs, mattresses, toilet seats, clothing and furniture.

Fragrance and Parfume. Such a harmless sounding words. There are currently over 3000 chemicals which come under the heading of fragrance, most of them are petroleum based. Even products labeled as scent free usually contain fragrances, but they also contain parfume. Parfume is a nasty little beast. it's only function is to inhibit our brains ability to detect scent. Think about that for a minute. Most of the compounds included in the fragrance category have little testing. Manufacturers argue that since there is such small amounts in each product they pose no health concerns. Fragrances, and lets be specific, synthetic fragrances, are the most common trigger of asthma and allergic symptoms. A 2002 study on fragrance compounds suggested that exposure to perfumes and colognes can; "exacerbate asthma, and perhaps even contribute to its development in children."There have been several laboratory studies which indicate a link between individual fragrance compounds and cancer as well as neurotoxicity. Environment Canada has categorized several synthetic musks as bioaccumulative, and/or toxic, and persistent and to human health. Measurable amounts of synthetic musk has been found in the fatty tissues of fish in the Great Lakes, amounts of these compounds found in the sediments of the lakes are also rising. Fragrance and Parfume are found in almost everything. Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) These 2 compounds are why I began making my own soap and consequently sent me on the path to becoming a herbalist. There is a lot of things wrong with these compounds, however there is also a lot of erroneous information on the Internet about these compounds. Lets have a look. SLS and SLES are found in anything that makes suds. They are degreasers found in everything form baby wash to floor cleaners marketed to automobile garages, obviously in different concentrations. Both compounds are well known skin irritants. They are damaging to skin and mucous membranes. They have been found to strip the outer layers of skin and mucosa cells. Especially the mucosa of the mouth when SLS and SLES are present in toothpaste and mouthwash. It is important to remember that concentrations in household cleaning products will be higher that in cosmetic/ personal care products. The link to cancer and long term damage is less clear. Most likely because there have been few studies to look at the effects. What is well documented is the presence of known carcinogens 1,4 dioxane and ethylene oxide in SLES, and nitrosamines in SLS 1,4 dioxane and ethylene oxide are a result of of the manufacturing process used to create SLES. As these carcinogenic compounds are byproducts of the chemical reaction, under law they are not ingredients. So even though they are known carcinogens and present in your baby shampoo, they do not need to be listed as ingredients. The Center for Disease Control describes 1,4 Dioxane as"probably carcinogenic to humans," toxic to the brain and central nervous system, kidneys, and liver. It is also a leading groundwater contaminant." Nitrosamines are carcinogens which cause your body to absorb nitrates, which are known to be carcinogenic. The nitrosamines are a result of contamination of the SLS during manufacture. The contamination can be one or many of multiple of chemicals. Given the vast number of products containing SLS there are literally millions of possible combinations of chemicals which could result in the presence of nitrosamines. The manufacturers will tell you that the amounts are so small they do not pose a health risk, however we have to consider the cumulative effects of all the products our bodies are exposed to on a daily basis. Ultimately, if there are alternatives, why would you choose to play chemical roulette with the health of your family? I know this has been a long post and somewhat of an information overload scenario. This is a subject I am passionate about, and I tend to get a little 'preachy' when I stand on my virtual soapbox. Take some time to read, or re-read the information I hope it is a jumping off point for you to do your own research. As always the comments and my email are open for questions. I don't know if I will have a post tomorrow. I had one written but it is lost in this ancient computer of mine. I have to decorate the hall for the Digby County 4H awards dinner tomorrow. I think I also have to take Miss Avril to visit the breeding buck tomorrow and I believe it is the day to go and pick up feed. I will make every attempt to get the post out for you! Have a great day everyone!

Happy First Day of Fall! I know not everyone welcomes fall like I do; you know who you are, those of you who see fall as a harbinger of winter. Cold long Canadian winter. Now I am not a huge fan of winter. I enjoy it probably up until late January and then it starts to wear on me. Thankfully that is just  about the time the seed catalogues start to arrive; so sanity saved.

