Saturday, April 14, 2012
The Piglets Are Coming!
Whoa! I got the call Thursday -the pigs are to be delivered on Tuesday! Yikes, we said early May. I am so not ready. Gates to be hung, energizer to be pulled out of winter storage, waterline to be installed, and feed troughs to be constructed. I am still only running at about 75% after my lovely GI bug. But I am excited to see the start of my official farm season!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
New Post at GrasWerka
New post on the farm site (with a slide show!) pictures of deep mulch garden, my dirty truck as well as fencing and waterline projects!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Some thoughts on worms
I've been thinking alot lately about pigs. This weekend my Dh and I had the most interesting conversation about pig parasites :) We are going to have 30 pigs on 3 acres, they are coming from a big commercial farm. I am trained to be suspicious and assume these 30 pigs will have a large worm load. Pig ascarid eggs can survive up to 5 years in our soils, even in our harsh winter weather! I wanted to keep things as clean as possible. Again I am trained to wipe out the worms to assure the highest economic return. High parasite load=poor health, therefore no parasites=best health. I was trying to figure out how to deworm these piglets to wipe out any potential worm burdens when my DH gently intercepted me.
Instead of falling into my 'past life' knee jerk reaction of bugs are bad I started using this newly developing holistic brain. Our (mammalian) bodies have evolved surrounded by trillions of bacteria, viruses, and yes, intestinal parasites. Study after study has shown that our bodies NEED to interact with the outside world to function as they were designed (in a Darwinian context of course!). This morning I even found studies that suggest that intestinal nematodes are helpful to people with IBD. Just as I vehemently disagree with kids who never get to eat dirt and are sanitized into an unhealthy state, I think the same may be true for animals.
{{{What if all these years of deworming puppies over and over, and then placing them on their monthly heartworm medince (dewormer) was really a disservice? All those dogs with allergies and auto-immune problems. Deworm, vaccinate and put on crappy food, how could we expect anything less? Yes I was protecting their humans from zoonotic parasites, but....AGGGG this is so hard! At least for now I don't have to be recommending anything to pet owners because I really don't know what is right.}}}
For the pigs though I do need to have a plan. I am putting them in a very unnatural situation by confining them to 3 acres. To ignore a high worm burden would be a big mistake and one that would have consequences for many years with millions of eggs in the soil. To blithely deworm the stuffing out of them is not right either. As usual the best route is in the middle. I will find a natural product which is proven to be effective. My goal is not annhilation but symbiosis. Garlic? Diatomaceous Earth? I can be objective about the effectiveness by checking fecal egg counts. Living on the cusp between two different worlds is hard, but I hope I can take the best of each without making my head explode!
Instead of falling into my 'past life' knee jerk reaction of bugs are bad I started using this newly developing holistic brain. Our (mammalian) bodies have evolved surrounded by trillions of bacteria, viruses, and yes, intestinal parasites. Study after study has shown that our bodies NEED to interact with the outside world to function as they were designed (in a Darwinian context of course!). This morning I even found studies that suggest that intestinal nematodes are helpful to people with IBD. Just as I vehemently disagree with kids who never get to eat dirt and are sanitized into an unhealthy state, I think the same may be true for animals.
{{{What if all these years of deworming puppies over and over, and then placing them on their monthly heartworm medince (dewormer) was really a disservice? All those dogs with allergies and auto-immune problems. Deworm, vaccinate and put on crappy food, how could we expect anything less? Yes I was protecting their humans from zoonotic parasites, but....AGGGG this is so hard! At least for now I don't have to be recommending anything to pet owners because I really don't know what is right.}}}
For the pigs though I do need to have a plan. I am putting them in a very unnatural situation by confining them to 3 acres. To ignore a high worm burden would be a big mistake and one that would have consequences for many years with millions of eggs in the soil. To blithely deworm the stuffing out of them is not right either. As usual the best route is in the middle. I will find a natural product which is proven to be effective. My goal is not annhilation but symbiosis. Garlic? Diatomaceous Earth? I can be objective about the effectiveness by checking fecal egg counts. Living on the cusp between two different worlds is hard, but I hope I can take the best of each without making my head explode!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Summer Plans 2012
I have spent this winter plotting and planning; soul searching and listening (to the voices in my head!). My conclusions are these: local, fair and clean food is important to me. I want to do more than grow my own-I see being a small producer as something of a political and social statement. A voice if you will, rather than hunkering down and turning inward. With that as my underlying premise -how do I go forward? For one, I need to stop thinking like a hobbyist. This is a business, MY business and while not romantic sunshine green dreamy I want to make a profit growing humane, healthy, real food. Keep costs down while sticking to my guns about how animals should be raised. I sold 12 Berkshire hogs last year-this year I currently have orders for 21. I plan to grow 30. I am teaming up with an established grass-fed beef grower, who has a great reputation for quality, we will both we working at his (our) farmers market stand every Saturday (and maybe Tuesdays?), selling his beef, my pork and both of our chickens.
