Homesteading Goals for 2011

Written by Christie Petersen

As I was praying about what the Lord would like to see in my life here on our homestead, it became clear and ever so sweet to hear His voice speak to me.  First I seemed to hear Him say, ” Take more time to sit in that swing I gave you and enjoy watching Me work.”
I took a deep breath at this point and said, “Okay, Lord I will try.”  Then as I listened on, thinking of all the ground that needed improved on, seeds that needed to be gone through, and the planning nessessary I again heard Him speak, “Are we talking about the garden or your life in Me?”  How exciting it was again to Hear Him speak so plainly.  But I thought to myself, “How silly! Surely He knows I am talking about the gardens.” Then it dawned on me like light on glass of course He knows what I am talking about. Non-the-less He wants me to know what He is all about.

You see I am not taking any of this to heaven.  All the work that needs to be done here that is everlasting and will amount to anything good will be done by Him in my heart.  He took me to several Scriptures where He lead me in His Truth about making plans.
1Chorinthians 28:19  “All this,” said David, “the LORD made me understand in writing, by His hand upon me, all the works of these plans.”

After reading this verse I wanted so much to know His plan for my life in all that I do.  Like David by His own hand the plan given to me.
Proverbs 19:21   “There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the LORD’s counsel—that will stand.”

His Counsel all wise and wonderful that is what will make a diference in my Life!  I will be able to see the results of His counsel as it will preserve under all trials no matter what the weather.

Isaiah 30:1  “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the LORD, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, That they may add sin to sin.”

This was very sobering as I feel that for many years I have done this on many occasions. Forgetting Who made me, He Who has a wonderful plan for me,  Who knows every hair on my head and every word before I speak it.  Who am I to think that I cannot trust Him for each day with out all the toiling of worry disguised in time spent needlessly in my own planning.  Thinking somehow that what I am doing is what makes it all happen.  I want to be ready, don’t get me wrong here, I just want to be ready in Him.  Trusting Him for all that I am and all that I will be this year.  Whether it be in family, schooling, at our fellowship, on the farm, in the butchershop or even here on A Virtuous Woman.  The world has its way of pulling us along making those things that are really a hindrance to our faith look so appealing.  I want to get rid of these traditions of man and cling to my Father.  I want to learn what it looks like to depend on Him for each and every need I have.
Psalm 33:11 “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations.”

Strawberry Jam

Photo Credit: Jesse K.

We recently went to a local “pick your own” strawberry farm and had the most wonderful time!  But, the real work began when we got home.  Three baskets of strawberries doesn’t seem like a lot – until you’re washing, trimming and canning them.  With the help of my wonderful family, we were able to can three batches within a few hours.

I first started canning in 2007.  I have the mentality of “I can make that!” when I see something in the store.  So, I made a mental determination that I would conquer my fear of canning and learn how.  It’s really not as hard as it seems and my fears (although real) were unnecessary and a hindrance.  I figured if my grandma could do it, so could I.

I borrowed my mother-in-law’s mega water bath canner (just a big ol’ pot with an inner rack for lifting the jars up and down), read a lot of websites on how to can and just went at it.  The first thing I tried was strawberry jam.

I use the recipe in the pectin box (Sur-Jell) and it turns out good every time.  Other than the strawberries, there are a few other ingredients that are in jam, including sugar, pectin and sometimes lemon juice.  Pectin can come as either “no sugar added” or the regular pectin.  If you use the “no sugar added” recipe, this would probably be good for diabetics.

Here’s the recipe for the plain ol’ strawberry jam:

• 5 cups crushed strawberries
• 1 package of pectin
• ½ tsp. butter (helps to reduce the foaming)
• 7 cups of sugar

Materials needed:

• Waterbath canner (or a tall stock pot)
• large-mouth funnel
• canning tongs (for adding & removing the jars from the boiling water)
• regular tongs (for removing the lids & rings from the hot water)
• Glass measuring cup
• Ball, Kerr or Mason jars (4 oz. jars, ½ pints or pints)
• Lids, rings