Fall, or autumn as one of my grade school teachers tried to drum into me, fall is my favourite season. It is the time when all our hard work on the homestead surrounds us, the jars of canned food and medicine, the freshly butchered chickens and pig in the freezer the root cellar brimming with squash, turnip, carrots, apples and potatoes. The weather is amazing, warm days and cool crisp evenings, the first aromas of woodsmoke in the air. Mother nature's beautiful colour display, snuggling into cozy sweaters, having time to think as the workload slows down to a mangable 70 hours a week.  Fall is time to sit back and enjoy your family friends, all your hard work and most importantly, the beauty surrounding you everywhere you turn.
















I think we should turn the first day of fall into Homesteading Day. Doesn't matter if your entire harvest is three bottles of jam in your closet! You are a homesteader at heart and you are well on your way simply because you have done something! There are many people out there who share your dream of the house / farm in the country  who haven't done much but dream: but you actually did something, You canned three bottles of jam, you took the time and money to purchase your supplies, you read up on how to make and safely can your jam, then you did it! That hot, humid Saturday while the other people took a drive in the country in their air conditioned cars dreaming about which property they will have "someday", you stayed home canning jam and becomming a homesteader.
So for you and everyone else who is living the homesteading life, Today is our Day! 
 
Join me in celebrating the first International Homesteading Day!

We will be celebrating by butchering 15 chickens, how will you celebrate?

Hey Everybody, well it has been another crazy week here at the homestead! The push is on to get everything done as we feel fall closing in. It really is a weird September, we have had frost for the past two nights now, we were lucky to escape the snowfall they had out west,  but the cold mornings are a hurry up and get it done kick in the pants; and the forecast for tomorrow is calling for close to 2 inches of rain.

 The guys have been busy getting the garden ready, they have moved close to half a ton of rock, by hand, away from the new garden. There was an old  foundation smack dab in the middle of where the garden needs to be, the pigs did  a great job of rooting up the rocks so they were close to the surface. KillWilly in particular loves tossing rocks around. The lower bed is leveled and Gary will be taking the rototiller, aka the beast, in there within a day or two to incorporate the manure from the pig yard. Then we will be planting garlic next week. We haven't received the Siberian variety I ordered from Vesseys yet, but it should be here soon and we have our own saved seed to plant. I was hoping to be able to plant a covered crop of buckwheat in the garden that we could till under come spring, but with  the cooler weather coming early I think we are going to end up just mulching heavily with old straw or hay. This is what the pasture looked like on May 20th of this year:

Then on Labour Day weekend after the pigs had been there for a few days:

Now today, the first terrace, closest to the camera, is leveled and just waiting for the manure to be worked in.

Speaking of the pigs, Patches has been bringing her latest litter out foraging
this week. They were born on the first, so she is keeping to the same schedule
she always has. They are starting to eat from the creep feeder, but had a great
time running around and pushing up dirt with their snouts! There is nothing that
is as hysterical to watch as a little piglet trying to catch a grasshopper. I
could watch them all day!

The doorframe for the new basement door arrived yesterday, so we should get that in next week. Then we can start closing up the basement at the back of the
house. That is going to make a huge difference in the amount of wood we burn
this winter, it is also going to make it easier to keep the basement at a steady
temperature for sprout production. After a year of experimenting Gari is producing well over 100 pounds of fodder a day and we want to double that for the winter! I have been busy putting together a guide to growing fodder, we are producing all this feed, winter and summer, on a set up which cost less than $150.00 to put in place. And it saves us somewhere around $300 a month in feed costs!  The animals love to get their fodder everyday.

The other preoccupation around here this week is getting ready for 4H Pro-show. This is the huge provincial show for all the top qualifiers for kids from 4H  clubs all over Nova Scotia, Reiley is showing both Ivan and Pepper next weekend. He was supposed to show both animals in conformation and showmanship but there was an overlap in the schedule so he had to choose between beef and goat for showmanship and has decided to show beef. So pepper will only be shown in conformation class. Reiley is also taking one of his wood working projects, and  will be competing in the beef and goat judging classes also. It is always a  crazy busy weekend with kids running on too much sugar and caffeine with too  little sleep, (barns open at 5:30 Saturday morning) and we wouldn't miss it for the world.

