Making your Home more Eco-friendly

While writing an article for a client this morning, I came across some interesting research that I thought I would share with you guys. The article was based on the premise of lessening your home's environmental impact. I've always known most of the tips I wrote about and actually had written a previous post on them a few weeks ago, called How We Manage: Running a Farmhouse on one Solid Income, but in researching the actual numbers behind the tips I was shocked by what I found.

Unplugging your unused electronics

The industry name for powered off items that still require power is "vampires" or "phantom loads." These are items such as coffee pots, TVs, DVD players, cell phone chargers, and microwaves, that when powered off, still consume energy. Items with remotes or digital clocks tend to use even more. According to a study published by Cornell University, the average household has at least 20 of these vampire electronics. It is estimated that the US uses the equivalent of seven electrical generating plants just to supply energy to these "powered off" vampire appliances, which equals approximately $3 billion a year nation-wide and adds an additional $200 annually to each home's electric costs. That may not seem like much, but that's $200 a year that you're spending on absolutely nothing. 

Hang the Washing 

Using the dryer is another fairly costly amenity. According to Simple Ecology, it takes 900 pounds of coal to generate enough electricity to run your dryer. When following the math, that equals out to be 2,300 pounds of CO2 put out for every household, every year. Going with the equation that a tree can put out 50 pounds of CO2 in an annual cycle, it would take 46 trees to counteract the amount of CO2 emissions put out by your dryer every year. These amounts are just for one "average" household. 

Switch to Energy Efficient Light bulbs 

Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs pay for themselves within 6 months of install, according to Energy Star. They use one-fourth of the amount of energy that regular incandescent bulbs use and have a longer life span. This translates into a savings of $92 and 460 kilowatt hours over a CFL's lifespan. 

Hand washing vs Dishwasher 

A report published by the Florida Solar Energy Center estimates that it costs $0.46 to run the dishwasher. At an assessed 215 loads a year, that averages out to $98.80 a year. This report was published using dishwashers made after the year 1994, when they became more energy efficient. If you are using a dishwasher that was crafted before 1994, then your costs will be significantly higher. 

These are just a few cost comparisons and ecological impacts of the tips I had included in my previous post. They may not seem largely expensive individually, but when added up they do make a impact on your electric bill. And, of course, with any use of electricity in the US, which is mostly provided by non-renewable fossil fuels, pollutants are emitted into the air. Creating a sustainable lifestyle does not merely include providing your own food, but also reducing your carbon footprint made by your household.

Chicken Mites and the Surprising Way To Get Rid of Them

Saturday was our children's first poultry show. And it was a big one- 843 birds were registered. We had no clue what we were doing as we'd never even been to one... But I knew that the birds the kids had chosen to take needed baths. They had picked two silkies, a blue splash hen and a white paint cockerel.

The silkies had been kept in an indoor pen until a few weeks ago. We had transferred them to a larger, outdoor pen so that we could continue to breed and eventually add more to the flock. Unfortunately, moving them outside was a bad idea. When I brought them in to bathe them, I realized that there was an unfortunate side effect of moving them into the new coop before the show: MITES. They were loaded. I didn't know what to do. It was the night before check-in for the show. The kids were so excited about the show that I was determined not to have to pull them out. There had to be a way to get rid of these things overnight! 

Daddy Farmer and I quickly reached for our laptops. We went through article after article after DIY post... everything seemed like it was going to take a few days. After several hours, we found a few mentions of one possible remedy. It seemed a bit odd, but we were desperate. According to what we read, wood ash loosens the mites from the feathers and allows the chickens to literally "shake it off." What did we have to lose? So, we decided to give it a shot. 

Daddy Farmer got to scooping out the ash from the fireplace and put into a plastic tub. I took the birds and gave them a bath using a mixture of mild dish soap and olive oil. Once they were blow dried, we placed them into the tub. Now, it is important that you use a well ventilated container. Chickens have a very sensitive respiratory system and you have to be very careful. We sprinkled a layer of ash onto their backs and allowed them to dirt bathe in the ash pile for a few minutes. We kept a close eye on them and removed them after they had adequately covered themselves. 

The next morning, we went and pulled them out of the dog crate we had them sleep in the night before. Inside the bottom of the crate were tons and tons of dead mites. I took them and washed off the ash and checked them over. Not a single mite. Not only had they died, but the ash had indeed loosened them and the chickens had managed to shake or preen off all of the remaining mites. It was not only amazing, it was a lifesaver! Not only were we able to get the chickens in the show, but our Roo went on to win Best Variety! 

