tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1366035710638077082024-03-12T16:48:24.418-07:00Agape Farm "The Farm of Faith, Hope & Love"At Agape Farms, we are all about Love. Love for our God, Love for our World, and Love for our customers. We hope to share some interesting things that we learn along our farming adventure with you! Enjoy!
Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/agapefarmfhlAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-83991522921663913392014-07-18T14:44:00.003-07:002014-07-18T14:45:46.033-07:00We've Moved!Wondering where we have been lately? We have a whole new webpage. Head over to <a href="http://agapefarmfhl.com/">agapefarmfhl.com</a> to continue to follow along on our farming adventures. Join us as we create new recipes, learn more about farming, essential oils, and homesteading!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-27328392924150131642014-06-13T09:03:00.000-07:002014-06-13T14:48:48.660-07:00Online Essential Oils ClassI am loving using my essential oils and finding so many wonderful ways to use them! I've made my own face wash, shampoo, and body wash, using Young Living oils and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HK1OOY/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000HK1OOY&linkCode=as2&tag=agafar-20%22%3EDr.%20Bronners%20-%20Magic%20Pure-Castile%20Soap%20Baby-Mild%20-%2032%20oz.%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=" target="_blank">castile soap</a>. I like the baby unscented kind as it is much gentler and free of any added scents. I've been enjoying having a few classes each month and educating others about essential oils and the best ways to use them. Last night, my upline, Homemade Mommy, offered a livestream class for everyone to watch. If you would like to watch it, here is the link,<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #3b5998; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://bit.ly/YLEO101Replay" style="text-decoration: none;">http://bit.ly/YLEO101Replay</a></span>. It was so informative and fun to see how she hosts her classes. If you are local to me (Sacramento area), and want to host a class or want to come to one, let me know! Right now I am running a special for the weekend! When you sign up with the Premium Starter Kit, I will gift you the <a href="http://amzn.to/1lu4hr6" target="_blank">Essential Oils Pocket Reference</a><u> </u>as well as the book <a href="http://amzn.to/1qIuDG9" target="_blank">Homemade Mommy Beauty Essentials</a>. These two books are valuable resources as you start your journey in natural living and better health! If you are ready to start your journey with Young Living oils, follow my<a href="https://www.youngliving.com/signup/?site=US&sponsorid=1611368&enrollerid=1611368" target="_blank"> sign-up link </a> or send me an email to learn more lauralee.youngliving@gmail.com. I am also looking for some team players who like to get their oils paid for and would enjoy teaching others about essential oils! If you would like to learn more about how to earn free oils please email me! I look forward to hearing from you!<br />
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Stay Oily!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4EF0GUoYQIKJQwDwwDt8iFmt3N_KQt3xg5Ve3tKTA4SMAU-DjHkvr6UUgUGkXssJMdh5xtp0NVdpZtzQhoGTBxLHasfLiyAXAMONa15EoFjdP78w95hPxEhu14Ta69cjwGmosMG0L_JM/s1600/distributor+kit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4EF0GUoYQIKJQwDwwDt8iFmt3N_KQt3xg5Ve3tKTA4SMAU-DjHkvr6UUgUGkXssJMdh5xtp0NVdpZtzQhoGTBxLHasfLiyAXAMONa15EoFjdP78w95hPxEhu14Ta69cjwGmosMG0L_JM/s1600/distributor+kit.jpg" height="320" width="294" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everything you get for $150. A great value!</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09436207462264160083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-30088158249345214832014-05-20T09:25:00.001-07:002014-05-29T08:00:50.557-07:00Pastured BroilersOur pastured broilers are growing nicely! Cornish Crosses are not a heritage breed and do grow quite fast. If you give them hormones or feed them too much,they will likely be unable to walk around after 6 or 7 weeks old. However, we feel growing them on pasture and giving a clean area of grass to pick around each day, is much better than packing thousands of birds in an enclosed building. In the shelters they have room to move and are able to eat grass and bugs. A chickens natural diet. We don't feed them GMO-free feed this year (nobody's perfect), but we hope to be in a position where we can do that next Spring. The chickens grow pretty quickly, but we do not give them antibiotics or any growth hormones. Just fresh air, clean grass, and lots of sunshine! Each morning we move the <a href="http://agapefarm.blogspot.com/2014/02/pastured-poultry-shelters.html" target="_blank">shelters</a>, feed the chickens, and give them fresh water. They love moving time! They rush over to the new patch of grass and start searching for bugs and grass. Pastured poultry is not necessarily the most sustainable thing on the farm, yet it's very rewarding and quite easy and a cheap way to get into farming! We are enjoying giving these chickens a great life and soon we look forward to having fresh tasty chicken to eat for dinner! (Don't tell the chickens that yet, we don't need them unionizing on us ;)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnW38LYNlCAFLS0oQC0OO0uYg3xoSMMvMBHtN9g6J-N_y9uwNJ4uMC7qWAltRQR7QJME3-QIhVFz_8S0ad7I3CFZsd_hFiWBJjOXF8XFk1SI9LjOBTl4f_sVZIO765R-dFCOW6PyAC4n-2/s1600/20140327_122641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnW38LYNlCAFLS0oQC0OO0uYg3xoSMMvMBHtN9g6J-N_y9uwNJ4uMC7qWAltRQR7QJME3-QIhVFz_8S0ad7I3CFZsd_hFiWBJjOXF8XFk1SI9LjOBTl4f_sVZIO765R-dFCOW6PyAC4n-2/s1600/20140327_122641.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">March 27, baby chicks arrive in the mail!</td></tr>
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A few things we have learned so far:<br />
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<ul>
<li>These chickens drink a lot more than our egg layers. Next year we hope to get an automatic <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A7SG30G/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00A7SG30G&linkCode=as2&tag=agafar-20&linkId=MBA5JLHXFVAZ2FFO%22%3ELittle%20Giant%20Automatic%20Poultry%20Waterer%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=agafar-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00A7SG30G%22" target="_blank">waterer</a>.</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li>We need a new board on top of our current shelter. We used a cheap piece of siding to put on the top because it was light weight, however it warped right away and anytime it rains or the sprinklers come on water sits on the top and we have to push it off. </li>
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<ul>
<li>We need some sort of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0050IFOEO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0050IFOEO&linkCode=as2&tag=agafar-20&linkId=FMQJ6L3S7EZRB6J6%22%3EBlack%20Mountain%20Resistance%20band%20Handles%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=agafar-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0050IFOEO" target="_blank">handle</a> on one side to help us move the shelters around. They are heavy and the rope we are using always has chicken poop on it and is hard to hold. </li>
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<li>We need a better quality food for the chickens. They eat a lot, I think part of the problem is the food we give them. </li>
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<ul>
<li>You're going to have lots of flies and your lawn is not going to be beautiful anymore. Watering will help with both of these problems and help the poop disintegrate faster. We try not to water the lawn here in California too much as we have limited water. </li>
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Have you raised pastured poultry before? What do you feed them and what kind of waterer and shelters do you use? What breed do you raise? We'd love to learn more about your set up! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxOo7r2Rlp6w-z8Rhzwt-uL93LG_YKd9NUR62A78xFQpgYITGfZnQjTjNjAiW1zXJWK4-NahclyFRj1iiDyMruJhu9t28aCiYLyg_deUntAA_PBPAyF86Y6JyaiD8G7k2x_0e0qoKKVloc/s1600/20140327_122929.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxOo7r2Rlp6w-z8Rhzwt-uL93LG_YKd9NUR62A78xFQpgYITGfZnQjTjNjAiW1zXJWK4-NahclyFRj1iiDyMruJhu9t28aCiYLyg_deUntAA_PBPAyF86Y6JyaiD8G7k2x_0e0qoKKVloc/s1600/20140327_122929.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Checking out their new home until they are big enough to go outside</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehCXnFBXEwXYUWeZSd3omClFQJc_sdhQnonYc-ADhB6wCabztACCrAO7TaaqbWmScGg_xzPI-9xV7qsa5bnTaJnZdesVfWtmSTGZlreMEog4LRSInMV_Iv0NAVXLEzAORNzq1fmhkBEcD/s1600/20140501_073145.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehCXnFBXEwXYUWeZSd3omClFQJc_sdhQnonYc-ADhB6wCabztACCrAO7TaaqbWmScGg_xzPI-9xV7qsa5bnTaJnZdesVfWtmSTGZlreMEog4LRSInMV_Iv0NAVXLEzAORNzq1fmhkBEcD/s1600/20140501_073145.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good morning! Enjoying a new patch of grass!</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-86087857023448947522014-05-09T08:27:00.001-07:002014-05-10T22:55:51.705-07:00Homemade Chocolate Lip Balm<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Links in this blog may be affiliate links. It costs you nothing to use them, but provides Agape Farm with a small commision. Thanks for supporting the Farm!*</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I went through my cupboards last week and threw away all of my cough medicines, aspirin, anti-diarrheal medicine, antacids, allergy medicines, and more. I haven't used shampoo, conditioner, or face wash in months. What am I using instead you might wonder? Essential oils! Therapeutic grade essential oils, like Young Living's, can replace so many things in your household. There are endless recipes for beauty products, from lip balm to insect repellant, and guess what, these items are so safe you could eat them! Have you ever accidentally gotten bug spray in your mouth? It doesn't taste good! One of my favorite books for learning more about recipes with essential oils was written by my friend Lindsey over at <a href="http://www.homemademommy.net/">http://www.homemademommy.net/</a>. Her book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JFZX55I/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00JFZX55I&linkCode=as2&tag=agafar-20&linkId=DWDXIPHZEXDAP6JM">Homemade Mommy Beauty Essentials: 35 DIY Beauty Recipes to Use Everyday</a>, contains 35 wonderful DIY recipes for everyday beauty products. Check her page out for recipes, healthy eating, and much more! </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNuI_Ql0_9UP9p1Ot9UL5Hk60oYPZmN7qLkiZnhGpmT3SfcsQ8ahEgV4Oqpife6tdrAJwFCBX_IOPVo8FvMpRvGohs00A7uLPF4GS2x8SUYbgmBWVWmh26wPJ4QvBr3E9MTYI2tK8AtDPn/s1600/DIY-Lip-Balm-via-Homemade-Mommy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNuI_Ql0_9UP9p1Ot9UL5Hk60oYPZmN7qLkiZnhGpmT3SfcsQ8ahEgV4Oqpife6tdrAJwFCBX_IOPVo8FvMpRvGohs00A7uLPF4GS2x8SUYbgmBWVWmh26wPJ4QvBr3E9MTYI2tK8AtDPn/s1600/DIY-Lip-Balm-via-Homemade-Mommy.png" height="267" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A picture of Homemade Mommy's lip balm!<br />
(Picture is property of Homemade Mommy)</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One recipe I am looking forward to making is Chocolate Mint Lip Balm. Yum! It sounds delicious! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicuObvmj32CuDjHwK31IEq4LDxmrZs2h5BgJehTielWw56DzkwawH2J1E54lgvpgomgxG6uMPV78y7651FTVbIV2m29ePqCKJ5PiVTOG7UIyuQDDzCquhmMs5kwZShM9C34Ue4aVevkyN2/s1600/peppermint+oil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicuObvmj32CuDjHwK31IEq4LDxmrZs2h5BgJehTielWw56DzkwawH2J1E54lgvpgomgxG6uMPV78y7651FTVbIV2m29ePqCKJ5PiVTOG7UIyuQDDzCquhmMs5kwZShM9C34Ue4aVevkyN2/s1600/peppermint+oil.jpg" height="273" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 0.8076923076923077; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 8pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ingredients</span></h3>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 0.9545454545454546; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Tbsp </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nutiva-Organic-Virgin-Coconut-15-Ounce/dp/B001EO5Q64/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1399648505&sr=8-2&keywords=coconut+oil+extra+virgin+organic" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: purple; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">coconut oil</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 Tbsp (0.5 oz if you have a kitchen scale) </span><a href="http://www.homemademommy.net/cocao-butter" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: purple; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cocoa butter</span></a></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 0.9545454545454546; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 Tbsp </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beauty-Aura-pressed-Quality-kernels/dp/B00FIU49UO/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1399648687&sr=8-4&keywords=sweet+almond+oil" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: purple; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sweet almond oil</span></a></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 0.9545454545454546; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Tbsp </span><a href="http://amazon.com/dp/B006LTUBOE/?tag=homema0cblog-20" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: purple; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">beeswax</span></a></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 0.9545454545454546; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1/4 tsp </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: purple; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.youngliving.com/signup/?site=US&sponsorid=1611368&enrollerid=1611368" style="text-decoration: none;">peppermint essential oil</a></span></div>