We plan to do 2 runs of Freedom Rangers again-4 pens with 30 birds in each-240 chickens. I don't really enjoy raising chickens (except when they are chicks) but I DO like to eat them (i love animals, they're delicious! ha-i need that bumper sticker). Improved infrastructure of a water line (3/4 inch black water tubing I salvaged last summer) with quick-connect couplers every couple hundred feet means no more hauling water up in the bucket of the tractor. Again saving the elbows by using the end of the hose instead of a 50 lb tote of water! I'm smiling right now thinking how nice it will be to walk out to the birds every morning and evening (sometimes at noon too if it's really hot) instead of starting up the tractor! Great for my body and my brain at a 1/2 mile each trip. Take that you zombies (for Judy!).
Pork: no nose rings, no GM feed, free source of BST-free whey from nearby cheese factory (5 miles), free source of spent brewers grains from brewery (25miles-but also where i go for groceries, etc). Planting forage turnips and oats behind hogs in their rooted up ground-they will be rotated back to the forage plot 60 days later. I have plans for an old hay wagon to both provide shade and to have grain and the whey-yogurt stored on top (think old chest freezers-1,000# feed in each!). It might not be pretty (unless we paint flowers on the side!) but it will be more efficient than hauling grain by the 50# bag in my garden cart-and easier on the elbows. The hay wagon is easy to move and a water line to the pig pasture means no more managing 100's of feet of hose-yay!
Last but certainly not least, I have stirred the pot here in Wausau and gotten a group of people together to start a Slow Food Wausau group. We are not even snails yet- just slugs (ha my joke), but I think this will be a great group of activists for local food.
We plan to do 2 runs of Freedom Rangers again-4 pens with 30 birds in each-240 chickens. I don't really enjoy raising chickens (except when they are chicks) but I DO like to eat them (i love animals, they're delicious! ha-i need that bumper sticker). Improved infrastructure of a water line (3/4 inch black water tubing I salvaged last summer) with quick-connect couplers every couple hundred feet means no more hauling water up in the bucket of the tractor. Again saving the elbows by using the end of the hose instead of a 50 lb tote of water! I'm smiling right now thinking how nice it will be to walk out to the birds every morning and evening (sometimes at noon too if it's really hot) instead of starting up the tractor! Great for my body and my brain at a 1/2 mile each trip. Take that you zombies (for Judy!).
Pork: no nose rings, no GM feed, free source of BST-free whey from nearby cheese factory (5 miles), free source of spent brewers grains from brewery (25miles-but also where i go for groceries, etc). Planting forage turnips and oats behind hogs in their rooted up ground-they will be rotated back to the forage plot 60 days later. I have plans for an old hay wagon to both provide shade and to have grain and the whey-yogurt stored on top (think old chest freezers-1,000# feed in each!). It might not be pretty (unless we paint flowers on the side!) but it will be more efficient than hauling grain by the 50# bag in my garden cart-and easier on the elbows. The hay wagon is easy to move and a water line to the pig pasture means no more managing 100's of feet of hose-yay!
Last but certainly not least, I have stirred the pot here in Wausau and gotten a group of people together to start a Slow Food Wausau group. We are not even snails yet- just slugs (ha my joke), but I think this will be a great group of activists for local food.
