Processing Onions

Despite giving away onions to lots of people (which is so much fun), we still have over 100 pounds of onions to process. The children started the job today, and completely filled the dehydrator.

Here are some photos of the process for you to enjoy:

The only problem we ran into, was that Greyden's goggles broke, and Hewitt didn't have goggles. I've already added them to my shopping list, but I doubt I'll get them before we finish onion processing!

So, the whole house smells like onions, but that's ok with me. I didn't have to touch a single onion. The children did it all. Mommy is definitely enjoying them getting older and more capable. :D

PJ

A Porcupine in the House

Remember when I said that the children liked to treat Indigo as their own dress-up doll?

Well, here she is dressed up as a pink porcupine.

Too cute!

PJ

Goat Milk Soap

One of the uses for our "extra" goat milk is goat milk soap. As a family we've enjoyed various scents: vanilla, lavender, oatmeal milk & honey, and pink sugar (Brett's favorite). I've been selling my soap, so we've been trying new scents as I replenish my inventory. Here are some photos of the soap curing.

These are lemon curd on the left, ocean in the middle, and rosemary mint on the right. The lemon curd is my favorite scent for just standing around sniffing. It smells absolutely yummy. I used mica to make the ocean blue. The children thought blue soap was "magic" since I've never tinted the soaps before.

This is lilac. I used a natural mica to tint it a light purple and added a light swirl. Lilac is my favorite flower, so I had to soap it. :D

The soaps cure for 4-6 weeks on the top shelves of the children's closets. They scent the whole room - which is really nice in a stinky boys' bedroom. ;-) The girls have both peppermint and lilac curing in their room - which makes an interesting combination.

On the to-do list for this week is island coconut, english lavender, and unscented. I might have to have a fun time teasing the children, trying to get them to figure out what the "unscented" soap smells like. :D

PJ

Why We'll Spend a Week Crying

Do you remember when we got 800 pounds of free chicken? Mr. McCrary (the man who gave it to us) is one of Jim's customers. He runs a food ministry. Every week he gives us "stuff".

This past Sunday, Jim was asking the children how they knew that God was real. Brett's answer was that, "Everytime I ask God for something from Mr. McCrary, we always get it. Except for the onions. But I guess we don't really need those."

Some background - last harvest we spent a week chopping and dehyrating our onion crop. It has lasted all winter, but we're down to our last jar. We won't be harvesting any for several months, so Brett has been praying for onions from Mr. McCrary.

This morning, the phone rings - it was Mr. McCrary. He told me that Jim had missed the stuff he had left out for him on Thursday. I told him I would give the message to Jim.

This evening, Jim pulls into the driveway and starts unloading his truck. He pulls out...

Yep - those are onions. 150 POUNDS of onions, to be exact. Wow - what an obvious answer to prayer. By the way, we've never gotten onions from Mr. McCrary before.

So... let the chopping and crying begin! :D

PJ

Kale Time

Our main winter fresh vegetable is kale that we grow in our greenhouse. About this time every year, the greenhouse is full of kale plants that are at least 5 feet tall. Because it is getting so warm in the greenhouse, most of it has bolted and gone to flower. Which means it is time to... (drum roll, please) process the kale.

Processing the kale involves the following steps:

1. Pull up the kale


2. Pull all the leaves off the stems


3. Steam the kale to blanch it


4. Chop the kale


5. Bag the kale


6. Freeze the kale (or pressure can it)

Everybody takes part in the processing of the kale. Here is a photo of Greyden and Indigo pulling the leaves off of the stems. I'm not sure why, but Indigo is actually the best one at this job. She is very thorough and very quick. She'll sit and do it for a very long time. When we have dinner, she's the one who gets it ready to be steamed.

Anyway, I just thought she and Greyden were so cute, I had to run and get the camera.

Here's one more with Fletcher helping out. Brett was inside doing the steaming. Emery was pulling up and moving the kale. Colter got a free pass and got to plant beans.

We mainly use the kale in pasta dishes such as lasagna. But Indigo, Brett, and I have gotten into the habit of sauteing it with butter, garlic, and lemon juice and eating it like that. Jim thinks it is completely gross, but we like it!

PJ

Momma's Helper

Where would I be without Brett?

Let's list some of the minor things she does around here:

• Changes diapers
• Makes dinner
• Washes dishes
• Does laundry
• Makes cheese
• Cleans the bathroom
• Cleans the kitchen
• Babysits
• Fetches things that nobody else can find
• Videos the boys' wrestling matches
• Reminds me of the time
• Gets Dad his dinner when he comes home late
• Makes the birthday cakes

Now let's list some of the major things:

• Reads every book she can find
• Gives lots of hugs and kisses
• Leaves me notes telling me how much she loves me
• She crosses off my to-do list as we complete things

Ok, that's just a short list b/c I'm kinda tired right now. I'll add to it as I think of more. But beyond being an awesome daughter, she's definitely the favorite big sister around here. We'd all be lost without her.

PJ

Beware of Pirates

I don't know what the children enjoy more - dressing themselves up - or dressing Indigo up. She's like everyone's favorite doll. Here she is armed and dangerous.

One more pirate photo. This one is Colter with his dangerous weapons - two half finished goat bottles. They complete the outfit, don't you think?

Sometimes I wonder what people think when they drive by and see a bunch of children dressed up like pirates and running around during "school hours" chasing baby goats and each other.

Then again, maybe I don't want to know!

PJ