me, raising chickens

I never in my life thought I'd raise chickens until my son ask if we could get some chickens after attending a homesteading class at our local homeschool co-op. My husband and I thought if he had a good argument as to why we should get some chickens then we'd hear him out. He talked about how much he loved eating eggs and how we could save money. But his winning argument was that he would be responsible for the chickens. Guess what? We gave in.

Now you may be asking yourself, why would I want to raise chickens. Well, one good reason is that they lay eggs. Not only can you eat the eggs but, you can sell them. We sell ours for less than the grocery store, and still have enough to pay for their up keep.
They are also great to have around because their poop, once composted, is a great fertilizer. We use it on our garden. Of course we compost most of our left overs, but our girls are great for eating up items we don't compost like meats and pastas. They consider our leftovers a real treat. Another good reason to raise chickens is that they are great little pest controllers. We just let our girls out to forage and they eat all the flees, ticks and other unwanted intruders. And a final reason for raising chickens is that they are very low maintenance. Once we enclosed a shed for their coop we really haven't had to do much at all.

Cotton Picking

Before WW II, in the Arkansas River lowlands, it was common to see people out in the fields planting cotton with harrows being pulled by mules. During the fall, those same people were out in the fields picking cotton. Everyone was expected to help with the most time consuming labor in the cotton industry. In the evenings, after picking cotton all day, they sat around and removed the seeds by hand. In 1793, thanks to Eli Whitney, the cotton gin took over the tedious task of stripping the seeds from the cotton.
Yesterday afternoon we went on a field trip to the Plantation Agricultural Museum in Scott, Arkansas. Having an opportunity to experience the process of picking cotton, trying to remove the seeds by hand, using a small hand cranked cotton gin and even combing the cotton first hand gave my children the thrill of a life time. We even had an occasion to see what some of the first cotton gins looked like and tour The Continental Gin Company.
We learned that pickers would drag 9 foot long bags behind them, if the sack was packed tightly enough it could hold up to 100 lbs. The cotton was then weighed on scales suspended from a homemade tripod. The pickers wages depended upon the selling price in the open market. In 1938, Scott, AR pickers were paid .50 cents for 100 lbs. Many pickers were able to pick up to 300 lbs in a day, bringing home only $1.50 for a days wages.

What Makes Food Organic?

First and foremost organic foods must not be genetically modified. It must be produced according to certain production standards, meaning it is grown without the use of conventional pesticides (including herbicides), artificial/synthetic fertilizers, human waste, or sewage sludge, and it cannot be processed without ionizing radiation or food additives.

Organic production standards also include strict rules on the composting and application of manure. Organically raised livestock must be given organic feed and kept free of growth hormones and antibiotics. Organic farm animals must have access to the outdoors, including pastureland for grazing.

When buying organic, look for the following regulated terms on food labels: Food labeled "100% organic" has no synthetic ingredients and can legally use the USDA organic seal. Food labeled "organic" has a minimum of 95% organic ingredients. It is eligible to use the USDA organic seal. Food labeled "made with organic ingredients" must contain at least 70% organic ingredients. It is not eligible for the USDA seal. Meat, eggs, poultry, and dairy labeled "organic" must come from animals that have never received antibiotics or growth hormones.

Go here to read more on organic safeguards.

Why Recycle?

If you've ever wondered why you should recycle

or thought, "what's the use it's just one aluminum can"

then please read the following.

Each of us uses approximately one 100-foot-tall Douglas fir tree in paper and wood products per year.
To produce each week's Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down.
If you recycle a 4 foot stack of newspaper you will save a 40 foot tree.
If only 100,000 people stopped their junk, mail, we could save up to 150,000 trees annually. If a million people did this, we could save up to a million and a half trees.
Recycled paper can also be made into paper towels,construction products, notebook paper, envelopes, copy paper and other paper products, as well as boxes, hydro-mulch, molded packaging, compost, and even kitty litter.

Lighting consumes up to 34 percent of electricity in the United States.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs are an energy-saving alternative to incandescent bulbs. CFL's produce the same amount of light, use one third of the electricity, and last up to ten times as long. If every household replaced its most often-used incandescent light bulbs with CFLs, electricity use for lighting could be cut in half.

About 75 percent of the water we use in our homes is used in the bathroom.If just 1% of American homes replaced an older toilet with a new Water Sense labeled toilet, the country would save more than 38 million kilowatt-hours of electricity. That's enough electricity to supply more than 43,000 households for one month.

The average bathroom faucet flows at a rate of two gallons per minute. Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth in the morning and at bedtime can save up to 8 gallons of water per day, which equals 240 gallons a month. A full bath tub requires about 70 gallons of water, while taking a five-minute shower uses only 10 to 25 gallons.

