Homestead Happenings
Issue #109
May, 2012
Happy May!!
April seemed to fly by here on my homestead. We were able to the garden
rototilled for the first time and I have my tomato plants growing under the
lights waiting until we can get the garden planted (usually the first week in
June in my part of the world). My children have been busy and that always seems
to keep me busy as well! ~smile~
This month I was thinking about all the tasks a mother/homemaker has to do and
how many homemaking skills we often want to do or learn but are unable to
achieve our goals. Life is all about seasons. When you are young with little
babies and toddlers in the house it can seem overwhelming just to keep up on
home, food and laundry and thought of being able to add anything extra to your
day seems like an impossibility. Well, none of us are Superwoman! This month’s
article is one I wrote a few years ago on the subject “Can you do it all?”.. and
I share tips and ideas and talk about learning to enjoy the season of life you
are in.
Plus this month I share recipes and more. I hope you enjoy this months
newsletter!
Remember the newsletter has graphics, pictures and various fonts. If you are not
seeing them you need to go into your Yahoo account for this newsletter (
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Thank You! Crystal :)
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Can You Do It All?
Crystal Miller
Is it possible to do it all?? Can you grind wheat, bake bread, cook your meals
from scratch, grow a garden, can the produce for your family, hang laundry on
the line, make soap, make cheese, milk goats, raise chickens, clean the home,
care for the babies and children, homeschool the children, sew your own clothes,
and care for your husband?? ‘No’ might be the answer if we were to ask the
question, “Can you do it all in one day?”. There are limits to what each of us
is able to handle. And while I may have done or do the above mentioned things, I
don’t do all of these things each day or week or even season in my life. You can
accomplish many or more of the homemaking tasks that you desire to do if you
keep a few important things in mind and work to use your time wisely to make the
most out of each day.
There are so many tasks to accomplish, improvements to make in so many areas,
creative joys to enjoy, and homesteading skills to learn that it can seem
overwhelming. What is a reasonable expectation of what can and should be able to
be done each day? I have a few points I will share with you that I have
concluded in my own life that are the basis of figuring out what I can
reasonably expect of myself and how much I am able to do.
The first thing to remember is that there are only 24 hours in a day. We can’t
expect to find any more time available than this! We need to sleep a certain
amount of those hours; we need wake up time and unwinding time and personal
time. That calculates into only so many available hours to do all the other
things we would like. These available hours should be viewed as precious time to
accomplish the work the Lord has given us!
The second thing to work on is priorities. With the hours left to us we now can
focus on priorities. The priorities of time with the Lord, your husband, family,
and home would be at the top of the list. These are the priorities to me that
are the most important and that encompass the job of a homemaker. We set our
priorities based on what we value in life. Personal time spent with the Lord is
vital to our daily life, giving time to your husband, feeding good quality foods
and caring for your family, homeschooling your children (if you do homeschool),
and keeping an organized and clean home are the areas that are first and
foremost. When your home runs smoothly, the family is well fed and cared for,
and you live with a happy hubby then you know that you are putting things in
your life in the right priority. Then it is time to see what to do with the
hours that are left. Be cautious of filling this time with too many
extracurricular activities. Be picky about what you get your family involved
with and how full you want your life. You will know when you have too much going
on. The above mentioned priorities will begin to falter and fall apart. The
problem is not the laundry or the fact that the family needs to eat yet again
~smile~. The problem is that right priorities are not in the right places.
The third thing to remember as you seek to live out your life in a simple way is
that there may be seasons in your life where some of these things that are
desired to do are just not possible. So be realistic about what you can do. Know
your limits, your strengths and your weaknesses. I remember planting a huge
garden one year. That was great except for the fact that I was due to have my
5th baby at the beginning of September. The same time all my tomatoes were ripe
and ready. I personally did not have the energy to go from birth to canning in
the same week! I was still struggling to care for my new baby (which was the 3rd
baby in less in than 3 years) and recover and regain some energy. I was not very
realistic about what I could accomplish. I wanted to do it all and I physically
could not. I did not understand that it was just not the season for that. This
summer, many years later, I have 36 tomato plants planted and am ready for the
tomato canning season.
