"Get Home" Bags

    Hello again! Well, as the title implies, I just fixed up my parents some "Get Home" bags. What are these, you ask? Well, it's actually a pretty simple concept. "Get Home" bags are simply bags filled with supplies to get someone home from their workplace (or anywhere any distance away from their home) in case of an emergency, particularly one in which people could not safely use their vehicles or needed to get away from cities and into the woods (riots, namely). I packed away enough food for 2-3 days for my mother, but it could really last longer if she rationed it. My dad, who sometimes drives pretty far away for his job, has enough for 3-4 days, or more if he rations. I packed my mom a tool (one of those plier/pocket knife hybrids) and a pair of scissors, while my dad got a pocket knife. They both got a light blanket, which will be upgraded when winter rolls around. I tried to balance their kits based on how self-reliant they could be in the woods (Dad wins that one), how far they had to go, and how dangerous their area might be (Mom works in Memphis...yikes). I still need to add several things - like water, first aid kits, and compasses - but overall I think the "Get Home" bags could indeed get them home in case of an emergency or natural disaster. I didn't make myself one, because I travel much less and don't usually go very far when I do. That being said, though, my purse is kind of it's own kit, minus the food. ;) Now, my parents think I go overboard with "this prep stuff," and they're probably right...but...I would rather be safe than sorry. I still have a long way to go in my prepping, but at least I've made a bit of progress. One never knows what will happen, after all. 

    I live too near people to sleep easy in the case of a disaster. Don't get me wrong, I like people and I don't mind having a neighbor or two. I would just rather be somewhere where my nearest neighbors were a mile or so away, or at least somewhere that I really knew my neighbors. That is not the case here. Now, if you think about, what is one of the greatest dangers when a disaster occurs? People, particularly in cities and crowds. People panic, and that sometimes causes them to act violently towards others. They don't have preparations for emergencies, they've lost loved ones, and they may not even know what's going on; I can't really blame them for panicking (of course, there is no excuse for violence or riots, but they happen). I can only imagine how bad the riots in and near Memphis would be if there any kind of natural or unnatural disaster occurred and caused power outages or massive damage. I probably don't even need to mention the added strain of the current economic situation. 

    Riots occur for various reasons, but they can cause so much damage so quickly. Also, as people found out after Katrina, when hundreds of people are hungry and even the stores don't have enough food set back for an emergency, things can get ugly and stores can be emptied. It is in times like those when your personal safety and your access to the things you need just to survive become very threatened, very quickly. I don't want to be caught with my pants down, so to speak. I want to be ready, whether the situation be a black out, a flood (which my area did recently suffer from - thank goodness I like on a hill! But oh, those poor people who lost everything!), an ice storm/blizzard, a tornado, an earthquake, or something man made; I want to be able to protect and have supplies for my family, my friends if they could get here, and my animals. 

    In any case, here are some links you might want to peruse -

Katrina Food Riots

Post-Katrina Looting

New York City Blackout of 1977

Emergency Essentials

Survival Forum at Homesteading Today

Be Prepared

P.S. My blackberry and blueberry jams are now available! 12oz jars are $4.00. There is plenty of peach still available, but blackberry is already running low. The jam is going like hotcakes, so be sure to place your orders now. =)

Be safe, everyone!

-Rach in Wonderland

Fresh Jam!

    Today I made some super-delicious Peach Jam from fresh peaches that I bought from a local farm at our farmer's market. Have I ever mentioned that I love farmer's markets? I certainly do. 
    Well, as I said, these peaches made some wonderful jam. It's not only tasty, it's pretty as well. It also made a lot more than I was expecting. I was hoping to have a little bit of surplus to sell, but I turned out having two dozen half-pint jars (four batches)! I even had to go to the store to pick up more pectin; I wasn't prepared for more than two batches. I'm certainly not complaining, though. Jam making is one of my favorite kitchen activities. I love the process, I love the end result, and I even love the "Pop! Pop! Pop!" of lids sealing. Not to mention the fact that nothing in this world tastes better than warm jam fresh out of the pot! Mmm. Plus, now I'll have enough jam to last well until the next peach season. Well, that is if I don't sell all of it. Don't get me wrong, I'll sell any to anyone who wants it until I'm fresh out, but I don't have a developed "client base" of sorts yet, so I don't expect it all to sell. 
    Well, enough yammering. I managed to get a half-decent picture from my cell phone, so I can share it with you. If any of you are interested in this jam, it's $3.00 a jar. I am, as always, open to bartering. If you don't live within pleasant driving distance, I would be happy to find out shipping costs for you. 
    Oh, and before I forget! I'm making blackberry and blueberry jams tomorrow! I'm not sure how much I will get, but I should have some excess available. The berries are coming from mine and my grandmother's bushes. I should also have fig preserves in just a little while, from my grandmother's trees. Well, enough of trying to be a salesman. Here is the picture! 