Americans throw away enough glass bottles and jars every two weeks to fill the 1.350-foot towers of the former World Trade Center. Glass never wears out, it can be recycled forever. We save over a ton of resources for every ton of glass recycled.

Every year we make enough plastic film to shrink-wrap Texas. Americans go through 2.5 million plastic bottles every year. If every American household recycled just one out of every ten plastic bottles they used, we’d keep 200million pounds of the plastic out of landfills every year.

Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours. An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now.


I hope I've convince you to start recycling. Remember you can make a difference.

Ode to Autumn

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find

Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,

Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;

Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,

Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook

Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:

And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep

Steady thy laden head across a brook;

Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,

Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?

Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,--

While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn

Among the river sallows, borne aloft

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;

Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft

The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;

And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

by John Keats

Cream Cheese and Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breast

All you need are:

8 TBS of cream cheese

4 TBS basil pesto

4 chicken breast

breadcrumbs, egg and milk mixture and cooking oil.

I butterflied the chicken breast, pounded them, filled them with the mixture of cream cheese and pesto and closed them up. If they won't stay closed you can use a tooth pick or some butchers string.

Next I dipped the chicken in the egg and milk mixture and then dredged it in the bread crumbs.

I cooked the chicken in the oil for about 2 minutes on each side. I then baked it at 375 until it was done (thermometer should register 170 degrees Fahrenheit)

This was so easy. You can serve with your favorite vegetables.

Enviromental Issues

If you haven't been keeping up, I have some very strong opinions on environmental issues.

Now I'm not going to tell anyone who to vote for,

I just hope that you know what each candidates plans to do about our environment.

Senator McCain's Policies are:

That he plans to establish a market-based system to curb
greenhouse gas emissions, mobilize innovative technologies, and strengthen
the economy.

He plans to work with our international partners to secure our energy
future, to create opportunities for American industry.

He proposes cap-and-trade system that would set limits on greenhouse gas
emissions while encouraging the development of low-cost compliance options.

To support the cap and trade system, he will promote the innovation,
development and deployment of advanced technologies.

He will foster rapid and clean economic growth.

He believes that there must be a global solution to global climate
change.

He will also develop a climate change adaptation plan based upon national and
regional scientific assessments of the impacts of climate change.

Senator Obama believes:

That the U.S. must take aggressive action now to reduce the emission of
greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

That one of the greatest threats facing the Great Lakes is aquatic
invasive species and he was successful in ensuring that Illinois receives
adequate federal funding to operate a barrier to prevent Asian carp from
entering Lake Michigan and disrupting the balance of the lake's ecosystem.

That mercury contamination in can cause serious developmental problems
in children. To address this problem, Senator Obama introduced two bills that
would significantly reduce the amount of mercury that is deposited in oceans,
lakes, and rivers.

In the elimination of childhood lead poisoning.

Please vote with a conscious.

NaBloPoMo

Visit NaBloPoMo


This marks the beginning of National Blog Posting Month.
I started this blog just over a year ago, having never really read another blog. A friend of mine suggested I join NaBloPoMo last November, against my better judgement, I did.

National Blog Posting Month is a place to "set the habit of blogging by doing it
every day for a month, including weekends, [bloggers] can go here for moral support, inspiration, and the camaraderie that only marathon blogging can provide."

So we're off...

Suzuki Violin Method

The Two Grenadiers

Central Arkansas Suzuki Association's

monthly recital.

I really do believe that playing a string instrument raises ones IQ. In fact, a 3-year study in Switzerland looked at 1,200 children, and found they actually learn faster, when they had more music classes. The kids who were given the extra music classes, were actually better at language, and as good at maths, as the other kids - even though they had had fewer language and maths classes. The music class kids were also better in retelling stories that had been read to them - whether they wrote it in words, or drew it in pictures. And the kids that had the extra music classes also were quicker at learning how to read.

Yet another study showed that playing the violin, can make your brain grow bigger. When you're playing the violin, your bow arm (the right arm) provides intricate balance and precision, as it moves the bow back and forth over the strings. But the fingers of your violin hand (the right hand) have a very hard task. They have to press exactly on the right spot on the right strings, for exactly the right amount of time, and do this all, very accurately, and often, very rapidly.
This study found that the part of the brain that controls the fingers of the left hand, (which is usually the weaker hand) is actually bigger in violin students, as compared to everybody else.

If you are interested in learning more about the Suzuki method just click here.

