Vaughnshire Farm

We had some hosting issues and the site was down for most of the day today.  Everything is back on-line and seems to be running smoothly.

In addition look for some updates from the road soon.  Ask yourself this question.  How does a family of 9 with seven small children, 2 cows, 3 goats, a pig, a turkey, 4 guineas, and a plethora of cats, dogs, and chickens take a family vacation?

The answer:  Very Carefully.

We’ll be posting pictures from the road soon.  But here is a hint, it involves a “Cow Sitter” a “Farm Sitter”, and a large vehicle.

John Knox was such a gracious fellow in his kind words about the “leading” women of his day.  I shutter to think of his words to Hillary and his view of the coming election cycle!

The Gunn Brother are ready to release their film about this very topic on October 15th, just in time for the elections.  We are looking forward to previewing it, perhaps we will make it to the SAICFF this year and get a chance to preview it in the competition.

Until the full film is available, we hope you enjoy the trailer.

Our boys are pretty content running around here getting into all sorts of inventive, creative projects that cause me to either turn my head and pretend I don’t see what they are doing or cause me to be thankful that they are happily work-playing.  The lack of brain stimulation to get those creative juices flowing to inspire creativity makes for bored boys and nerved mothers who have to deal with bored boys.  It is amazing what happens when you throw out the TV and prevent electronic games from taking over their minds and instead, give them tools and access to the outdoors!

However, as much as I love encouraging creative play, I did put a moratorium on unapproved scrap dream building for a time until we accomplished some much needed real building and repairs around here.  The amount of scrap wood hammered to the trees and towering contraptions that look like human traps were becoming a bit too much.

As if that isn’t enough, walking into the bathroom and seeing a raccoon skin hanging over the bathtub or waking in the kitchen bright and early in the morning to find a squirrel tail soaking in my tupperware plastic container sitting on counter is slightly more disturbing. I will leave that alone for another post, but you get the idea.  The point is having a load of boys around here isn’t for the faint hearted and weary.

If we aren’t careful the back yard can quickly turned into a junk yard of concoctions of high valued (in the eyes of the children) inventive objects and projects.

My boys don’t ask for toys, they ask for strange things like hardware cloth and caster wheels.  The boys often hand me their list of things they “NEED”.

It goes something like this:

• 20 feet of copper tubing
• 10 wood 2X4’s
• a bag of spot ties
• an old tire from the dump yard
• alum
• salt without iodine
• pvc pipe
• batteries

You may be asking why a 10 year old needs copper tubing or salt without iodine. I don’t know.  I assure you they have a very good reason.  To them, the greatest toys are a dump truck load of dirt, pvc pipe connectors and 60 feet of rope. Am I the only one who has the rule, “No picking things up off the parking lot or store floor, no matter how useful it might look to you.”

Instilling a creative, inventive spirit in your boys is not that difficult.  I find that most boys are eager to get out there and work with their hands, however, they are often frustrated by their sterile environments that stifle any sort of creativity or ability to think about creating something out of nothing.

In the end, what they create may still end up being just a big piece of junk, however, it is their big piece of junk that they worked on with their own two hands and brain power that they are exceedingly proud of.  The trick is to harness that energy and creativity to be geared towards projects that are useful and beneficial to the family.  As of yet, we are hitting and missing on that one, but at least they are getting some good practice and hopefully developing skills that will highly useful and productive.

Today, after I put the babies down for a nap, I spent some time baking in the kitchen with the windows up, enjoying the beautiful breezes outside rustling the bush against the window screen.  I soon heard a distant, annoying, noise screeching and squealing over and over.  I quickly discovered that the horrid sound was in fact another piece of “boy ingenuity” that had added to our collection of yard art.

The boys made a cart to pull behind their peddle cart: a very noisy, squealing, squeaking cart that they used to haul all sorts of other pieces of junk around the yard today.

It proved useful when they won their baby sister’s affection by pulling her around in their brand new, super-proud-of, inventive and creative pull cart made out of scrap wood, nails, scrap fence wire, left over chicken wire and a pair of old bicycle training wheels.

Just a regular day in the life of a boy…

Armed with homemade spears and split-fire wood sledge hammers, a bag of cookies and a jug of spring water, we left mid-morning for a trek across Vaughnshire.  It was a beautiful morning after a night of steady rain and a morning with cool temperatures. We loaded up the baby girls in the wagon and set off.

Our first fence crossing led us into the present cow pasture.  Our 6 year old reminded everyone to watch out for cow patties a bit too late.  We stopped off at the barn to pick up the dogs.  One is a good for nothing beagle that we didn’t get 5 feet with before she literally dug her feet into the ground and howled for dear life.  Forget that idea, we put her back and took our more reliable mutt dog that has turned out to be a very smart farm dog that actually does some good around here.

Off we go.  Through the first pasture, to the second fence line.  Through the second section to the third fence line until we entered into Vaughnshire Forrest.  We walked along the path while our dog, Dixie, ran ahead of us and circled back around us making me tired just watching her.  I was quite impressed with her abilities to stay with us and sniff out danger ahead and was by now very confident that she would alert us if any snakes or other unwanted wildlife were around. Soon, I would be disappointed…but that is getting ahead of the story.