Doesn't that look good?

-Rach in Wonderland

   

Corn Sweet Corn

    Yesterday (Friday), I spent the day with my grandmother, aka Mamoo, and helped her put up her sweet corn in the freezer. My little "baby" cousins (who are actually my cousin's children, but who knows what that technically makes them to me) Kaylee and Lexi were there, also. I learned a couple of things - 1) Four year olds don't understand words like slack, basically, and cooperate. 2) Worms really, really love sweet corn. I wish I had my camera already, because I would have loved a picture of those gooey, creepy little crawlers. Blech. There was one in probably 99% of the cobs (of which there were about 100). There were big worms, little worms, and in between worms...and they all damaged the tips of the corn. Still, despite the worms, I enjoyed spending time with my grandmother and putting away the corn. It's fun work, to me, and I like helping my grandmother. It did have me wondering, though, how "city folk" spend time with their grandparents. Do they just hang out? Do they eat? Do they cook? Do they sew? Do they paint and make things? Do they have small gardens in their tiny backyards? It just makes me wonder. My fondest memories of my grandmothers almost always involve us doing something, like sewing, crocheting, gardening, cooking, painting, or putting away food from their gardens. My grandmothers are the ones who taught me to do some of my favorite things. Mamoo taught me more about outdoor farming, and Granny taught me more about domestic and creative things, including putting away fruits and vegetables (both of them garden) and making soap. I was blessed to have the grandmothers I have. 

    Anywho, I thought I would walk you guys through the process of putting up sweet corn, in case you're interested in it but don't know how.

    Step 1: Pick the corn, obviously. =) You can tell it's ready when the silk coming out of the top is brown.

    Step 2: Shuck the corn. This part is where you may encounter worms. You've got to get all of the husks and the silks (those annoying stringy thing within the husk that people often compare children's hair to) off of the cobs. A vegetable brush is great for ridding the ears of silk.This is also the time for worm removal; yuck, I know. Save the husks for your compost pile!

    Step 3: Wash the corn, and remove damaged parts. You will likely find ears that have been damaged by worms. Cut off all of the yucky, damaged part (usually the tip, but sometimes the worms go in the side. If they have gone in the side and damaged too much, just discard the ear). Be sure that the corn is nice and clean. Now is also a great time to remove any resilient silks.

    Step 4: Alright, it's time to cook your corn! Put the ears into boiling water (don't overfill your pot - you will most likely have to cook several batches) and allow them to boil for 7-10 minutes, depending on the size of the ears. Remove the corn from the water, and spray the ears with cold water in your sink to cool them off until you can handle them without burning yourself.

    Step 5: Okay, this step is optional. If you want corn off the cob, you can now slice the kernels off. If you want corn on the cob, leave them as they are. If you want to cream your corn, which is what we did, then you will need one of these. Of course, it doesn't have to be stainless steel - we used a wooden one (picture below). These instruments are really neat. You just rub the corn down the tool, which should be over a bowl, and it cuts the kernels off and creams them. Just rub every side of the cob, and then - if you want - use a butter knife to scrape a bit more milk out of the corn. Be careful not to cream or cut your fingers or hands! 

    Step 6: Once you've got all of the cobs creamed (or prepared in whatever way you chose), it's time to put the corn away. We put our into zip lock freezer bags, but any kind of freezer container with a good seal will work. Be sure to label it with the date included, and to press out as much air as possible. The less air inside the bags, the longer the corn will last and resist freezer burn. Stick the corn in the freezer, and voila! You've saved your sweet corn to be enjoyed in whatever season you want. 

    (Of course, you could also can your corn, but that would be a much more time consuming and detailed process.) 