Herbicides, more than just weed killers

I recently read an article about and epidemic called colony collapse disorder (CCD) that is wiping out commercial bee hives. It seems that this is another one of those cases where pesticides are having a negative impact our food supply. You can go here and watch PBS's introduction to the series "Silence of the Bees".

I read an article in the Oct/Nov issue of Mother Earth about how Dow's herbicides persist for years. These herbicides have been found to to contaminate compost. Confront, Dow's clopyralid, was found to be the contaminant that killed many nursery and home garden plants in several states. You can go here and read more.





If you don't know what GEO's are then think about it this way. You want your corn to have specific characteristic, such as being drought resistant, so a scientist inserts specific genes into your corn's genetic make up without having to go through the trial-and-error process of selective breeding.

Some farmers have been planting round-up ready seeds. Round up is a herbicide that kills everything it touches. By planting these roundup ready plants the farmers can spray round up without killing their crops. This is supposed to reduce production costs and increase yield, so food becomes less expensive. Now how do you feel about eating a plant that was genetically altered to resist a herbicide?

The bio-tech industry is exploiting the nations concerns about the future by telling us that GEO are the only way we will be able to feed ourselves in the future and this just isn't true. They are hoping that this scare tactic will allow them to expand there GE crops into other countries. I believe we need to think of the human health concerns.

The studies just don't show that GE crops are yielding more that natural crops. In fact, there ares some weeds that have developed a resistance to the herbicides that are being used with the GE crops. We can garden naturally and get better results if we simply put some for-thought into our crop rotation. For more information on GE foods go here.

Heifer International

I first heard about Heifer International several years ago when our church handed out small plastic ark banks to the children. The idea was for each child to fill the bank and return it as a donation to to the Heifer project. Heifer's mission is to end hunger. They work with communities all around the world providing livestock and training to small-scale farmers and communities worldwide.

Heifer has a central office in Little Rock. Yesterday we went on a tour of the Heifer Green Building. It is one of the most "earth friendly" buildings I have ever visited. They offer free tours twice daily during the week. You can learn about what Heifer International does and even more about why the building is designed in such an unusual way by going on the tour.

As you look at the building you can tell that it is very long and narrow with many window. That design allows the building to be lit primary with sunlight. The building also captures rain water which it utilizes for the toilets, heating and cooling.

There are a videos here or go here if you want to learn more about how you can help.

Welcoming Fall

Fall and spring are my favorite seasons. After a long hot summer, I am so ready for the cooler weather and the changing leaves. I've been checking out the Fall Foliage Report and I think we will probably go over to Hot Springs to drive around in the Ouachita Mountains next month. Until then I wanted to add a touch of fall to my house. On the cover of the Better Homes and Gardens they have this picture of a gourd filled with flowers. I attempted to replicate this, but I'm afraid I didn't quite measure up to BHG standards. We are also planting more mums and I want to make a gourd wreath. What are y'alls plans to welcome fall? I'll try and post pictures of our fall family fun, including Ladybug cheering in the Fall Fest parade, visiting the pumpkin patch, the corn maze and our trip to see the fall foliage.

Intentional Parenting

I hear my husband complain all the time about how his employees don't show up for work. I watch on the news as the crime rates rise. I see a society that has become overly permissive . I am not a conservative, but I am not okay with my children being exposed to all of the unhealthy influences out there. If you shrug your shoulders and say, that is just the way things are these days, then you should stop reading right now. A pastor at a church we attended in Arkansas did a series entitled

What if you were meant to change the world?

One week, a staff member went around with a video camera asking people in the community "How would you change the world?" Many of the people interviewed said things like stop world hunger, world peace and the like. Not that those aren't notable aspirations, but maybe we need to start a bit smaller and closer to home. We looked at how we could change the world in our own homes. Our pastor borrowed the title

Raising G-Rated Children in an X-Rated World

He said that if we, as parents, do everything right, our children still have free will just like Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. He suggest that we start by looking at the end product. What do we want our kids to be when they are adults? Do we want them to be well-adjusted? Is being well-adjusted in an x-rated world a good thing? Do we want them to be normal? With the divorce rate being what it is, is normal a good thing? Do we want our children to be popular like Lindsay Loham? The answer to those question is a resounding no for me.

If we want our children to be loving, honest, caring, Christians, we need to ask ourselves what God calls us to be. We need to have a regular dialogue with our children about faith. By God's design, we as parents have the greatest impact upon our children. Ask yourself if your speech is pure? Do the movies you watch, the music you listen to exemplify that of a Godly person? Do you lie? Do you confess your sins? Do you say and do one thing on Sunday and something completely different Monday-Saturday? Having that vision of what the finished products looks like, you can then figure out what it is that you, the parent, need to do in order to reach that goal.