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<h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 0.6176470588235294; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 10pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Equipment You'll Need</span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Balm-Tubes-Caps-Natural-Clear/dp/B006WBEGNI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399648729&sr=8-1&keywords=lip+balm+tubes" style="text-decoration: none;">lip balm tubes</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Directions</span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gently melt the cocoa butter, coconut oil, sweet almond oil, and beeswax in a </span><a href="http://amazon.com/dp/B007SPKRZI/?tag=homema0cblog-20" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">double boiler</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (or in a glass bowl set on top of a sauce pot of simmering water).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remove from heat and then stir in the peppermint essential oil.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Quickly pour the melted oil into the </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Balm-Tubes-Caps-Natural-Clear/dp/B006WBEGNI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399648729&sr=8-1&keywords=lip+balm+tubes" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tubes</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. You have to move very quickly before the oils start to set. You can use a small funnel, but it may get clogged in the process. Using a</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> medicine dropper is not recommend because it will quickly clog up as well!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Allow the lip balm to set and then cap the containers.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- See more at: http://www.homemademommy.net/2013/06/chocolate-mint-diy-lip-balm.html#sthash.aiMGA7bR.dpuf</span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-23093017451027519292014-05-05T11:55:00.003-07:002014-05-15T17:07:19.807-07:00Cinnamon Rolls<div style="text-align: center;">
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Happy Monday everyone! I hope you had a fun relaxing weekend. Hubby's new work schedule consists of working Saturdays every other month, he has this month off, so it was nice to get to spend a Saturday with him. We woke up early on Saturday morning and went to the local park and went on a nice bike ride. Then we went to another park and went down some cement slides and hiked along the river. We are blessed with some great parks in this town! I can't wait to have kids and be able to enjoy the parks more. Before we left for our bike ride, I whipped up some dough for cinnamon rolls so they could rise. Once we got home I was able to finish them up. They were so yummy! I will definitely double the filling recipe next time though. I like them with lots of cinnamon and delicious filling. We worked in the garden this weekend as well, lots of weed pulling has finally resulted in a lot less weeds. They have finally stopped coming up so ferociously. Our veggies are doing great and coming up so nicely. I will add more information in our next post though. Sunday was spent going to church, hubby did sound and I taught Sunday school. It's so much fun teaching the kids more about our wonderful Savior! My mother-in-law came to church too and took us to lunch afterwards. So yummy. The rest of the day was spent around the house and babysitting. A relaxing weekend for sure, which was nice as the rest of the month is going to be crazy! Lots of birthdays! My nephew turns one and my sister is having a baby on the same day!! The next weekend my big brother will be marrying his beautiful fiancee! They have been together for a long time and I am happy to welcome her to the family. I am blessed with wonderful siblings and sibling-in-laws. Now onto the reason you are reading this post: those yummy cinnamon rolls. This was one of the first times I ever made homemade cinnamon rolls from scratch. They are time consuming, but so yummy. <br />
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Recipe adapted from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0696227320/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0696227320&linkCode=as2&tag=agafar-20&linkId=UO23BQNZLQCH4BQ6">New Cook Book, Limited Edition "Pink Plaid" : For Breast Cancer Awareness (Better Homes & Gardens)</a><img src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=agafar-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0696227320" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />
(one of my favorites!) Pg. 154.<br />
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Next time I will double the filling. Feel free to use a cream cheese icing or no icing at all. You can prepare the rolls ahead of time and place in fridge immediately after placing in pans up to 24 hours. Leave a little room on top for them to rise. When ready to bake let them stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.<br />
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<b>For the dough:</b><br />
4 to 4&1/2 cups of AP flour<br />
1 package active dry yeast or 2 & 1/4 tsps.<br />
1 cup milk<br />
1/3 cup granulated sugar<br />
1/3 cup butter<br />
1/2 teaspoon salt<br />
2 eggs<br />
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<b>For the filling:</b><br />
3/4 cup packed brown sugar<br />
1/4 cup AP flour<br />
1 T. cinnamon<br />
1/3 cup butter<br />
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<b>Optional:</b><br />
1/2 cup chopped pecans<br />
1/2 cup golden raisins<br />
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<b>Vanilla Icing:</b><br />
In a small bowl stir together 1 and 1/4 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and 1-2 Tbs. of milk. Mix together until sugar is dissolved.<br />
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In large mixing bowl combine 2 cups of the flour and the yeast; set aside. In a small saucepan heat and stir milk, g. sugar, 1/3 cup butter, and the salt until just warm and the butter is slightly melted (about 120 degrees, don't let it boil). Add to flour mixture along with 2 eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds. Beat on high for 3 minutes. Stir in as much of the remaining 2 to 21/2 cups flour ( I just used my stand mixer and used the dough hook for several minutes).<br />
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2. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead in more flour if needed, to make a soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3-5 minutes). Shape into a ball and place in a greased bowl, turning to grease the ball. Cover; let rise in warm place until doubled.<br />
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3. Punch down dough and divide in half. Let rest 10 minutes. Lightly grease 2- 8x8x2 or 9x9x2-inch baking pans and set aside. Mix together the filling and use a pastry cutter or your fingers to mix in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add in raisins and pecans if desired.<br />
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4. Roll out each half dough into a 12x8 rectangle. Sprinkle half the filling over each rectangle, leaving 1 inch unfilled along one side of the roll. Roll up each rectangle, starting from the filled long side. Pinch to seal seams. Slice into 12 equal pieces. Arrange in greased pans. Cover and let rise about 30 minutes.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Golden Brown with icing on. </td></tr>
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5. Preheat oven to 375. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes and remove from pan. Pour icing over top.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09436207462264160083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-5626624324985469692014-04-09T09:41:00.002-07:002014-04-26T10:11:16.566-07:00Getting Started With Essential Oils<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you don't quite understand essential oils and what they are for, you are not alone. I get lots of questions from people asking me why I chose Young Living, are oils safe when pregnant, how do I use the oils, and what oils can I use for a certain symptom. The first thing I want to say is, I am not a medical professional. I am offering advice and information learned from the Essential Oils Pocket Reference (which I am giving away free to the first 10 people to sign up with the Premium Starter Kit) as well as information from thousands of other oil believers! Here's some common questions I or others have when they first start out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why Young Living?: I chose Young Living for the personal belief that they are 100% pure. I did a lot of praying and asking God to lead me to the company He wanted me to choose and I just felt a calling to choose Young Living. Check out my Facebook page, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/674217672644668/" target="_blank">Agape Homestead's Young Living Essential Oils</a>, here you will learn a lot more about oil uses and business aspects of Young Living and why I went with them. From their Seed to Seal guarantee to the fact that they grow all their own plants, distill them themselves, are organic, test all their oils multiple times, and have 3rd party companies test them, makes me more confident to use them. They also have several farms around the world. Many oils say do not ingest and are more for aromatic uses only. I feel safe ingesting these oils and feel safe using them on young and old alike. When unsure about an oil, I always dilute it first, and look it up to make sure it is safe to ingest. I did some research on other companies and just did not feel like they were as pure as Young Living. Everyone has their own beliefs, but this is my personal opinion. Yes, they cost more than the ones you get in the store, but all the work that goes into making one bottle of oils is definitely worth more than they are selling them for. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What are essential oils?: Essential oils are a non-fatty oil. They are an aromatic, volatile liquid that is in many shrubs, flowers, trees, roots, bushes, and seeds, most often extracted with steam distillation (Essential Oils Pocket Reference, 2011, p, 1). Here is a great <a href="http://naturallyhotandhealthy.blogspot.com/2014/03/how-essential-oils-work.html" target="_blank">article</a> about essential oils.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can I use these oils when pregnant?: Absolutely. They are safe to use when pregnant. However several are not recommended to use when pregnant, and therefore you must do your research and figure out what is safe and what is not. There are lots of great charts on Pinterest that will help you out. The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Oils-Pocket-Reference-Young/dp/0983518327/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397061751&sr=8-1&keywords=essential+oils+pocket+reference" target="_blank">Essential Oils Pocket Reference</a> book is a great resource as well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do I have to turn this into a business?: No, you do not! If you choose to sign up as a wholesale member, this makes you a distributor, and gives you the opportunity to turn it into a business, but you don't have to sell a single thing! No monthly quotas to meet and no need to host parties. Once you buy the kit, you only need to spend $50 dollars in a whole year to keep your discount. If you hate the oils and don't want to buy anymore oils you don't have to. You will just lose your discount for the following year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The business opportunities are great with Young Living though. Once you start sharing with your friends and they want to sign up you can start to earn money and pay for your own oils and even have a nice paycheck coming in. Whether you just want to use the oils for yourself and your family or you want to turn this into a business, I think you will love essential oils. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do I use Essential Oils?: There are three common ways to use essential oils. Ingest, diffuse, and apply topically. The Pocket Reference book is a great tool that will help you know what oil to use and where to apply each oil. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do I sign up?!: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: small;">Signing up as A Wholesale Member – A step-by-step Guide</span></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Click over to the </span><a href="http://bit.ly/1a6REg6" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sign-up page</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Select “</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sign up as: Young Living Wholesale Member</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. The “Enroller ID” and “Sponsor ID” boxes should already be filled in for you. But if not, enter </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1611368</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in both boxes or you can enter Laura Lee.