My Ugly Barn: A photo tour

We have recently started discussing and planning an enclosed chicken run for our currently free-ranged (29) chickens. While doing some research and hunting around for plans and ideas online, I've been getting slightly disheartened by all of the beautiful barns and chicken coops I've been stumbling across. Working from home as a freelance writer, spending the majority of my time catering to a trying-to-walk infant, and starting the process of homesteading has left little to no time or budget for creating gorgeous coops and pens.

When we purchased our home, it had a barn already on the premises. It's a large barn, but it was created by the previous owners out of scrap materials. You can see billboard signage poking out from under the paint and the back half of the building is a different material entirely. It is an adequate barn, but it's hideous.

When we we moved in I was too far pregnant to be of any help around the property. Projects were prioritized, unnecessary ideas were book shelved. We've been using scraps and materials found around the property to build any new coops or pens to save money. With focusing on raising an infant, even freelancing has been difficult. 

As I've been looking online at different blogs, articles, and coop plans... I've been feeling a twinge of jealousy. Some of these barns and coops are just gorgeous. It makes me sad to look out of the window at my ugly barn some days. It's completely functional, it's just not very pretty. I got to thinking about this and came to the conclusion that we cannot be the only ones. Running a farm is expensive, starting up a homestead is expensive. We cannot be the only ones salvaging material and making pens and coops from odds and ends. 

So, with that in mind, I got to snapping pictures that I have long since avoided posting. I've been careful not to upload pictures that show the ugly side of my barn because I feel a bit embarrassed. All these other blogging sites that have thousands of followers are constantly posting pictures of their photo-worthy barns and coops. I know that there have to be others out there that feel bad every time they look at them and for those of you out there- I give you this post. You are not alone. I may have an ugly barn, but that does not mean that I love my animals any less or care for them in a poor manner. So for all you out there that don't feel your barns or coops are up to picture perfect standards- this is for you! Welcome to my ugly barn! 

My Ugly Barn: A Photo Tour 

This is the front of my ugly barn. This is the view I see from the house.

The back of the barn, showing its location to the house. 

The above two pictures are of the back of my barn. You can see the Goat's tire playground and the back of rabbit run.

This is the little walkway inside of the barn. The windows look into the goat and pig's coops. The couch was originally in the house, but we got a new one. We had every intention on taking it to the dump, but the animals loved it so much that we left it. The goats sleep on it during rainstorms. 

As you can see, the barn built by the previous owners was constructed using found materials- here you can see a billboard sign. 

The chicken coop. They are free ranged during the day, they get locked up at night. 

The side view of the chicken coop. You can see the silkie pen next to it.

This was a room originally full of shelves. When we chicken wired it off for a chicken coop, we took out the shelves and they use the pegs as perches. (it's cute to see a wall full of chickens at night!) 

Some of the nesting boxes in the chicken coop. 

This room is currently used for storage. It is on the front side of the barn. It had a garage door on it when we moved in but the track was broken, so it had to come down. We are currently looking for a new door. 

These windows are also looking into the goat and pig room and also on the front side of the barn. 

This picture is taken from the horses run-in area. You can see the chicken coop in the far left corner. The coops in a row are the rabbit pens and what my kids refer to as "rabbit run." The door on the left leads into the goat and pig room. 

Rabbit Run. 

The horse area. No, we don't feed donkey off the floor. Gristle, the quarter horse, flicks his food everywhere when he eats and donkey hangs out to clean up the mess.

 The front of the goat and pig pens in the former office room of the barn. We made the makeshift doors from billboard signs we found on the property when we moved in. 

The pig pen. 

The side view of the goat and pig pens. 

We had replaced the fridge in the house and had no need for this nasty thing anymore. It became storage for the feed bags inside of the pig and goat room.

So, there you have it. A photo tour of my ugly barn. Hopefully, those of you who have pieced together your enclosures from scrap materials feel a little less alone. Not everyone has a hallmark card version of a barn. This is real life and there's no need to feel bad about it. 

How to trim your goat's hooves

I've had some questions lately regarding keeping goats and since it was time to trim Edmund and Eli's hooves this weekend anyway, I thought I would jot down the process for those who are considering goats. I am by no means an "expert" but I can tell you what works for me and what I had learned when researching it before doing it myself for the first time.

One thing I found helpful was to play with the goats feet at least once a week from the day they came home. Most animals do not like having their feet messed with - this goes for dogs, cats, horses, etc. - so I knew that I would need to start the process well in advance in order to make it easier on all of us. I would usually just grab their feet while they were sitting next to me and just spread their little hooves apart or pick up their back legs while they were standing. They still do not enjoy it, but at least it would not be a shock when I went to do it later on.