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Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Back to Work
I've been kinda quiet here on the blog lately. Rest assured that I have been working hard. Last week I was filling in for a veterinarian who took his wife on a well deserved vacation to somewhere tropical. Nine hours a day plus an hour of driving on either end. I did get an unheard of, actual whole hour to sit down and eat lunch in the middle of the day! I has happy to do it for a couple of reasons the first of which is income. An hourly independent contractor rate is pretty sweet. Second and equally important was restoring my faith in my abilities. I left my practice almost a year ago burned out and uncaring. It was a relief to see that I've still got 'it'. I really enjoyed engaging with his clients and staff, dare I say I've even missed it. What I did realize is that veterinary medicine is not the all encompasing passion it once was for me. Somewhere I lost the passion which used to keep me up at night reading about new drugs, procedures, customer service tips, etc. When I lost that passion I stopped feeling qualified, I started doubting. I wasn't sure if I was good enough and tough cases really stressed me out. What if I couldn't fix them, what is wrong, maybe they would be better off under someone elses care? That self doubt would eat at me(-I'm getting that nauseous feeling in my stomach right now just writing about it!) This realization helped me to see that if I go back to veterinary medicine it will need to be from passion, from an all consuming drive, confident that I am extremely skilled and able to give my profession 100% of my mind (herbal?, acupuncture? consulting for organic producers?). Anything less will bring me back to where I was a year ago.
New Business: thirty pigs, 200 chickens, farmers market and Slow Food Wausau! ( just a teaser for tomorrow)
New Business: thirty pigs, 200 chickens, farmers market and Slow Food Wausau! ( just a teaser for tomorrow)
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Food for Thought (bagels give me gas!)
I am forty, I am overweight, I am a moody carb junky. To expect this to all change without taking a radically new approach would be the definition of insanity. I have had a few slaps up side the head which have really truly made me understand that we are what we eat, food is medicine, garbage in=garbage out, etc, etc.
Early in January I started eating very differently. Forget the USDA food pyramid with its foundation of grains and teeny tiny sliver of fats, I've turned it on itskeister keester oh hell ! on its ass. I've been reading a lot of Weston A Price, a lot of primal and paleo nutritional information and the conclusion I have come to is this: the USDA and the AMA don't know beans about what the human animal needs to be healthy!
For the past 4 weeks I have been limiting my carb intake to 100grams (400calories or less), no wheat, no noodles, very limited beans, and potatoes. Most of those carbs come form fruit and veggies. Protein -approx 0.7 grams per lb lean weight means I eat 80-90 grams of protein /day. That is another 400 calories or so. Guess what the rest of my diet is....(alcohol? no, but a good guess)....FAT. I am eating alot of fat -eggs, walnuts, avocados, olive oil, BUTTER, grass fed meats. No canola oil, no PUFA, no hydrogenated anything. Its largely about preventing the insulin surge, antioxidants and reducing inflammation.
Things have been going great! It helps that my husband is on board and excited about eating real food, it helps that I have time to cook and a freezer full of homegrown grass based meats. My sugar cravings are under control, I am listening to my body- not grazing to keep my energy levels up. I'm not much of a scale person but the one week i checked -I had lost 4 lbs (eating butter and bacon!!)
There have been other benefits as well. This week I had a moment of weakness and ate a 1/2 bagel. It was so good, mmmm, but four hours later I got all crampy and had bad gas (is there a good kind?). My normal state of flatulence had been missing and I hadn't even noticed! My mom had celiac disease, perhaps I have inherited some of those GI traits as well. Food for thought! Check out marks daily apple especially the Friday success stories. They are really inspiring.
Early in January I started eating very differently. Forget the USDA food pyramid with its foundation of grains and teeny tiny sliver of fats, I've turned it on its
For the past 4 weeks I have been limiting my carb intake to 100grams (400calories or less), no wheat, no noodles, very limited beans, and potatoes. Most of those carbs come form fruit and veggies. Protein -approx 0.7 grams per lb lean weight means I eat 80-90 grams of protein /day. That is another 400 calories or so. Guess what the rest of my diet is....(alcohol? no, but a good guess)....FAT. I am eating alot of fat -eggs, walnuts, avocados, olive oil, BUTTER, grass fed meats. No canola oil, no PUFA, no hydrogenated anything. Its largely about preventing the insulin surge, antioxidants and reducing inflammation.
Things have been going great! It helps that my husband is on board and excited about eating real food, it helps that I have time to cook and a freezer full of homegrown grass based meats. My sugar cravings are under control, I am listening to my body- not grazing to keep my energy levels up. I'm not much of a scale person but the one week i checked -I had lost 4 lbs (eating butter and bacon!!)