We strolled down the path looking at the many varieties of trees, moss, ferns, grasses, flowers.  I am still awed by the rock ledges, rolling hills and soaring trees in this part of the country.  It is truly a beautiful sight to behold.  We soon came to the first road block which was a downed tree in the path. The older children worked on getting the girls over the obstacle and we were soon back on our way.

We came to a 2nd road block a few minutes later. After the boys tried to put some strength into moving the tree out of the path along with some good ol’fashion back breaking sledge hammering by the 6 year old, they decided that this was a good place to stop. We had our snack and rested a while.

They soon set off on a self-made path which brought them to a tree bridge over the dry creek ravine. Boys resist crossing a tree bridge??? Not even close!

I soon heard excited voices yell back that they had discovered two hunting stands in some trees.

They inspected these new finds and marked their path so they could visit again. On their way back, one of the boys yelled they had found water in the creek bed. We all went to check out this new discovery that the dog had actually found and are still undecided if it is just a water hole from the rains or is in fact a small spring. We also discovered a unique tree along the side of a deep ravine that created a Narnia like hiding place. It was a large tree whose roots stood up like stilts creating a roomy cubby hole in which three adventurous boys and a inquisitive dog could hide beneath.

We started back after the exciting discoveries of the water hole, tree bridge, tree root hiding place and the hunting stands to get home to some much needed farm work.

As we approached the edge of Vaughnshire Forest, one of the boys yelled out, “SNAKE!” The dog didn’t flinch, didn’t bark, didn’t even see it and in fact steps over it several times before wandering off. The 5 year old boy yells,”Quick, GET THE SWEDCH HAMMER!” The two older boys grab the homemade spear (a stick, copper pipe, a large nail) and the sledge hammer (split log nailed to another stick) and proceed to kill the snake. I am wishing we were home by now and frantically reminding them they “better not let that thing bite them”, “are you sure you know what your doing”, “don’t miss”, “did you get it”, “are you sure it’s dead”! They attacked the snake with the homemade sledge hammer killing it within short order. One of the boys carried the snake back on the end of the stick so he could confirm what kind of snake it was when daddy arrived back home (which ended up being harmless).   As we approached the house, the cows met us as we entered into the pasture directly behind the house and followed us home. When we arrived home, one of the boys spotted another snake hanging out of the beak of one of our laying hens, which they assured me was a harmless baby pink-belly snake.

Except for the snakes, even if they were baby snakes,  the morning walk was a wonderful break amidst the large amount of farm work we have before us and was a needed reminder to stop and look around and enjoy God’s magnificent creation.

I love reading about the lives of faithful, Godly women in history: their steady faith in God, their love of home and family, their understanding of their roles and duties — It is inspiring!

A return to biblical womanhood is disastrous for the feminist agenda.  They would love nothing more, than to keep women in bondage by infecting even Christian women with the ideologies and beliefs of the pagan world.

A life lived in submission to God is where we find true freedom.  It is an exhilarating freedom that surpasses all!

In our efforts to train our daughters with a distinctly biblical worldview, we engage in opportunities that further that vision.  Recently, we attended a Godly Girl Tea Party hosted by a family in our church and had a fabulous time.  The girls prepared reports about a woman in history that portrayed Godly character traits in their life and someone who remains a shining example to us today.

We had some very inspiring reports from the young ladies on women like Corrie and Betsy Ten Boom, whom never married and lived at home to serve their father and run the family business.  These sisters were courageous women who saved the lives of many Jews during the Holocaust.  They endured extreme persecution from the Germans as they were ultimately tortured, and Betsy was killed, at the Ravensbruck concentration camp for their stand on Biblical principles of caring for those in need.  Corrie’s life was preserved and she positively impacted countless lives over the course of her 91 full years of life with the message, “There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.”

We heard about the wives of great missionaries who risked their lives in an effort to share the love of Christ with those who did not know Him.

We learned about the incredible strength of Priscilla Mullins who sailed on the Mayflower at the age of 17, eventually losing her family in the New World but despite extreme trials and hardships, she remains a pillar example of the strength a woman has when she submits her life to Christ and trusts completely in His Providence.

Other great American historical wives like Abigail Adams, wife of President John Adams and Anne Bradstreet, wife of the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony show us examples of women who were skilled with the pen, well educated women who raised influential children, stood by their husbands as an example of faithfulness and deference and impacted history through their devotion and commitment to the family.  Abigail Adams allows us into her life through the many letters she and her husband wrote giving us an understanding of Godly marital love and devotion. Anne penned numerous poems about her struggles in Puritan New England, her husband and children.  She lived life as the busy mother of 8 children and supportive wife of Governor Bradstreet, who through his wife’s passion for living a life of Biblical womanhood, allowed him to lead his family to became highly influential during a pivotal time of laying Biblical foundations in our nation. One of her most notable poems, I love:

If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were lov’d by wife, then thee.
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that Rivers canneot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee give recompetence.
Thy love is such I can no way repay.
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we live, in love let’s so persever
That when we live no more, we may live ever.

