Bye Bye Gallbladder, Hello Growth!

My SURPRISE Birthday present finally arrived last week with a gallbladder removal! Not only has it brought me hours and hours alone with my husband and made me really realize how much I like this guy and how funny he really is!! Cracking jokes as I pass out and put on gerny before the operation even took place.. And after "So there are four holes?" As he looks at four distinct bandages sprawled across my abdomen.. "No Kev, they are just for looks.."

It has also brought me more clarity and peace in my life MAKING me slow down and let it go, re-evaluate and just breathe... I have made even stronger bonds to those who helped me during the healing process (which is taking longer than I would have liked) and to those willing to drop everything for me and just CARE for ME... 

Like my younger sister coming upstairs to check on and help me get out of bed, friends taking the kids to and from school and just coming to visit with treats and calls knowing how hard it is for me to be laid up.

Never in my entire life have I needed this much help, three births, illness etc have never been this physically difficult for me. It has made me feel so much more human and alive having to ask for "help".

I was raised by a tough mother who has had MANY major surgeries including a kidney removal at 17, back surgery on herniated disks, gallbladder, shoulder, hysterectomy and survived a strange illness they think was west nile virus, AND 5 kids! On top of it all my mom did not have family and friends close by to lean on. HOW DID MY MOM DO IT!

I was taught to suck it up! You can do it! You can do anything! And this, this I could not do on my own. And for this I am eternally grateful, more then words can describe, for all of my friends and family who are there for me, especially my incredible, talented, strong, bold, beautiful, kind, caring, thoughtful and just truly amazing Mother. I feel all of your amazing traits have been instilled in each of us in someway or another.

Thank You.

I was going to become a vegetarian, I became a small farmer instead.

I was going to become a vegetarian, I became a small farmer instead, here is why.

4 years ago my husband and I were looking to move to a farm from our suburban home, after three years in suburbia we had realized city life was definitely not for us. At that very same time my parents were entering retirement and were residing at my childhood home, a 7 acres hobby farm.

The farm was always a hobby farm growing up, consisting of rescued animals and a few rare breed chickens that my father fancied that provided farm fresh field raised eggs for the family. In the more recent years they were given a Rare breed Tamworth piglet named Rosie and decided to breed for meat and to help preserve the breed, but nothing more then that.

With the sudden forced retirement of my mother at the young age of 57 joining my father in the ranks of the retired in the large 8 bedroom home, we decided to join forces and move in my young family of 5 to live as one big unit.

I was struggling with my health at this time in my life and had decided it was best for me to become a vegetarian. The decision was based on two factors, the inability to find good quality meat without antibiotics, hormones and full of optimal nutrition by being grass fed etc, but also for ethical reasons. To be raised with love, caring, compassion & freedom to roam and truly live as any animal should. Not in a barn, cram packed with 100's of other livestock, fed a limited diet of grain and nothing else and often just babies when slaughtered. To be just another number in a barn mis treated and unloved.

I just could not find anything that matched my criteria so therefore decided to make the jump to vegetarianism.

But when we moved to the farm it gave me the opportunity to try my hand at growing my own meat. If I am going to eat it I will be responsible for what I eat and know where it came from, what's in it and how it was treated.

So I placed my order for 30 roosters from the local TSC. (Why Roosters you ask, roosters aren't in as high a demand and are often killed at hatch) With lots of love and tenderness we raised these 30 boys to 22 weeks old, all 30 big boys grew up outside, on grass and each had a personality of its own. It was a magical time for us. Bittersweet.

Then came time to say goodbye to our boys. They had lived a longer life then they ever would have anywhere else, with freedom, empathy and love.

My mother and I cried the first time we sent our chickens in for harvest. One of the hardest things we have ever done. The emotions were flooding our hearts. It was so overwhelming. 

We now have a beautiful bountiful garden, various meat offerings, eggs, canned goods, jams, dried herbs, our own sheep cheese and milk, honey etc and anything extra we have we are able to share with our family, friends and community.