Children do not naturally know right from wrong. As parents we are responsible to guide the family, don't let the children lead. The children will end up mirroring the culture in which they live. What you do, where you go, how the money is spent is the parents responsibility. We as parents need to take back the leadership role. We need to set appropriate boundaries. We also need to examine what values we are imposing when we let the children lead the family? Our pastor suggest that we start listening to the music our children are listen to, read their books, and watch their movies. How are we supposed to know our children, guide them, when we 'respect their privacy?' Remember that our values/choices get distorted by sin. To let a child do as he pleases is not love. Teach your child that bad choices have bad consequences.

We are also called to be thoughtful with our discipline. The purpose of discipline is not only to punish, but it is also to guide. It's not the child that is bad, it's his behavior, his choices. My son asked me one time why he was always getting grounded. I reminded him what choices he had made that caused him to get punished. We never tell our children that they are bad. Not only are we supposed to impress upon our children our values, we are also called to set the standards for fun. There should activities that you do as a family that are fun. Your child should have a belly ache from laughter in your the home.

Are you raising your kids to be the adults you want them to be?

An Old Fashion Fair

As a child I remember getting ready and going to the state fair in Jackson, Mississippi. I loved looking at all the bright lights and colors on the midway. My favorite ride was the tilt-a-whirl. I couldn't wait to ride it with my dad. My mom usually stood and watched as we rode the fast spinning rides. She was more the ferris wheel type. I never under stood that until I turned green while riding the tilt-a-whirl with my daughter. Now I watch as my husband rides the fast rides with the kids, I'm more the ferris wheel type these days.

This week is the county fair. County fairs are really the perfect place to show off what you've been doing and to have a good time. That is unless a hurricane has dumped copious amount of rain on your partially paved fair grounds.

This is our second year to enter chickens in the fair. Last year the kids entered four of our original six barnyard chickens. This year they entered six of the new girls. My darling daughter entered a Dominique, a Barred Rock and an Americana. My sweet boyd entered a Buff Brahma, a Production Red and a Golden Laced Wyandot. They won three blue ribbons and three red ribbons.

The kids also entered some of the canned goods, dried peppers and eggs winning a total of seven blue ribbons and three second place ribbons. My husband won blue ribbons on his banana peppers and chili peppers. I was lucky enough to get a blue ribbon on my okra and a second place ribbon on my beans. I also entered some photos. I won one blue ribbon, three second place and one third place ribbon. Obviously everyone wins something.

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Addendum

My son not only won a blue ribbon with Disco (the Buff Brahma), but he won grand champion. We are all so happy for him.

Is Church Shopping a Sin?

I need to preference this by telling you that I have been struggling with the topic of this post for many months. My husband is a restaurant manager and works most Sundays. Whether it's my place or not, I feel a great responsibility for the spiritual direction of this family.
Over the past five years we have moved to three different states. There are many factors to take in consideration when moving. Wanting to find a nice safe home in a good school district is usually on the top of the list for many. Fortunately, being homeschoolers, we haven't had to worry too much with location.
With our first move to Orange Park, Florida we didn't have a problem with what now plagues us. We found a wonderful church home. The Sunday school class we ended up in was young, energetic, and very welcoming. After being members of what I considered to be the ideal church in Hattiesburg we felt very comfortable in this church family.
Less that two years later, my husband's job transferred him. We ended up in what I fondly refer to as the armpit of the south; Monroe, Louisiana. We look for a new church home and settled on a church that had a rotational Sunday school class program much like the one we were involved in, in Hattiesburg. The adult programs were lacking, to say the least. I attempted to start an outreach program for single parents and was told by the other members that they simply didn't have time to do out-reach, but they'd be glad to write me a check.
Fortunately my husband took another job and we relocated to the Natural State. At first we drove 45 to a wonderful church in the Pulaski Heights District of Little Rock. The drive really started to be too much so we started look for a church closer to home. The church we first attended was supposed to have a rotational children's program, but apparently it fell apart during our transition. The minister who had been at that church for 16 years was moving and the members of that church were struggling. I threw myself in to volunteering. I worked in the after school program, taught kids Sunday school, and volunteered at VBS.
Skip ahead two years, there were only two children's Sundays school classes. Attendance was down and budgets weren't getting met. I did anything I could, but I started to feel drained. I wasn't getting refilled.
Through much though, prayer and discussion, we decide to visit some other churches. I actually waited until the pastor left (he resigned his position) because I didn't want to feel like I had jumped ship, given up, like it appeared everyone else had.
Since the Nazarene Church and the Methodist church are very similar in their teachings we visited a Nazarene Church that one of my homeschool friends attended. I loved the people of the Church, but I felt the Nazarene beliefs were a bit to evangelical for my taste.
Last last week we visited another Methodist church. If I could go on a " feeling" I would have joined after that first sermon. As it turns out, in talking to the pastor, his family, and several other members in that Church homeschool too. We plan to return this Sunday, but I think we may have finally found a church home.

