Chickens ordered!!

Sometime during the week of April 1st we will be getting a shipment of baby chicks. Let me tell you,
I am SUPER excited. We have not done chickens before so we have a ton to learn this year but we are ready for this adventure. And when I say ready, I mean that we are ready in our heads but on with ANYTHING else. We will need to finish the chicken coop and run, get feed and build a brooder. SO MUCH TO DO. We ordered both layers and meat chickens since we eat chicken so much and love it.
Layers: Pearl-white Leghorns, Black Star, Rhode Island Red
Meat: Orpington, Red Ranger, Delaware (not sure how these will do, I have a book that says they are good for meat, we will see).

We will see how it goes, we actually have no idea if we will even like raising chickens. However, if we decided that we don't like it, they won't live forever and we don't have to do it again.

Looking forward to April!!!

Homemade cleaning products

 

One way that I have been trying to save money around our home is by making my own cleaning supplies. Starting out, my plan was solely to save money, however, my focus has shifted slighly to making products that are a bit safer for my children or better on my appliances. My first attempt at making my own products was a couple years ago. I found a recipe for homemade laundry detergent. At first I was skeptical and I really missed the heavy perfume smell to my clothes but it didn't take long to change my mind. My clothes are cleaner and because the recipe that I use has no suds, I know that it is bette on my washer.

 

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap    -for front and top load machines

4        cups hot tap water

1        Fels-Naptha soap bar

1        Cup –Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda

½   Cup Borax

 -Grate bar soap and add to saucepan with 4 cups water. Stir continually over med-low heat until soap is completely dissolved.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full with hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-NEXT DAY- Stir soap, it will be a little lumpy. Fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use (it will gel a little.)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 cup per load (approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machine- ¼ cup per load (approx 640 loads)

 

 

I have an HE machine and I use this and have no problems! I do use a little more than it calls for in some loads such as smelly towels or heavily soiled clothes that the kids have played in outside. This will last you so much longer than a large bottle of tide.

 

 

I also have made All-purpose cleaner that I use in a spray bottle. I have made only one recipe and it has lasts probably 6 months. It is not soapy and it doesn't leave a film. Now, cleaning the floors I leave to my old friend, Vinegar! My mom used it when I was growning and I use it now. The smell leaves something to be desired but I can overlook that, it cleans so well and leaves no sticky film on the floor.

 

 

My mother-in-law put two recipes in our church cookbook that I like to use also.

 

Thrifty Window Cleaner

1/2 cup rubbing alcohol

1 1/2 tsp. annomia

1 1.2 tsp. liquid dish soap

 

Mix the three ingredients together in a quart bottle. Fill the quart bottle to the top with water and shake vigorously. Pour the mixture into a squirt bottle. Use it to clean windows, mirrors and porcelain.

 

Outdoor Window Cleaner

1/2 gallon warm water

2-3 T. laundry or dishwasher detergent

1 T. Jet Dry

 

Mix ingredients. Brush or sponge on window. Immediately hose off. Water will sheet off, no drying necessary. (Be sure windows are tightl closed.)

 

I LOVE making my own cleaning products and I do save quite a good deal of money. If you are interested in some other recipes you make check out my pinterest cleaning page.

 

http://pinterest.com/chriskimaberle/cleaning/

 

Thanks for reading!

K. Aberle

 



This is my kind of mail!

The last two days I have gotten some exciting packages in the mail! Last week I started researching and shopping for vegetable seeds for the garden. I had four companies that I was planning on using. I have a favorite gardening blog that I have read it for about a year now.

   Hickory Holler Farm

 

 

I am truly inspired by The Canned Quilter and have learned a ton from her blog. I found all of the seed companies that I purchased seed from on her blog post, How To Select A Seed Company. This post is one of four on how to plan your garden, select seeds and seed companies and what she plants in her garden and how to read a seed catalogue. I chose to plant all open pollinated seeds so that I can save seeds and plant my own next year...if I have enough. Did you know that hybrid seeds will not grow that same the next year? You may get a plant but it will not be what it was the year before. Well, I didn't know that and I am glad that I have this blogger to help me out.

 

Anyway...back to my mail. I ordered seeds last week and they have started to arrive. I also ordered a grow lamp to rig up in the basement and that should be delivered today as well. I am just waiting on seeds from one more company (my big order) to arrive and I will start my onions. I am starting my onions from seed indoors this year. I have formerly always planted sets but I have learned that onions grown from sets seem to not last as long as onions grown from seeds. Well, I just have to give it a try and see for myself.

 

 

Hopefully my links work...still learning how to do this. Thanks

K.Aberle

A new beginning...

Hello Friends, it is that time of year where I start getting antsy. Christmas and New Years are over and I really don't have much to think about and plan. However, I am a planner...SO, this is the time of year that I start planning my garden and all of the things that I would LIKE to do outside when the weather warms up. Last summer Chris and I started dreaming of being more self-sufficient. We have many reasons for taking this on but the most important reason is that we hate spending SO much on fresh produce and meat at the grocery store. I like to eat healthy but I hate spending so much to do it. Another reason...I HAVE TIME! I don't work outside the home but I would LOVE to help provide food for our family. So we started thinking of different ways that we could provide healthy food for our family. Well, of course there is a garden. We have had a small garden for 6 years now and we enjoy eating food out it but never seem to have enough to can for storage. We decided to take out our old small garden and to plan a new big garden. I am super excited! I got a new book that is helping me plan our garden and know what veggies I want to plant. Well, the garden takes care of the veggie part of our meals but out family eats meat and we are still paying too much for that at the store too. What do we do about that? Well, for many years my hubby and his extended family have butchered hogs together. They all get together for 2 or 3 days and do all the work themselves. We LOVE the pork and eat it most of the year. We can still get by with only buying half of a hog and that seems to last us most of the year. We are thankful for the help of family in butchering, not an easy task but one that Hubby and his brothers would like to perfect so that they don't have to rely on others. Ok, we have pork...we can't eat that for every meal. What else do we eat a lot of? Beef...yes but we can't have a cow, at least not at this time. Ok, keep thinking. Chicken, we eat chicken probably at least once a week. We could butcher chickens! We eat eggs too!!! So we are going to get into chickens, layers and fryers so we will have poultry and eggs. We thought some more on anything else we could raise in a very small space. Rabbits!! Hubby's dad used to raise rabbits when the kids were younger. Hubby said that rabbit meat to good and tender, well that was enough to convience me. We purchased some rabbits and we are hoping to breed them soon but not too soon, maybe a little closer to spring. Did you know that two rabbits can produce more meat in a year than a cow because, well, you know that rabbit thing.

So, I decided to start this blog to keep us motivated and to maybe inspire one of you! Ok...back to planning!!