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fill out your name, billing address, shipping address, and contact info</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(The reason you are asked to list your social security number is for tax purposes. If you make over $600/year selling Young Living products, you will receive a 1099 form in the mail, as is required by law. Young Living will never share this info with anyone.)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. Create your </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">password and pin </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">which you will use to log in to your account and order your oils.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Select your enrollment starter kit</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. This is where you can specify which starter kit you would like (and you know I think the Premium Kit is the way to go!) – they range in price from $40 on up and you only need to spend $40 to get the 24% discount. Note – you must sign up with one of these kits to become a wholesale member. This is mandatory. To maintain your 24% discount going forward, you only need to spend $50 worth each subsequent year with Young Living on any product in their store. That’s it! You can also purchase other items at this time if you wish.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Set up your *</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">optional</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">* Essential Rewards Program (ER).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now don’t be confused by this next step.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Buying one of the ER kits is not a requirement to sign up as a wholesale member! This is a rewards program you can opt into to start earning money back to help pay for your oils. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point, you can skip this step by selecting: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘No, thank you. I plan on enrolling in the Essential Rewards Program later’</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. If one of the ER kits looks valuable to you then by all means get one in addition to your starter kit but please understand that you cannot buy an ER kit in lieu of a starter kit. This program is the most economical way to purchase your oils and other products. I belong and am already on my way to getting some free oils with it.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-77530109874411739292014-04-05T10:32:00.002-07:002014-04-07T08:34:02.801-07:00Living the Crunchy LifeI got called a hippy the other day by a friend, I know it was a joke, but it made me proud! It's not something you usually want to be called (I prefer the term crunchy), but when you live a lifestyle like ours it's like a rite of passage! It means you made so many changes in your life that people are starting to notice. My friend called us hippies because we try not to eat corn syrup anymore. In my head I was thinking you don't know the half of it! Like the fact that I haven't used shampoo and conditioner or face wash in over two months (baking soda, vinegar, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=dr.%20bronner&linkCode=ur2&node=11056341&qid=1396654540&sr=8-1-acs&srs=2590730011&tag=agafar-20%22%3EName%20Your%20Link%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=agafar-20&l=ur2&o=1%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank">castile soap</a> are my replacements). I brew my own kombucha, ferment things for fun (and health reasons), make my own jam, raise chickens (for meat and eggs), grow our own vegetables, make my own elderberry syrup, use <a href="http://bit.ly/1a6REg6" target="_blank">essential oils</a> and try to avoid conventional medicines as much as possible.<br />
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This lifestyle is definitely not easy, and we're only at the beginning stages! My next goals are to make my own bread, make deodorant, replace my body wash with either something homemade or with less ingredients, raise a pig, and make my own toothpaste. When you live differently you get a lot of people who think you are crazy. They might even call you a hippie ;). People are going to judge you, but that's okay. If this is how you feel like you should be living and this is your calling in life, you need to listen to God. Not your family members, friends, or people who read your blog that you don't even know. Hopefully, as time goes by, your friends and family will accept you for who you are, you might even encourage them to make a change in their own lives! If not, just know, that if this is where you feel God calling you to be, you don't need to change for anyone!<br />
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Things on the homestead are going well. I feel continually blessed each day in the ways Christ is working in our lives. We are getting between 2 and 3 dozen eggs each week and are able to sell most of these. Last week we sold out. The egg sells buy all of our feed and we are left over with a little bit each month. It's by no means what we need to live, but it is encouraging that we are not losing money raising chickens. Our baby chicks that the momma hatched are growing fast. Hopefully, we will be able to get them out of the pen soon so they can roam free. Right now they are too small and they need to stay in with the momma. I am sure she is anxious to be able to roam around as well. Inside we have 25 baby chicks that we are anxiously awaiting to get outside. They are growing quickly and will be ready to go out to pasture in about a week or two. Cornish Cross Hens live very short lives (about 8 weeks to be exact) so we hope to give them the best 8 weeks of their lives possible. Soon it will be time to cull them and freezer bag them for selling and for own meat supply. It's hard to not become attached to them as you watch them grow. It's interesting to think of what God has planned for your life. I never thought I would be raising chickens, and now I have 40 of them. My desires for my life have changed so dramatically in the last few years. It's not always normal, but it's our life and I love it!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvg8ANGoyzFD7kuU8ltyOOn-84CPooHqggAVsca5HYQJw-EZ7QFpnXuI2yMUS06kUtumxYJLfoRQ5WfYPjSfo7eqwkQvm1duKlKPJWtXd8UnAZeP3XIW5WYalgK8pxVoWR7Qrs643yRHQc/s1600/babychicks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvg8ANGoyzFD7kuU8ltyOOn-84CPooHqggAVsca5HYQJw-EZ7QFpnXuI2yMUS06kUtumxYJLfoRQ5WfYPjSfo7eqwkQvm1duKlKPJWtXd8UnAZeP3XIW5WYalgK8pxVoWR7Qrs643yRHQc/s1600/babychicks.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After separating them. </td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09436207462264160083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-14138285885140194562014-03-31T15:58:00.002-07:002014-03-31T15:58:50.530-07:00Essential Oils Special!If you have read any of our blog posts already or you know me, you know I love Young Living essential oils. I recently signed up to be a distributor, mostly for the 24% discount I get as a distributor. Now that I have been doing it for a few months and using the oils, I must say I love them! This month I am offering <a href="http://amzn.to/PaU4mk" target="_blank">this book </a>to anyone who signs up with the<a href="http://bit.ly/1a6REg6" target="_blank"> Premium Distributor Kit</a>. This book is a wonderful resource when you are starting this new journey. It has all the Young Living Oils in it and has uses for all them. It has diagrams for vitaflex body points, and how to do the raindrop massage. This kit is so wonderful! It includes 11 5ml sample bottles of oils, a diffuser, and a few other goodies, this kit is valued at $300 for only $150! <div>
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Whether you just want a healthier way to take care of your family or you want to go beyond that and teach others about these wonderful oils as well as earn an income for your family, I can help you! Please email me with any questions you might have @ lauralee.youngliving@gmail.com. I would love to talk to you more and all about the opportunities you can have as a Young Living Distributor. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-71404382489228035992014-03-19T10:10:00.000-07:002014-03-19T10:10:35.305-07:00Spring is Here!<div style="text-align: center;">
Links in this blog may be affiliate links. By clicking these you help to support our blog and our farm! </div>
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Did you miss us?! It's been over a month since we have posted anything! That's far too long. That doesn't mean nothing has been happening on the homestead. It's quite the opposite! Now that school is back in session I (Mrs. Agape) have been very busy with homework. I am taking an agriculture class as well as a class on cultural diversity in early childhood education. Two very different classes, but they are both wonderful. Mr. Agape started a new job at a auto repair shop. He went to school to be a mechanic, later got a job on a farm as the mechanic but then fell in love with farming. However, he knew he didn't want to grow 100's of acres of rice and decided to go back to being a mechanic at an auto shop due to water restrictions on the farm since we are experiencing a drought here in California. We have been truly blessed with this new job. God is good! All the time! As part of our journey to a healthy lifestyle, this month we decided to avoid any food that has High fructose corn syrup and corn syrup in it. This has been a difficult journey since almost everything has it! This has forced us to eat at home more which has saved us some money too. We already made most of our meals from scratch so this part was not too difficult, but having to replace food that we had in the fridge like bread, ketchup, soy sauce, whip cream (I love it in my coffee), and ice cream (a must have for Mr. Agape). I am really wanting to get one of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0039ASVTA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0039ASVTA&linkCode=as2&tag=agafar-20%22%3EiSi%20Easy%20Whip,%201-Pint,%20Brushed%20Aluminum,%20Cream%20Whipper%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=agafar-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0039ASVTA%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank">these</a> to make homemade whipped cream and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006ONQOC/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0006ONQOC&linkCode=as2&tag=agafar-20%22%3ECuisinart%20ICE-30BC%20Pure%20Indulgence%202-Quart%20Automatic%20Frozen%20Yogurt,%20Sorbet,%20and%20Ice%20Cream%20Maker%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=agafar-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0006ONQOC%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank">this</a> to make ice cream. We definitely have to read all the labels to make sure it's not hiding in there.<br />
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Things on the farm have been even busier. Our Buff Orpington went broody and has been sitting on some eggs since mid-February. Last week Wednesday they finally hatched! She had 6 eggs but only 3 hatched. When we opened the other three, only one had anything growing in it, but it was severely underdeveloped. The other two had nothing in them. She is a wonderful momma and takes such great care of her chicks. They are so cute! They love to kick straw into their water and run away when momma tries to keep them warm. It's so nice not having to make sure the temperature is right for them or having to clean them. We were absolutely blessed to have a broody girl! We decided to separate her and put her in her own brooder house to sit on the eggs. I am glad we did, this way she doesn't have to worry about them getting too far away and the other chickens can't bother her.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8q-XFA7PESlyLIdaTlCu-6CyOFSuW5aOZb07-EezjNROOEq0p1tp43pisKRJ1O6kwNdGvZIL41gOvguxwaBukiXH4cweILHJUgRhKkUF19A_-OpYGa4nF8QK47w2ECUK7ZQkpFZDPjJYG/s1600/baby+chick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8q-XFA7PESlyLIdaTlCu-6CyOFSuW5aOZb07-EezjNROOEq0p1tp43pisKRJ1O6kwNdGvZIL41gOvguxwaBukiXH4cweILHJUgRhKkUF19A_-OpYGa4nF8QK47w2ECUK7ZQkpFZDPjJYG/s1600/baby+chick.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One day old!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-HSgWgb9yKfUSK-AQfSFXSL8tR9McL6GgrQ2htKrebMKkuuv83xjRmLAWpBUS1gduCIEozAHlDRXJMOZldmejeMujKuzSenJgfi4ClC62u5ey6ax9L78HsFhd9nHrHPGlTtiGCve9qqoh/s1600/chickswithmomma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-HSgWgb9yKfUSK-AQfSFXSL8tR9McL6GgrQ2htKrebMKkuuv83xjRmLAWpBUS1gduCIEozAHlDRXJMOZldmejeMujKuzSenJgfi4ClC62u5ey6ax9L78HsFhd9nHrHPGlTtiGCve9qqoh/s1600/chickswithmomma.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cuddling with momma</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPaR0gwz9E-dhdw9m40gFOcdvGjmejROQY6fm9ZD8HfTbuSQwYYvm9EwL3TWMO6JiC2u3iMFLfybOnzmk3Ed2x5xZH_kC4OnxhDp29nf0RLl4JCxYYtDrdkurE2CvS797RXipDkc7kMS2t/s1600/fresh+straw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPaR0gwz9E-dhdw9m40gFOcdvGjmejROQY6fm9ZD8HfTbuSQwYYvm9EwL3TWMO6JiC2u3iMFLfybOnzmk3Ed2x5xZH_kC4OnxhDp29nf0RLl4JCxYYtDrdkurE2CvS797RXipDkc7kMS2t/s1600/fresh+straw.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fresh straw for the chickens to kick around.</td></tr>