There have been other benefits as well. This week I had a moment of weakness and ate a 1/2 bagel. It was so good, mmmm, but four hours later I got all crampy and had bad gas (is there a good kind?). My normal state of flatulence had been missing and I hadn't even noticed! My mom had celiac disease, perhaps I have inherited some of those GI traits as well. Food for thought! Check out marks daily apple especially the Friday success stories. They are really inspiring.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Farm Tour Slideshow
I just put together a little slideshow at GrasWerka's site-help to remind me of green glass and a clean house!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Baby It's Cold Outside!
Real Wisconsin winter is upon us, no more Mr Nice Guy! The forecast was calling for negative single digits last night. I've got the puffy down coat and -40 Carhart bib-overalls hanging in the hall. Instead of just turning the light off in the chicken coop at 9pm, I switched them over to a red heat bulb for overnight. Chicken popsicles are not my favorite flavor. While the cold is dangerous and difficult to deal with, it is also heart-stoppingly beautiful. As I crunched back to the house in the night, the stars looked so close, so bright, they just crowd the sky. The half moon created shadows and made the snow sparkle. The house ahead of me was lit up with warm yellow light, my loved ones inside. Sigh...this is why I'm here...
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| Elegant patterns on the coop window-chickens snug inside |
Monday, January 2, 2012
Thursday, December 15, 2011
First Prepper Step
Well not really first step, there are the chickens, wood stove and the passive solar house...
Today I bleached/cleaned 4 Reliance water jugs (7 gallons each) and filled for drinking water. I also filled (but didnt really clean) approx 30 gallons worth of water for the chickens. Soon we will have snow (this being Wisconsin in December) and then I will have a built in supply of water for non-drinking purposes. So at 1 gallon per day per person we are set for a short term emergency. More if I drain the water pressurizing tank. It's a small thing but makes me feel proactive!
Today I bleached/cleaned 4 Reliance water jugs (7 gallons each) and filled for drinking water. I also filled (but didnt really clean) approx 30 gallons worth of water for the chickens. Soon we will have snow (this being Wisconsin in December) and then I will have a built in supply of water for non-drinking purposes. So at 1 gallon per day per person we are set for a short term emergency. More if I drain the water pressurizing tank. It's a small thing but makes me feel proactive!
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
American Preppers Network
Things are calming down around here. The business is sold, I have some work lined up doing hourly relief veterinary work. We close on Mom's house next week. Christmas stuff is (mostly) done. I am starting to 'play' with my art again. (I realized if I called it 'getting ready for the Show'-I would freeze up and be unable to be creative-so I PLAY with paint and pencil). I was almost ready to kick back and eat bon-bons with a good book for the rest of the winter :) Then my blogger friend Ruth had to start talkng about SHTF preppers...oh...right... I was going to be prepared, that was in our original list of goals for moving out here. Damn it! No bon-bons for me.
We wanted to be prepared for emergencies short or long. Prepared for that winter icestorm. Prepared for peak oil. Prepared for shortages of food at the grocery store.Prepared for Planet X Scratch that -if planet x comes we are all screwed and that's that.
Small things first for me- my truck needs a new battery. Bleach and fill those water jugs in the garage. Check the flashlight and battery supply. Be sure to have at least some cash on hand. Check my lamp oil/kerosene and wick/mantle supply. Matches. Diesel for the tractor/snow blower.Build a Faraday cage to protect electronics from EMP strike Whew...
I joined American Prepper Network, they seem sane. I have so many questions about everything from installing a handpump on the well to how much food to plant to how to protect my money from inflation. (No I will NOT buy any stupid gold but maybe some cows...)
What can you do to protect your family from an extended streak of mother nature on the rampage (or widespread civil unrest and martial law)?
We wanted to be prepared for emergencies short or long. Prepared for that winter icestorm. Prepared for peak oil. Prepared for shortages of food at the grocery store.
Small things first for me- my truck needs a new battery. Bleach and fill those water jugs in the garage. Check the flashlight and battery supply. Be sure to have at least some cash on hand. Check my lamp oil/kerosene and wick/mantle supply. Matches. Diesel for the tractor/snow blower.
