Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Weekly Update

This week I have been busy making soap - on tap were Vanilla Pear, Country Gentleman, Herbal Green Tea, Hannah's Tulips, Summer Storm, Lavender Oatmeal, Hawaiian Coconut and Peach Magnolia Raspberry.  Here is a picture of Hannah's Tulips in the mold:

In addition, we were blessed with 8 free Shetland Sheep - 6 wethers and 2 ewes.  They will be sheared on June 25th and then we will hopefully be sending those out for processing into roving.

We suffered some meat chicken losses last week, but this week, all seems to be well.  The chicks are all growing and we plan to butcher the Freedom Rangers July 2nd.

We also swapped one of our Bourbon Red hens for two Bourbon Red toms - now our remaining Bourbon Red hens can reproduce!!  We had one mixed breed turkey poult (Royal Palm X Bourbon Red) hatch this week - its Mom is keeping it warm despite the still cool temperatures.

Part of the garden is planted - we see lettuce, radish, spinach, peas, beans and onions all sprouting and we had our first taste of fresh cilantro in our salsa today.  Our weather is supposed to warm up this coming week, so I hope to get the rest of the vegetable crops planted.

Gina, Nicki and Anthony will be at the Chewelah Farmers Market this Friday - they will continue to sell our goat milk soap and will also have our past season candles at half price - we will take the sales from the candles and process our Navajo-Churro and Shetland fleeces into roving for local spinners.

All the children and animals are doing well - we are all anticipating warmer weather and enjoying the lilacs and irises we are discovering on our property.

Have a great week everyone!!

4 comments:

  1. Hi Amy,

    How inspiring you all are. I'm so happy for you all finally landing where you love it and getting to see your homestead dreams come to pass. How I'd love to watch. A field trip just might be in order next time we make it that far north.

    Years ago when you taught the ladies at church to make soap you recommended a great book. I bought it and then lent it to a friend. I'm hoping she can find it if I have the title. Do you know what book I might be talking about. It was a little home produced book, either spiral or comb bound. If you don't know, can you recommend your current favorite that might help a beginner?

    Have a great summer!

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  2. Hi Linda-

    That book is no longer available - it was buy TLC Soap and Sundries in Georgia. The book I recommend the most now is called "Soap Naturally" - its the best one I have found by far.

    Would love for you to visit next time you are up this way..:-)

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  3. hi, my name is stephanie, i live in shelby,mi and wrk as a staff person for the Rose afc home..i was wondering if i could bring my 12 ppl there 1 day soon b4 it gets too cold for a fun filled day with all of you? 3 of my ppl have motoized wheelchairs. thank-you, stephanie g.

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