A Facelift and Some Bees

Our new bees!

Where do you start when you haven't blogged in over four months?  I guess with a facelift, which is just what Sprout the Right Brained Bean got this afternoon.  It took some time and fenangling to get things just the way I liked - I'm certainly no computer genius (that's my husband's forte) - but I'm pretty pleased with the new look.  Sure there's still some work to do.  Life in itself is a work in progress?

A lot has happened in four months.  Life has felt a lot busier since we moved the girls to their new (temporary) dwellings.  We swap boarding fees for the nightly chores of taking care of not only our two alpacas, but a menagerie of 20 other sheep and goats.  It sure has been fun interacting with all of them - what personalities they have - but it is easily an hour or more out of each night, as they are 10 miles away.  We are still searching for our own home and farm (looking at a place today, as a matter of fact). And it will be so nice to have all our animals in one place one day.  But for now, we make this work.

We also added a hive of bees to our ever-growing homestead.  Last fall, at the Mother Earth News Fair, we purchased a top bar hive from Bee Thinking in Portland, OR, and couldn't bee happier with it (pun intended)!  Then in March we took a beginner bee keeping class from Christy Hemenway (who I also heard speak at the Mother Earth News Fair) with Gold Star Honeybees.  We learned so much, and it gave us the confidence to get ourselves going in a land where no one else keeps bees in top bar hives (or at least we don't know of anyone).  She's been such a wonderful mentor through the beginning of our beekeeping adventures!  I can't say enough about how available and patient she's been with us.  And it's seriously been an adventure - our bees swarmed a month and a half after we got them, leaving us with half the bees and a queenless hive (we accidentally destroyed the new queen cells left behind)!  It took us a month to confirm that we had no queen, and once we did, we immediately had a new on shipped to us.  Would you believe that in a mere 10 days, she had laid eggs in SEVEN full combs!?  We couldn't believe it either!

There she is!  With the shiny black thorax!  Our new queen!

We've been extremely pleased with our bees, thus far (other that the swarming).  They really are a calm bunch.  We never have to smoke them to examine the hive.  As a matter of fact, the one (and only) time that we tried, only agitated them.  So we said, "Enough of that!"  We've come to find that you can tell the mood of your hive just by the sound of their buzzing.  This was very evident during the month they were queenless.  They actually sounded frantic during that time.  Once their new queen arrived, they calmed down - almost immediately.  It was amazing.  They too are up with our alpacas, as my friend's farm has an abundance of flowering plants.  The bees seem very happy there.

Well, this doesn't begin to cover my four month absence and all that has happened/changed on the farm, but it's a start.  One last note:  I didn't completely disappear; I spend a lot of time on Instagram!  So come on over there and visit!  There's a link to my Instagram on the left side of the screen!

From The Mother Earth News Fair - Part 1

This was my third year attending the Mother Earth News Fair at Seven Springs mountain Resort in Pennsylvania. I have to say, it gets better every year! And it grows every year. There were so many excellent seminars and interesting vendors that I think I'm going to have to write about it in parts. This being Part 1.

We booked our cabin at Kooser State Park last January. It was the same cabin me and my sister stayed in last fall only this year there were six of us staying there. My husband and I, my sister and her husband, and our parents. It's a small cabin, but we made it work just fine.  Here we are (well, minus me - taking the picture, of course, and my husband who still had to work) on our arrival at the cabin Thursday evening.  We wanted to get there a day early to get all settled in, build a campfire, and just enjoy being in the mountains.

DAY ONE - FRIDAY

The fair started at noon on Friday.  We, of course, got their early.  I know from previous fairs that the best seating is had from getting there early.  I could hardly contain my excitement!  The first seminar I attended was on Perennial Herbs by Tammi Hartung.  I have to say, I really enjoyed her talk.  She spoke slow enough that you could take tons of notes (I like taking notes), and showed lots of pictures.  We learned about all sorts of different perennial herbs (of course), their uses, and how to grow and incorporate them into your gardens.  And while her book was gone by the time I made it up to the bookstore, it was definitely on my homesteading bookshelf wishlist.  I ordered it as soon as I got home, love it, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in perennial herbs.   My mom and sister both attended this seminar with me.