We focus our breeding on rare heritage breeds, trying to bring back the breeds. We sell breeders, babies and meat for these breeds. "We must eat them to save them" is one of the sayings heritage breed farmers have, which is exactly right on to us. All these other mass farmed modified breeds are not only not capable of natural reproduction or natural survival but are not expected to live longer then a certain time so tend to die at very young ages due to various reason such as weight gain!

Basically anything we can find that can be used by either us or by others we put to good use! We barter and trade with other farmers with manure, eggs, hatching services, we offer things like rabbit pelts to local artisans so as not to waist any of the animal that spared a life for us. We offer various educational programs such as camps, in school hatching and homesteading lessons.

We have built a community surrounding our farm, we have brought community back into our lives. Something that is sorely missed in our modern day society and severely needed.

Our harvest time is October, we clear the garden and store all we can to last as long as we can from winter squash to any preserves and freezing we can fit.

We then reap the garden and feed it to the animals to help prepare them for the coming winter.

Our Neighbours all receive a thanksgiving turkey for the support and understanding of the trials and tribulations of farming. It truly is thanksgiving! We understand and have a deep sense of what thanksgiving means. It has changed my families whole life, way of thinking and given us the true sense of what it really is to live a life of gratuity.

Our lives are more enriched then we could have ever imagined. My children have an enormous amount of empathy, compassion, kindness, gratuity, respect and love for all things. They understand the facts of life from reproduction, birth to death and we share as a family every night at dinner the events of the day. Sometimes tears of joy, like being able to deliver our sow Wilma's litter of 17, and having 3 bottle fed runts, (whom would otherwise parish) inside for months living amongst us,

watching my 5 year old daughter feeding them with a bottle every time they squeal.

Our bottle baby sheep Lyza sleeping in our beds and getting up every 2 hours to feed her, 

watching her suck on my 8 year old sons ear for comfort.  

The day our baby Lyza had her very own first baby Auburn, watching my 8 year old feel like a proud papa was one of the most defining moments in my life.

Or the care and kindness watching my 11 year old help in the hatching and delicate care the first few days after require,

or if the chicks need a Spraddle leg fixed, ensuring they have available water and food while in "chicken traction".

Watching the kids give an uncomfortable very pregnant 700 lb Tamworth a mud bath by transporting the buckets of mud to her while she rolls over and sleeps in bliss. 

Or opening the animal pens in the early morning to let all the animals out and the pure joy they have to run, fly and swim and eat grass.

Sometimes tears of sadness, when we have a death, by predators or for harvest or just the facts of life, when a piglet is born dead, or was rolled on by mom ever so careful she tries to be, or when a chick is born with and un fixable deformity, or old age...

We eat less meat then we ever did, we know how much work goes into making that meat and the sacrifice the animals make for us. We respect meat and think about it every bite. We are grateful. It's hard, very hard. We have had some trying moments, heavy hearts for what we do. Some days I feel like I'm going to break and that can't go on as a farmer. But then I remember the responsibility we owe to these animals. To be responsible.

I have never cried so much in my life. And I wouldn't change it for the world.

New Life Makes Loosing Life Easier To Understand....

In the words of Jack Johnson "New life makes loosing life easier to understand"

Our 5 year old goat Billy was not doing well, I told my 10 year old son Hudson that we would have to put him down, he was unable to walk because of his disease and he is suffering.

Billy was a very friendly goat, because he had such a hard time walking he would lye down a lot. Hudson would sit on the ground outside for hours with him, rain (underneath the tree fort) or shine.

He had this bond with him, chatting away about things, petting him and just being.

Billy was rescued from people that just did not know how to take care of goats, he was fed a diet of corn only and developed severe arthritis from malnutrition. We got him when he was 2 but he looked 20. We were able to keep him comfortable for a few more years with mass doses of Glucosamine but because of the malnutrition his bones were deteriorating and he completely lost his ability to walk.

