Texas Rebel Girl: September 2013

Monday, September 30, 2013

MIA

I suppose y'all have noticed I've been Missing In Action for a couple of days. I have been extremely busy and simply did not have time to post.

I hope you will forgive me.

The past couple of days have been crazy.

Friday, I spent most of the day baking Scottish Oatmeal cookies for a dance we're going to the next day.

Saturday, I spent most of the morning feeding and watering all my feathered dinosaurs, and getting them situated for the day.

A little after noon, we loaded up and headed to the dance, which started a 3:00 PM, and lasted until 8:00 PM

The same day, some other friends of ours were also having a dance that same evening, so after the first dance, we headed over to their house just in time to dance again!

I had a wonderful time with family and friends, and enjoyed many delightful dances, with some excellent dancers ( you know who you are. ; ).

We got home about 2:00 AM, and I got to bed about 3:00 AM. That was the second day I stayed up until the wee hours. But it was worth it.

Sadly, we had so much fun, that I forgot to take pictures for your viewing pleasure, so pictures of the geese grazing at sunrise will have to suffice for now. We did, however, get some video footage of the first dance, which I will try and post soon.

Blessings -

~ Aspen

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Growing Your Own Fodder

Would you like to feed your animals super nutritious food that is full of live enzymes, that will help them produce better and healthier milk/eggs/meat, etc? And...save money in the process? Here's how!

First, start soaking your grains (most say about 8 hrs, but I generally soak mine overnight). I use wheat berries, as they are the easiest to sprout. I've had bad luck trying to sprout whole oats, barley, as it all got moldy.

Once you've soaked your grains, put them in a colander and rinse with cool water.

Next, transfer them into sprouting trays, and place them in the area you plan to grow them.

I bought three miniature green houses from TSC (Tractors Supply Co.) on sale. They have 4 shelves, I can fit 8 trays in each green house. The trays are plastic trays my brother bought from a greenhouse supply store, very lightweight with holes in the bottom.

You want to keep your seeds moist. If there is water standing in their tray, it is too wet, and it will encourage mold to grow.

I take a water hose and water mine 2-3 times daily. Or, if you have yours inside, you could use a spray bottle to spritz them with.

By the 2nd day you should start to notice little curly white tails on them.

The fodder will be at its optimal nutrition at day 7 (1 week). That is when it will be the most nutritious, but sometimes I let mine grow to about day 10 or so. Just what ever suits your fancy.

When you get ready to feed your fodder, just dump the tray upside down, and the fodder should come out without a glitch. I like to chop mine up, into small squares and toss them into the different pens.

It may take a couple of days for your animals to take to it, but once they do, they'll love it!

Last winter I fed fodder to all the animals for breakfast and fermented feed/grains for supper (blog post coming up on that soon).

Fodder is an easy, nutritious way to supplement greens in the cold winter months when all other plant life is pretty much non-existent.

Approx. every 1 lb of dry seed will yield about 5-6 lbs of fodder.

Have you grown fodder before? What was your experience? Leave a comment and let me know.

Blessings -

~ Aspen

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Green Smoothies & Edible Plants

While watering the garden, I noticed one of our raised beds which we planted Heirloom Tomatoes in, was full of Morning Glory sprouts.

We really didn't need a bunch of Morning Glory sprouts covering up the bed, so I picked some of them.

You can also eat the bigger Morning Glory leaves.

Strawberry leaves are also a good green.

New Zealand Spinach...

and Summer Spinach are also a good addition.

Now, for the green smoothie.

2 big handfuls of organic greens (or, if you're like me you can stuff the blender full of greens)
1 whole apple (if it's organic put the seeds and all in, if it's not, just add the meat)
Organic Lemon Juice
Organic Aloe Vera Juice
Organic Orange/Carrot Juice or Mega Green Juice is also a favorite
Yogurt/Kefir
Frozen Fruit of your choice
...and what ever else you might decide to throw in.
Blend and Enjoy

Blessings -

~ Aspen

Monday, September 23, 2013

Leaving Home

One evening, I was late getting out to feed. I happened to look out the window and saw that my geese got tired of waiting on me to feed them, and were leaving home.

But, as soon as they saw me, they decided to give me a 2nd chance and rushed back to their pen to get fed.

Actually, the day before a bunch of wheat seed had been split, and they were munching on it all day, and were not very hungry for supper. ; )

Blessings -

~ Aspen

Creamy Vegetable Soup

Pumpkin, Carrots, Cauliflower, Onions, Squash (all kinds), Zucchini, Potatoes, Lettuce, Beets, Garlic. Side Note: Leave the Potatoes out if you want Low Carb.
Boil all ingredients until soft.
Let the soup cool for a bit, then puree it in a blender.
Serve warm with Garlic Toast and Parmesan Cheese.