So remember to examine your life and know your limits. Set your priorities based
on what is most important to you and what has value to you. And always enjoy and
embrace the season you are in and keep in mind that new seasons will come and
provide different opportunities for you. Do what you can do for today and don’t
set expectations that may be beyond what you can handle. Doing what is realistic
will bring you and your family less stress and more peace.
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In The Kitchen
Freezer Cooking
I have been really enjoying doing a lot of freezer cooking lately. I am not
a fan of once a month cooking. I see the advantages of this but having done this
in the past (for over 2 years) I have found it takes too much for me to devote
that much time and energy to cooking all at one time (and it can exceptionally
hard if you have young children to care for). I like to take smaller segments of
extra time when I have it to stock the freezer for the days I don’t have time.
Today I cook meal starters and parts of meals for the freezer to ease meal
preparations on busy days. I think of it as convince food cooking. I am still
able to serve my family good quality homemade meals and spend less time cooking
when the days are hectic.
Here are a few of the meals I have cooked lately…
Peach Chicken for the Freezer:
http://thefamilyhomestead.com/peachchickenforfreezer.htm
Cajun Chicken for the Freezer:
http://thefamilyhomestead.com/cajunchickenforfreezer.htm
Enchiladas for the Freezer:
http://thefamilyhomestead.com/enchiladasforfreezer.htm
Crockpot Meatloaf for the Freezer:
http://thefamilyhomestead.com/crockpotmeatloafforfreeze.htm
Stuffed Manicotti for the Freezer:
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/stuffedmanicottiforfreeze.htm
I also try and keep my freezer stocked with meal starters. I wrote an entire
ebook on freezer cooking with meal starters and you can find information on that
here:
http://crystalscountrystore.com/freezercookingebook.htm
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Homeschooling
A College Education for your Homeschooled Child
I wrote an article a few years ago about earning a college degree in a
nontraditional way. As a homeschooling parent of many children I have often been
asked about how we plan to put our children through college. Well we have always
had our own view on this subject. If my children desire a college degree we will
support them in any way we can. But, paying for a college education in the
traditional methods won’t be one of the ways we will be able to help them.
I and my husband have always said, if you want something enough in life you will
figure a way to get it and when you do achieve your goal you will appreciate
what you have much more than if it was just handed to you. My oldest son joined
the Army and gave 5 years to our country doing one 12 month deployment in Cuba
and one 15 month deployment in Iraq. When he came home he married and is
currently using his GI Bill to get a degree in Software Engineering.
My daughter Emily was not sure what she wanted to do. Eventually she decided she
wanted a degree in accounting. She read about a program called College Plus.
After signing up with them she began working towards her degree. After 2 1/2
years she earned her BSBA in Accounting. After almost a year working in Europe
as an Au Pair she came home and began seeking employment. Recently she found an
entry level accounting job.
My daughter Leanne began working on an English degree about a year after Emily
started. She did not go through College Plus, but earned her degree in the same
“nontraditional” way, just as her sister did. She earned her degree in 2 years
10 months. She is set to officially graduate in June. Currently she is working
through a program to teach English as a Foreign Language and hopes to do some
teaching in the near future.
If you have worried how you will put your children through college all I can say
is that there are options. There are options that are within a reasonable cost
for a family. But more importantly, what I have seen through friends of my
children is that if the parent pays the way for their child often times the
child does not appreciate what they have been given. An affordable, accredited
degree that is reasonable for a person to achieve on their own is a worthy goal
for a child to obtain and I highly recommend this. If they truly ‘want’ it they
will work to get it. And the end result is an incredible character building
experience for anyone.
If you have no idea where to start or how to do this then I would recommend
College Plus. They paved the way for us to see what could be achieved. Their
program and help was worth every penny spent.
You can read my article about College Plus and find info on their program here:
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/collegepluseducation.htm