They say goats hooves should be trimmed every three months to avoid overgrowth and the goat being uncomfortable. I find that if I do it the same week the farrier visits, it's an easier way to remember and is close enough to the timeline required- allowing me to keep up on it. You can choose the schedule that works best for you, of course.

In order to trim your goat's hooves, you will need either a pair of hoof trimmers or a pair of garden shears. I picked up a pair of goat hoof trimmers on eBay for under $10 and they work great. You can always pick them up from places like Rural King, Tractor Supply, or your local feed store.

Most articles I read when I began my research stated that you should use a stanchion to restrain the goat during the trimming process. I do not have one since I haven't purchased my dairy goats yet, so I had my husband hold them tightly against them. We only have minis, so it's not difficult for him. You want to make sure that you can safely restrain your goat while you are doing this so as to avoid any unnecessary bleeding.

Once you have your goat firmly restrained, grab hold of the first foot. Give them time to adjust- they won't like being on three legs, so wait for the kicking and struggling to end before making the first cut. Once the goat has resigned, go ahead and begin trimming the side wall of the hoof. If you see the hoof begin to turn even the slightest shade of pink, you are getting close to the quick. Keep a blood stop powder nearby if you fear cutting too closely. As long as you take slow, small cuts- you should be fine. Just make sure that you create a flat, even walking surface for the goat. 

Before

It will seem like it takes forever the first time you give it a go, but I promise it gets quicker the more you do it. Both you and the goat will get used to the process and it will smooth out for you both. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to send me a message either through here or our Facebook page! 

After

(This was actually taken the day after the trimming. Usually the edges will show white immediately after a trimming, but I had to catch my goat the next day due to him no longer wanting to cooperate with me once trimmed. His hooves are all dirty again in this picture.) 

Being A SAHM

Laying by the pool sipping a margarita, reading books in front of an open window, spending the day at the spa or hair salon with the girls- this is what TV may have you believing is what being a stay at home mom is like, but I am here to tell you that is not the case. In fact, this isn't even a close representation of what my life has become since choosing to live as a stay at home mother. I thought life in the busy, high-volume retail world was exhausting, but boy was I ever wrong! Working would feel like a vacation now.

Since becoming a stay at home mother, my life has been one crazy moment after another. I haven't seen a pool in over a year, I couldn't tell you the last time I picked up a book, and getting my hair done took roughly a year to schedule because I had to balance everyone else's schedules first. I no longer get to show off my prized collection of expensive, designer heels. I live in sneakers or slip-ons. My clothes went from designers and high fashion to tee shirts and yoga pants - all of which are covered in either poop, puke, pee, or some household cleaner.

I used to long for a day off where I would be able to relax in bed until 8:00 am, get up slowly, and veg out in front of the TV with a hot, steaming cup of coffee. If I make it until 6:30 am now, I get excited. It usually takes me several hours to finish one cup of coffee, which by that time, is ice cold. My day is filled with phrases I never thought would become part of my standard speech. Phrases such as, "Don't choke your sister.", "Why are you naked?", "The toilet is NOT a toy car wash!".

My life went from being able to clean up the house in the evenings - or for a few hours on my days off - to barely being able to keep up with it. It's unbelievable how much damage children can do to a house when they have more time at home. I feel like I have a broom permanently glued to my hand. After bed time, I find myself picking up mass quantities of toys from every inch of every room in the house. If I'm lucky, I manage to find enough time to shower about once every three days. And peeing? Well, that's now a luxury - especially if I want to do it alone. I find toys in my bed, I am constantly stepping on Legos, and I can't figure out how mud managed to get in some of the places that I find it these days. My $300-$500 designer handbag has now turned into a $50 diaper bag filled with spit rags, balled-up dirty diapers, and toys.

Since leaving my full-time career to become a full-time mom, my days have gotten even crazier. They start at 6:00 am and end around midnight - if I'm lucky. My body aches from not sitting all day, I'm dropping weight due to not having a legally scheduled lunch break, and the level of exhaustion that I hit on a daily basis makes a 12 hour work day feel like a walk in the park. I'm always covered in stains, I can't figure out what that smell is half the time, and I haven't seen a tube of lipstick since handing in my store keys. But, you know what? I wouldn't trade all the jobs in the world for being a stay at home mom. It is by far the most fulfilling albeit exhausting job I've ever had the pleasure of doing - even if it is only paid in hugs.

Reusing Household Products

One of the things that I have been working on, since we made the decision to homestead, is learning to use what we have. Meaning, not to run to the store for a one-issue-specific product when I have something that would have worked just as well already in my kitchen pantry. It's surprising how many things you have lying around that can be repurposed for other uses. Between repurposing and attempting to reduce waste (when you live on a private road, on 11 acres, taking the trash cans out to where they will actually pick it up is quite a chore!), it's been an ongoing learning experience.