So, next week is garlic planting time, I may set up a couple of cold frames in the new garden and plant some greens just to give us a bit of an extended season. The tomatoes have all succumbed to late season blight so they
need to be hauled out and burnt, the heavy frost last night has finished most of
everything else off so a clean up in the garden is necessary. It is also time to
get the bees ready for winter. I will be opening up the hive and checking on the
amount of honey they have, insulating the unused portion of the hive and the
top. I am hoping to be able to remove those two plastic frames from the original
nuc which gave us such a headache in July. I don't anticipate harvesting any
more honey this fall. I would rather leave the honey there for winter stores
than have to start feeding them in March.  I am also going to be testing the soil in the new garden beds and  figuring out what amendments need to be done. It is easiest to do these in the fall and  I will  have a post next week about this topic.

 So the final full week of September, chores in the garden as we take most of the last of the harvest from the garden, there is still a lot of canning and preserves to put up, apples to can for applesauce and pie filling, pumpkin and some squash the rutabagas will need to be canned and I need to put up some more blueberry. On the herbal side I am drying sage, thyme and basil. I will be
potting up the cuttings I have for the herb "window" in the kitchen; rosemary,
basil and chives. The mint, lemon balm and othe tea ingredients are drying nicely. I will be attending the Christmas Craft Sale at the Digby Elementary School the last weekend in November. I will have a wide assortment of soaps and herbal products there as well as some of my silver wirework jewelry. Lots of fiddley things to get ready for a craft show.
I am also in charge of decorating the rental hall for Digby County 4H awards night on the 17th of October, (how do I get myself into these things?). I want to join the Exhibition Committee so the first meeting there is October 1st and I have just started working to try and resurrect the Digby Farmers Market for next year. On top of that Reiley needs to start schoolwork, There is painting to be done inside, the pantry and 1/2 bath to gut and build new, the regular 4h meeting schedule to start up again..... I think I need to lie down now.

I have always been uber organized, you have to be with five kids all going in different directions. This past year being here with just Gary and Reiley I have kind of let things slide, time to pull up my socks and get things running again. Honestly the busier I am, the more I can get done. Firstly I have to get the house running on it's schedule again. If you have a set schedule for your house, monthly meal plans, who cleans what and when; it frees up so much time. It was how I went back to school with four kids aged 4 - 10yrs. Not only went back to school full time, but  took a part time job as tutor and lab instructor in the nursing program, maintained a 3.95 GPA and kept the kids going to Girl Guides, gymnastics, karate, soccer and public school all while Gary was working 70+ hours a week and managed to meet the target of family meals at the table a minimum of 5 days a week. Yes I had a lot of support from Gary but the organization I had built into our routine made it possible. I have let it slide, time to get it back! Have a great day everybody! ( Remember to breathe!!)

I just posted a little op-ed piece on the facebook page:

There has been a lot of buzz the past few weeks about the rise in beef prices both on the hoof and in the grocery, I have had a couple of clients contact me to ask what we thought about putting on some calves to background. I posted this on the farming in the maritimes group but I thought it needed repeating here:

  " Jumping into the cattle market now is ill advised. Especially with the glut of pork and chicken that is about to hit...

Read More...

It occurred to me today that while I have spoken often of parts of our plan for Hand-Forged Farm I have never really laid out the entire plan for you. Today you get the full vision!

We first and foremost are a working homestead / farm. We will continue to produce fresh healthy food for ourselves and the community. The structure for the market garden is being put in place this fall, so that we will begin selling produce starting in the spring of 2015. The first greenhouse will be completed late this fall. We will be offering a limited amount of CSA memberships next year and expanding as we bring the garden to full size the following year.

The garden also serves as a valuable teaching tool for those who want to learn the skills required to produce their own food. From WOOFER,s who stay for the season, or part of the season; to workshop participants who come for a weekend to learn a specific set of skills. There a few more plans that will revolve around the garden, but those details will need to wait for now.