Green Bag satisfaction

The broccoli in the green bag looks fresher than the shriveled up broccoli that was not in the the bag. I going to have to give DEBBIE MEYER™ Green Bags®

two thumbs up.

Being Green

There was a time that the three R's were readin', riting' and rithmatic, but those time have long since past. Do you know what the three R's are now? Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. We are told to Reduce the amount and toxicity of trash we discard, reuse containers and products; repair what is broken or give it to someone who can repair it, and to recycle as much as possible, which includes buying products with recycled content. Being green is big business. Not that I'm complaining, I think we need to be more aware of the way we treat mother earth. I just hate that it cost us to be earth conscious. We have moved around over the past several years and I can tell you some states/communities are much more conscious (or should I say they are more green) than other places.




One thing that's really easy is to use cloth bags instead of plastic or even paper when you go to the store. I workied at a home decor store and was sickened at the amount of packaging required to ship merchandise. Trust me when I tell you that that company did not recycle. Each week they received 300 + boxes of merchandise wrapped in plastic and styrofoam.

I think composting is another way to to decrease the amount of garbage and it helps out your backyard garden too. My parents gave me this counter top compost keeper that has a filter in the top that keeps the stench out.

Does you community have curbside routing?

Go check out the World Environmental Organization here to learn how you can reuse different household items.

What are you doing to help out the environment?

Please Buy Local

If your not up for the 100 foot diet challenge

Stop by your local farmer's market

Or the stand on the side of the road

But, make sure you ask them where they are getting their produce.

Some vendors get their food from whole sellers, which mean you have no idea where that produce is coming from.

Genetically Modified/Engineered Foods

Are you aware that many of the foods you buy every week have been genetically modified?

Do you even know what that means?

Plants have been genetically modified in the laboratory to enhance the desired traits. This was traditionally done through breeding, but conventional plant breeding methods can be very time consuming and are often not very accurate. Whereas genetic engineering can create plants with the exact desired trait very rapidly and with great accuracy. Not only can genes be transferred from one plant to another, but genes from non-plant organisms also can be used.

Now having drought resistant, herbicide tolerance, and pest resistant crop does have it's advantages. But I think it's important to look at some of the disadvantages too. I am mainly concerned about the human aspect. One big concern is the unexpected allergic reactions that can occur especially in children. There really aren't many studies but there are several papers that tell about the monarch butterfly and the rats eating GM potatoes that I encourage you to read. If you are still not concerned about the risk go here.

I have a few updates on what's going on with your food from some fellow blogger that you might find interesting.

Anne over at Twice Bloomed Wisteria talked about her bees and GM corn, you might want to stop by and see what she has to say.

Also, Tocco from Coffee, Coffee, Coffee just posted about how "leading U.S. sugar providers have announced they will be sourcing their sugar from genetically engineered sugar beets" If you stop by to see Tocco she has also provided a link to sign a letter if you don't want genetically modified sugar.


I recently read that the Arkansas rice farmers have filed a law suit against Riceland. The lawsuit claims Riceland knowingly withheld information from Arkansas rice farmers that one of the company's genetically modified strains had mixed with their crop in 2006. The mixture led to major international rice customers rejecting the crop because of strict policies against such foods.

On a happier note, at Life in the Lost World Jayedee informed us all that the Clabbergirl family of products have come out and clearly stated that they will put no genetically modified corn in their product. Clearly our voices can be heard.

The Best Garlic Bread You'll ever Eat

Now doesn't this look simple?

I bet your saying to yourself, "Why do I need a recipe to make garlic bread?" Well, the answer is simple, this is the best garlic bread your ever going to eat and your not gonna want to forget it! Now, let move on.

Take a stick of room temperature butter and a cup of Parmesan cheese, mix well.

Then add a little (or a lot) of garlic, your preference.

If you really want to jazz it up mix in a bit of dried parsley flakes.

Next slice your bread (I use different breads; sour dough, french baguette, just use whatever you like) and spread a generous helping of the butter mixture all over your bread.

I like to sprinkle it with paprika.

Then, just pop it into a 375 degree oven until toasty brown and there you have it, the best garlic you'll ever eat.