Our report was on Katie Luther, the amazing wife of the great protestant reformer Martin Luther, whose incredible strength and understanding of duty, is a shining example of how incredibly valuable a wife is to furthering her husband’s vision for their family.  She raised 6 children, cared for 4 orphans, ran the affairs of a large family farm, grew her own food and ran the family brewery, managed land and livestock and was incredibly skilled in medicine and used her knowledge to treat those who were sick in their community and was dearly adored by her husband. She accomplished these things not as an independent self-focused woman, she accomplished these things under the authority of her husband with a heart and attitude of furthering the vision of her husband through her love, devotion and service to her family.

These women provide us with true inspiration by showing us that their faith and trust in the Almighty and Godly character were far more important than any earthly accomplishments they had.  Through their faith, we see strong women who knew their place and embraced their calling.  As well, these women leave a legacy of devotion and faith in Christ that we can learn from today.

We spent the week working hard on preparing the garden for fall planting.  Because of the rain, we were able to quickly regain control of the weeds because of the soft ground.  The kids and I worked in the garden most every day this week in the mornings.  We have a  row of sweet potatoes that are growing very nicely.  The okra has also regained some life and we are still harvesting okra which took a beating during the drought.  We still have a few surviving squash plants that have started producing fruit again as well.
Today, we planted spinach and lettuce.  Next week, we will prepare several more plots with more spinach and lettuce as well as some other fall gardening veggies like cabbage and broccoli.

Now that the weather seemed to immediately switch on to Fall, we have renewed strength to focus on fall and winter gardening.

This is the first day in 9 days that we have not had at least some rain fall.  It had to end sometime, but we sure were enjoying the front porch and the gentle refreshing sound of the rain each day after the long dry August.  But today, in place of the rain, we received our first hint of the coming of fall.  With a high around 70 and sunny skies, very little time was spent indoors.  All the work that we did not get done because we were hauling water during the drought, was still waiting for us today.  Not to wax poetic of romantic or anything, this is a cattle update.

Due to the drought ending rains, we now have grass growing in the fields once again.  We moved the cows back into paddock 1 today with about 6-8 inches of growth on 40% of the field.  We’ll see how that lasts.

That’s not your typical title, but this is not your typical post.  This is a perfect word picture of two worlds vying for our business.  One is the large impersonal agribusiness world of corporations and the other is the small close knit community of a local CSA farm.

First, the second hand dangers of herbicides are found to damage the fields and kill the CSA crops at Waterpenny Farm .  When the crops started showing signs of sickness the owners began the process of figuring out what was going wrong.  The end result is the hay they purchased as mulch had been sprayed with a broad leaf herbicide manufactured by Dow Chemical.  This, of course, killed their broad leaf vegetables as the poison leeched into the soil.  That’s the bad part of the story which can be read here.

The other side of this coin is how the community responded to this tragedy.  Imagine the fix you’d be in if you lost half of your crops which provide your income.  Now imagine that you have already received payments and committed to deliver fresh vegetables each week to your customers.  If this was your typical corporation, with outstanding contract deliverables, there would be lawsuits and angry customer support calls coming from every angle.  

The beauty of the small local economic model that is inherit in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm is that people know the people producing their food, many times they are good friends with them.  So when there is trouble, they respond as… well as a community.  Here is what happened when the message was delivered to the Waterpenny Farm customer base.

We are very grateful for the 65 volunteers who came to Waterpenny Farm over the course of the weekend and last week to help us remove more than 50,000 pounds of herbicide-contaminated hay that we had used to mulch our fields.

The hay was heavy, moldy and hard to work with, yet people stuck with the job, and many came for several mulch-lifting sessions. Volunteers ranged from children to many over age 70, and everywhere in between. Volunteers contributed about 150 hours to this colossal effort, and our own crew on the farm, along with extra labor we hired with help from community donations, worked about 250 hours.

You can read the entire story here.  After you finish it, you will find that Dow Chemical, the maker of the poison which caused all the trouble, didn’t bother sending anyone out to help clean up the contaminated hay.  They after-all probably didn’t even know that they had caused a major disruption in the food supply for all the families involved. 

If you haven’t heard of CSAs be sure to check into them when you get a chance.  You can get great healthy food, meet new friends, and help to save another small farmer from extinction.

Also be sure to check out the new film from Franklin Springs Family Media, called Inherit The Land.  We will be discussing this film more shortly, but until then be sure to check out the trailer.

This would be a picture of rain hitting our field… 7 days in a row we received rain showers. You can imagine how excited we are after a very long, dry summer. We are so grateful for an abundantly flowing spring once again and tiny blades of grass shooting up everywhere.  We are so grateful to God for His unfailing mercy throughout the times of hardship as well as the times of blessing!

Not that we want to use traditional methods of parasite control, but until we get everything in order we are giving Monsanto his dosage of Eprinex.  That happened today, after we finally spent a week bucket feeding him some sweet feed so he would let us get close enough to him.