Food storage plan for 2010

Here is my list for 2010 of items to put away this fall

250 chickens - I share these with my mother , sisters and their families

100 qrts green beans

100 qrts tomato sauce

20 qrt sauerkraut

20 qrts beets,

2 bushels apples sliced and froze

5 gallons honey

10 lbs onions

200 lbs potatoes

10 lbs carrots

as many peppers and sweet corn as i can

15 qrts pickles

20 lbs of fish from the farm pond

3 deer and 1 whole beef steer if the fence gets finished

20 squirrel's , 15 rabbits 2 wild turkeys all for the freezer

1 whole hog either raised by me or purchased

2 gallons of wild blackberries for jelly and frozen berries
3 gallons of strawberries picke from local grower

I will add or subtract as I go along

God has always been in control

Roman's 13 ; 12 the night is nearly over;the day is almost here, so let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light

We went to church Sunday, I did not go last Sunday because they always take communion on the first Sunday of the month and I am still not comfortable yet doing it. But as I am finding out I am not in control like I have always thought I was . When I walked in to the sanctuary on Sunday morning the first thing I saw was the communion trays out. I chuckled and said to myself God I get the message. Then the pastor and the deacons decided they would have a different service this week, they asked members if they would give testimony and a few did and I sat there thinking but did not stand up at first as the last gentleman finished , I hesitated

and the pastor moved on so I just sat there and I kept talking to God within myself and I finally

said that if pastor Chuck went back and asked if there was anymore testimony I would stand

and tell that I was thankful for my family and for God deciding to work on my heart. I now

see that I have never been in control in my life he has guided me all along, he has a plan. As I sat there thinking about what God may have planned for me. I have thought often why i made it out of the neighbor hood I grew up in hells half acres as it was called. A couple of guys I ran around with are now dead and some are alcoholics and drug addicts. Why was I able to get away from that lifestyle and others remain. At times I even doubted God I did not understand why he waited so long to bless Tari and I with Kenny Ray we had been married for 15 years before we were blessed. I could not understand why some people where blessed and have them aborted or

given up for adoption or some children to be ignored completely or as my Grandfather would say

they act like a cow just lick and send them on their way. I have often thought maybe I was to selfish and greedy in my youth or maybe I would not of been as good of a father in my twenties
as I think I have been in my forties only he knows the reasons why. I do know this that I have never been happier its like everything that I thought was a problem is no longer a problem. All the answers to questions of life are in the bible. You just have to read and ask god to let you put on the armor of light.

A little joy for your winter days

I listen to hymn's from the hills on http://www.wbzi.com/ . It is on at 1 pm eastern time. it will make you baloney sandwich taste better. I have listened to Joe for along time , I miss his dad Moon he always talked about the mountain ways raising hogs , gardening, keeping bees. As he said put in 1500 am and throw the knob away. That old mountain gospel will make any day better.

Tomorrow may never come

I wrote the other day of my plan for my moving to the farm, in the next few years and outlined my journey there so far. After reading tonight in the book of Ecclesiastes 9:7 go eat your food with gladness, and drink you wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do 8: always wear white, and always anoint you head with oil 9: enjoy life with your wife,whom you love

all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun - all your meaningless days. for this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun 10: whatever your hand

finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave where you are going, there is neither working

nor planning nor knowledge or wisdom.

I believe the spirit is telling me to enjoy the journey to my farming full time,and not look past the present to the future. as only God knows what the future holds for my family and myself.

My plan for the good life

I am a very blessed person, I have a wonderful family. They have always supported me in everything that I have chose to do. When I was in business for myself , even when all I did in my spare time was hunt and fish and trap . My wife has always been supportive from dealing with me working 15 hour days to taxidermy bills and busted bottles of deer scent in the house , night crawlers in the frig , and the torment of me practicing turkey calls in the house. With everything that I have done , I always come back to wanting to farm, we have always had a garden and canned green beans , tomatoes etc, the garden and growing things - farming is what

I always come back to. When Tari and I decided to buy the farm in Bainbridge It became my hunting and fishing retreat. But as the time has gone by my dream as changed to living there full time , After reading You can farm by Joel Salatin . The question that he ask is what are you doing now to achieve that dream , and he was right why wait do it now, do something to start you on the way. And that is what I did I doubled the size of the garden . I asked a friend of mine, he lives's on a place with 10 acre's of ground that was grown up. Kenny Ray and I cleaned up

the ground so we could start raising chickens we started with 13 layer chicks that we put in a brooder in the laundry room , my poor wife . our first year we also raised 100 broiler's in pens like in Salatin's book. I took a bee keeping class and started some hives that I keep at my mothers house and my house in the city. I very understanding neighbor's also. We also learned

to make Maple syrup. I even took a marketing seminar for small farms. We have learned the skills needed for the farm now. I have known several families that just sold everything to go farm but were unable to make a go of it , they lacked the necessary skills of doing it. the learning curve was to difficult . By learning the skills and ahead of time you will make the
learning curve much shorter, there by making it more pleasurable and increase your chances of being successful. It will be much easier if you find out now that canning a 100 qrts of beans and tomatoes is a lot of work and has to be done when they are in and ready not when you are.
Find your piece of ground and work there and get it ready while you are still working full time . Spend weekends vacations as much free time as you can get to know the neighbors . We are planning to move in 3 to 4 years . during this time i have a couple of buildings to build as well as put few cattle together. If I can find the time we want to attend some farmers markets and sell some of our chickens to try and start a customer
base. But I think the main thing is share your dream and talk about often with your family and friends. I can not wait to walk the farm lane with my wife hand in hand . I may not get to enjoy as much now because i have a full time job. But the joy will be so much better when i watch my son raise his family on the farm . With God's will we will make it

Are you lost and stumbling in the night?

John 11: 10 but if man walk in the night, he stumbleth because there is no light
I was reading this morning and this struck a nerve with me . it seems that most of life I have
drifted from one thing to another. with no certain purpose than to keep earning money and believing that my life would improve with the more money that I earned. But in fact all it ever did was make me miserable. When I had my own business all I ever made me was miserable.
The time that it took away from my family and the pressure of being pulled in so many directions ,was not worth the money. My wife told me one day that I was turning into a miserable old man, so I sold it. My mother said she had been praying for me that another door would open up . I did get another job but the door that opened up for me was my farm. And I have been drawn there ever since. The more I read my Bible the more I see the light , the more I am drawn to an agrarian life. I must pay for my sins of the past of being in the night on my journey into the light. As I believe God will forgive us of our sins, but he does not take way any
consequences brought on by them .