Vaughnshire Farm

The use of the pen can be a powerful weapon.  

We place a high priority on learning the art and skill of the pen.  Writing is an absolute must do in this family.  While we do have structured how to lessons on writing here and there, the majority of our writing consists of letters they write to friends and family all over the country as well as “reports” they write for mom and dad on different topics…such as a summery about a book they just read.  They also enjoy writing plays and stories about knights, princesses and castles.  Another way we get writing practice is taking notes during church and if you are too little to write…you draw pictures of something pertaining to the message. 

Our hope and prayer is that we would raise ready writers who are swift and skilled with the pen.  Writers who will write prolifically, from a Biblical perspective, about the very topics in our culture that need to be addressed. 

The other day, we took a trip to our favorite Amish market to pick up some bulk food supplies.  We haven’t been since the baby was born.  We drove through a portion of a small town that we haven’t seen in over 3 months.  As we were driving, we counted a handful of small local stores that have closed up shop.  We drove past one of the little grocery markets we frequented– lights out and abandoned —and next door…. a busy Walmart Supercenter.  I wasn’t shocked.  When the Walmart supercenter came to that small rural town, I knew it was only a matter of months before this little grocery store closed.  My children on the other hand were horrified that it actually happened.  After listening to their ranting and raving over how they felt about small local businesses closing due to being swallowed up by the big corporate giant, they began to propose solutions to the problem.  My answer was “No, we aren’t turning around and picketing today” and “No, we aren’t taping up posters all over town about what we think about Walmart!” 

Our oldest whipped out his pen and notebook and said he was “going to write about this”.  He spent rest of the trip writing.  He started off like this,

Hello, We’re here to tell you about how bad Walmart is.  First, let’s talk about food.  Let’s start with eggs.  Most hens that lay eggs lay in a battery cage.  A battery cage is a cage that is about 4 square feet and has about 5 hens and is electric and there is about one dead hen every cage.  Speaking of small spaces, let’s talk about chicken mutilation…..”

How he got from Walmart to chicken mutilation in 5 sentences and where he is heading on from there I don’t know yet!  Obviously, we still have much writing instruction we need to cover here at home still.  However, it makes me rejoice when I hear my children pick up the weapon of the pen and seek to use it for good. 

Today we were quite busy.  We took a trip to the butcher shop to pick up our meat.  We took all the coolers and freezer bags we had and still needed more…so the children ended up packing some of the meat in plastic bags and putting it inside boxes.  We froze on the way home with the air conditioner on high!

Here the boys are unloading the roller rack and packing our hamburger patties.  We are very glad we opted to have 1/3 of our beef put into patties.  They came out very nice…and are sure to be a convenience for me cooking. 

They loaded the coolers on to a roller cart to take out to the trailer. 

Almost ready to go…It took quite a while to pack over 600 lbs of meat. 

A very proud 11 year old stands by the lamb meat he raised. 

 A very busy 2 year old pushing carts. 

After a big day, we finally get the last of the meat into the freezer.  We still have a lot of rearranging to do, but at least we have our own beef, pork and lamb stocked at home in our freezers!  And Wow..that is an amazing feeling to raise your own food!  Anyone wanna buy some meat?!!

The children harvested some of their corn today. 

 It was a very exciting site to watch.  The older ones picked and the younger ones shucked. 

I explained the art of shucking.  The 3 year old was the most intent.  She kept saying, “..but his corn hairs keep touching me…”

Corn shucking proved to be an excellent attention keeper for those 5 years old and under.

Never mind cooking…she ate a cob before we got it in the house…and took a few bites out of some other cobs. 

Contrary to popular belief around here at our house, CSA does not always stand for Confederate States of America!  It stands for Community Supported Agriculture in this instance!  We have so enjoyed our CSA groceries from our friends, the Lingo family, over at Beaverdam Creek Farm.

For the past few weeks, we have been enjoying a bountiful basket of fresh fruits grown off their farm — which has been a huge blessing this year being that we have been occupied with having a newborn.  This week we received corn, peas, tomatoes, green beans, okra, squash, peppers, herbs and flowers!  When Wednesday rolls around, we always look forward to our trip out to their farm to pick up our basket of CSA groceries!

If you are in the area, you should check them out.  They have wonderful pastured-raised chicken for sale as well.