Upon Billys death we knew we would need to get a companion for our newly acquired bottle baby Sheep Lyza but with an upcoming annual farm sale it was not a priority. 

The farm sale came and went and as we were about to leave a woman came up to me and introduced herself as one of the members of a farm board I chat on. As we were talking she mentioned she had goats, I asked if she had Nubian goats (super friendly, long ears, cute) and she did. So I took my 7 year old to look as Hudson was feeling a bit down. I asked what the cost was and she said we could just have one because he would be a loved pet. Theo picked out the spotted one despite his first choice because Hudson likes spots. I carried our newly acquired boy to the van and away we went home with three very excited smiling children all the way.

When we arrived at home my mother, who with the help of Hudson named the new boy Elliot, was smitten. She had taken on our bottle lamb as a baby of her own and Elliot was to die for cute as well.

Hudson wanted to immediately go out to see how Billy was doing and bring him a marshmallow, his favourite. I insisted on going with him, I know now it was intuition, as he normally goes out on his own. When we reached the barn there was Billy, in his favorite stall, gone.

Hudson was upset, he pet him and said goodbye. We headed toward the house hugging each other to deliver the bad news. And as we arrive who runs up to greet us but Elliot. 

It was so sad to loose our Billy, but the new life in Elliot helped to soften that blow and make it easier to understand. The universe works in mysterious and wonderful ways, giving us Elliot on the exact same day our Billy was to leave us was one of those wonderful ways. 

We loved you Billy.  

Billy with my son eating his marshmallows;)

Givin the love...

Egg Head, Kids Smoothies, and My Dad's Take On The "Family Change room"

Egg Head, Kids Smoothies, and My Dad's Take On The "Family Change room"

EGG HEAD

I guess it is possible to scare the Egg out of a chicken! I first hand had the pleasure of experiencing this as I walked into the ladies coop and apparently scared them so much one pooped out an egg and it landed on my head and rolled off to the floor. I have never had this happen before and probably never will, I hope...

KIDS SMOOTHIES:

I love smoothies for my kids. I love that I can ensure that the first meal of the day is full of protein, greens, fruits, fibre, omega oil and probiotics makes me feel like a good mum!

Protein first thing in the morning shows better clarity and focus and is important for growing children. Omega oils are needed for the body to work properly, they are important for cognitive development, respiratory, circulatory, brain, organs, skin etc etc.. and probiotics helps stabilize the normal flora of the intestinal tract and stimulate resistance to harmful pathogens, they also treat a number of digestive illnesses.

So we did a little taste test with the kids today. It was a big Smoothie recipes day in the kitchen. With awesome surprising EASY recipes that I can totally do everyday:

Theo enjoying "The Chocolatey Icey Theo"

CHOCOLATE ICEY THEO: (my son named it)
-5 Ice Cubes
-2 Scoops Chocolate Whey Nutrimeal Shake (Usana)
-1 Tbsp Hemp Hearts (great source of good protein)
-1 Scoop Greens Powder
-1 Tbsp Omega Oil (I use Usana OptOmega)
-1 Tsp Fibre powder (I use Usana Fibergy)
-Probiotic (I use Usana)

STRAWBERRY BANANA AWESOMENESS:
My son who does not like bananas LOVES this one.
-5 Ice Cubes
-1 Banana
-1 Scoop Strawberry Nutrimeal Shake (Usana)
-1 Tbsp Hemp Hearts (great source of good protein)
-1 Scoop Greens Powder
-1 Tbsp Omega Oil (I use Usana OptOmega)
-1 Tsp Fibre powder (I use Usana Fibergy)
-Probiotic (I use Usana)

STRAWBERRY BERRYGOOD: (my 3 year old daughter named...)
-5 Ice Cubes
-1 Cup Mixed Frozen Berries
-1 Scoop Strawberry Nutrimeal Shake (Usana)
-1 Tbsp Hemp Hearts (great source of good protein)
-1 Scoop Greens Powder
-1 Tbsp Omega Oil (I use Usana OptOmega)
-1 Tsp Fibre powder (I use Usana Fibergy)
-Probiotic (I use Usana)