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We were able to plant our garden the last two weekends. We have a great group of friends at our church who were willing to come out and help for the day. They helped us remove some of the cover crop and roto-till the ground. At the end of the day we finally rented a larger one, since our little one was not doing the job. Our poor friend had used the little one for a few hours and never complained, once we had to do it we realized how hard it was! Renting tools is a great idea and was much cheaper than we had expected. Next year we will do that first thing! We decided to do furrow watering again this year. Furrow watering is where you dig ditches and plant everything on the mounds. This encourages a deep root system and once the plants are developed you only have to water once every week or two! In the garden we have 8 varieties of tomatoes, 2 squashes, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, lots of corn, chives, basil, beans, sunflowers, rosemary, and onions. Many of these seeds were ones we get from our membership in the <a href="http://bit.ly/1fpkE10" target="_blank">Seeds of the Month Club</a>. It is so fun getting the envelope of seeds each month and seeing what they sent us. I pray that we will have a plentiful harvest, but we know God is the best farmer out there and He is the one who will decide if our plants will grow or not. On Monday we had a reporter come out and she will be writing an article for the local paper about our farm. We pray this will provide some customers for all of the wonderful produce we are growing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjokXQF85XiIUBFj6gjZxy48cPbNtcMBfsXaqVi9Waa6zITLPiJsH0upeY9lttJbAsV5SibXscK8kBSbTCBafB2zqGIiVcHDrVp2vEhzE-ATA6Oziv7VV67fMFSH_SYf2PhMsadHAXjsB31/s1600/helpersgarden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjokXQF85XiIUBFj6gjZxy48cPbNtcMBfsXaqVi9Waa6zITLPiJsH0upeY9lttJbAsV5SibXscK8kBSbTCBafB2zqGIiVcHDrVp2vEhzE-ATA6Oziv7VV67fMFSH_SYf2PhMsadHAXjsB31/s1600/helpersgarden.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our friends helping clear the cover crop.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished results</td></tr>
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We are getting lots of eggs, between 3 and 5 a day and have sold a few dozen and given a few dozen away as well. They are nice to have to give to friends or to trade for other goodies. We might trade for some goats milk soon. We also purchased 6 Blue Andalusian's in the beginning of February so we will have some more egg layers in a few months. In 10 days we will be getting our first delivery of broiler chickens. Broilers are meat chickens. We will be raising them in our front and backyard and moving them everyday. They take about 8 weeks to grow full size and then we will process them, freezer bag them, and sell them.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fresh Eggs</td></tr>
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We are enjoying our <a href="http://bit.ly/1a6REg6" target="_blank">Young Living Oils</a> and have been using them for so many things. This week I have been battling a cold and have not used any cold medicine at all! Some of the oils I have been using that are helping a lot include Thieves, R.C, Raven, <a href="http://bit.ly/1a6REg6" target="_blank">Eucalyptus</a>, Lemon, and Purification. Last night I had a glass of water with peppermint in it, when I woke up coughing I would take a few sips and the coughing would go away. I am so happy to have a replacement for medicines that usually make me feel worse anyways. It has been less than a week and I am pretty much feeling completely better.<br />
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What has been happening on your homestead? I'd love to hear about it! If you have a blog you would like to share, leave the link in the comments so I can check it out!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-20265632414028797532014-02-15T11:06:00.004-08:002014-02-15T11:09:56.747-08:00My Dream Country Girl Wife<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My dream country girl wife is someone who loves me for who I am, someone who adds to my crazy ideas, but is not afraid to tell me when I've gone to far. My dream country girl wife is someone who will lovingly help me with chores around the farm, someone who isn't afraid to get dirty planting the garden, or cleaning out the chicken coop, or helping you cull chickens! My dream country girl wife is someone I met 4.5 years ago! Let me tell you a story.<br />
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It's funny how things progress. When I first met my wife, neither one of us wanted this lifestyle of raising farm animals and tilling the ground. My wife and I met on a dating site, like many do these days, we quickly fell for each other and started dating 2 weeks after we met. Why wait when you think you got a keeper? We took our time with the dating process though, we knew marriage was a big deal and a decision for life so we took our time deciding if this was who we wanted to be with for the rest of our lives. I was a mechanic on a local farm, and she lived an hour away from me and was a caregiver. One day my friend posted a book on my Facebook page, I think as somewhat of a tease, but crazy me, not knowing what it was about, I ordered it because I liked the title, it is called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0985131543/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0985131543&linkCode=as2&tag=agafar-20%22%3EBorn-Again%20Dirt:%20Farming%20to%20the%20Glory%20of%20God%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=agafar-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0985131543%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank">"Born-Again Dirt: Farming to the Glory of God"</a> by: Noah Sanders. I got the book and slowly read through it, not because it wasn't interesting, but because I am a slow reader and would easily lose focus. I read the book and was so excited that you could actually farm to the glory of God and the way He actually designed it! So I pursued farming. This is now what I wanted to do, but on a bigger level, I wanted 5,000 acres and combines and tractors! I am not sure what my fiance thought of me at this point, but soon she read the same book and fell in love with this idea of farming.<br />
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I ended up marrying my dream country girl wife at the age of 23 in 2012, it was the happiest day of my life! Little did I know that the days were only to get better! After we married, we watched a few documentaries including <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002VRZEYM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002VRZEYM&linkCode=as2&tag=agafar-20%22%3EFood%20Inc.%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=agafar-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B002VRZEYM%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank">Food, Inc</a>. and Fresh, which are about farming. If it's done right it can actually heal the land instead of hurt it. The next book we read together is called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0963810928/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0963810928&linkCode=as2&tag=agafar-20%22%3EYou%20Can%20Farm:%20The%20Entrepreneur%27s%20Guide%20to%20Start%20&%20Succeed%20in%20a%20Farming%20Enterprise%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=agafar-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0963810928%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank">"You Can Farm"</a> by Joel Salatin. That book really got us inspired to start farming somewhere, this also changed our views on farming and makes us desire to be grass farmers and practice rotational grazing that will heal the land with any animals we get in the future.<br />
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So we asked my boss if we could plant a few things on some of his land, and he said yes, we planted corn, tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, peppers, and pumpkin. This experience got us so excited that we were actually involved in something! Our minds were craving for what was next, my friend from work was raising chicken eggs in an incubator to be hatched for a science experiment for his kids. He had asked us if we wanted the chickens after they hatched because he could not take care of them for long, since he lived in an apartment. I crazily said yes, even though we lived in an apartment as well, and had no room for these birds!<br />
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We took the birds at about 1 week old, we got all the necessary supplies and raised them in our bathroom, not knowing what the next step would be. By the grace of God, two weeks later our cousins called us and said that one of their rental houses on some land would be available soon! We were so surprised and happy. We moved into the house and we quickly got to work on building a chicken run and coop, Our dreams were coming together, this was a beautiful stepping stone!<br />
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We still live at this rental house but have plenty of room for our chickens. We now have 12 hens and 1 rooster, a nice sized garden, and we are going to raise pastured meat chickens on our front and back lawns this upcoming Spring! a lot is happening!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our chicken run area.</td></tr>
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All I can do is thank God for his plan unfolding in my life! My wife and I had no clue that any of this would even come close to happening! I am so grateful that I married my dream country girl wife who loves helping me around the farm and loves engaging in crazy ideas with me! You know you got a keeper when she doesn't get embarrassed that you wear your muck boots to the store! She loves me for who I am and I love her for who she is! She has been the greatest inspiration in my life and without her I don't think I would have ever started farming. Thank God for my dream country girl wife!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-21833990566909224632014-02-08T21:42:00.000-08:002014-02-08T22:03:14.410-08:00Pastured Poultry Shelters<div style="text-align: left;">
Here at Agape Farm we are all about trying new enterprises and finding sustainability in the way we do things, so this year we decided to give a go at raising pastured poultry. We decided to follow the proven design of farming entrepreneur, Joel Salatin.</div>
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<b><u>History of the Floorless Shelter:</u></b><br />
Years back, when Joel was raising meat birds as a child, he needed more room to raise these birds. His business was doing well and his father gave him the idea of placing the meat birds in floorless shelters in the pasture. Placing the meat birds in a floorless shelter opened up a whole new ball park for raising birds! Joel quickly found out that by having these birds on pasture they eat less food because they get 15% of their diet off the grasses and bugs in the pasture. Having these birds in a shelter gave them unmatched protection from predators.This design of a floorless shelter quickly took off in the mind of Joel as he began to implement this design on larger scales, Joel says that you can tell if a venture is good if it is scalable, and scalable it is! Joel currently has dozens of these shelters that measure 10' * 12' * 2' high, and each shelter holds 75 birds. The reason why this method is so scalable is because the size of the shelter can easily be reduced and put in someones backyard and still hold the same profit per bird and still be sustainable!<br />
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We measured our pasture area and we decided that the size of our shelters would have to be 4' * 6' * 2' high, and hold 15 birds each. We have ordered 25 birds to arrive at the end of March 2014, We will be screwing pieces of plywood to the sides of one of these shelters to make a makeshift brooder house for the baby chicks, we will raise the birds in this brooder for the first 3 weeks and then we will remove the outer plywood and split up the birds and raise them on pasture for the next 5 weeks, We will be moving each shelter to a fresh new piece of pasture each morning, "A fresh salad bar" as Joel calls it.<br />
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<b><u>The Build:</u></b><br />
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<b>Number one rule in building these shelters: Always use 2"*2" Boards, Not 4"*4", They will make the shelter too heavy!!</b><br />
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Step 1: Figure out the size you need your shelter to be and how many birds you need to house, Each shelter needs to have a minimum of 1.6 Square inches per bird. ex: I went with a 4'*6' Floorplan, 4*6=24 Square feet, 24 Sq Ft / 1.6 Sq Ft Per Bird = 15 Birds, So my 4'*6' Shelter will house maximum of 15 birds.<br />
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Step 2: Draw out you design and calculate how much material you will need (again always use 2"*2" boards).<br />
