I’ve moved to a new blog!

Please visit my new blog for the new year.  Our family focus has changed and I thought it appropriate to create a new blog to reflect those changes.

http://anthfam.wordpress.com/

Summer Changes

We’ve had some big adjustments around here this summer.  I started working a part time job for the first time in 5 years!  The boys have been spending a lot of time with Papa and Henry especially has had some trouble getting used to my being gone when he wakes up most mornings.  So we’ve had a lot of extra cuddle time when I’m home and consequently the garden has been largely neglected.  Tomatoes, cucumbers, and sweet potatoes are still growing but that’s about it for now.  I need to process a bunch of tomatoes today and check our grapes for ripeness so they can be turned into jam.  The chickens are producing eggs, more than we can eat!  We’ve been giving them away as fast as we can and still have 4 dozen or so in the fridge.  Local peeps, let me know if you want some

We’ve been enjoying the time we do spend together visiting the state fair, our zoo, and local parks.  Here are some pictures of the boys from our recent adventures (they’re getting so big!)

As for the job I started, It’s actually super fun!  I’m now a breastfeeding peer counselor for our local WIC offices.  I teach prenatal breastfeeding classes twice a week, visit new mamas in the hospital once a week, and see breastfeeding mamas by appointment when they need help or a pump (which we give & loan out   The experience I gain from this job will make me eligible to sit for the IBCLC exam next summer!  I’m still taking a couple of classes each semester toward my Anthropology degree too, so it should be interesting around here when school starts in a couple of weeks!

Henry Turns One!

My sweet baby boy celebrated his first birthday last week.  I still cannot believe how fast this past year has went.  He is getting to be such a little boy!  His favorite things are putting things in containers, playing in water, and following his brother everywhere.

My grandmother has always said that it is bad luck to cut a baby’s hair  before their first birthday so even though Henry’s hair was getting in his eyes I held off until the day after he turned one   I accomplished this feat by sitting him in his high chair with cheese and m&ms on his tray and Spongebob on the TV, lol!  Viktor didn’t get his first hair cut until he was over two but his hair didn’t constantly fall in his face either!

Before                                                           After

Last saturday we held a party for our friends and family to celebrate Henry’s first year.  We had cupcakes, a pinata and lots of playing in the backyard.  Henry wore himself out trying to keep up with his cousins and slept very well that night

Rainbow Fishy Cupcakes

Pinata that Viktor and I made

They end of Henry’s Happy Birthday Sign

and lot of help opening presents from his brother and cousins!

 

 

Patterns and Instructions!

After three years I have finally figures out how to post documents to this blog!  I have posted some patterns on the right menu and will be adding more soon.  I have decided to make a bunch of tutorials and videos that will be posted here or linked to my youtube account.  The patterns that are on the side bar right now are sewing patterns for diapers and baby clothes along with knitting patterns for soakers, longies, and socks.  I have plans for videos covering the basics of knitting, sewing, and spinning for beginners and then will add in videos for specific projects later.  If there is something you are interested in learning from me let me know and I’ll work on a video or tutorial for it!

Also I’ve decided to actually name our little homestead!  We will call it the Descending Roots Homestead.  This name comes from our recognition of our Indiana farmer ancestry, the roots we are putting down through our own family and farming, as well as the endangered livestock descendants that we are working to breed here on our homestead.  So, don’t be too confused when you see this label used for this blog rather than just Autumn Adventures

Today We . . .

Harvested lavender

and hung it to dry

We baked muffins

and harvested greens to cook with some local ham for dinner

In between we swept, washed laundry, sword fought, played super heroes, carded some wool, fed and watered all of the animals, and nursed my swollen foot from the bee sting I got two days ago

Oh how I love these days with my boys and I hope that I (or they) don’t forget them.  What did you do today?

Backyard Foraging

This could also be called “the edible weeds that attempt to take over my garden”   These are plants that grow wild just about anywhere in Indiana.  I thought I would share information about them so that you all can find them in your yard and take advantage of your good luck!

This first one is the very first edible plant I could identify.  My dad showed it to me when I was very little and thought it was super fun to watch me pick it out of the yard while my mother screamed in horror that I was eating something out of the lawn, lol.  This is commonly known as sour clover or wood sorrel and has a sour almost lemon flavor that is great on salads!