My Dad's "Family Changeroom" Philosophy

My husband and I decided to take the kids to the local swimming pool for a Saturday swim, my sisters 2 kids joined us a well as my 68 year old father to "help"... If you knew my dad his version of help it's more like bringing another child who is adult size, opinionated and doesn't have to listen to you.
We arrive at the pool and enter the "Family Changeroom" and start getting the very excited 5 kids under the age of 9 ready and in the stalls to change. I noticed my father started getting ready right in the middle of the Family Changeroom. Here's how the convo went:
Me:" dad, this is the "family Changeroom" that means an adult woman can walk in now and see you, it's the rules to use the change rooms provided only."
Dad: ""Family change room"... Well, the "families" can see me undress then"! As he takes off his pants and underwear...

Bathroom Hot Boxed, Smoothies and Bee Pollen

HOT BOXED IN THE BATHROOM:
So I was hot boxed while having a shower today by my 67 year old dad... We share one bathroom in our house where we have anywhere from 9 -18 people using it on any given day. This bathroom has a toilet, two sinks and a shower with one way mirror doors, the toilet is hidden in a coved area so having a shower and someone using the loo is not really an issue, unless while your having a HOT shower they decide to use the loo for number 2 and leave it... This is how the conversation went. My dad walks in and says " I have to Poo" .... "Uh, It won't flush...I'm leavin it".
I was a little dizzy coming out of my shower, haven't felt like that since I was a teen!!;)


SUPER SMOOTHIE TO THE RESCUE!!
There has been a lot of talk on smoothies for the past few years. I have been using this same gluten free anti inflammatory recipe for years now and just love it, so do my kids, so thought I would share.

-frozen berry blend (blueberries, strawberries, blackberries) organic preferred
-banana (or mango or pear)
-protein powder (I use sun warrior chocolate, it vegan, and gluten free)
-hemp hearts
-chia seeds ground
-turmeric (helps with inflammation)
-greens powder
-probiotics (I use Usana Health Sciences brand)
-bee pollen (an amazing remedy for allergies, (http://www.envirobee.com/beepollen.htm)
-omega oil (I use optomega from Usana Health Sciences)
-ground flax
-pure juice (I use knudsen cranberry, pomegranate, blueberry)

My one sister said one time as she saw me drinking it on the go in a clear glass, um, that looks like poo ya know. I can only imagine what drivers think I'm drinking at stop lights!


BEE POLLEN:
Almost by whole life I suffered from allergies, asthma and eczema. Had stomach problem especially with milk products etc etc..

I will go into more detail about this on my next blog but for this blog I wanted to share with those of you who would benefit from the use of Bee Pollen. I use Dutchmans Gold, they are local which is extremely important when choosing a supplier.

Fighting Disease:

By increasing the body's healing power, the body can help build resistance to disease. It has been successfully used with allergies, asthma, chronic rheumatism, colitis, arteriosclerosis, insomnia, depression, failing memory, hay fever, to normalize intestinal activity, to lower cholesterol levels and stimulate appetite, lower high blood pressure, offset the effects of drugs and pollutants, anaemic conditions and attention deficit. It is especially useful in times of pregnancy, lactation and intensive physical or mental work. It maintains the high levels of energy required to keep up with hectic schedules, deadlines or long hours. Pollen brings back vitality without the dangers of artificial stimulants like caffeine, ephedra or quarana and can be taken safely at any time. It is a natural product, admirably tolerated, and compatible with other therapies. Bee pollen is a powerful food supplement for children, growing teens, and adults of all ages. Bee pollen is the only natural food that contains almost all of the 22 elements of which the human body is composed. Today, more than ten thousand tons of bee pollen is consumed as food or medicine all over the world every year! Everyone can benefit from taking Bee pollen!

Check out this amazing site for more information on Bee Pollen (http://www.envirobee.com/beepollen.htm)

Turkey Beards, Kale Chips and Does a Baby Shit in the Woods?