I joined American Prepper Network, they seem sane. I have so many questions about everything from installing a handpump on the well to how much food to plant to how to protect my money from inflation. (No I will NOT buy any stupid gold but maybe some cows...)
What can you do to protect your family from an extended streak of mother nature on the rampage (or widespread civil unrest and martial law)?
Monday, October 31, 2011
Protests- Public and Private
I'm angry. Very angry. I've progressed from oblivious to skeptical eye-rolling into 'what the hell are they thinking' and now into f#cking angry. Angry enough that I need to channel this into something or it will eat me.
I am mad that my government values corporations above people, I am angry that there is a 99%, I am angry that GMO's are not labeled, I am angry that I do not have the (fundamental) right to healthy food -even if i grow/milk it myself. I am angry that more people aren't angry. Maybe I just have too much time on my hands. Maybe I should be shopping online instead of reading Joel Salatin, the Complete Patient and the Food Renegade.
We have been privately protesting in our own way for a while now. Consumer disobedience, free range kids, GoodWill and used cars. Then we stepped it up; moved out of town, quit my job, learned how to can and grow my own food even if we might not be allowed to actually eat it (over my dead body-really, try to stop me).
What else can I do to protest what I feel is wrong about our country? The snide comments on Facebook are getting nowhere. Move my savings out of the big bank and into a local credit union this week as part of the national movement. Call Madison and file a complaint against Judge Fiedler's ruling (oh wait he resigned and is now working for a firm who defends Monsanto) okay call and ask politely for him to be disbarred. Call my state representative yadayada
I'm just angry :\
postscript: i spoke to the Judicial Commission and Lawyer Regulation offices yesterday and have their complaint/greivance forms online...but do i have the conviction to actually file against Fiedler? it is scarey to DO something.
I am mad that my government values corporations above people, I am angry that there is a 99%, I am angry that GMO's are not labeled, I am angry that I do not have the (fundamental) right to healthy food -even if i grow/milk it myself. I am angry that more people aren't angry. Maybe I just have too much time on my hands. Maybe I should be shopping online instead of reading Joel Salatin, the Complete Patient and the Food Renegade.
We have been privately protesting in our own way for a while now. Consumer disobedience, free range kids, GoodWill and used cars. Then we stepped it up; moved out of town, quit my job, learned how to can and grow my own food even if we might not be allowed to actually eat it (over my dead body-really, try to stop me).
What else can I do to protest what I feel is wrong about our country? The snide comments on Facebook are getting nowhere. Move my savings out of the big bank and into a local credit union this week as part of the national movement. Call Madison and file a complaint against Judge Fiedler's ruling (oh wait he resigned and is now working for a firm who defends Monsanto) okay call and ask politely for him to be disbarred. Call my state representative yadayada
I'm just angry :\
postscript: i spoke to the Judicial Commission and Lawyer Regulation offices yesterday and have their complaint/greivance forms online...but do i have the conviction to actually file against Fiedler? it is scarey to DO something.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Lettuce Alone You Nasty Frost!
Just a quick post on our farm site about my first attempt at extending my growing season. We are having regular frosts overnight, but no snow yet!
Also a link to a microgreen tutorial at You Grow Girl.
I will be posting on the farm site more regularly, but keeping this site up for my occasional rantings/ravings/mumblings. I dont really think the farm site is the right place for that and I do like the anonymity of my Small Life!
Also a link to a microgreen tutorial at You Grow Girl.
I will be posting on the farm site more regularly, but keeping this site up for my occasional rantings/ravings/mumblings. I dont really think the farm site is the right place for that and I do like the anonymity of my Small Life!
Friday, September 30, 2011
The Local Economy
I posted last night on the local food economy on my farm blog. Thank you Robert of Roberts Roost for getting the juices flowing on that one!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Guilty Pleasures?