There are the obvious things, such as feeding the kitchen scraps to the pigs and crushing up egg shells and feeding them back to the chickens for an extra dose of calcium. However, I've started finding interesting ways to use other household items. Here is a quick list of some ways that we are using other products in the house.

Diaper Rash Treatments 

If you're a parent, you've experienced a diaper rash at some point in your life. They can be horrible and it just breaks your heart to hear your child scream and cry during wiping. Baby Farmer recently had one that was just awful, despite my changing her immediately every time she goes (perks of being home with her - we've made it 8 months with NO rash until last week!). She had a bit of a tummy bug and was going constantly - the frequent wiping was tearing her little butt up and I felt like the Desitin was actually making things worse. So, I looked to some new resources online to find something a bit more natural to help her out. 

After researching, I stopped using wipes immediately and let her air out as much as possible in between diapers. I started using water and mild soap for soiled diapers and just water for pee. When I did diaper her, I coated her bottom in olive oil to protect it from any further damage. I also bathed her in warm water with a tablespoon of baking powder in it, letting her sit and soak. Within a few hours, she was already showing a big difference and the rash was completely gone the next morning. 

Animal Ear Infection Treatment 

My pony recently came up from the pasture with a horrible case of ear mites. It was so bad that you could barely see inside of her ears and she would not let you touch her head at all. My neighbor's horses apparently had pretty bad cases as well, and he was having a hell of a time trying to get rid of them. All of the products he was trying were just not working. Not wanting to waste a fortune on useless products, I checked some of my new favorite home remedy websites and found this recipe: 

Stew thinly sliced garlic cloves in olive oil for at least 24 hours. 

Strain the garlic out of the olive oil. 

Use a dropper to get the solution into your animal's ears. 

This can be used on dogs, cats, horses, goats, and I've been told humans as well. My biggest tip, though, is to stand back quickly as your animal WILL shake its head, flinging the excess all over you! 

Iced Coffee 

This is a nice and easy way to avoid wasting any coffee in the morning. Mornings are pretty hectic around here, so even though I brew X amount of cups with full intentions of drinking them, I always get sidetracked and do not get to them. I can't tell you how many cups of old coffee that I have dumped down the drain in order to brew fresh. Now, we've learned to save it and make iced coffee with it. We pour the remaining coffee into a mason jar and store it in the fridge. Then, later in the day, we pour milk or flavored creamer, a spoonful of sugar, and two ice cubes into a cup and pour the cooled coffee on top of it. That's it. Nice and easy and we're saving so much coffee!! 

Make sure to keep an eye out for future posts about reusing household products. If you have any reuses of items around your house, snap a picture and send me some info and I'll make sure to add it to the next list (you'll receive credit, of course!).  

How We Manage: Running A Farmhouse On One Solid Income

When we purchased our farmhouse, it was done so with two full time incomes. I was still a full time career mom, who had been in retail store management for over 11 years and had worked my way up to a nice cushy salary. During my pregnancy with Baby Farmer, there were some complications that made the long hours and constant standing of a retail job no longer an option. Within three months of closing and moving into our dream home, I was medically pulled from work. I was only 5 months pregnant at the time. 

Our home had been a foreclosure and had sat empty for almost two years. Getting it back into repair, replacing appliances, and getting the fences and pens into working order really drained our savings, especially with me no longer earning a paycheck. Running a 3,000 square foot home on 11 acres with 60 plus animals was no cheap feat, either. Between feed costs, farrier bills, and livestock supplies, we were already strapped. To make things even more complicated, this is Florida, and cooling a 3,000 square foot, two story home was costing us approximately $400 a month. And that was just the electric bill. 

By this time, we had decided that it was best that I no longer work the crazy hours of retail management and focus on raising the children, even after the pregnancy was over. We knew losing my salary would be a massive hit, but we felt it was the best thing to do for the kids, as I had missed a lot of events in their lives already due to work and now adding a third child was going to make life even more complicated. I did start working, but no longer in retail or outside of the home. I have been working for the past year as a freelance transcriptionist and writer - which compared to my previous salary is for mere pennies. Of course, being that it is freelance, the work load varies as well. 

So, how do we do it? Well, if you ask my husband he will say, "It's because you married a German." All kidding aside, the drive and work ethic contained in that man far outshine that in any other man I have previously dated. He is fantastic! Daddy Farmer is an insurance inspector. He leaves at 7:30-8:00 in the morning and comes home between 6:00-7:00 at night. He then proceeds to spend his evening inputting all of the work he has done over the day into his computer. He does this 5-6 days a week, depending on his work load. 