Mmm..delicious! 

-Rach in Wonderland

Introducing Lakota and Other News

    Hello there! I have a bit of exciting news to share with you all today! Wonderland has a new edition; an adorable Great Pyrenees puppy named Lakota. Lakota is eight weeks old and looks like a giant marshmallow, but he'll grow up to be a big guardian for my goats. He is currently undergoing training from Mellow, which - considering his age - mostly involves watching her while she does her job and getting used to everything here. He came from a farm that raises Boer goats (which are huge compared to my miniatures), so he is already used to having caprine companions. I'm definitely excited to have him here, because I know he will grow up to be a great guardian for my bucks. He settled in very quickly, and I have faith in his instincts and his mentor (Mellow). Speaking of his mentor, Mellow accepted him right away. I wasn't very worried about that, though. Mellow is extremely smart, so she was able to understand that Lakota belonged inside the fence. I have no doubts that had he been an invader, he would not have been welcomed so kindly. Luckily for all involved, Great Pyrs like Mellow are very intelligent, and she knew that I approved of him and that he wasn't a threat to "her" goats. Thank goodness for the guardian breeds! Goodness knows I would lose a lot of sleep if I didn't have Mellow. I bet I'll sleep like a baby when Lakota is old enough to move into the buck pen. =]

    As for my other news, well, it isn't as exciting as a new puppy. My blackberry bushes have started to produce this year, and we got our first ripe ones in yesterday. My bushes are still pretty young, so the berries are a little smaller than I like and they're not producing as much a more mature plant, but they gave us enough for my mother, my friend, Sarah, and I to each have a bowl. They needed a bit of sugar, but they were still delicious. I think knowing that they're 100% mine and have never had pesticides on them makes them a bit sweeter. There is something special about food that you have produced on your own. Speaking of home-grown food, we took some of our peas from last year's garden out of the freezer for supper tonight. They were delicious! I can't wait until our garden starts producing this year. Actually, I can't wait until we get it all in. Things have been slow going this year, but at least they're going!

    My buck, Beetlejuice, was put back in his own pen yesterday. Neither him nor my whether are too pleased about the situation, and I can't say that I blame them. They were living it up with ladies for company, but now they've got to be roommates for a while. I think they'll get acclimated soon enough, though. They're probably sharing stories about how silly girls are right now, and probably thinking of a way to talk me into breaking off more gum tree limbs for them to munch. Hopefully I'll have four does kidding this fall between August and November. I tried very hard to be able to have exact dates, but no one would cooperate with me. I'm hopefully going to be sending off pregnancy tests to Biotracking later this month. It's just a matter of dad having the time to help draw the goats blood, since that's definitely not something I'm comfortable with doing on my own yet. I may end up having to pay the vet to do it, but I hope not since it's $90 just to get her to make a house call. If you think you'd like to buy a kid this fall, head on over to my website (http://www.wonderland-farm.webs.com) and contact me. I can let you know as soon as I confirm pregnancies, and also as soon as they kid. 

    Well, it's time for pictures! These are a bit better, thanks to Sarah coming over and using her digital camera. 

This is the family of geese that lives at our neighbor's pond. They waddled over to eat in our yard. 

Mellow, checking out Lakota. He looks a little bit pitiful, because I had just given him a bath and doctored the scrape on his nose. 

Checking out a stick. 

Checking out Brownie, who was also checking out Lakota! 

Mellow and Lakota get along wonderfully. Mellow is such a good dog. 

Beetlejuice is such a ham. 

This is the first bass I caught, with a cricket on a cane pole! He broke the line just as I got him to shore. He weighed about 3lbs, but we put him back anyway. 

This is my dad, holding the second bass I caught. This one weighed around five pounds, and was caught on an actual bass setup. We put him back, too. I was pretty excited that I caught such big fish, though, since the largest fish I've ever caught previously have been brim! (This is at my grandfather's pond, btw.)

Thanks for reading!

-Rach in Wonderland

Picture Blog!

These are all picture that were taken on a film camera and scanned onto the computer, so they're not the greatest. They're pretty cute, though!

Beauty, looking a little insane...

Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice, walking away. At least you can see his color.

Brownie.

Sandy, using Clara as a footstool. Hehe.

Clara.

Most of the herd munching.

Sandy.