Next I headed up to a Crafting Herbal Salves seminar with Sue Morris of Sue's Salves, a fellow Pennsylvanian.  She gave a brief intro to making herbal salves, showed a great video of a walkthrough of her herbal garden, and also passed along her salve making recipe.  I picked up a piece of comfrey root, which she brought in from her garden.  I planted it last weekend, and to my surprise, it's already growing new shoots!  With the weather cooling off, and being past the fall equinox I hadn't expected it to do much of anything until next spring.  You can imagine my elation to see that new little leaf sprouting up from the ground, and only after a few days.  I suppose that just speaks to the healing power of the plant.  We later purchased some of her comfrey salve, as I didn't think I would have a chance to make some of my own until spring.  I've already used it for a skin abrasion and was amazed and how quickly it healed.  I'm sure excited to have this plant in my garden now.

My 4 o'clock seminar was on (Medicinal) Mountain Roots of the Appalachias.  Seeing a theme here?  I am currently completing a course in field botany online, geared towards identifying medicinal plants.  My main focus for the fair was to learn as much about these plants and their applications as I could.  How interesting to learn of all the plants locally available to heal us.  I imagine that this was something that generations before us already knew.  How quickly we forget with today's 'modern' medicine.  I didn't get to stay for the whole talk, though, as my husband surprised me with his early arrival!  We walked around for about a half hour as I acclimated him with the location of the various stages.

We finally ended up back outside for our last seminar of the day, Planting By The Moon, again with Sue Morris.  What a fascinating talk.  I knew that the moon influenced many activities here on Earth.  That was evident as I watched the changing tides during the few years I lived on the east coast.  Initially I would have thought that it was a bunch of hocus pocus, but it makes complete sense.  Afterall, if the moon can affect the oceans like it does, how could it not affect other living organisms.  We are 70(ish)% water.  I will be curious to see how planting by the moon changes the outcome of my garden from hear on out.

So there's our first day in a nutshell!  There was so much to see.  I was so glad that we had another two days to meander around the vendors between our seminars!

Zendala Dare #23

It was a very crazy and exciting weekend!  We attended the Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs, PA.  It was excellent!!  I have a lot to tell, but wanted to get my Zendala Dare #23 posted (late again!).  I pondered over this one.  For quite a while.  But have to admit, this is my favorite zentangle so far.  I went for a steampunk theme, inspired by Molossus for the bike chain and gears, then added my own pipes, etc.  I finished it last Friday night but didn't have a way to post it from the cabin we were staying in.  Oh well, better late than never.  Here are a couple others:

I will tell about the Mother Earth News Fair soon!

Mother Earth News Fair

It's finally here folks!  This weekend at the Seven Springs Mountain Resort in the southern mountains of Pennsylvania people from all over will gather to participate in all sorts of sustainable living activities and seminars!  This is the third year for the fair to take place in this area, and I'm super excited!  The past two years have been incredible.  This year they have extended the fair from two days to three days; Friday - Sunday.  There are so many excellent seminars I can't wait to attend.  And you can find something to interest just about anyone.  What I love so much about this event is that it doesn't matter your walk of life, we all gather with a common goal: To live life more sustainably.  To become part of the solution, not the problem.  To rekindle that fire for a simpler life.  To share in our experiences.

I'm even more excited for this year as my husband will be able to attend with me.  Not only that, my sister and her husband, and both of our parents are coming as well.  My sister attended with me last year.  But I'm really looking forward to having the whole crew there this weekend.

So if you have nothing planned for this weekend, and your in the area (or if your not), hop on out!  It's sure to be a grand ole time, folks!

In Comes the New Year

Whether we like it or not, the new year has crept in (for me) almost unnoticed.  I think the older I get, the faster each year passes.  Does anyone else remember how time used to pass slower when we were kids?  Summer breaks went on for ever, Christmas's and Birthday's couldn't come quick enough.  Perhaps that's just part of the magic of being children.

So with the advent of the new year, most people are busy making their new year's resolutions.  I will admit, I've never been one for new year's resolutions.  I think you should be able to make resolutions any time of the year, not just January first.  However, I do like to reflect on where the journey has led me, and where I hope to travel in the up and coming.

This past year we saw the birth of our very first alpaca cria, Bramble (aka "string bean").  She is strong, healthy, and independent.  Don't let the fact that I call her a string bean mean she's "lanky," she's a sturdy little thing - just all legs and neck!  If you're curious about what an alpaca birth is like check out this link to our YouTube site. 