I calculated that I will need a total of 70' 8" of 2"*2" board per shelter so I went a bought 9 8' long boards per shelter.<br />
<u>Main Frame:</u><br />
Qty 4: 6' Length<br />
Qty 5: 4' Width<br />
Qty 6: 2' Height<br />
<u>Door:</u><br />
Qty 2: 3' Length of door<br />
Qty 2: 4' 4" Width of door<br />
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Step 3: Purchase wood and assemble main frame (see picture below), For this you will need appropriate length screws (I used 2.5" long screws), a screwdriver (I used a <a href="http://amzn.to/1lgGOHW" target="_blank">cordless electric screw gun</a>), and a drill w/ drill bit (optional: I like to pre-drill all my screw holes to prevent wood cracking).<br />
I built both the top and bottoms separate first and then added the 2' long height boards to the top frame and then assembled that onto the bottom frame.<br />
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Step 4: Build in door bracing. The door can be any size you desire, I made mine about half the size of the length of the whole shelter. You want to assemble the height supports and the cross beam.<br />
(See picture below)<br />
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Step 5: Build door, All this entails is screwing the 3' boards to the 4'4" boards to make a rectangle (The door is a little floppy until you add the outer wood to it.) The door I built is designed to not be hinged, just sitting on the shelter and moved whenever needed for feeding, watering, This way we can remove it completely when it comes time to remove the chickens for butchering.<br />
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Step 6: Install Chicken wire around one side of the shelter and a thin wood around the other I encourage you to find used free material for this, I focus on function over form when it comes to something like this. (The chickens aren't really going to mind how their shelter looks). The thinner the pieces of wood the lighter the shelter will be overall, and moving this shelter everyday, you are going to want it to be as light as possible. (See final picture)<br />
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And we're all done! More updates on the pastured poultry sure to come! Check out our Facebook for more information on the farm!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-32918839087697111402014-02-02T15:17:00.002-08:002014-02-24T07:53:56.381-08:00The Coop<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirJGt_eCkcvhvJHRBI6Wowd1wYwEEx0Goonl9PZsYXYmiaNLN3h0rJmdl3UoeH6QMEUEUpILwj5Lgctq5NJXV4UU-Ni1SRX8tnfBg-VJJgZC6Zj7JRJcf_vpy6y05MGBKUzXU5pFoE63Y/s1600/20140123_072659.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirJGt_eCkcvhvJHRBI6Wowd1wYwEEx0Goonl9PZsYXYmiaNLN3h0rJmdl3UoeH6QMEUEUpILwj5Lgctq5NJXV4UU-Ni1SRX8tnfBg-VJJgZC6Zj7JRJcf_vpy6y05MGBKUzXU5pFoE63Y/s1600/20140123_072659.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
My wife and I built this chicken coop in the fall of 2013. We had no clue how to build a chicken coop but were determined to build one because our chickens were already 14 weeks old and needed a place to call home. So we did a lot of research about different coop designs and how many square feet are needed per chicken. Ultimately we created our own design from all the research that we did and we started.<br />
First we got 4 4*4's and built a brace in the middle of them to hold them together and then around the bottom outer edge we lined it with 2*6's for strength.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy5XlFlOo9wZBkVzib0enGvY5F1Fw3iBDy194llrjRL7IpMsnP8hB2yuwdzrqrX7ntdpEPKIisd6VMHJxhfAGUzOIFSmEBkF7b99GlGMEwx590VpYgOW4BZrPH7iYdNRROa6l1c9RHoydA/s1600/20131012_182809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy5XlFlOo9wZBkVzib0enGvY5F1Fw3iBDy194llrjRL7IpMsnP8hB2yuwdzrqrX7ntdpEPKIisd6VMHJxhfAGUzOIFSmEBkF7b99GlGMEwx590VpYgOW4BZrPH7iYdNRROa6l1c9RHoydA/s1600/20131012_182809.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Then we installed a piece of 1/2" plywood for the flooring. The next step was to build all the framing for the doors and roosts, we built this out of 2*4's.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcynUcNgzuMmWmFiS0YD9nFkZHTQ-jvH4BWI_BGF1Ze_KSmXrKot01IGN-pwpprbnnCa6wWkD7H2a6AuQ_zvFyQLsbS_lJy5CcUqq4b937tNOuozi9MFJeW-H6uGazK7YJKR1k65-AfdPE/s1600/20131028_173636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcynUcNgzuMmWmFiS0YD9nFkZHTQ-jvH4BWI_BGF1Ze_KSmXrKot01IGN-pwpprbnnCa6wWkD7H2a6AuQ_zvFyQLsbS_lJy5CcUqq4b937tNOuozi9MFJeW-H6uGazK7YJKR1k65-AfdPE/s1600/20131028_173636.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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We then contacted my brother in law who had connections to peach farmers who hooked us up with old peach props that were pretty much ready for the burn pile, but we knew we could use them, So we meticulously measured and cut each board and screwed it into place. Then all that was needed was to cut the top of the 4*4's to a slant and install the corrugated metal roofing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvgn8ep93RQeNEIfUwKzw4xnFXhq3FUrjivy3xqXZjyQXSaZUfybIoBPoMnnnIvSsBD8kCjrfFKf8ypAgtskU9Cu3JFs8u1yCK5D5E3y25mknWn9sFQGtDIbSPX4p7BfmyM9CTAeBzIuFw/s1600/20131116_095551.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvgn8ep93RQeNEIfUwKzw4xnFXhq3FUrjivy3xqXZjyQXSaZUfybIoBPoMnnnIvSsBD8kCjrfFKf8ypAgtskU9Cu3JFs8u1yCK5D5E3y25mknWn9sFQGtDIbSPX4p7BfmyM9CTAeBzIuFw/s1600/20131116_095551.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1865PbOnvLjk6NTfjFaMnorNkZst4Gt1E8bpHhhV37Mg6SFDKUVltmaYzeHuvVarqOXkmi_sC_nW8MBthiFrFrXVweK0CTZnUO94-w_vVeEarpbDZYmuMQ59dh_auOSRhnja44zO0ft6s/s1600/20131121_130601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1865PbOnvLjk6NTfjFaMnorNkZst4Gt1E8bpHhhV37Mg6SFDKUVltmaYzeHuvVarqOXkmi_sC_nW8MBthiFrFrXVweK0CTZnUO94-w_vVeEarpbDZYmuMQ59dh_auOSRhnja44zO0ft6s/s1600/20131121_130601.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a> We then installed the roost bars, which were left over bamboo from our fence then hung the waterer and feeder inside. We blocked off the back of the coop where the nest boxes would go until the chicks were a little closer to laying age. We finally put the nest boxes in at about 22 weeks of age and they started laying at 24 weeks of age! We constantly keep a good 4 inches of straw in the bottom of the coop for deep bedding, this also helps keep the smell down by absorbing the pee and poop that comes from the chickens. What the coop turned out to look like was a surprise, we were shocked we built something so usable and beautiful with our bare hands! If you're determined enough you can do anything!! Just go out and get it! The coop's final measurement is 4'*8' and about 4' off the ground and 4' tall.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxet3AnVHUJ1BQU47zY0h9IFPgZh6f23JnWHOfBi2COqRYu754r1uRhTIwlUD7tmuVRQu4D01dVLkBZ_9CL0ibFXiLs1jfnyi5OxrkWEYVzLeh8ibURxeErTnNry8eIU-hISbqRHe764XE/s1600/20131211_153930.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxet3AnVHUJ1BQU47zY0h9IFPgZh6f23JnWHOfBi2COqRYu754r1uRhTIwlUD7tmuVRQu4D01dVLkBZ_9CL0ibFXiLs1jfnyi5OxrkWEYVzLeh8ibURxeErTnNry8eIU-hISbqRHe764XE/s1600/20131211_153930.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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One chicken enjoying the new roost bar.</div>
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Nest boxes.</div>
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Our happy flock!</div>
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Eggs in the nest boxes!!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-55378319954070024382014-01-20T15:41:00.000-08:002014-01-20T15:41:00.658-08:00Our First Eggs!A few weeks ago our chicks turned 6 months old. For many chickens this is the ideal time to start laying eggs, unless it is the middle of winter, but California wants to act like it is Spring and be in the 70's and have no rain all month... Nice if you don't like the cold, bad if you want to grow food, go swimming in the summer, or drink water :). Since the weather is being strange our chickens are getting enough light and warmth to start laying eggs! On Wednesday hubby checked all of the coop instead of just the nest boxes and came running into the house telling me to come outside. I slipped on my muck boots and went out to the coop, expecting to see maybe one egg, but instead of one egg we found 5!<br />
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I had been letting the chickens out each morning and since I thought the chickens were too young, I was not looking for any eggs, especially in the corner of the coop. Mr. Agape was only checking the nest boxes at night so it was too dark to see the rest of the coop, so to our surprise when we checked in the daytime we found these 5 in the corner. Thankfully normal eggs have a coating on the shell that keeps them good for several weeks with no refrigeration needed, meaning we can enjoy our eggs even if they have been in the coop a few too many days :). <br />
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Some other things happening on the homestead include fermenting the chicken food, planting the greenhouse, making flavored kombucha, and milk kefir. Stay tuned for some interesting posts on those!<br />
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Happy egg eating! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-35574925160453446822014-01-16T15:51:00.000-08:002014-01-16T16:06:34.414-08:00Sourdough Starter<div class="hfeed" id="content" style="float: left; line-height: 21px; padding: 10px 10px 20px; width: 560px;">
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This post may contain affiliate links which helps to support our farm! Thanks for your support!<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Have you ever wanted to make your own sourdough bread but felt intimidated by learning you need to have a starter? The recipes I had always looked up required a lot of ingredients and seemed too complicated to me. Then a few weeks ago I was on Pinterest looking for a recipe for sourdough starter, as my friend had requested it, and found a wonderful recipe from </span><a href="http://growinguptriplets.com/2013/11/13/live-simply-kitchen-sourdough-bread-scratch/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Growing Up Triplets</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I definitely recommend following her. She posted a recipe for sourdough starter that required only 2 ingredients! Can you believe it? I couldn't. Now for the even crazier part, the two ingredients are water and flour! Yes, that's it. Wait what about yeast you might be asking. Well, it just so happens there are all kinds of microbes floating around in the air and yeast is also floating around up there too. It's gross to think about, but this is the way bread was made for a long time before yeast was sold in those little packets. This is also why some bread has different flavors depending on where the wild yeast was caught. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid--7f4be11-9d84-e462-1d73-ed4c3b4c316b" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In order to start you just need to put 2/3 cup flour in a glass jar with a wide mouth or a bowl, I use a jar because it is easier to store in the fridge. Add 1/2 cup of filtered water and mix it up. Now leave it uncovered on the counter and 24 hours later add 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup flour to the mix, stir it up and let it sit and in about 24 hours add the 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup flour to the mix and stir it up again. By now it should have a fermented odor to it and have bubbles growing on top if so it's ready to use! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqins8augd4lYS1MrJutFfygRHD_M-ofEv0ASxJRSALfOOdnjNWEi0NhxVLgfFghmWnYHbED24pUqQ3VWLs90d6o8HF1ohi8TJlOrL-19_1oL8TP7p7M-mgjwyuETM4aSylWV92q7E5pkF/s1600/IMG_3309.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqins8augd4lYS1MrJutFfygRHD_M-ofEv0ASxJRSALfOOdnjNWEi0NhxVLgfFghmWnYHbED24pUqQ3VWLs90d6o8HF1ohi8TJlOrL-19_1oL8TP7p7M-mgjwyuETM4aSylWV92q7E5pkF/s1600/IMG_3309.JPG" height="200" width="149" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sourdough Bread</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 cups of organic whole wheat flour or just white flour</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2/3 cup of sourdough starter</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 2/3 cup filtered water</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 T olive oil</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 T raw honey</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 t salt, preferably Himalayan or </span><a href="http://amzn.to/1abcvBq" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Celtic sea salt </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><a href="http://amzn.to/1abcvBq" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></a></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mix all ingredients together in a large ceramic or glass bowl and let sit for about 20 minutes (the batter might be hard to mix with a fork, so letting it sit allows the moisture to be absorbed). After about 20 minutes or so, wet your hands and the counter top and pull the dough out of the bowl. Give it a few rolls and kneads. Place it back into the bowl, cover with </span><a href="about:blank" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cheesecloth</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or a coffee filter if you used a jar, and let it sit for 12 hours.