ooh that sounds naughty doesn't it :)
We had a hard freeze last night and will have another tonight. Bye-bye garden. I am feeling a bit guilty about this but this is one death in the family which I am happy about. It is a signal to slow things down, another item off my list. No more feeling bad about the 5lb cukes lurking under the vines or the green zuchinni canoes. I can grow the stuff but I am not so good about using it. The rest of my family does not enjoy vegetables. I am also embarrassed to say I have still not learned how to can- i dry and freeze and do refrigerator pickles but there was so much waste in the garden. Even pigs will not eat overgrown summer squash or cukes! I think next year I will plant more herbs and less unpopular veggies. I will stick to early tomatoes (no more than 5 plants!), carrots, beets, beans, greens and sweet corn. Now to deal with the 60 lbs of onions drying in the garage, the 2 shopping bags of semi-ripe tomatoes and 10lbs biggish cukes! The carrots, potatoes and beets can stay in the ground until I am ready for them
We had a hard freeze last night and will have another tonight. Bye-bye garden. I am feeling a bit guilty about this but this is one death in the family which I am happy about. It is a signal to slow things down, another item off my list. No more feeling bad about the 5lb cukes lurking under the vines or the green zuchinni canoes. I can grow the stuff but I am not so good about using it. The rest of my family does not enjoy vegetables. I am also embarrassed to say I have still not learned how to can- i dry and freeze and do refrigerator pickles but there was so much waste in the garden. Even pigs will not eat overgrown summer squash or cukes! I think next year I will plant more herbs and less unpopular veggies. I will stick to early tomatoes (no more than 5 plants!), carrots, beets, beans, greens and sweet corn. Now to deal with the 60 lbs of onions drying in the garage, the 2 shopping bags of semi-ripe tomatoes and 10lbs biggish cukes! The carrots, potatoes and beets can stay in the ground until I am ready for them
Sunday, September 11, 2011
D is for...
(sorry Judy -i stole your theme!)
D is for depression. I am finally just owning up to it. I suffer from depression. It has been a chronic problem, but episodic. I certainly have a genetic predisposition-all members of my immediate family have been on meds for OCD or depression. I poo-poohed prescription meds; didn't need them-not me! My thought was if your life was so off kilter that you shouldn't be medicated into submisssion-fix the problem (lifestyle, stress, etc) not the symptom (depression). Sort of like having to give confinement animals antibiotics to survive the horrid living conditions. Probably not a very PC way to think. I mean we are being taught that depression is a 'real' disease, just as real as diabetes or heart disease, right?
But here I was living the life of my dreams and I didnt want to get out of bed, I didnt want to do anything except eat sweets and sleep. Stupid chickens, stupid pigs, stupid kids-what do you want from me- just LEAVE ME ALONE! Wow.
I have a theory about my depression. Yes it is 'real', but like diabetes and like heart disease there are things I can do to lessen my likelihood of disease. I believe my fragile brain chemistry is strongly affected by what I eat. This is sort of a 'chicken or the egg' thing for me. Are uncontrolled sweet cravings a cause or an effect of my depression? I am choosing to believe that I have some control over this situation and if I can restrict my carb intake (especially at the beginnings of my period) that my brain chemistry will be more stable. I have given myself a month to work on the problem in my own way. If I am not successful I will seek professional help and a rx.
This is what I am doing: omega 3 FA supplements, St Johns Wort and siberian ginseng. The first 2 have beed shown helpful in treating depression, ginseng for a self-diagnosed qi deficiency. I am also being careful about carbs. The paleo-diets are attractive to me intellectually but very difficult in practice-i dont know what to eat if not bread, pasta, potatoes. Equally important for me is to stop my procrastinating ways; pay bills on time, etc. to reduce that internal stress- i usually have a dozen things in my head to feel 'guilty' about because I havent done them yet. Most are small easily remedied things. My plan for this week is to write them out and remove them from the internal chatter.
D is for depression. I am finally just owning up to it. I suffer from depression. It has been a chronic problem, but episodic. I certainly have a genetic predisposition-all members of my immediate family have been on meds for OCD or depression. I poo-poohed prescription meds; didn't need them-not me! My thought was if your life was so off kilter that you shouldn't be medicated into submisssion-fix the problem (lifestyle, stress, etc) not the symptom (depression). Sort of like having to give confinement animals antibiotics to survive the horrid living conditions. Probably not a very PC way to think. I mean we are being taught that depression is a 'real' disease, just as real as diabetes or heart disease, right?
But here I was living the life of my dreams and I didnt want to get out of bed, I didnt want to do anything except eat sweets and sleep. Stupid chickens, stupid pigs, stupid kids-what do you want from me- just LEAVE ME ALONE! Wow.