The following month we did our own very first breeding while working out at the farm we board our girls at.  It was a success, and we can expect Bracken to deliver another cria next fall.  We are  very excited to see what this year's breeding will produce.  The funniest thing about breeding, is that it is quite literally a herd 'affair'.  All the unbred (and ready to breed) females cush next to the breeding pair.  The little up and coming herd sires 'practice' on all the cushing mamas.  Don't worry, they're not old enough to be successful yet!  Bramble wouldn't keep her nose out of the face of the breeding herdsire, nor would the other little females.  This is all a part of it.  It's a learning experience, so to speak, for the young ones.

I also vended at my first ever fair, the Johnny Appleseed festival in my hometown.  I was delighted and amazed by how well it went and can't wait to do it again.  Perhaps this has given me the confidence to participate in a few other events.  On top of this, I reopened my Etsy site, which has also done well.  It is sort of surreal to know that you've sent your crafts all over the country.  That my baskets and yarn are being enjoyed by someone other than myself.  I started making basket out of necessity.  I needed some place to put all the yarn I was spinning; something 'pretty' and colorful.  But once I started making them, I just  couldn't stop!  They are just so much fun to watch come together.  And while I'm a huge proponent of baskets, I realized that a girl could really only have so many.  So I reluctantly (at first) decided to offer them to others, though I wan't sure how I could bear to sell them.  The reluctance has since passed, and has been replaced with the joy of knowing that someone too will smile at my creations.  My advice to anyone who has always wanted to be share their creations with others - just do it!  Get out there!  You may be completely surprised by the support and encouragement from others.  I know I was!

Here are some of the other highlights of the year:

We hiked...

...gardened...

...canned...

...spun at festivals...

...grew pumpkins...

...learned to dye fiber...

...attended the Mother Earth News Fair...

...supported my sister's purchase of three meat
rabbits at the Mother Earth News Fair...

...found that we had quite the demand for our eggs...

...learned (or began to learn) to cook in cast iron...

...learned to play the banjo...

...learned to weave...

...and taught my sister and nieces how to weave...

...developed a love for blue cochin chickens...

...and ended the year with family (and pets!).

Anachronism

I've often felt like I am a living anachronism.  Out of place in time.  That I should have lived some time ago, when life was simpler.  You worked hard for what you had, and still had little.  Yet those few things you did have were cherished beyond today's worldly comprehension.  My whole life I have been drawn to skills of the past such as sewing, gardening, and animal husbandry.  I remember as a little girl, tagging along to my mother's garden club meetings, and hours spent with her and my grandmothers teaching me how to sew and knit and crochet.  These used to be skills that every little girl learned as she grew up.  I raised quite a menagerie of critters too, from hamsters and ferrets, to chinchillas and lizards!

Today, most I my time is spent spinning, knitting, and sewing.  We have lived down here near Pittsburgh for two years now and have accomplished quite a lot.  We raise our own chickens for meat and eggs, have two alpacas, 5 angora rabbits and a big enough garden to provide some of our own produce.  This is small in comparison to most farms, but this one has BIG dreams.  We still rent you see.  We have been fortunate though, to be located far enough north of the city as to seriously live in farm country.  The house we rent sits on a working diary farm.  But still it's not our own.  Don't get me wrong, we feel blessed for what we have, but are so desperately hoping that we will find our own property soon enough so that our our farm can grow.  We've reached our capacity where we're at without getting ourselves evicted.  But our alpacas have to be boarded on another farm and there are sheep, pigs, and other livestock calling to us.  More like bellowing.  I have such a desire to become more of a farmer that it aches.  I sit at work dreaming about furry creatures, spinning wool, canning vegetables, and yes, mucking out stalls.  While most other girls are reading magazines about fashion and gossip, this girl scours the pages of her Grit and Mother Earth News trying to devise new schemes for building a cold frame, raising meat rabbits, and composting.  I collect buckets, mason jars, chicken wire, and books on homesteading.  I visit other homesteader's blogs trying to glean from their experiences and long for the experience to hold day old piglets in my arms.  Barn boots are not just the latest fashion statement, they are a necessity.

I realize that for most this may sound unusual.  Especially in this day and age.  But this is who I am.  In a day and age of uncertainty, of rumors of economic collapse and instability, this girl wants to be prepared for anything.  And even if these things weren't a possibility, I would still want to be doing exactly what I'm doing.  Farming.  Gaining skills from a lost generation.  And one day, perhaps helping others to learn these skills as well.  There are joys to be found in these simpler ways, and I intend to find discover them!