I am still learning the art of how to put bulk foods to use, store them and how to calculate how much I need.  As I get into buying bulk quantities of staple foods, I wonder why I didn’t figure this out earlier.  Though the prices of things like grain, oats and rice are skyrocketing, it is still much cheaper to buy a bulk 50 lb bag of oats than buy little canisters at the store. 

I am have been reading about the proper way to store different foods.  Currently, I am separating out the bags into 1 gallon ziploc type baggies and storing them on shelves in the pantry, which is not ideal for long term storage.  If I have room in the freezer, I will put grain and oat in there. 

There are a couple of downsides of bulk buying that I can think of to one who is not use to this type of shopping.  One would be the fact that it does take up space.  Another reason would be the fact of cost.  You would need to reorganize your budget to be able to spend a large amount of money at one time, in order to avoid spending more money over time with smaller packages and containers.  Another reason might be the fact that if you do not store your food properly, you could loose it to bugs or moisture.  It takes a bit more research and knowledge “how to” when stocking your kitchen with bulk foods. 

But…there are so many more positives, especially for those who have larger families.  In the long run, bulk food purchases are much cheaper.  You are not having to run to the store every couple of days because you are out of some basic ingredient.  You also have security and peace of mind that you at least have some type of food in the house in the case of an emergency.  You can buy organic or natural foods much cheaper in larger packages and you are not limited to just grain.  You can get dried fruit, cocoa powder or carob powder, flax seed and other non-grain type foods in bulk bags as well.  Over all, bulk food purchases save you time and money.   

I think you must have to live in a cave to not notice that there is something up with the food and gas prices.  

Now that spring time has arrived and growing season is in full swing, food options are a bit more varied than during the winter months.  There are farmer’s markets and home gardening that can help relieve the rise in blood pressure at paying ridiculous prices for items such as a green pepper or head of lettuce.  The fact is — you are not paying for the produce, but for the countless other expenses it takes to get that pepper or head of lettuce to market–like shipping it in all the way from the other side of the country…or world.   

While it is true that some of the household expenditures can be drastically reduced with using coupons and rebates, finding healthy food like produce, meat, eggs, milk and grains, enough for a large family, doesn’t happen on coupons.  I am talking about staple food items. 

I have been shocked at the rise in prices on bulk items that I buy:  

• In December, I paid $21 for a 50 lb bag of grain. 
• Last week, I paid $31 for a 50 lb bag of grain. 
• In December, I paid $20 for a 50 lb bag of oats. 
• Last week, I paid $30 for a 50 lb bag of oats.  
• A couple of months ago, I paid $20 for a 1/2 gallon of maple syrup. 
• Last week, I paid $25 for the same thing. 

Those being good deals right now as I have seen higher prices on the same items elsewhere.

Many of us would do well to consider the old fashion idea of maintaining a stocked pantry and not depend so much on the 24 hour grocery store down the street to be our pantry, especially living in unstable economic times such as where we are living today.  Some will scoff at the old adage of preparedness that generations in times past believed in, especially those of us who have always had everything at our fingertips.  However, considering history, we would do well to be prudent and wise when it comes to thinking about our position and vulnerability in regards to food.   

Do we live month to month or paycheck to paycheck?

Do we neglect to have basics on hand in our pantry?

Do we know how to use basic ingredients to create meals?

Do we know what our food buying options are in the area in which we live?

I enjoy perusing through Tammy’s recipe site.  She has a great amount of cooking tips and inspiration that are realistic to homemakers with little children running around. 

I recently tried the cinnamon roll recipe she posted and was quite pleased with the results.  They were a huge hit around here!  You can adjust the roll filling to your own personal liking.  I added a bit more filling and add some nuts.  I also figured out that you can easily make these cinnamon rolls up ahead of time. 

After the first rising, punch down and roll out your dough and fill.  Roll up in a long roll and slice.  You can either freeze them in a sliced roll or you can lay them out on either on trays, or in disposable pans or in foil covered cardboard can holder boxes…then cover in plastic wrap and place in the freezer.  When ready to use, leave some time for them to thaw and rise in a warm place before baking. 

We made up several trays of these cinnamon rolls for a one time mess that will net us many future easy uses. 

I also found lots of inspiration from her recent posts on meal planning after the baby is born and have been inspired to start planning my freezer meals for late pregnancy and postpartum. 

I’ll post a picture as soon as it gets off my camera….