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After it’s sat for 12 hours, poke it. The dough should retain the dent your finger made (if it doesn’t, let it rise a little longer). Pull it out with wet hands onto a wet counter. Knead a couple more times and place into a greased loaf pan. Cover and set aside to rise about 12 hours.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Preheat oven to 400 degrees, remove cheesecloth and bake for 8-10 minutes. Bump the heat down to 350 and bake for 45-50 minutes. The loaf should sound hollow when you knock on it. Remove from oven and let cool. Remove from pan and enjoy! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To keep your starter alive, just feed it the 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup water mixture once a week to once a month and leave in the fridge covered with cheesecloth or a coffee filter. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-28236207726362729162014-01-13T15:40:00.000-08:002014-01-13T15:40:18.600-08:00Banana Crumb Muffins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVL5ppibRNIdZDMheNyx0FyLe0yfvhfhoG7VzRugP5JM88paptt2ATFQq4PcyFF9l_ff2aRNeOyqa1GlfKHeV4nmPpPnsBYnwgfDIxeiGmU22gpaGh-mp4Nf1mDMtDgvrmtE1FJxzrd92/s1600/IMG_3447.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVL5ppibRNIdZDMheNyx0FyLe0yfvhfhoG7VzRugP5JM88paptt2ATFQq4PcyFF9l_ff2aRNeOyqa1GlfKHeV4nmPpPnsBYnwgfDIxeiGmU22gpaGh-mp4Nf1mDMtDgvrmtE1FJxzrd92/s1600/IMG_3447.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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When those brown bananas start to look sad and just stare you in the face, what's a girl to do? Make banana bread of course! However, whenever I make banana bread it never gets eaten. So I decided I wanted to make banana muffins instead. My wonderful cousin gave me a cookbook when I got married, it's from a small town in Iowa, and I knew there had to be a good muffin recipe in there! Sure enough I found a recipe for banana crumb muffins. These muffins are moist, sweet, and filling! With less than a cup of sugar they are pretty healthy too! I think the sugar content could be lowered and of course honey would make a great substitute. Since I love cinnamon and vanilla in my recipes I added it, but you can leave it out if you don't like cinnamon and vanilla.<br />
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Recipe adapted from Monica Cookbook Orange City Christian School page 134 (Leslie Huizenga).<br />
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Grease a 12 cup muffin tin and preheat oven to 375.<br />
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<b>Muffins:</b></div>
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1-1/2 cups flour</div>
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1 tsp. baking soda</div>
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1 tsp. baking powder</div>
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1/2 tsp. salt</div>
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1 tsp. cinnamon</div>
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3 mashed bananas</div>
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3/4 cup sugar (could probably do 1/2 cup)</div>
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1 egg, lightly beaten</div>
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1/3 cup butter, melted</div>
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1 tsp. vanilla</div>
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<b>For Crumb Topping:</b></div>
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1/3 cup packed brown sugar</div>
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2 Tbsp. flour</div>
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1/8 tsp. cinnamon</div>
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1 Tbsp. butter<br />
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In large bowl, combine flour, b. soda, b. powder, salt, and cinnamon. In another bowl, beat the bananas, sugar, egg, melted butter, and vanilla. Stir the banana mixture into the flour ingredients until just moist, this is the secret to a good muffin, don't overmix. Spoon into the greased muffin tin. In a small bowl mix the crumb topping ingredients until resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle on top of muffins and bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-66601428471005988942014-01-10T09:15:00.004-08:002014-02-17T11:56:59.708-08:00Essential Oils<br />
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I have only used a few essential oils in the past, so I do not have a lot of experience with them. However, I have heard wonderful stories of how great they are and they can be life changing for some people. As we try to be more natural in all that we do, I think essential oils are a good thing to use, I believe God gave us plants to put to use. So many plants have wonderful healing properties to them and we should be thankful for them! After doing some research and prayer I have decided to become a distributor for Young Living Oils! I am very excited to get my starter kit and to start using the oils and learning more about how to use them. If you would like to purchase some or have any questions, please contact me on here or through our Facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/agapefarmfhl">https://www.facebook.com/agapefarmfhl</a>. Or if you already know lots about essential oils and want to become a distributor yourself or just purchase some of your favorites, I would love it if you would use my link :) http://bit.ly/1a6REg6. Thanks! </div>
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<b>Update: </b>I have been using my Young Living Oils for about a month now and I am really loving them! From purifying the air to helping take pain away they work great!</div>
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Here's a few ways I've used them: </div>
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Headaches, paper cuts, backaches, mosquito repellent, mosquito bites (when I forget to put the repellent on), toenail fungus, dry skin, anxiety problems, not sleeping well, detoxing, and pain relief from a surgery I had a few months ago. I'm absolutely loving my oils and not needing to use conventional medicine! I want you to experience how great they are too!</div>
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Here's a few uses for some of the oils!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhf4ZzCbl9XwtaTYRSOj9hqNjtq5qohA3ugQWPU1oKwPW6wPmJASYch8m5zF5DLtQu7JHKyNWTUcBt89zjYcUZ1Tl8iq_lhDQ7J9nn64XPtYQHTREyp-9-oz74WTZJNmeloxckpvzGjVAYXSiIirs14yVDGm0A0BNPFLjK9t6UwOqw-SaTTw7kHf_ZcmS6KX6EFvc8a=" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Medicine Makeover Using Young Living Essential Oils" border="0" src="http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/dd/29/bc/dd29bc0e9f3384a4b51a5fe6f27defad.jpg" height="640" width="487" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzk23zTGb5WMEFYoPrRAp239N6eATynJnL7qedx8M3PmSaXiMnuH3wLXPb6rqMR_Dk9r2dp5HHxZOsLLtZwC4A16_HdJlCTcXAg691I-XdRCUcU636x9gSOXBo64g37DfOMUt70vDmgkY8/s1600/IMG_3416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzk23zTGb5WMEFYoPrRAp239N6eATynJnL7qedx8M3PmSaXiMnuH3wLXPb6rqMR_Dk9r2dp5HHxZOsLLtZwC4A16_HdJlCTcXAg691I-XdRCUcU636x9gSOXBo64g37DfOMUt70vDmgkY8/s1600/IMG_3416.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So beautiful.</td></tr>
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It's been a busy week here on our little homestead. I have had a big bag of cranberries sitting in the freezer, just staring at me everytime I open the door, well remember I got <a href="http://amzn.to/1hzvsjb" target="_blank">this</a> for Christmas from Mr. Agape? I decided I better put it to use on those cranberries. I got it out of the package and washed and dried it and set it up. To prepare the cranberries, you bring a big pot of water to a rolling boil and drop in the cranberries, next time I will do half a bag at a time, and let the skins split. After about 2 or 3 minutes, or when the skins are split, drain the berries well and place on the dehydrating racks. If it looks like the skins are not split, press on the cranberries with a spoon otherwise they will not dry well. Put them in your dehydrator evenly spaced out, then turn it up to 135 degrees and leave for about 16 hours. Mine took much longer, about 20 hours, because I left them in the water too long waiting for the skins to split, likely because I dumped the whole bag in at once. Once they look dry enough remove and store, since they do not have any preservatives they will likely still need to be stored in the freezer or fridge. I can't wait to try them in cookies and muffins. Yummy!<br />
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Happy dehydrating!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo1t6YkWPZEqrrLAAIvmAQbXnFTEZtdYaUPfIG2u9qtVpQ9LndFAPi0HhUKgfIxgWLL5yjvwCZeWeq44qB7vql7VwDxRsr11H1F-wFBm2IPX4kXAITpDuGj06gQskoAzMxTaxxT98-Mcz5/s1600/IMG_3437.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo1t6YkWPZEqrrLAAIvmAQbXnFTEZtdYaUPfIG2u9qtVpQ9LndFAPi0HhUKgfIxgWLL5yjvwCZeWeq44qB7vql7VwDxRsr11H1F-wFBm2IPX4kXAITpDuGj06gQskoAzMxTaxxT98-Mcz5/s1600/IMG_3437.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Final product. No filter sure makes a difference ;)</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-90978308611466018922014-01-03T11:36:00.003-08:002014-01-09T08:40:34.259-08:00Happy New Year!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBypr6D5EGNy8Nd_kVMv2aGpCiusOClCw3NTegpl2dO8VWNtPDsApEBWjaOknSmJ_6W_JZuW-jfH4qoPTMqSfFI9C48kAg3i21BnN_FZQSIIbbGp8VCDj9_z5a2XBQ2jlzYICci3phhMrb/s1600/agape+farm+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBypr6D5EGNy8Nd_kVMv2aGpCiusOClCw3NTegpl2dO8VWNtPDsApEBWjaOknSmJ_6W_JZuW-jfH4qoPTMqSfFI9C48kAg3i21BnN_FZQSIIbbGp8VCDj9_z5a2XBQ2jlzYICci3phhMrb/s320/agape+farm+2013.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEqAQDGq4NFIGnmJIdmKGCr-fqM-b5kcMmAYJ0R6taQTC5Ud0LYMPPxhMxgXyRFHe9QvTVTon8TUn2LYPeg0jE_42WejeSuIra2s79tZqXhzbM0aZYC_wRVImWWb20mBarKz5FR3diYtcl/s1600/LeeWedding-403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEqAQDGq4NFIGnmJIdmKGCr-fqM-b5kcMmAYJ0R6taQTC5Ud0LYMPPxhMxgXyRFHe9QvTVTon8TUn2LYPeg0jE_42WejeSuIra2s79tZqXhzbM0aZYC_wRVImWWb20mBarKz5FR3diYtcl/s320/LeeWedding-403.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This has nothing to do with the post but I love this picture :)</td></tr>
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It's been a while since we have posted anything. We hope you had a blessed Christmas season and a safe New Year's celebration. We enjoyed time with family and friends over the holiday. "Mr. Agape" had to work most of the time, so I was able to stay with my family and spend much needed time with my nieces, nephew, and friends. We were blessed with some wonderful Christmas gifts. My two favorite were from my husband. Hubby got me <a href="http://amzn.to/1hzvsjb" target="_blank">this</a> dehydrator, which I am making dehydrated cranberries in as we speak! Hopefully they turn out well so I can do a post. He also bought me a <a href="http://amzn.to/1ilvQzv" target="_blank">pressure canner/cooker</a> which I am super excited to start canning some of the goodies from our garden. Everyday I desire to do things more naturally. It's interesting how I desire to go back to the ways of my grandparents and great-grandparents.I hope to start making candles soon. Another adventure I would like to try is soap making.<br />
I have been also trying to crochet, but I am not too great at that. YouTube tutorials are great for this! If all else fails, I will just use my <a href="http://amzn.to/1bVdX4G" target="_blank">knitting loom</a> :). It's super simple and hard to mess up.<br />
On the farm we are hoping to build a small greenhouse to get our seeds going early. Our chickens are loving their coop and are finally coop trained, meaning they go in at night, which is much better than having to try to catch them every night. We were truly blessed in 2013 and cannot wait to see what the Lord brings us in 2014.<br />
Some of our farm goals for the year:<br />
1. Get a pig.<br />
2. Try out electric fencing.<br />
3. Eat our own eggs (this is really a goal we have for the hens).<br />
4. Find a good source of grass-fed beef.<br />
5. Eat less processed food and more homemade food.<br />
What are some of your goals for the New Year?<br />
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Happy New Year!!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-51637196831807732252013-12-13T10:10:00.002-08:002014-01-09T08:54:36.971-08:00Chicken Culling Day 12/7/13 Death is never easy, but on a farm it is necessary. We must get rid of the animals eventually or we would never survive. People always tell you not to get close to your animals but when you are feeding them and taking care of them everyday this is impossible. However, when you own animals and take care of them, you know that they had a happy life which makes it a little easier to butcher them and eat them or sell them. About 19 weeks ago we were blessed to receive 12 baby chicks for free from some friends. They were given the eggs as a science experiment since they homeschool their children and since they live in an apartment they didn't have a place to keep them after they hatched. When they were about a week old we brought them home (to our apartment at the time) and kept them in the bathroom for about two weeks until we moved to little homestead. Here they were able to roam on the grass and eat bugs and fly around the yard and do what chickens love to do.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful and happy!</td></tr>