Heritage breed "Beltsville Small White" Vinnie

So, I was holding my Turkey Vinnie today (yes I am aware that that sounds super weird, they are lovely creatures and quite smart and friendly and make great pets) to show one of the kids friends how friendly they are, the air he holds in his chest to look all big and how when you press on his chest and the air is pushed out he sounds like a horn, the skin under his chin is a wadle, the long skin on his nose is a snood etc..
Then I noticed something on Vinnie's chest, it felt like a burr so I asked my 6 year old Theo to pull it off, but when we looked closer it was attached and looked like a clump of very hard wire like feathers growing from the centre of his chest. I was worried he had a growth so I rushed to the house asking if anyone had heard of this! my brother in law quickly googled and found out it is his "Beard" and only the most handsome Toms get them and they can grow quite long. learn something new every day;)

A picture of Beltsville Small White with a prominent "beard"

Turkey Fun Fact:

Turkeys are the only birds that reproduce a sexually, AKA parthenogenic. Ok, that means they can have fertile eggs without a Man around, but they will only have boys! Crazy!

A specific line of hens was discovered and developed to lay eggs which will hatch into clone "sons" since in birds the female is XY and males XX. Which is the opposite of us mammals.
   
Ben Franklin wanted the turkey as the USA bird but the bald eagle won the vote.... I think the turkey would have gone over well?



Kale Chips:

We grew Kale in our garden this year for the first time. It grows like a weed, and we love Kale so this is a good thing! I have heard about how amazing the Kale chips taste so I decided to experiment. Well, good thing I did because I have now found my new addiction, and it's a healthy one!

Pre-heat oven to 300 degree celcius
Bunch of Kale with the heart removed to leave the green leaves only no center.

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Sherry or Wine Vinegar
Pinch Sea Salt 
Mix in a small bowl to help disolve salt.

Coat the leaves completely with the mixture, use your hands in a bowl or shake in a bag.
Place on cookie trays
Cook for 35 minutes

Spicy Kale Chips:

Add a dash of Tobasco Sauce or Cayenne Pepper to the mix


Kale Nutritional Facts:
"One of the healthiest vegetable around"
-Cholesterol Lowering benefits
-Risk-lowering benefits for cancer
-detoxifying power
-at least 45 different Flavanoids in Kale which provide ANTI-INFLAMMATORY and anti-Oxidant benefits
 1 cup of cooked Kale equals:
Nutrient                                   %Daily Value
vitamin K1327.6%
vitamin A354.1%
vitamin C88.8%
manganese27%
fiber10.4%
copper10%
tryptophan9.3%
calcium9.3%
vitamin B69%
potassium8.4%
iron6.5%
magnesium5.8%
vitamin E5.5%
omega-3 fats5.4%
vitamin B25.2%
protein4.9%
vitamin B14.6%
folate4.2%
phosphorus
3.6%

vitamin B33.2%
Calories (36)2%

THATS AMAZING!

Great site to get more info on how awesome Kale is:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=38



Poop:

We recently went berry picking which took us about 2 hours. Well, my 3 year old had to "poop"... this is a farm, with no washroom, and I didnt happen to have a potty, or extra clothes for her in case I told her to hold it and she couldnt.
SO, what do ya do! Well, baby had to shit in the woods! She did very well, she could have cared less and a nice doggy poop bag cleaned everything up so as not to leave our "poop" print on mother earth;)

Free Range and Free Range, Kids Meals and Crazy

As I was out this morning letting our chicks out into the field I looked across at our dog Ruby guarding them and thought how this is what the true definition of "free Range" should be!

Our chickens are out from dusk till dawn roaming in the grass field, only put in at night for safety from predators. So much room so that you can hardly see that there are over 40 in this picture alone!

Ruby guarding the flock

Maeve with Blue

I sat with my favourite one named Blue, my dad and then Maeve when she woke up to come out for awhile. It was so peaceful and calming, it was in that moment so very glad and proud of our decision to raise our own.

