Friday on the Homestead


 

What a busy week it has been! We have been doing a bit of remodel work on our house and doing things outside, like laying in drain pipe for the gutters. With 75 to 100 inches of rain a year, you have to have a way of dealing with all that water that falls on the roof! Tobin gave Jacob the job of digging the trenches and laying the pipe. It has been a great job for him. He has had to use muscle strength and utilize his math skills (brain strength ) so that the pipe had the right amount of down hill slope to it. Then he laid the pipe and had put all the bends and t’s and clean out spots. He has enjoyed this job and has not minded a way to make some extra money and Tobin has been able to concentrate on other things.

 

We are replacing windows on the south side of our house, and doing repair on our deck. The windows are all on order and we are excited for them to come in. When it is all done we will replace some siding and paint. Tobin and I have been having a lot of discussions on paint colors and looking at paint cards. It will be fun to get some paint and put it on the house to see what we like the best.

 

I realized the other day as I was in my garden that I do have a surviving zucchini plant. Tobin accidentally rototilled over them after I planted them. It was my fault for not marking where they were at. I never did replant. So I was really excited to see that one had come up. In the meantime an egg customer of ours brought a big basket full of yellow summer squash and we have really been enjoying them.   So far I have figured out how to have squash 3 meals a day.. LOL..  Breakfast is zucchini bread, lunch has been fired zucchini (today it may be zucchini patties) and dinner last night was zucchini chicken parmigiana… And dessert was zucchini pie w/ice cream!  On Tuesday I served zucchini, onions and garlic that had been sautéed in butter as a side dish.. YUMMY!!  This morning I was contemplating zucchini coffee cake.. By the end of zucchini season I am sure we will all be glad to see it go, but I am finding it an enjoyable challenge to not let it go to waste! I may end up freezing some too.

 

I made soap this week, but have more to make this weekend. We also started butchering chickens finally. We still have a few more to go.. but I will update about that later. The good news is I think we found our main egg eater.. believe it or not.. it is the rooster! We are kind of sad about this as he is a nice roosters and we like him. But we like our eggs better. So he will join the ranks of those that are currently in the freezer! I plan to use these old chickens for making soup stock for the freezer. I am going to follow Sally Fallons recipe in Nourishing Traditions. I have some beef bones from our cow I want to use for that too. But that will have to wait till the weather cools some.

 

This week the kids and I also enjoyed time in the sun and swimming in the pond. We all have nice tans to show for it!  Summer is my favorite season but it never seems to last long enough around here. Being up north as I am it seems to take awhile to get here and then leaves too soon. 

 

Today I take my older girls to their house cleaning job and then take the younger kids to the library. They all have summer reading stuff to turn in and books to return. Then the rest of the day is still up in the air. We need to do some baking and the regular house cleaning. 

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Have a great Friday on your homesteads!

Comments

  1. Crystal,

    It's always such a joy to read about days on your Homestead.

    So proud of Jacob....he's been working hard!!

    Your remodeling sounds great....it's hard work, but very worth it.

    Think of you daily and always have you in my prayers.

    Love to you all,

    Cathy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Crystal,

    How do you freeze your zuchini?? I tried shredding it in baggies 2 cups a baggie for zuchini bread, but I found it bakes much drier zuchini bread?? Any suggestions?? Thanks


    Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  3. Crystal,

    I am intrigued by this zucchini pie! Would you mind sharing the recipe? Does it taste like apple?


    Jenn

    http://jennsnook.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

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