Thoughts for the future: and other stuff

I know that all who follow me will be stunned to know that although it is 70 degrees out and sunny for a change, I poured myself a glass of iced mint tea and went out into the yard and just sat and watched the chickens scratch.

On my farm something usually makes me laugh. My cat Flash helps. This is what I found when I went to get an iced tea glass.

Well my 10 pinyon pine seedlings arrived from Peaceful Vally Farm supply. I was very happy with how healthy they are and how quickly they arrived. I will be planting them in the next day or two. I will wait until this next cold snap is over.

I think I really love baking bread. I want to make healthier bread than white but I figured if I could get the white down, then I could do anything. One of these loaves had an air hole in the middle. So I am not that good yet.

While cleaning out the cabinets I found some old recipe cards. One of them was for apple slices dipped in pancake batter and fried. I am making them tomorrow morning for my grandboys. The picture is fuzzy but you kind of get the idea.

The future:

Ok I was thinking that I really need to wean myself off of grocery stores and other stores as much as possible. How to do this? How do I become more dependant on my farm? Some people already do this. I will have to learn.

Beginning in the spring when the salad greens are growing well, maybe by March, I will begin picking one day a week where everything I eat must come from the farm. Whether it is home grown or wild grown.

I know it will be a long time before I am in a position to grow things like wheat for flour etc. If ever. But I do have cat tails growing and the roots can be harvested for a flour substitute. I have a ton of wild garlic that grows in the fields along with dandelion and hundreds of other greens that I need to learn.

With the chickens producing, and my decision to grow my own meat chickens, this should be an attainable goal. When I get used to 1 day, I will graduate to 2 days and so on.

Eventually I will have trees that produce nuts and fruit, a garden that is producing or has produced and has been stored, and 3 acres of wild growth. Eventually I am going to deepen my pond and who knows, maybe I can stock it with some fish for a change of diet. Crawfish too maybe.

I wish I had started this process in my 20's. I wonder how far I would be now instead of just starting out.