As we were talking I decided to write a post on the topic of what "Free Range" meant in the farming industry and this is what I found.

Free Range

The term “free range” has not been legally defined in either Canada or the U.S. but generally, it refers to poultry that has been permitted to graze or forage outdoors. Since there is no hard and fast definition of this term, speaking to your butcher or grocer about what exactly is meant by free range, especially when buying chicken in the winter or early spring as chickens cannot be raised outdoors in most Canadian winters is the only way to know for sure.

Free Run

Free run is different than free range in that chickens do not necessarily need to be raised outside but they are required to be able to move around freely within the barn. Though there is no legal definition of this, all chickens raised for meat in Canada are considered free run.

Chickens not kept in cages are often housed in shelters where the floor doubles as a giant litter box. As a result, hens have direct contact with bacteria and microorganisms that grow in the litter, which can greatly increase health risks, said the study, available on BioMed Central's journal Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica.

Grain Fed

This term is typically just used for marketing purposes. Chicken labeled as “grain fed” is stating the obvious, though some brands boast special types of grain, such as vegetarian grain.

  

Free range Chickens

Basically the laws/regulations surrounding Free Range/Free Run are non existant. Meaning, chickens can be raised on a poop (POOP!) covered field of dirt in cramped quarters and boastully advertise "Free Range!"

Not only does a grass fed truly free range chickens and eggs taste better! They live the life most of us dream of.
The nutritional value is uncomparable to any other as well, the average free range egg results showed:

• 1⁄3 less cholesterol
• 1⁄4 less saturated fat
• 2⁄3 more vitamin A
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene
• 21 times more omega-3 fatty acid

Keep in mind that these eggs were from hens that are considered legitimately free range. They spend all or most of their lives outdoors, roosting in trees if they choose, eating bugs, grass, running and "attempting" to fly;)

A picture of what eggs look like in comparison

Kids Meals:

We had dinner the other night and thought I'd write a post on what our munchkins eat on a regular day.

Our kids tend to like veggies not cooked, which is a better way to eat them anyway so we just let them!

We always give them a reasonable portion so it doesnt look so overwhelming to them

-Spinach Salad
-Red boiled Potato
-Raw Carrotts and Broccolli
-Steamed Brussel Sprout and Kale from the garden
-Chicken -the kids get the dark meat because of the nutritional content and they like the moist texture much better.
Chicken provides:
*Protein, magnesium, phosphorus, niacin, choline,calcium, iron and potassium
*Chicken dark meat has more B vitamins, iron, and zinc than their lighter counterparts and 3X the amount of vitamin A!
*Dark meat is an excellent source of the antioxidant seleniumWe have a few mealtime rules;

1: You must try everything on your plate if you dont like it you can spit it in the garbage, this goes for every meal so if they tried red pepper yesterday, they try it again today! It has shown to work at expanding their palate as taste budds change so rapidly in children. The average adult has about 10,000 taste buds, and they die with age so it is only known that children have many more then the average adult.


2: No complaining! About what you DON'T want on your plate. I was getting sick of hearing "I don't want that and that and that" so this has become our rule, eat what you do want and we will talk about the rest at the end of the meal. By the end of the meal almost all the foods gone and no more negative complaining at meal time! Worked like a charm!

POOP!

I don't have a poop comment this time but a cute little thing my 6 year old said about being "crazy"...

My 67 year old father is a man of his time. By this I mean crazy. He thinks it's ok for a 4 year old to walk to school on his own 5 miles and own a BB Gun and pocket knife in order to make him a man type of crazy.

So we are always telling the kids "Puppa's crazy" in a funny cute (secretly serious) way so they understand that sometimes he makes somewhat unsafe decisions and to always use your own better judgement when hanging out with him.

One day my mother told him Puppa was crazy and he said "yeah, but crazy is fun!" A matter of fact like. Puppa was very proud of his Theo and chuckled to himself.