We are very careful with our spending on unnecessary items. This includes bills - mainly the electric bill. We have explained to our children that our electric bill runs as much as some people's rent payments and they are starting to be a bit more cautious with leaving lights on. Whenever we see a light left on, we yell, "Electric Bill" and they immediately run to that room and shut it off. They're getting good at reminding each other, as well. 

Daddy Farmer installed a timer on our water heater, so it only turns on for two hours a day. He has also changed all of our light bulbs to energy savers. I have quit using the dishwasher. The dishwasher would run for 70 minutes, using half of our hot water, and I can wash the dishes by hand and spare the electricity and the excessive amount of hot water. I also hang the majority of our clothes to dry and "zap" them in the dryer for a few minutes to soften them up, instead of using the full drying cycle. 

We are lucky enough to have a great amount of windows, allowing us to shut off the AC during the fall and rely solely on the breeze for cooling. And this winter will be nice, as we have a large fireplace and will not need to use the heating system, which will also help with our electric bill. Daddy Farmer is also very careful about our grocery spending - everything is preplanned out and we use sales flyers and deals when shopping. Work done around the farm - new animal pens and such - is done with materials found on-farm - using left overs from a broken down pole barn that is no longer of any use. This year, in order to create more sustainability, we will be starting to homestead, so keep an eye out for posts pertaining to that transformation of the property. 

It's definitely been an adjustment, going from having two salaries and a small rental house to dropping down to one salary and doubling the size of the home and expenses. But, we've made it work. We have made sure that the kids have the best possible life, while still managing our expenses in the best way possible. Sometimes it's hard - I'm extremely used to being able to shop to my little heart's content... but it's just not in the cards right now. And you know what? I would rather live on my little farm and spend more time with my kids than buy that new pair of shoes, anyway. 

Apples, Cinnamon, and Brown Sugar... It's Fall in the Kitchen

I don't know about you, but October is my favorite month of the year. And not just because of Halloween, although that is my favorite holiday of the year- what's not to love about Halloween?

October symbolizes the change in season, the beginning of Fall.  Even though I live in Florida now, which only has two seasons (Hot as Hell and Satan's Steam Room), I still enjoy the feeling of Fall that comes along with October.

Since it's around the time of year that Dunkin Donuts starts over-advertising pumpkin EVERYTHING, we've been trying to bring the taste of Fall into our kitchen. Here are a few of our favorite Fall flavored recipes here on the farm.

Ice Cream Apples 

What you need: 

1 Whole Apple, Hollowed Out
Cinnamon
Sugar (I used brown sugar)
1 Scoop Vanilla Ice Cream
Caramel (I sometimes substitute this with Chocolate Syrup for the kids)

What you do:

Cut the bottom off the apple, only enough to allow you to hollow out the apple. Lightly coat the inside of the apple with the sugar and cinnamon. Bake the apple in the over at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Once the apple is done, put a scoop of vanilla ice cream inside and drizzle with the caramel or chocolate sauce. I tend to put a bit of  whipped cream on top and then drizzle it, but that's personal choice. :) Enjoy!

Caramel Apple Pork Chops

What you need: 

4 boneless Pork Chops
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
2 tablespoons Butter
2 medium tart Red Apples, cored and sliced

What you do: 

Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Saute pork chops for about 5-6 minutes, turning occasionally. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add butter to skillet, stir in brown sugar mixture and apples. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove apples with a slotted spoon and arrange on top of pork chops. Continue cooking mixture in skillet uncovered until sauce thickens slightly. Spoon sauce over apples and pork chops.



Grilled Apple Chicken 

What you need: 

8 boneless chicken breasts
12 oz frozen apple juice concentrate (I used fresh apple juice for mine)
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 apples cored and cut into rings (similar to pineapple rings)

What you do: 

Preheat grill (I used an over skillet pan that had a griddle side). In a small saucepan, combine the apple juice, honey, lemon, juice, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Mix well. Heat over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Set aside 1 cup of mixture for sauce. Use remaining mixture to baste the chicken and apple rings. Grill apple rings for 8 minutes, then turn, baste again and cook for another 8 minutes. Grill chicken for 5 minutes, turn over, baste again, and grill for another 5 to 7 minutes. (I personally, basted consistently while cooking) Serve with set aside mixture poured over the top of the chicken and apples.


Hope you enjoy these Fall themed recipes. We've got some new ones on the list to try this year, so keep an eye out for some more recipe posts!