I have a theory about my depression. Yes it is 'real', but like diabetes and like heart disease there are things I can do to lessen my likelihood of disease. I believe my fragile brain chemistry is strongly affected by what I eat. This is sort of a 'chicken or the egg' thing for me. Are uncontrolled sweet cravings a cause or an effect of my depression? I am choosing to believe that I have some control over this situation and if I can restrict my carb intake (especially at the beginnings of my period) that my brain chemistry will be more stable. I have given myself a month to work on the problem in my own way. If I am not successful I will seek professional help and a rx.
This is what I am doing: omega 3 FA supplements, St Johns Wort and siberian ginseng. The first 2 have beed shown helpful in treating depression, ginseng for a self-diagnosed qi deficiency. I am also being careful about carbs. The paleo-diets are attractive to me intellectually but very difficult in practice-i dont know what to eat if not bread, pasta, potatoes. Equally important for me is to stop my procrastinating ways; pay bills on time, etc. to reduce that internal stress- i usually have a dozen things in my head to feel 'guilty' about because I havent done them yet. Most are small easily remedied things. My plan for this week is to write them out and remove them from the internal chatter.
Friday, July 29, 2011
The Wall
...I have hit it and hit it hard! I have gone from suburban professional to local food producer and i know now that i have stepped out of the frying pan and into the fire!! We just rounded up our 75 meat birds and taken them to the processor, the 12 pigs have only 5 weeks left with us, the second batch of meat birds are in the brooder-2 1/2 weeks until they go out on grass. My 8 layers are reliably giving us 3 1/2 dozen eggs per week and there are 25 baby layers growing up in their tractor on pasture. The three calves are trimming the pasture down nicely and are VERY low maintenance. My (human) girls are in piano lessons with a flurry of ortho and MD apts coming up. My garden is growing like crazy- we have had lots of rain and heat- i can almost find the cukes between all the pigweed :). Dad has been wondering if I will come over to pick raspberries- and i really want to but... I.CANT.DO.THIS.ANYMORE!!! I (mistakenly, naively thought staying home would be bucolic, idyllic, just like all these other blogs I read) Not so much.
If we are to be a income producing farm, I need to do something much much differently. Or I need to just be a homesteader and produce enough for my family. I cannot farm like a hobbyist.
I love love love it out here. I love caring for these creatures. I love seeing animals acting as nature intended. I just cant do it for 12 hrs a day 7 days a weeks, etc etc.
balance balance balance- i'll let you know when i find it!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Couple Quotes
This deficit stuff is getting to me, I have no faith in our elected leaders. I have some mature savings bonds I have been hanging onto. I will be cashing them in next week and using the proceeds to buy a pressure canner. I have more confidence in my garden and myself than in my govt.
"When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing; when you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in goods, but in favors; when you see that men get rich more easily by graft than by work, and your laws no longer protect you against them, but protect them against you… you may know that your society is doomed."
–Ayn Rand
"I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labor and in our amusements. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy."
- Thomas Jefferson
"When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing; when you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in goods, but in favors; when you see that men get rich more easily by graft than by work, and your laws no longer protect you against them, but protect them against you… you may know that your society is doomed."
–Ayn Rand
"I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labor and in our amusements. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy."
- Thomas Jefferson
Sunday, May 15, 2011
It's All Just Stuff
I was working with my sister today to clean Mom's house. I was thinking about what a person leaves behind after they leave this life, it is such a nebulous thing. I wish I were a more eloquent writer...I cannot explain, but I was left with the resolution to DO more to positively affect people and acquire LESS stuff. The stuff does not last; it ends up getting sold off or boxed up and given to charity. It is the things we do for other which are lasting. An individuals actions ripple, echo and spread in ways which are truly lasting.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Those Damn Hens!!
Spring is really here! A whole weekend of 60's. Enough sun to pink my cheeks and make me a REAL red neck! The hens are really enjoying the grass and bugs as well-they have freee range of our place during daylight. They also helped themselves to a tasty salad consisting of my pepper and tomato seedlings! In hind sight it was not a great idea -but i thought i would treat the tiny seedings to some out-of-doors, you know just an hour of cloudy afternoon. I came around the corner of the house to find the birds having a snack!! Uggh, some of the tomatoes will survive but every pepper was nipped off. Now this is Northern WI and I still have time before anything can safely go out--time to start some more seeds tomorrow :)
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