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Since these were free we had no way of knowing whether they would be hens or roosters. Once they got a little bigger, it was obvious we had four well five, unfortunately one died and we are unsure why, beautiful roosters. Although beautiful, we couldn't keep all of them as too many roosters would be too stressful for our hens and the roosters. (Despite what many believe you do not need a rooster to get eggs). So we had to decide which ones to keep and which ones to use for meat. It was a hard process since they were all so beautiful and we liked them all. As time went on however, the process was made a little easier because one rooster was mean to both the girls and us, we want a protective rooster but one that knows we are still boss, so he had to go. In the end it was down to a beautiful white one with black stripes and a black one with metallic blue, rust orange, and red feathers on it's neck and tail. We decided to go with the black one and our cousins who live next door asked if they could take a rooster as well we also were raising their four chicks so they had grown up together, this solved the problem of what to do with the white one :). At 18 weeks the roosters needed to be culled or the meat will continue to get tougher as time goes on. So for Mr. Agape's birthday he decided he wanted to cull the roosters, morbid I know. Our cousins had some laying hens that just weren't laying much anymore and they wanted to join us. So on Saturday morning, with snow in the forecast, we headed out early in the morning to start the process. Although it never snowed, we had a wonderful day and despite death it was somewhat enjoyable. The workload was made easy as my aunt and wonderful cousins came out to help. I had purchased<a href="http://amzn.to/1iWBOK1" target="_blank"> this</a> home processing kit for Mr. Agape for his birthday, the things we homesteaders want, which made the day go much easier. He also built a special stand to put the cone on and help hold the chickens in which cut down on the mess.<br />
So now for the process! To start you will want to set up a station outside that you don't mind getting messy. A grassy area or cement that can be hosed down works well. We had a table, a hose with running water, several buckets for waste, the cone on a stand and bucket to catch the blood, knives, our feather plucker, a cutting board and bags for the chickens to go in when done, as well as a pot of hot water. Now for the not so fun part. Before we started we prayed to thank the Lord for the harvest he had given us and to be sure we were bringing Him glory in all that we did that day. You will want to grab your chicken and put it head first in the cone, if you don't have a fancy cone, a construction cone with the tip cut down a little would work, make sure the head comes out the bottom and the feet are sticking up the top, the chicken should calm down once in the cone, now you will want to slice into the carotid artery along it's neck but don't cut the head off yet. It is much cleaner and the death is much faster when done this way. Your chicken might move around a lot afterwards, but do not worry it is dead, it is just a reflex, since so much blood was lost the chicken is unconscious and cannot feel anything. Let the chicken stay in the cone for a while to allow for the blood to drain out. Once it looks like it is all done, pull your chicken out by the legs and dip in your pot of water. You want the water to be about 147 degrees, remember we don't want to cook the chicken, just loosen the feathers a little, after dipping in water a few times you can either pluck by hand or use a special tool that attaches to your drill to help pluck, or if you have the money you can buy a special tub that spins them around and does a great job of plucking. After this you will have to gut the chicken, I recommend checking out a video on YouTube by Joel Salatin to help you with this process. Then cut off the legs, neck and wing tips. You can save the legs and neck for some hearty chicken stock. All the other waste can be fed to your pigs or composted. That's it! When processing laying hens, it is best to cook for at least 8 hours or more, otherwise you will have a stringy tough chicken.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Feather plucker</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cone stand.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dipping the chicken in the warm water.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We didn't get any snow, but we got lots of feathers!</td></tr>
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Killing is not something you should enjoy, but it does not need to be miserable, especially when you know the animal had a good life. It is not something to be done everyday either. Doing it every once in a while instead of everyday makes you remember this is a life you are taking and we need to respect it.<br />
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Happy culling! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-12972514752017819312013-12-09T12:03:00.002-08:002013-12-09T15:07:16.749-08:00Easy Christmas Gifts With Christmas almost here, I thought it would be fun to round up a few easy gifts as well as dessert ideas that are easy to make and are not too expensive.<br />
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Homemade truffles would be a yummy gift to make and can be wrapped up in a pretty bag or jar to give as a gift. <a href="http://www.realfoodwholehealth.com/2011/02/homemade-truffle-recipe-with-variations/">http://www.realfoodwholehealth.com/2011/02/homemade-truffle-recipe-with-variations/</a><br />
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This peppermint hot cocoa mix sounds yummy and super easy to make! Put it in a pretty jar with ribbon and you have a great gift! <a href="http://dontmesswithmama.com/homemade-peppermint-hot-cocoa-in-a-jar/">http://dontmesswithmama.com/homemade-peppermint-hot-cocoa-in-a-jar/</a><br />
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Fudge is yummy and usually pretty easy to make. Here are 50, yes 50 yummy recipes to try! <a href="http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/11/50-delicious-fudge-recipes.html">http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/11/50-delicious-fudge-recipes.html</a><br />
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I've made a blog post about this but will include it here as well. A membership to the Seed of the Month club. I gave it to "Mr. Agape" and he loves it. The seed packet selection they send is great because it is not something I normally would buy. <a href="http://agapefarm.blogspot.com/2013/11/you-like-to-garden-then-this-membership.html">http://agapefarm.blogspot.com/2013/11/you-like-to-garden-then-this-membership.html</a><br />
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If you know how to knit or crochet or have a knitting loom, this infinity scarf would make a great gift. <a href="http://lovintheoven.com/2013/02/diy-how-to-use-a-knitting-loom-to-make-an-infinity-scarf.html">http://lovintheoven.com/2013/02/diy-how-to-use-a-knitting-loom-to-make-an-infinity-scarf.html</a><br />
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Here's a cute way to package your homemade treats! <a href="http://www.itsalwaysautumn.com/2013/11/11/muffins-christmas-gift-idea-printables-giveaway.html">http://www.itsalwaysautumn.com/2013/11/11/muffins-christmas-gift-idea-printables-giveaway.html</a><br />
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Good idea for those guys in your life that never tell you what they want. <a href="http://www.thegunnysack.com/2013/11/cleans-up-well-gifts-in-jar-for-men.html">http://www.thegunnysack.com/2013/11/cleans-up-well-gifts-in-jar-for-men.html</a><br />
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Yummy seasonings that are healthy too!<br />
<a href="http://www.weedemandreap.com/2013/07/3-awesome-homemade-seasoning-mixes.html">http://www.weedemandreap.com/2013/07/3-awesome-homemade-seasoning-mixes.html</a><br />
Here is a list of gifts in a jar:<br />
<a href="http://thefrugalgirls.com/2013/09/cookie-mixes-in-a-jar.html">http://thefrugalgirls.com/2013/09/cookie-mixes-in-a-jar.html</a><br />
<a href="http://acts17verse28.blogspot.com/2013/11/peppermint-foot-scrub-another-gift-in.html">http://acts17verse28.blogspot.com/2013/11/peppermint-foot-scrub-another-gift-in.html</a><br />
<a href="http://www.thegunnysack.com/2013/01/spa-in-jar-diy-valentines-day-gift-in.html">http://www.thegunnysack.com/2013/01/spa-in-jar-diy-valentines-day-gift-in.html</a><br />
<a href="http://coupon-wizards.com/15-diy-gifts-jar/">http://coupon-wizards.com/15-diy-gifts-jar/</a><br />
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Well that is just a small list of the hundreds of ideas you can find online. Just check out Pinterest and you can find lots of different ideas! Remember Christmas is about the birth of our Savior and the gift of Salvation! It does not have to be and should not be stressful or expensive. Hope you have a blessed Christmas Season!<br />
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Happy Gifting!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-9618776229623674262013-12-01T16:49:00.000-08:002013-12-01T16:49:04.675-08:00Beyond Organic: It's all about SOIL One huge part about being "Beyond Organic" is Soil! Soil means everything, you can have the best of the best, heirloom seed but if you don't have good, healthy, rich soil that seed doesn't mean squat. One of the big staples of industrial ag is yield, and that is a great thing to aim for but unfortunately most modern day agrarians follow the theory of <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #432604;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">German scientist, Justus Von Liebig who stated that nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium levels are the basis for determining healthy plant growth. Consequently most agrarians just see soil as a substance that can be manipulated, "you put NPK in and out comes yield!", That is unhealthy thinking, although Justus Von Liebig was a very intelligent man who has done wonders for the agrarian world, he failed to look deeper into the life giving community that lives in soil that is extremely </span>necessary<span style="font-family: inherit;"> to produce great tasting, healthy, nourishing produce. I believe this concept of "higher yields" can be seen in many </span>industrialized<span style="font-family: inherit;"> units of agriculture, I.E. animal production and marketing, But those are for another blog post! :)</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #432604;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> The importance of soil is something that we can not afford to overlook any longer, soil is being lost in every increasing numbers, due to improper tillage, improper grazing and miss </span></span><span style="color: #432604;">management</span><span style="color: #432604;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>altogether<span style="font-family: inherit;">. Just recently me and my wife gained access to a new plot of land in which we have hopes of planting a nice size spring garden on next year. we studied the layout of the land and how the soil looked in </span>different<span style="font-family: inherit;"> parts of the lot and we decided that on one side, where the soil was "ok" we would plant a mixture of alfalfa and red clover as a cover crop for the winter and on the other side we would try something we had never done before, we laid down about </span>an<span style="font-family: inherit;"> inch of old straw and covered that with a layer of horse manure. We turned this manure/straw mixture every month or so and a few months went by and we now have about three inches of fresh new soil! With our management, We helped nature turn these two materials, manure and straw, into great looking, rich soil, filled with living creatures!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #432604; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><i> 3" of Fresh soil we helped nature create!</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #432604;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> See, soil is not just a substance that we just need to grow a plant, it is the very essence of all living things! It is so fun to participate in the creation of soil! Most problems of soil depletion </span>occurs<span style="font-family: inherit;"> due to one thing, Mis management, There are some very simple practices that any one can do to help grow this life giving habitat, soil!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #432604;">1. Do not plow on steep hills where erosion would be caused</span><br />
<span style="color: #432604;">2. Study your land and give it what it needs</span><br />
<span style="color: #432604;">3. Start a compost pile, and add fresh compost to your soil bi-yearly</span><br />
<span style="color: #432604;">4. Practice No-Till planting, to secure helpful nutrients in your soil</span><br />
<span style="color: #432604;">5. Bring in beneficial bugs to help your soil</span><br />