Here are the steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (to keep your jars warm).
2. Fill the canner with water (so that it’ll cover the jars by one inch) & turn it on high so that it can start heating to boiling. (This takes awhile).
3. Fill a large pot with water (for the lids and rings)
4. Wash the jars, lids and rings in hot soapy water and rinse.  Add the rings & lids to the pot of water (in #3) and bring to a simmer, turn the heat down but keep them hot.
5. Put your clean jars into the pre-heated oven so that they stay clean and hot (they will also sterilize at that temperature).
6. Prepare your strawberries, crushing one cup at a time using a potato masher for best results.  Or, you may use a food processor, pulse to chop.
7. Measure the exact amount of fruit into the dutch oven.
8. Measure the exact amount of sugar into a separate bowl.
9. Stir the box of pectin into the crushed fruit.   Add ½ teaspoon butter to reduce foaming, if desired.
10. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly.
11. Stir in sugar quickly.  Return to a full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Skim off any foam.
12. Remove your jars from the oven (preferably with tongs so you don’t burn yourself) and place them on a towel on your counter.  Quickly (and safely)  ladle the hot jam into the prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch from the top.  Wipe jar rims and threads with a clean, warm, wet cloth.  Cover with two-piece lids.  Screw bands tightly.
13. Place jars in the boiling/simmering water bath (use the canning tongs and be very careful).  Water must cover jars by 1-2 inches; add boiling water if needed.  Cover.
14. Process jams for 10 minutes; jelly 5 minutes.  If you live at a higher altitude, you’ll need to adjust the processing time.
15. Remove the jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely.  After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger.  The lid should not spring back.  If it does, then refrigerate the jam and use it first.

TIP: To prevent hard water deposits on your jars, add a splash of vinegar to the canning water and your jars will come out crystal clean.

Fungus Fighter

Molasses is great for fighting fungus and disease in your garden. At the first sign of trouble, mix up this recipe:

Fungus Fighter

1/2 cup of molasses

1/2 cup of powdered milk

1 tsp. baking soda

1 gallon warm water

Mix the molasses, powdered milk, and baking soda into a paste. Place the mixture into the toe of an old nylon stocking, and let it steep in a gallon of water for several hours. Then strain, and use the liquid as a spray for your garden every two weeks throughout the growing season.

Source: Great Green Book of Garden Secrets by Jerry Baker

Gangly Seedlings

If the annual seedlings you started indoors begin to look weak and gangly before it is time to set them out, try making a cold frame or window greenhouse to give them sunshine and fresh air.

Source: Great Green Book of Garden Secrets by Jerry Baker

Mulching Peas

When you mow your lawn, save the grass clippings and use them to mulch around your sweet peas. Doing so will keep the roots moist and prevent mildew from occurring.

Source: Great Green Book of Garden Secrets by Jerry Baker

5 Fun and Easy Recipes for You and Your Preschooler

Cooking with your preschooler is a wonderful way to teach measuring, counting, shapes and following directions. Here are 5 easy to make and healthy goodies for you and your little one to make together.

Cinnamon Shapes

All you need for this recipe is slices of bread, butter or margarine, ground cinnamon, granulated sugar and cookie cutters in different shapes. Some good shape choices are star, circle, diamond, heart, oval, and triangle. Toast the bread. While the bread is cooking, combine the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Butter the toast and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Then use the cookie cutters to cut the slices of toast into shapes. Discuss the different shapes with your child and ask them to choose the shapes to cut.

Banana And Berries Sweet Shake

For this sweet and nutritious treat, you will need 1 medium ripe banana, 1 cup frozen berries (strawberries and blueberries are good choices), 1 cup milk, 1 cup vanilla yogurt and 1 tablespoon honey. Note: Do not give honey to children under one-year-old. Have your preschooler peel the banana and put it in a bowl. The child should then mash the banana. Pour the yogurt, fruit, milk and honey into a blender and add the mashed banana. Blend until smooth and creamy. Enjoy!

Ants on a Log

This was one of my children’s favorite recipes when they were little. All you need is a bunch of celery, a jar of peanut butter and a small bowl of raisins. Using a spoon, scoop the peanut butter into the celery stalks. Then place the raisins in a row on top of the peanut butter. These will be the only ants you will not mind your children eating.

Mini-Pizzas

These tiny pizzas made with English muffins are the perfect size for preschool appetites. You will need sliced English muffins, pasta sauce, shredded cheese and healthy toppings such as green pepper, mushrooms, black olives and sliced tomatoes. Let your child spread the sauce evenly on the English muffin halves. Then add the toppings before sprinkling the cheese on top. Bake the mini-pizzas on a baking sheet for 8 minutes at 400 degrees F. Now have a pizza party.

Trails Away Mix

Many young children do not like store bought trail mix because it has unfamiliar fruits and nuts. Now you any your child can make your own trail mix filled with familiar favorites. Help your child measure 1/4 cup unsalted peanuts, 1/3 cup mini pretzels, 1/4 cup raisins, 1/4 cup chocolate chips and 1/3 cup cheerios or granola. Pour every ingredient into a large bowl so the preschooler can stir with a mixing spoon. Both of your can spoon the mix into small plastic bags or bowls for a quick snack anytime, anyplace. Happy Trails Away!

