Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Getting Preachy


I spend a lot of time looking at herbal/dietary remedies for ailments in my animals and my people.  After doing a little research the other day on vitamin D  I had this thought and decided to share it here since it directly reflects the main reason I decided to start a hobby farm/homesteading.

Unforeseen Effects of the Sin Curse

We have all heard the story of the fall of man.  We have all been cursed.   Now, I absolutely take the sin curse seriously, but we have heard it so many times that it sometimes becomes redundant.  I am not here to talk about the curse itself but rather some lesser effects people may not be seeing or recognizing.  Our diet.
It is generally believed that prior to the flood man was vegetarian.  Animals did not fear man until after the flood and, aside from sacrifice, had no reason to.  My whole supposition relies on this being true.  We know that in the garden Adam and Eve were given every tree and herb yielding fruit for “meat” which can only be interpreted as sustenance.  So there we have it, pre-flood vegetarians.  I rather believe vegan.
It is reasonable then, to believe man worked hand-in-hand with many of the animals.  Imagine plowing your garden with say, an elephant.  What about dinosaurs?  Well, they would’ve been there eating veggies with us since not just man, but animals were vegetarians too.  It was not intended to be a dog eat dog world but rather a dog eat apples world. 

The Bible mention how all of Earth moans under the curse.  One example of the moaning comes in the form of diet.  Nutritionists are forever telling us we need to take these supplements with 1000% the daily recommended allowance/amounts of nutrients because our diets fall so short of what our bodies actually need.  Could it be that, possibly, the nutrition in our food (assuming it’s organic, home grown or one of those fresh, non-GMO sources) is losing the nutrition it had a Creation due to the curse the Earth is enduring on our behalf?  Could it be we can’t get enough nutrition because the beautifully stable environment God created for us to live in was destroyed in the flood and the breaking during the days of Pelag?
What am I saying?  Should we just give up and eat whatever we want?  No.  But when you eat, remember that you should be a good steward of the temple God has provided you with.  You should also remember that, while we should try to eat healthy, nothing we eat will fully provide for us nutritionally and our bodies will decay.  That sounds so hopeless.  We can live long, full lives.  Eating, drinking and enjoying ourselves but decay happens and it happens faster when you don’t try to avoid it.

Sun, another source of vitamins, yet we are forced to block it out due to modesty.  We were supposed to be nekkid (yes, I’m spelling it wrong on purpose) folks!  Our bodies would’ve been protected by the extra layers in our atmosphere that were lost.  We could’ve run around without getting skin cancer and yet retaining all the wonderful vitamin D.  Because of the curse we now must dress modestly and protect our skin from the sun’s unfiltered rays.  How many of us didn’t see that coming?  When you read the story of the fall of man you never thought, “Great, now I’m going to get skin cancer,” or, “Now my body will ache, my bones will be brittle and I’ll get migraines because of this.” 
The truth is, these are over looked issues that are direct, or indirect results of the sin curse.  Were we still unaware we would be able to walk around nekkid.  We would be eating fruits and vegetables grown in the perfect atmosphere, full of the nutrition God intended them to have instead of the ones grown today that have gradually lost some of their nutritional value over time. 


In conclusion, eat.  Continue to drink.  Continue to go outside in the sun and absorb as much of its warmth as possible.  Aim for that perfection and though we fall short, we tried.

Sunrise



Just wanted to share this beautiful sunrise with you all.


Taken from my back door.  I wish my camera was good enough to catch a starry night so you could see how beautiful the nights are as well.

Chickens and Geese and Ducks, Oh My!


I have had a rough first year with birds.  As much as I love them it would appear that I have a lot to learn.  We have chickens, ducks and geese.  We have had the most luck with the chickens but even there I wound up with way too many roosters this year.  Oh well, that means broth, stew and chicken and dumplings right?  We love those so it worked out alright.  


(This bird is going to stay on with us but his brothers must go to "freezer camp")

The geese weren't too much trouble.  We lost one of the three but the other two have grown up healthy and strong.  They are very noisy but only when we're outside so it's not too bad.


(Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum)

The ducks....oh my.  We have had terrible trouble with ducks.  Throughout the spring and summer I have bought a total of 11 ducks.  I have posted previously about losing a pair to a dog.  Since then we have lost all but three ducks.  It was disheartening to say the least, especially since I loved the ducks the most.  However, with the advice of a friend we were able to find the problem and it is resolved!


(Lisa with our remaining buff, sadly these were the most affected)


(Most of the flock enjoying a cantaloupe.  Our two pekins were the other two ducks that survived.)


It has been three weeks since any bird has gotten sick or been lost!!!  Praise the Lord!  I felt confident enough to add a few birds to my flock.  I am told they're all hens and mixed breeds which I don't mind since they are all breeds I like.


The kids have named these, Snowball, Salt, Pepper, and The Little Red Hen (as from the storybook).  They are bringing a little variety to the flock for sure.  Now, if I can just get my incubator....


Friday, August 16, 2013

First Date!!!


We all knew it was going to happen and here it is!  Ginger is all ready to go on her first date.  She was looking a little too longingly at Doritos this morning and we thought it just might be time.  So off we went.  Here's a few pics.  

She does not like riding and especially hates going through the drive thru but Mom forgot lunch and got had to stop.  People look at you funny when you drive thru McDonald's with a goat in your truck.


She's busy exploring and checking that handsome buck but a little confused about what to do yet.




Here's the buck.  A beautiful boy names Ditto.  Okay, maybe I should've gone and read his WHOLE name before I put this up.  He is from Queenacres though and this picture doesn't do him justice.


Well, that's how that went.  She's going to hang out over there for a few days to try again.  
Poor Heidi will be so lonesome for her but she has Sam, my mother's little wether to keep her company in the meantime.  He is actually her full brother.


He hasn't quite settled in yet even though he's been here a week.  He has not been around other goats since he left his mom so coming to our herd was a bit of a shock for him.  He's getting along with everyone though.  Well, everyone except Doritos who is crazy in rut right now.  He stinks, he's dirty and he sounds weird.  But we still love him, sometimes we even pet him but that's risky.


Here's my boy getting sniffy on Burger and Heidi.  She needs to gain another 15lbs before we can breed her.  Maybe late October they can have their first "date".

Monday, August 5, 2013

Fall Planting

Aaahhh, sigh of relief.  Fall is upon us.  The leaves are falling.  The air is a little cooler.  The wind brings a cool breeze now and then.  NOT!!!  This is Texas!  I love my state but, let's face it, it's HOT here.  Sure other places are hotter, but hot is hot and anything over 90 degrees is too hot for me!  Today's high is expected to be reach 101.  Not ideal for my taste, but pretty normal for life in East Texas.  Now let's add fall planting preparations.  So, we will be tilling soil, weeding, and other general gardening work in this weather.  How do we beat the heat?  Get out in the morning except today I didn't so I will only be doing minor work in short spurts this afternoon.  Probably in my flower garden, which I love.  I am much better with flowers than vegetables.  


I started these from seeds.  Please ignore the grass.  This has been neglected due to extreme heat.  

Here are some of our flower garden projects.


That empty plot of sand used to be home to a very happy moon flower.  It was so happy that it tried to take over the whole flower bed.  We pulled up the roots but I'm guessing it will still come back because I'm so good that no flower will die in my care.  HAHAHAHA!!!!!  Sorry, I couldn't resist.


Here is a rose my wonderful sister gave me as a birthday gift.  It needs a more permanent place to live.  Check out the mint growing wildly, everywhere around it.  First time I have ever grown it.  Love the smell!


Here are some potted plants my mother just gave me.  Except the rose on the bottom left is one I had that wasn't doing well in its garden location so I potted it until I can think of a better place for it.  The really tall plant is a poblano pepper plant that I really hope I don't kill.


Here are the seeds for fall planting.  The pansies are for the flower garden of course.  I love the way they smell.  I have a website I use as a guide for what to plant and when.  


Since I'm such a newbie I really rely a lot on the advice of others and what I read online.  Hopefully my fall crops will do better than my spring.  Though we did have some great carrots and radishes.