<span style="color: #432604;">6. If grazing, practice "mob, rotational grazing" (Joel Salatin)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #432604;">Remember to think about the health of the soil before the health of the plant! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #432604;">Healthy soil will produce a healthy plant, which will produce healthy produce, which will contribute to a healthy you!</span><br />
<span style="color: #432604;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-57095034658012825632013-11-13T15:58:00.002-08:002014-02-17T12:01:09.485-08:00Seeds of the Month Club If you like to garden then this membership is a great deal! Your first month you get 8 packs of non-GMO seeds and each month after you get another 4. The seeds are great and something we normally would not have purchased so it is fun to see what you get. They also send you seeds based on the zone you live in, so you can plant what will grow in your region the best. If you want to try it for yourself, click this link below to get it for less than $4 dollars a month! Much cheaper than going to the store to buy them. <br />
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Happy Gardening!</div>
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<a href="https://www.averagepersongardening.com/seedsclub/step_2.php?node=H09S4WQHXC">https://www.averagepersongardening.com/seedsclub/step_2.php?node=H09S4WQHXC</a><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-91669228411973672062013-11-04T10:49:00.003-08:002014-04-09T10:03:37.845-07:00Homemade Chocolate Syrup <br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since we are starting a sustainable organic farm, I feel it is necessary to cut out processed foods as much as possible from our diets. I used to think that making food from scratch was time consuming, expensive and just wasn't worth it because it wouldn't taste as good. Thankfully, this is not the case! It ends up being cheaper, tastier, and much healthier. Although I would not call this a health food, I think it makes a great treat! Perfect in a cold or hot glass of milk or over some yummy vanilla ice cream.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Last week I ran out of store brand chocolate syrup and didn't want to spend the money to buy more, plus when I looked at the ingredients on the back, I knew we shouldn't be eating it. There was so many ingredients and I could not pronounce most of them. I take that as sign not to eat it. I remembered I had pinned a recipe on Pinterest (love it for recipes and great gardening tips) that was simple and quick. I decided to try it out. It tastes just like the store bought name brand syrup! The fact that it contained 5 ingredients that I have in the cupboard made me a happy girl!</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you want to make your own, check it out <a href="http://www.diynatural.com/homemade-chocolate-syrup-recipe" target="_blank">here</a> or I've added it below as well. If you click the link they break down the cost for you and have a video showing how to make it. When I make it next time I think I will boil it longer, it was a bit runny for my taste, maybe it will thicken up over time (update: I boiled it for about 8 minutes and it was much thicker and better consistency in my opinion, but this does make it almost fudge-like).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1/2 cup cocoa, packed</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 cup water</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1/4 tsp </span><a href="http://www.diynatural.com/homemade-vanilla-extract/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">vanilla extract</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1/8 tsp. sea salt </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1/4 tsp. baking soda</span></span></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-078e905b-a1d4-051e-8662-5838c2dab0f1" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 2.0454545454545454; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pour water into a saucepan and stir in cocoa (until dissolved) over medium heat. Add sugar and continue stirring. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 2.0454545454545454; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Be very careful</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 2.0454545454545454; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to continually stir and watch the mixture as it heats because it can easily boil over if you turn away even for a few seconds. Once mixture is boiling reduce heat to medium-low, continue stirring, and set timer for 8-10 minutes (the longer you cook the thicker it gets.) Once your timer goes off remove from heat and stir in </span><a href="http://www.diynatural.com/homemade-vanilla-extract/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 2.0454545454545454; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">vanilla extract</span></a><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 2.0454545454545454; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and salt. Add the baking soda (it will foam up, but helps prevent crystallization in the fridge) and let cool. As the chocolate syrup cools it will thicken more, so if it is already thick enough then bottle it, seal it, and stick it in the fridge. </span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Happy baking! </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-14029394172938467342013-10-02T17:22:00.003-07:002014-02-17T11:45:04.034-08:00Pumpkin Cinnamon Bread with Streusel Topping<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Bread is one of my favorite things to bake, with so many different flavors it's hard to decide what to make next. Now that Fall is here I have been craving something with pumpkin in it and since I had an opened can of pumpkin in the fridge from making some pumpkin spice creamer for my morning coffee, I knew pumpkin bread would be the way to go. I'm not a huge fan of too much pumpkin and since I couldn't find a pumpkin bread recipe that looked good, I decided to go with a cinnamon recipe and add pumpkin into that. What a great decision that was. This bread is moist and the streusel topping I topped it with gives it an extra sweetness and crunch that I hope you will love. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This recipe was adapted from Redfly Creations: The Amazing Amish Cinnamon Bread Alternative (found here <a href="http://www.redflycreations.com/2012/10/the-amazing-amish-cinnamon-bread.html">http://www.redflycreations.com/2012/10/the-amazing-amish-cinnamon-bread.html</a>) </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Batter: </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cup of butter, softened</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 cups of sugar ( I only used 1 1/2)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 eggs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 cups of buttermilk</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (if you don't have buttermilk put 2 Tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice in measuring cup then add milk to make 2 cups, or try plain yogurt)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4 cups of all purpose flour</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 teaspoons of cinnamon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 teaspoon of vanilla</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 15-oz can of pureed pumpkin (not pie filling)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cinnamon Sugar Mixture:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2/3 cup of sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 teaspoons of cinnamon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Streusel Topping:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 cup of flour</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/3 cup brown sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3-4 Tbs. cold butter</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 24px; text-align: left;">
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.6363636363636365; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.6363636363636365; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cream together butter, 2 cups of sugar, and eggs. Add buttermilk, flour, baking soda, pumpkin, cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg. Put 1/2 of batter (or a little less) into greased loaf pans (1/4 in each pan). Mix in separate bowl the 2/3 c sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle 3/4 of cinnamon mixture on top of the 1/2 batter in each pan. Add remaining batter to pans; sprinkle with last of cinnamon topping. Swirl with a knife. For the streusel topping mix together with a fork or your fingers until crumbly then top each loaf with half of the mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 45- 50 min. or until toothpick tester come clean. *Note: The recipe says 50 minutes but with the addition of pumpkin my bread took a little more than an hour to bake. </span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-48e0dafa-4160-8eb0-e258-740fc227f78e"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cool in pan for 20 minutes before removing from pan. </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-136603571063807708.post-25271757447297730812013-09-17T12:14:00.001-07:002013-09-17T12:14:09.549-07:00How to save corn seeds for next year<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">How to save corn seeds for next year:</span></div>
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In this blog I hope to show and teach you how to save your own corn seeds to plant in you next years garden! Lets get started.<br />
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Step 1: Choose the most producing, best looking corn plants and allow the cob to remain on the corn plant past maturity. (I left mine on as long as possible, until the whole plant was dead)<br />
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Step 2: Remove the corn cob off the plant and pull the husk back and allow it to further dry. (If you have the space just let them sit for about a month or two)<br />
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Step 3: Dekernel the corn cob. (This is a fun step to do with your wife or kids!) <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP3NAduouD7EljMdoVpo9wHRfYcFxLoMHuzFVEwzQBdzmNSSaaLvj1qarUwvmq3RsxEjSnTbH4QWXQiZzzjFFIwwFwFjObUMkXLw9PvsoXl97tTMYGc_32Dl5BndLYAfRACjGmTbY9qm1_/s1600/20130917_102329.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP3NAduouD7EljMdoVpo9wHRfYcFxLoMHuzFVEwzQBdzmNSSaaLvj1qarUwvmq3RsxEjSnTbH4QWXQiZzzjFFIwwFwFjObUMkXLw9PvsoXl97tTMYGc_32Dl5BndLYAfRACjGmTbY9qm1_/s320/20130917_102329.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMbz_fuVOL53Za38S8Z2Dx1Hp6xiJVJiMAuORDIKhDglsoBQBNX_s4_bAuZTJ_jEaaLfgGrFMAAizxJzecn2rNSgV2M7wv5dIjcHe4cC2Xl35PyavlRyDqr_6fH1NSSUQD6SJOU_In_Yg3/s1600/20130917_104326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMbz_fuVOL53Za38S8Z2Dx1Hp6xiJVJiMAuORDIKhDglsoBQBNX_s4_bAuZTJ_jEaaLfgGrFMAAizxJzecn2rNSgV2M7wv5dIjcHe4cC2Xl35PyavlRyDqr_6fH1NSSUQD6SJOU_In_Yg3/s320/20130917_104326.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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(The best way to do this is grab the corn cob with both hands and use one hand to hold it and twist the other hand, rolling the kernels off the cob)<br />
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Step 4: (Optional) Test the kernels to see if they are viable, Take 4 or 5 random kernels and use these for an average test. first get a napkin and wet it and wring it out so it is damp then place the kernels inside of the napkin and fold the napkin once and place the napkin with the kernels inside in a ziplock bag, Check on your kernels in a few days to make sure the napkin is still damp.If your seeds are viable they should sprout in 7-10 days! (As shown in picture)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcicZBBoikmu8tvoNQCCVA8l_1YZlovYOwPvOBW-yBNNAvL48Zutu9l9Ahcu07LA1wEu4utbtCivvoB2xGajOaKz5EcbDHF_5SI5_w9QmQiv0FMI7qxS4Fm5qpozIt3wcXV-9tFX5TBuVH/s1600/20130917_110118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcicZBBoikmu8tvoNQCCVA8l_1YZlovYOwPvOBW-yBNNAvL48Zutu9l9Ahcu07LA1wEu4utbtCivvoB2xGajOaKz5EcbDHF_5SI5_w9QmQiv0FMI7qxS4Fm5qpozIt3wcXV-9tFX5TBuVH/s320/20130917_110118.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY4Uc-HBzDPF45-wpOjlNtuQ8kOoZ5bpXJrrnbMIuKhormF28DNFtcfUBML3sPFi3EcpwjaIEYgykZ7KlnH6cpMG7LaGg24a0rsuhqwAX3QgWnlCZyJd9SWeoj8FjNWwUb_Q_a6sleFZvv/s1600/20130917_110152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY4Uc-HBzDPF45-wpOjlNtuQ8kOoZ5bpXJrrnbMIuKhormF28DNFtcfUBML3sPFi3EcpwjaIEYgykZ7KlnH6cpMG7LaGg24a0rsuhqwAX3QgWnlCZyJd9SWeoj8FjNWwUb_Q_a6sleFZvv/s320/20130917_110152.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOH_07v3q8e01loodnbsE8X-N3zBZsFLPzdOMzg12L9iRqyRDjjqYhlhWPZRFLdeJcUSSafEVgluxV_5gqb-7UWNx9urFhKAGUSZdkIsAI-KMZ2Bqt8SXQy8k-Yx5PkxyXAl4_v_di1MHj/s1600/20130917_100253.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOH_07v3q8e01loodnbsE8X-N3zBZsFLPzdOMzg12L9iRqyRDjjqYhlhWPZRFLdeJcUSSafEVgluxV_5gqb-7UWNx9urFhKAGUSZdkIsAI-KMZ2Bqt8SXQy8k-Yx5PkxyXAl4_v_di1MHj/s320/20130917_100253.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Step 5: Place kernels in paper bag and store in a cool dry place until next spring. ( The bottom of the fridge is a good place)<br />
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Step 6: Plant some corn in spring!<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09999342532390403864noreply@blogger.com0