A walk in the park....

Occasionally, the farmer will forego his boots and actually put on a swim suit, t-shirt, and believe-it-or-not....tennis shoes. Labor Day was one of those days. It was one day we were not going to labor. Every single day is a labor day here at Providence Farm. We have to make ourselves leave it, if only for a few hours, a day, a weekend, so we can fill our reservoir. There is literally something to do every waking hour. Boredom simply isn't in our vocabulary.

Nothing thrills me more than interesting photography and usually the kids set the stage for me just by being themselves.

~*~

Once we discovered wild plums on our property, our family tradition has been to go plum picking every Spring. This year was no different except that it wasn't a good year for any of our wild fruit. Nevertheless, we managed to pick enough for one batch so all was not lost. As jelly making sometimes goes, something went awry and all I ended up with was plum syrup. It happens, and I wasn't too motivated to fiddle with it when our temps here in East Texas were tipping the 100 degree mark day after day. So this afternoon I decided I'd try again. I dumped all the syrup in a pot, brought it to a boil, and added another box of Sur-Gel. I don't know if it'll be jelly or not, but it sure looks pretty. :)

Blessings from Providence Farm ~

Raising Bottle Babies

We're not experts by any stretch of the imagination, but we're definitely learning a thing or two about raising bottle-fed calves. There's a dairy not too far from here where one can get newborn male calves for a song...

Now there's a few reasons why there's a market for Jersey bull calves. First, they're affordable. Dairies aren't interested in bull calves. All the heifers are AI'd. Second, they make great organic fertilizer for your pastureland and garden area. Using a paddock system boosts the benefits. Next, as we have researched the beef markets, we've found that many consumers today are eating Jersey beef. Of course, they don't fill out like the beef breeds, but much of the research concludes that the meat is just as good. Another advantage to raising cattle, and small scale farming as a whole, is the experience for, and character building in, children. Almost a dozen years ago, someone gave me a piece of wisdom I'll never forget; it went something like this..."Children need something to "give" themselves to.." Now that I've got children of my own, I realize just how true this statement is. They'll devote themselves to something. Our hope is that it'll be something with eternal value and significance.

Live deliberately.

Peach Blossom

Wild Plums

~ delicious jelly...

Spike didn't make too long in captivity, but he sure was fun while he lasted.

Indian Paintbrush

Indian Paintbrush

Mustang Grapes in the making

At long last, Phillip now owns a tractor. It'll pay for itself in no time. He already has a side job mowing the neighbor's pasture. We've mowed our own pasture, and plowed more land for a bigger garden. For several years, Phillip has been researching agri-business, farmer's markets, and farming in general as a means to supplement our income. The Lord has found favor in his endeavors and continues to bless his efforts.

Not only that, it's our passion; something we both enjoy and want to do together as a family. I have put my cooking business to the side and putting my focus into the farm. It's what brings me the most joy. We are now searching for a few implements to make planting easier and more efficient, and a box blade to finally grate our driveway.

I think Phillip said our rows are 200 feet.

He'll plow and disc the rest of the land to the fence which is all the land to the left of this picture. Additionally, we lease the 16 acres to the east of us where we'll begin to cultivate and plant, as well. We've got about 20 acres of plantable land, total, if we really wanted to plant that much.