Mellow, morphing into a wolf...hahaha. I promise she's not crazy.

That's all, Folks!

So It Goes

    Well, my summer has taken yet another turn. I was let go from my job, because the owner couldn't afford to keep me. I understand completely, and I harbor no ill-will towards my boss or anyone there. My only regret is that now my original summer plans were kind of screwed up. As you know from a blog a little while back, I had planned on having a huge garden and focusing on my hobby farm. Unfortunately, I do no have my garden in the ground yet, because the month that I was at work I was insanely busy and then insanely tired after work. After I was let go, it rained SO MUCH that I couldn't get anything else in the ground. As of right now, all that's planted are tomatoes and peppers. That's going to hold me back, though!

    Despite my set backs, I still intend to have my garden. Thanks to the long growing season of West Tennessee, there are still a lot of plants that I can get in the ground. The crops may be late, but I can deal with that. I also want to make some more soap and start getting serious about selling it, and I'm also thinking about a way to start selling baked goods. I know that I can successfully do it, it's just a matter of getting started. All in all, I want to start focusing more on what I've always wanted to do - working for myself. I want to dive head first into my hobby farm. I've had a few set backs, and the economy certainly doesn't make things easier, but I'm not ready to give up. As they say in the the movie Meet the Robinsons, "I'm going to keep moving forward." (That's a good movie, btw, if you're in need of something to watch!) One other thing I want to focus on more now is my creative writing. For a while now I've mostly written poetry, but I've missed my prose terribly. I'm diving back into that, too. My biggest dream for life is to publish a novel. 

    As for updates about the farm, well, there aren't many, but that isn't really a bad thing! Beetlejuice is still being housed with the girls. I do wish they would be more public with their relations so that I would know the deed was done, but apparently they're shy. He has been with Clara and Rumor since March, and with the Sandy and Brownie for over a month, though, so I've few doubts that we'll have kids born here this fall. Besides, if anyone doesn't take, they will just be re-bred for Spring kiddings. I'm praying it's a doe year! I could really use the extra money (does sell for much more than bucks and whethers), and I also plan to keep a doe or two. I know I will be keeping a doe out of Clara if I'm blessed with one from her. Everyone is doing well, thankfully, and I'm praying that they continue to do well throughout their kiddings. I just keep telling God that I'm not ready for a hard delivery! I don't have the experience to handle it yet. I hope He listens and takes pity on me. =) 

  Well, I hope you all are enjoying your summer! 

-Rach in Wonderland

P.S. - I'm sorry for the poor picture quality. They're from my cell phone, because my camera is still out of commission.

They love to be let out into this thicket to munch the weeds.

I put Krystal in the round pen so she wouldn't bother the goats, so instead, Beetlejuice bothered her.

Just a Short Update

Okay, I know I should be flogged for taking so long to write a new blog, but I've been super busy. In fact, I don't even have time for a full fledged blog. I'm just going to update about a couple of things that have been going on lately. 


First off, I now have a job! I'm working for a local orchard in their restaurant/store. It's a pretty awesome place and the people I work with are fantastic. My only complaints are that my feet are really having trouble adjusting to the long hours of standing on concrete. I'm hoping that losing weight and simply getting used to it will help with that, but in the mean time I'm practically living off of Aleve and Advil. I know that's unhealthy, but at least I'm down to one soda a week...;] My only other complaint is actually not even a "real" complaint. I just feel like I have no time anymore, haha. I feel like I went straight from school to work and had no summer break. In truth, however, it's not that I don't have time, I just haven't adjusted to the situation yet. I'm slowly learning to budget my time a bit better, and I'm finding that it is possible to have a life when you're working full time. [Plus, more hours means more money, meright?] 


The only other important bit of news is that I have decided to purchase Beetlejuice, so Wonderland is now a full-fledged goat operation, complete with it's very own buck! Okay, it's not really full-fledged - I still only have seven goats. I just have a complete set now. =]


One more thing before I'm off - I made four A+'s and one A this semester! I'm pretty excited. Okay, now I have to go buy goat feed, run some errands, and switch some of the goats around to different fences. 


This picture is from a recent trip to Middleton, TN to visit the farm we buy our raw milk from. It was lots of fun! [I just bought a new computer, so I can't give you a picture of goats today. Sorry!]