Jennifer Carpenter is a work at home mother of three, two teens and a preschooler. She is a writer and Internet marketer who is currently working towards financial freedom through working online. Read more about her incredible journey at http://www.livingmybigdream.com.

P31 Sister’s Weekly Update – April 2, 2010

Homesteading … Made Simple

Photo by: Jason M

We first started feeling the notion to homestead in 2006.  Up until that time, we were living life largely – always eating out, buying pre-packaged foods, not caring about what we ate (as in where it came from or how it was processed), being wasteful with money and relying on others for our needs.

But, we started to feel this stirring within us that there had to be a better way.  It was around this time that my hubby’s grandmother, Ma-Ma, passed away.  In helping clean her home, we found a stockpile and treasure-trove of old Countryside magazines.  Reading those magazines was like stepping back in time to a simpler way of life – growing your own vegetables, raising your own meat, cutting back on needless items, learning to re-use items or re-purpose them.  It was an eye-opener for us and we embraced it wholeheartedly.  It felt like a calling from God to change our lifestyle.

Granted, it’s taken us 4 years to get where we are and we still have a long way to go.  But, we started small.  For example, we started our first official garden (and it did so well that we’re still eating the pickles I made in 2007).  I learned how to can and preserve our garden crops.  I made my first batch of strawberry and peach jams.  We scavenged wild mustang grapes & made jelly, grape juice and wine.  We started processing our own deer meat (when we had always had it processed for us), making wonderful sausages, venison tips, backstrap, etc.  We knew where the meat was coming from and how it was processed.  We paid more attention to where our money was going and got on the Dave Ramsey plan.  In other words, we took control of what we were doing and started doing things for ourselves.

Yes, it takes a lot of work and dedication but the reward is delightful.  We got rid of the satellite service and spent more time outside.  Our children help pull weeds, plow the dirt, dig up rocks, plant the seeds, water the garden and harvest the bounty when it’s ready.  They get their hands dirty, fill their minds with God’s  beauty and learn how to do for themselves.  They have learned to say prayers over the garden – praying for a bountiful crop.

Even if you live in an apartment downtown, there are still things you can do to homestead:

• Try container gardening on your patio or balcony
• Learn to cut your husband’s & children’s hair (that was a real experience in our home!)
• Try canning pickles or jams/jellies (these are the easiest and you don’t need a pressure canner)
• Buy local if you can’t have your own garden & support your local economy
• Re-use items around your home (like turn old shirts into rags)
• Try www.freecycle.com in your local area (you can post things you want to give away and ask for things that you need – all for free!)
• Bake and cook from scratch
• Avoid pre-packaged items
• Search the internet for “how to” recipes on basic pantry staples (i.e. how to make ketchup, spice blends, cream of “whatever” soups, granola, etc.) – helps keep your grocery bill low
• Make your own laundry soap (great recipes can be found online)

These are just some basic ways to start gaining your independence from the grocery store, pre-packaged foods and creating your own self-sufficient lifestyle.  As the saying goes, every journey begins with a single step.

Overcoming Weary Mommy Syndrome

For many years I have struggled under my own expectations, or a list of what I “thought” I was to do to flourish as a wife, mother and homemaker in a way that would bring glory to God. This list of expectations included lots of ideals that on the outside seemed good, but had slowly become a heavy yoke for me as I tried to carry it.

This list includes being a perfectly submissive wife who loves and  honors her husband, have loving and obedient children,  keep a spotless home that is clutter free and well decorated, home schooling my children with the best curriculum, finding the best deals on our family needs, baking my own bread, juicing my own juice, feeding my family the most healthful foods, growing my own garden, canning my own food and the list goes on and on. While none of these are “bad” in and of themselves, the expectation of myself that I can do all these things and do them consistently and perfectly was causing me to feel weary and overwhelmed. I have never lived up to the expectation I had of myself of a perfect wife, mother, homemaker and woman of God. Rather, I often felt loaded down and was tired, stressed, discontent, and unpleasant. In fact, I was more often accomplishing the opposite of what I felt was noble and good, and reaping a harvest that was not fruitful for myself, my family, or those around me.

Many times I would start my day out asking the Lord to equip me and show me how to do it all. Many times I thought He didn’t hear me, because I would go through my days with my goals and to do list and I would end it with much of it being left unchecked.  I was tired of being tired, and began to really cry out to God for help. It was during this time that He began to speak to my heart and reveal such wonderful and freeing truths to me.

Taking Every Thought Captive

The first area that God brought to my heart was that I was not taking every thought captive to Him; rather I was impulsively going about things that I thought were honorable. These good things were slowly crowding out and taking over the best things. The good things were causing me to try reach for a standard and create a lifestyle that I thought was noble, virtuous and holy. Notice the “I” in these statements!  I was trying to do the things that I thought were good and forgetting to ask Him what He wanted me to be and do.