The barn will grow also, to start with Gary wants to run 2 sows and a boar. We are on the hunt for a Tamworth gilt, he might also consider a Duroc. The pigs will continue to feed our family and local community. We will continue to sell weaner pigs but will also be raising more of our pork for sale. Gary is finally happy with the system he has worked out for growing sprouts as fodder and is now producing well over 100 lbs a day summer and winter. The animals are all doing very well on them and we are ready to expand. Keeping more pigs will also allow more hands on experience for those who want to work with pigs.

I want to build up the goat herd to six milking does, This will provide enough milk for our family's needs and my soap making. Again, the expansion will allow for more hands on workshops and teaching opportunities.

There are no concrete plans for cattle at the moment, but I have a feeling one or more of the boys may have plans in that area. This would be at least 3 years out right now.

Herbs are also an integral part of the plans. There is going to be a large herb garden which I will use for our medicinal herbs. I plan to use our homestead as a venue for herb walks and wellness retreats and workshops. We plan to bring in other teachers and leaders to give workshops; herbal weekends are a great place to start.

A new orchard of apples, pears, peaches and cherries is going to be planted next spring. Between the garden and the orchard, we will need a few more bee hives. I am planning at least 1 workshop next year for introductory beekeeping.

We have a food forest planned for an area close to the ridge line on the property, and I am working hard to bring a permaculture design course here in late next year or early the following year. Accommodations for WOOFERs round out the plans on the drawing board for now.

Whew!  When I write it all out it sounds almost impossible; but when I look back at what we have done in the past year I know we will bring it all together. It is what we have always wanted to do. We could just build up our property and become almost self sufficient, but we have always wanted to share our knowledge as well as learn from others. For us that is the only way to really become self sufficient... by being part of a self sufficient community.

Humans were not meant to function in isolation, a strong community of people with varying skills and abilities is the basis of any healthy society. We have, for the most part, lost sight of that fact. It is our intention to work with as many like minded people as possible to change that. The oft quoted "be the change you want to see", message is alive and well here at Hand - Forged Farm, and thank you for being along for the journey.

Wow, Friday of labour day weekend already!! It has been such a busy summer here at the homestead. Our first full summer, trying to get everything done at once. So I thought this would be a perfect time for an update on the summer's main projects.

Gary's big goal for this summer was to get the first section of road  that will give us access to the back of the property. The first section being from the driveway to the pig yard. So at the end of May the area looked like this

The first week in July the pigs were working their magic

Today the 'road' looks like this.

The change is even more dramatic down by the house where the diveway is being extended to meet up with the 'road'. The changes in the landscape all around the house even suprised us when we started looking at what had been accomplished this summer. Back in May the place looked like a nuclear test area, remember how cold May was?

It is much nicer now. The goats fence has been moved back towards their shelter. The large rocks where the pigs are playing are the start of the rock we will be using to make terraces for the vegetable garden. The guys are currently rebuilding the pig yard at the top of the hill. They are getting a new yard and Patches and KW are getting new shelters. (More pics on that next week.) The pig yard has been highest priority for this weekend as patches is due to farrow a week from today. The wood stacked on the pallet is from the large branch we lost from the apple tree during Arthur. Gary has been saving to use in the smoker when we graduate Wart in a couple of weeks.

My priorities were getting the bee hive up and running, putting in medicinal more herbs and just getting the immediate space around the  house cleaned up. I have put in 2 elderberries, a witch hazel, lavender, and lots of  comfrey and calendula. The back yard has gone from this

To this...

The pit to the basement entry is only half filled in. The new door we ordered to go in the other side of the house will be here in a week or so. Once we have that in we can fill in the current door with cement block, lay the tile drain and back fill the hole. Finally the new freanch door will go in the back wall of the house. I am hoping the doors will be in by my birthday the first week of October. (hint hint)
We also managed to have one rotation of meat birds. They will be starting to graduate soon, and I have 8 laying birds growing in the chicken area. The chickens have actually ended up doing really well in their little sun-dappled area at the bend in the "road". I am thinking of just beefing up the defenses of this hut and adding a few nest boxes to keep the layers in this winter.

