Weekend In Review

The weather was heavenly this weekend - only about 85 degrees and we had a constant breeze. It's amazing how much you can accomplish when not suffering from the oppressive humidity of the south! Here's how the weekend shaped up!

- I decided it was time to harvest some of this delicious looking Romaine. Not actually harvesting till tomorrow before dinner. Spaghetti, meatballs, salad (that I don't have to go to the store to buy,) and homemade bread - also, no grocery store required! Yipee!

And doesn't it look like a Cabbage Patch baby just wants to pop out of my cabbage!!

- Even more exciting is that our coop is finally looking like a coop! Since my hubby can only work on it on Saturdays, it's been a slow process, but I love it. Can't wait to help our "girls" set up house!

And last but not least, my mom bought us this beautiful handmade basket for egg gathering. It's beautifully made and I adore it. For now, I grabbed a photo of it with some apples. Eggs to come!!

Basically, it was an awesome, prepping filled, homesteady kinda weekend!!

Planting!

We've been working! Of course, every time we planned a time to get our fall garden going – it rained, and rained. Finally we got a sunny Saturday and got a good start. I'm really wanting to plant some pumpkin seeds, but that's all we have left to find. The kids loved it – and were especially amused at slipping and sliding in horse manure. I've read mixed reports about horse manure, but it was aged (for the most part), and it was free. We live surrounded by our neighbors horses (oh, how I love them!) and they let us wheelbarrow out as much as we need. We also bought a load of topsoil and mixed everything very well. We've planted cauliflower, cabbage, romaine, carrots, and broccoli. Now I would love some herbs and pumpkins! When it comes to gardening (and many other aspects of homesteading) I feel like a kindergarten student on the first day of school – I don't really know my way around or what to expect – all I can do is keep trying. Funny thing is – I'm SO enjoying this journey, manure and all!

Plants that Heal..... Aloe Vera

I don't know much about plants and their healing abilities – another area of homesteading in which I'm a complete neophyte. I do know, however, that people survived for hundreds of years without a CVS pharmacy! There is healing in plants that we can grow in our own soil, we just have to learn what they are and how to use them. Here is yet another lost art. I'm sure my great-grandmother knew what herbs would good for stomach aches, or what would help a skin rash. I've even read that there are plants that are natural bug repellants! Wow. So much to learn.

One little plant that I do know a little about is Aloe Vera. I have pots and pot of the stuff. It just keeps growing and growing dozens of little offshoots. I have given it away and still have a ton. Aloe doesn't like the cold weather or frost, so pretty soon I'll have to re-locate it all inside.

Here are a few uses we have found for Aloe:

Sunburn treatment – it's soothing and cool and feels great on a sunburn. I'm sure it could be used to treat minor burns of any kind.

Eczema – My now 13 year old used to be plagued with Eczema. Aloe soothed his itchy skin. I managed to avoid all those nasty steroid creams by just treating him with Aloe.

Bug Bites? Okay, I don't know about this one, but my six-year-old daughter constantly breaks off little bits of Aloe to treat her mosquito bites. She says it helps the itching. It works for her so I say, go for it!

Bottom line, Aloe is quite handy to have around. I'm sure a quick Google search would yield many more uses for this versatile little plant!

How does your garden grow?

I was reminded today, the details I'll leave out, that life is a test, an opportunity to grow. I was reminded that we can't grow unless given the opportunities to do so. If we meander from day to day, year to year without opposition or challenge, can we ever really prove that we have the faith and “gumption” to rise above? Will we remove ourselves from situations that could prove harmful? Will we forgive someone who has harmed us? I think within us all there is a seed. A tiny manifestation of our creator. We can cultivate and tend this seed or we can ignore it while it slowly hardens and withers. I learned today that my seed could use some water and I'm thankful that I've been blessed with another day to grow stronger. I want to be counted among the mighty oaks, not the drought-stricken saplings. I also want my children to be strong, to be able to combat the temptations of every day life. In the world that we live in, temptation will be at every corner, at the touch of a button. I consider this post a journal entry of sorts. I will have to come back and read this often as a reminder of this day. I learned a lot today, and I am thankful, but I'm glad it's over.