A Homesteading Weekend

Last weekend was great!  My sister and I had fun from beginning to end.  If you didn't catch the last post, we attended the second Mother Earth News Fair at Seven Springs, PA.  Talk about homesteading and sustainable living galore.  They had everything from livestock and cooking, to foraging and hammocks.  Seriously folks, if you can thing of it, there was probably a lecture or workshop on it.  In fact, there was SO much to do and see that it would have taken you a week to see and attend everything (if you had a week).  We had to do a little strategic planning to figure out what we wanted to see and when.  They great thing about going with my sister was that we pretty much were interested in the same things, and outside of maybe two lectures, we took in the same information.

So it was great from the start!  We had booked a 'rustic' cabin at Kooser State Park for the weekend.  I'm glad we made our reservations ahead of time, as I think every single cabin was spoken for.  Let me say, for 'rustic' we sure made out pretty darn well:



Other than the absent bathroom, it had all the amenities you could ever want.  Seriously, I think I could live just fine in one of these if it had a water closet of sorts.  We got all settled in, made some dinner in the wood stove and spent the evening folding and waxing origami stars, pickin' on the strumstick, and chatting up our excitement for the upcoming day.

Waxed Origami Stars

The next morning we arrived at Seven Springs by 8:15am, hoping to get a close parking spot (which we did).  The outdoor grounds were opened by 9am and my sister seemed to make a beeline for the livestock.  I don't think it was intentional; maybe some unseen driving force, or the subliminal whisper of, "over here."  Whatever it was, she made it to the meat rabbits in break neck time, and by 9:15 had bought herself a pair of Silver Fox does and one buck from Mule's Eared Farm.  Well that was fast.  We happened to run into Jenna Woginrich of Cold Antler Farm (one of my favorite authors and bloggers) purchasing herself a Silver Fox doe.  She was one of the keynote speakers at the fair that weekend.  We were able to attend two of her seminars on Raising Meat Rabbits (I guess that was fitting, seeings how we just bought three) and Living A Sustainable Life.  Both were great.  She's a great speaker as well.  Before I forget, here's my sister, happily holding one of her new rabbits:

A girl and her rabbit.

Well, that's all i have to tell for tonight as my computer is about out of power!  And I suppose it's past my bed time.  I'll share more hopefully later this week (I've only just touched the tip of the iceberg), as well as my preparations for the Johnny Appleseed Festival coming up in my home town this weekend.

Mother Earth News Fair! This weekend!

We're off to the fair this weekend!  Me and my sister, braving the elements (it's supposed to rain all weekend!), spending our nights in a 'rustic' cabin with no plumbing!  Ah yes my friends, this will be one great adventure.  And I can't wait!  For all of it!  I will get to see some of my favorite authors and hopefully come home just  a little bit smarter as a homesteader.  There's SO many great workshops and seminars going on this weekend that I just don't know how I'm going to choose.  All I can say for sure is that I will be stopping by to hear Jenna Woginrich from Cold Antler Farm and Joel Salatin from Polyface Farms.  Those 2 are a must for me.  So if you live in the greater Pittsburgh area and have nothing better to do this weekend, hop on out to Seven Springs for a little taste of my world.  We'll be there both Saturday and Sunday.  Young or old, there will be something for everyone!

Mother Earth News Fair 2010

This past weekend I attended the first ever Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs, PA. It was a blast and I heard that there were over 10,000 people who attended! I would believe that; it was quite crowded. They had a little bit of something for everyone, from crafting and fiber to new wind turbine designs, beekeeping, bread baking, and chickens. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I love watching the working dogs! I don't know if there will ever be any hope for my Old English Sheepdog, Kenai. I've never seen them actually used in herding, but he's got the instinct. I asked this lady above if she'd ever seen an OES herd before, and she said, "no", and indicated that they were harder to train. I would believe that; Kenai is quite stubborn though VERY smart. I've also read that they herd more by size than stare, like the Australian Shepherds and such, and require more interaction from their handler (unlike the Aussies). I still love my OES most! They are great dogs, none the less.

Above is a newer design for a wind turbine called the WindTamer. It is supposed to create a vacuum that makes harvesting the energy from the wind more efficient. Or at least that's what I've gathered. It was neat to watch how it swayed and angled itself with the direction of the wind. There was virtually no sound either! This could be promising as it seems that many have complained about the noise that the larger turbines make with their massive height and blades. The WindTamer does not have to be placed at such a great height either. I will be interested to receive information from this company as we have dreams of being off grid....one day.