We have also thinned out the small coppices of trees in the back of the house, and added a swale to deal with water issues above and in front of the bee hive. We have had a couple of so-so rains and it has worked well. We shall see with the rains fall ususally delivers. Gary has the three soild sides up on his wood storage shed and he and Reiley have been working to fill it. As mentioned the new pig yard and huts should be finished tomorrow. There is still about 1/3rd of the truck full of 2X4's to get started on the new permanent  goat shed.

Moving the basement door is going to be the real game changer. Once that wall is blocked up Gary can expand the sprouts operation and we will notice a real difference in the power usage this yaer as the old door funneled cold wind directly onto the hot water tank.

There is also going to be time for one larger infrastructure project this fall. We are going to be talking workshops this weekend and I will let you know what we decide on. The infrastructure project will be directly related to which workshops we decide to have next year...so stay tuned.

It has been a busy summer, and will continue to be so until freeze up. But when winter finally hits this year we will be much more secure and settled and ready to take great leaps forward in our plan to teach others the skills we have and in doing so learn from them.

It is not always easy, but is is possible. You have the dream, start taking action that will bring the dream closer. Piece by piece it comes together, but you need to start. Small steps everyday and suddenly you are miles fromwhere you started. IT IS POSSIBLE! Start living your dream today.

I'll be back Monday, have a great weekend everyone!

The exhibition in Bear River NS, known as the Digby County Exhibition, is celebrating it's 135th incarnation this year. It is one of the last small exhibitions around. A celebration of rural living and rural skills.
There is a hotly contested quilt contest, classes for root vegetables, art work, photography, knitting, jams, pickles, cookies, cakes, bread, grain and hay. It is a reminder of a once flourishing rural culture, a true celebration of the skills and community that was once needed to survive. It does not have a midway, there is not a cheap plastic giveaway in sight, no loud music nor flashing fluorescent lights.

As I walked through the barns this week, I am reminded of the rich history of animals in the  process of settling and building our country. The original homesteaders didn't use animal power because they wanted to be environmentally conscious or because they thought it was more in line with the permaculture  systems we wish to install on our homesteads; they used them because that was all they had.







 










































In Nova Scotia much of that work was done by the humble ox. For those who don't know, an ox is usually a steer, but cows and bulls can be used, in this part of the country they are usually a cross breed involving Hereford and red or grey Durham.  Oxen of one type or another have been used as "beasts of burden" for over 6000 years, and have been helping farmers, loggers and transporters in Nova Scotia since the first team was brought here in 1610. 

While you may use one ox, they usually work in teams and their training starts very early in their lives. They must become used to the yoke that binds them together and to working with their partner. The team must be of similar size, housed together and given the same quality and quantity of feed so they  grow at the same rate. 

Usually a team is around two years of age before they can do any serious work as they must have the maturity and discipline to work together for long periods. Ox teams are not hooked to any reins or harness; instead their drover or teamster walks in front of the team  and the team follows responding to voice commands or specific motions of the whip which the drover carries.  

 For me, this is always most striking when I see the small children of the drovers casually walking around with a massive pair of mature oxen following at their heels. Animals weighing well over a ton following a fifty pound child who, when looking for someone or something, will bend over to look between the legs of their charges as it will be several years yet before they have a hope of seeing over the animals.
Yeah, try that with a team of horses!

While no one will deny the shear majesty of a gleaming team of heavy horses with polished hooves, flowing fetlocks and jingling harness; the quiet and humble  oxen with their seemingly endless patience has, over the years, won me over. Now I just need to convince Gary!
 
I hope everyone had a good week while I was tending to the 4H beasties, We had a good year and Reiley has qualified for the 4H provincial show, being held in Truro next month. We will be taking both Ivan and Pepper and the paper towel rack Reiley made for woodworking.