Oxalis stricta

This is my second favorite from my childhood and I could never understand how it could be thought a weed until I moved to my current house where it grows in my fence line year after year.  It is commonly known as a mulberry bush although it is more of a tree.  The berries are delicious and were always my favorite snack to find while on fishing trips with my dad.

Morus rubra

This next plant is the one I use the most from my yard.  I use it for any skin irritation from my allergic reaction to my evergreen bushes to bee stings to poison ivy.  I usually just tear it up to get the juices moving and then rub it on my skin but I have also dried it and infuse oil with it for ointments or to use in soap making.  It is called plantain and has no relation to the fruit

Plantago major

I have to admit that I have never eaten this next plant because it scares me but a lot of people eat it and love it!  It is poke and many people eat it as poke sallet.  It scares me because if you do not cook it well enough or if you harvest it when it is too mature it is poisonous (but I have to admit that I don’t grow rhubarb for the same reason, lol.)

Phytolacca americana

This one grows all through my garden walkways and I let it because it looks nice and keeps the yuckier weeds at bay.  When steeped as a tea it has anti-inflammatory properties which combat colds, congestion, and coughs.  Some people eat it in salads as well. It is commonly known as creeping charlie.

Glechoma hederacea

Alright last, but not least is a plat that drove me completely crazy until tonight when I looked up possible positives to having it.  It started taking over my garden last year and really sucks to pull up because it has wicked prickles all over it.  It is know as prickly sow thistle and apparently it is delicious in salads and bunnies love it, so I’m going to try some tomorrow and feed some to the bunnies too!  I also read that it can be used in cheese making as a substitution for animal rennet which is an exciting prospect for me!

Sonchus asper

Now go find some free yummy greens in your backyard or local park and look at your weeds in a new way!

We’re Back

We were out of town all last week and are so glad to be home.  Aaron was doing some field work down at Angel Mounds in Evansville and we had planned to stay home without him all week but a couple of days before he left my mother-in-law offered to get us all a hotel for the week as a graduation gift to Aaron.  It was nice to not have to worry about running the house for a week but by Thursday when Aaron found out he was done early we excitedly checked out early and came home.  There was a lot of swimming, cartoon watching, and hotel food along with a trip to the local laundry mat to wash diapers when we discovered the hotel’s machine wasn’t working.  My mother-in-law even watched the boys one night so that Aaron and I could have a date night (which consisted of dinner at B-dubs, a couple of adult drinks, a leisurely stroll around Target and the purchase of books and crafts to keep the boys and I busy the rest of the week:)

My parents managed the animals here at our little urban farm and seemed to have enjoyed it, even with a chicken stampede the first night.  Yesterday was our first day home and we spent it relaxing with our animals and weeding the garden.  Everything in the garden is doing so well this wet, wet spring!  During our week away I spent some time planning a garden expansion, but I’ll save those details for a future post   When we went out to the garden I spotted were these first perfect, red strawberries that Viktor has been anxiously awaiting. He was so excited when I came in with them and quickly ate them all up. I think I need to plant more strawberries!

Bottling Wine

I finally bottled the wine and mead that I made last fall. They still need to age about six months but should be perfect for Christmas!  This was the first time I’ve made wine or mead and I’m pretty excited that it worked.  Since this was my first time I just made small batches and fermented them in one gallon glass carboys.  I got four bottles of red and three of the mead when we bottled.  We don’t drink much, just a half glass every month or so, but it’s cool to make and should make good gifts.  I’ll definitely be making more this fall from other fruits!

Spiced Honey Mead and Simple Red from Concord Grapes

Planning

I found a great *free* resource online that walks you through creating a business plan.  It was so satisfying to get through all of the sections a hit the “generate business plan” button and have a tidy little pdf file pop up with a table of contents and everything!  You see I am working toward our goal of moving our little farm to a larger chunk of land and starting some new programs.  Here is the link if you are interested in creating your own business plan!

Happy weekend!

Summer is Approaching!

There is still a lot of spring rain but the days are averaging warmer temperatures and I’m starting to see signs of the coming summer everywhere!  There are baby plums on the tree, veggies growing in the garden,strawberry blossoms abounding, and chickens growing up.  Soon we’ll taste those first bites of summer.  I can’t wait to bite into a juicy tomato right off the vine or find that first perfect egg nestled in the hay.

Baby Plums

Greens and Peas

Potatoes

Strawberries

Henry decided he liked the chickens