Many of these things that I thought of to do stemmed from comparing my life with others. This is such an easy trap to fall into.  We see Sally grinding her own grain and baking her own bread, and we feel we don’t measure up unless we do it too. We see Jane decorating her home beautifully, and we look around at our home and see all the things we want to change. We then begin to create a standard based on others lives instead of God’s will for us. We then add these things to our list and begin to carry a much larger load then God intended. By taking our thoughts captive, we will bring all things before him and seek His guidance in our lives. Jesus did nothing apart from His Father, and we should learn from that example. He cares about all things, big and small!  It is great to be inspired and motivated by others, but to feel condemned and inferior is a trick of the enemy used to tear us down and defeat us. I continue to struggle in this area, but have tried to make a more concerted effort to simply say “Lord, this is what I want to do. Would you have me do this?”  Then I must make the effort to be still and not do anything until I hear from Him. That is the hardest part sometimes!

Seeking His Kingdom First

When Jesus tells to seek first His kingdom, He is warning us not to place value on things to the extent that we seek those things first and not Him, or that we concern ourselves so much with the basics that we overlook the important. I learned that I was often running ahead of the Lord, starting where He meant for me to end. I was placing value on things that He would take care of once I put my priorities in order. Instead of patiently seeking Him and waiting for Him to add where He saw fit, I began laboring and building a kingdom on my own. By seeking first His kingdom and focusing on the things that He guides me to do, it will create an overflow in my life that will result in achieving many of the honorable and noble things I was striving for. By stopping and asking “Will this matter in eternity?” I have been able to gain so much perspective in my life on what I should do instead of what I could do.

Truly Seeking His Glory

This is a difficult one! As much as my mouth would say I was seeking His glory, He showed me that I was doing many things for my own glory. I would say it was for Him, but if I was to be truthful with myself, much of my expectations were in pleasing others and gaining their approval instead of God’s. This was quite humbling to me. Why did I want a spotless and well decorated home? Why did I want obedient and loving children? Was it really for God’s glory? When I took a long hard look at my list of expectations, I had to admit that most of them were for myself and not for Him. I have since learned to allow God to search my heart daily: Is this for me, or for Him? When I get off track in an area, I can quickly repent and ask Him to create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.

Simple, But Powerful

These things may sound rather simple, but for me they have been powerful truths. If I am living my day going about my own duties, concerned with list of things to accomplish, and seeking my own glory,  I will eventually have a load that I cannot carry. I try to stop and ask myself “Am I building a life based on what I think I should be doing, or am I truly living a life that He has called me to live?  Is the list I have assigned myself one that will bring glory to me or to Him? If you are burdened, weary or frustrated it may be that you are walking in your own strength and leaving God out of your best laid plans.

As I have journeyed through these truths, I am amazed at how free and content I feel. I am now purposing each day to take my thoughts captive to Him, seek first His kingdom, walking in His strength and not my own, and seeking the things that will truly give Him the glory He deserves. I pray that I build a life and home upon Him and not on my own meager efforts. My hearts desire is that I become so in tune to His calling on my life that I can be all He has called me to be. I know that as I walk out these things He will equip me each and everyday with meaningful, kingdom minded tasks that ultimately bring Him the glory He deserves. That is a to do list I am more than happy to complete!

Finding the Perfect Curriculum…

Even though our current school year is in full swing, I’m already planning ahead for next fall:  curriculums, schedules, planners, start date, etc.  I’ve also noticed the array of catalogs that are piling up in our mailbox each week from many different homeschool vendors.  I LOVE browsing through the catalogs, seeking out that “perfect” curriculum.  But you know what?  I haven’t found the “perfect” curriculum and I probably never will.  And that’s okay.  Our family is unique and not every curriculum is going to work with how my children learn (or how I teach).

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the six years we’ve been homeschooling it’s that we’re not a static family.  We are constantly changing and growing and adapting.  Our interests change, our horizons broaden and we adapt to new circumstances, situations and learning ideas.  What worked for us this year may not work for us next year and what we used last year may be something we want to try again in two years when my children are older.  And, what works for my family may not work for yours.  And that’s okay, too.  The beautiful thing about homeschooling is the fluidness of it – like changing curriculums mid-year if the children are so frustrated that their eyes pop out of their heads at the mere mention of the subject.

So, as your family considers curriculums and schedules for next fall take it all in stride.  Throw stress out the window and kick its partner, worry, to the curb.  No matter what curriculum you choose or what schedule you plan, place it all in God’s hands.  As the superintendent of our school (my hubby is the principal), God is in control.  When we honor God in our school and place Him above all else, the rest just falls into place.

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