Pro-Show, as it is called is always an amazing experience. 4H  families from Yarmouth to Sydney descend on the host town in trucks and trailers and minivans containing everything from beautifully decorated cakes to draft horses!  Reiley has qualified to show in beef and goats both showmanship and conformation classes. He will also be competing in the judging competition for both those categories.

These projects are the culmination of years of work for most kids and I have to say these are great kids. Inside the ring competition is fierce, outside the ring you will find laughter, hugs and the loan of equipment and tools to help each other out. Competition starts early Friday afternoon and winds up Sunday afternoon. In between there are hours of styling and primping of livestock,  barns open at 5:30 am, heated tug of war rivalries, a fashion show and auctions for market lamb, turkey and steer projects. Yes, animals that the kids have spent all year, or two years in the case of market steers, raising will not make the trip home. Fortunatly Ivan will be comming home this year; next year only a large box of kleenex will make the drive home with us.

It's a crazy weekend with long days and no sleep and the kids wouldn't have it any other way!

I'll be back tomorrow with a How-To-Tuesday post, not sure what the topic will be but I'm hoping to get out of the kitchen! Have a great day everyone!

I realise this post will not apply to everyone who reads this blog. It doesn't even apply to the majority, but it will apply to some and as it is a subject I am passionate about, I felt a need to write about it. This actually started a week ago, I reached out to a mom who had posted a comment about trying to keep it all together while homesteading and homeschooling five kids. As I feel somewhat qualified to answer this question I shared with her some of the thoughts I have. This includes the things I did wrong and how I would change things if I could do it all over again.

This entire exercise has me thinking about the good the bad and the ugly of homeschooling, while it is gaining in acceptance and the doors to post secondary schooling are now wide open for homeschoolers; there are still a lot of misconceptions about what homeschooling is and more importantly what it isn't.

While I haven't been really active in larger homeschooling circles for a few years now, some of the concerns and questions I have heard are actually close to the same ones I was asking myself all those years ago when we first started our homeschooling life. So, I have put together a sort of open letter to anyone who feels they would like to homeschool, it is lessons learned from many years experience. It is mix of my proudest moments for my children and some of those times when you just wish you could have the moment over again to do right. 

The best piece of advice I ever had with regard to homeschooling was to breathe deeply and relax. As a very type A personality, this was difficult for me to learn. Over the years I have realised the more relaxed I am, the more relaxed the kids are.

When children are young, <9 years old, do not be too concerned with formal curriculum. Children are hard wired to learn, in fact the only way to keep them from learning is to lock them away. The only thing I would do is to introduce a math curriculum, I prefer Singapore math especially for the primary grades. If you are naturally inclined to math, if you see the patterns easily and know you can pass this on to your kids, then you don't even have to do that. Numbers  do not come easily to me, so I wanted to give my children a solid base in math. Essentially, this is the key to successful homeschooling, especially homeschooling younger children. Kids at this age are just so curious that they naturally turn almost everything into learning.

Know what you strengths and weaknesses are and utilize curriculum to fill in the gap.    

This stage takes a lot of time on your part,  but you can also help yourself by turning regular chores into learning time. Science behind canning, why weeds grow so quickly, filtering and vacuum pressure while cleaning the house. There are ways you can foster the learning without having the steady stream of questions 12 hours a day. If one of the kids was interested in say frog eggs they found in the pond. I would talk with them about it a little, explain what the mass was etc. If I had a book about the topic we could look at that for a few minutes or more depending on how much time I had. If they were still interested we would find age appropriate books during weekly library trip. Having these books around encouraged the kids to start reading. Magazines for kids are also great. If you speak to your librarian you may be able to get some of the back issues of the magazines as they have to cull back issues on a regular basis. Video resources are now much easier to utilize  with things like Netflix and live streaming.

Another thing we continue to do is to spread our school year over the entire year. So as the kids get older and started more formal curriculum, we just gave ourselves the entire year to finish the 'grade'. This gives you more time on a daily basis. Instead of trying to fit everything  into  several weeks you have several months.

The curriculum I chose for ages 9- 12 was usually unit study type curriculum. Roughly grades 4-7. I had a list of things they should have covered by that time, I would sit down with each child and together we would choose what they were interested in and wanted to learn about for the coming block of school time. Thankfully most unit studies offer different age ranges within the study guides.

From age 13+ we switch to more formal curriculum, science, history  etc.  By formal I mean curriculum with written reports, tests etc. But we still kept to the year long schedule.

These are things that worked for us, it is important to remember there is there is no one size fits all curriculum. Each child will learn differently. Many many children go through life with no curriculum at all. (gasp)! Fuelling their imagination, in my opinion, is key to lifelong learning. One of the most important things we can do as homeschooling parents is to foster a love of learning in our children. Learning is not something that starts and stops with a bell. If a love of learning, the tools to think critically and the skill to find and evaluate information were the only things my kids took away from their homeschooling I would be a very happy Mama indeed!

There is also no one size fits all method of homeschooling. Find what works for your family, relax and enjoy the chaos! It goes by much to fast. My 'children' are now 25, 23, 21, 20 and 13; and I honestly don't know how it went by so fast.

Homeschooling can be a remarkable way to raise your children. It is not for everyone. If you think it would work for your family, explore it. It is a huge commitment, and I don't know of any homeschooling parent who hasn't had the occasional sleepless night worrying. (Those nights become less frequent as you go along.) The rewards are amazing too, you will be mentoring your children as you go through your daily life. They will see how you conduct yourself, they will learn your values and model them. It allows your children to learn at their own pace, and in the learning style that works best for them. While it is a huge time commitment on the surface, it can actually be easier to schedule in family time and extracurricular activities. It gives you freedom to set your own schedule, and when it comes right down to it isn't that one of the reasons we all chose the homesteading lifestyle?

As always, if you have any questions the comments are open. Have a great day everyone! See you tomorrow for another How To Tuesday.

I thought it was time for a little update on this summer's projects. Remember these guys?

Well, they have grown a little...

Aren't they just too cute?  They are quite settled in on their little piece of the farm.

As I posted about 6 weeks ago, one of the major projects here this summer is building a road to allow us access to the back half of the property where our wood lot is. The guys have been hard at work moving fences and shifting things around so the pigs can start the "plowing" of the road. They finally finished and they moved the pigs onto the new road four days ago.
So back on June 24th, the area looked like this:

After four days of very happy rooting by the porcine division, our soon to be road looks like this:

Speaking of the pigs, Patches is due in less than a month, September 5th to be exact. She is in really good shape and having a grand old time rooting around in her new space...

As long as those three strands of barbed wire hold up we'll be in great shape.

The goats are also enjoying their digs this summer. Between playing on the stump and the rock and peering in to watch the chickens, days are very full indeed.

The knotweed battle has taken a decided turn in our favour. Gary has a new toy!

He has hit the big patch of knotweed a couple of times now and it seems to be working; apart from an awful smell and a patch of landscape that looks like a scene from Apocalypse Now. Anything has to be better than knotweed.

Everything else on the farm is incredibly green. Even though we thinned out a huge amount of weak, smaller trees There is still a great amount of shade cover and as predicted the undergrowth has grown up with the increase in sun.

The blue is the roof of the chicken hut, it is approximately 100 feet from the back of the house. The new road runs up just to the left of the hut.
We are about half way through the working season, aka summer. We are slightly behind where we thought we would be at this point, but all in all we are happy with how things are progressing. This comming week will be all hands to the wheel as Reiley and I will be away from the farm all the following week, August19th through the 23rd for the Digby County Exhibition.

Reiley is showing Ivan and Pepper on Tuesday afternoon / evening. Also, hopefully, on Wednesday for the championship classes. I will be judging the crafts and sewing categories for 4H on Wednesday, and Digby county 4H has hired me to be the barn manager for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. So if you are in the area please come down to the exhibition and see us and everything else. It is the 135th anniversary of this exhibition and we are looking forward to showing there. 

Have a great day everyone! Enjoy the super moon tonight, hopefully cloud won't hide it from us.