Author: Noble Homestead

Chicken Flock Management, and a Little Holiday Update

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I have been lucky to know the awesome Cynthia Fuller through our YouTube involvement.  She is a dynamo!! I call her my “fellow Creatrix,” because she is also a fantastic maker of awesome things (WOW, her quilts!).  In addition to her many talents, she is an authority on chickens/raising chickens and their care/wellbeing.

 Before we got our chickens in 2016, I had spent a fair chunk of time reading up on chickens on Backyardchickens.com. Little did I know I was already getting advice from Ms. Cynthia!! She has been a member and sometimes moderator for 13 years!

We are lucky to have such generous and experienced people in our world that share hard-earned valuable information that would have otherwise taken a lifetime to acquire, and the hard way at that.

If you have chickens, or are thinking about getting some for yourself, take a minute to pour yourself a fav libation and get some poultry schoolin’ from the fantastic Cynthia Fuller :).

Happy holidays to all, fun videos are coming soon! We were a little slow, since I am the sole cameraperson and editor over here, and I was sick.  Here’s one that includes last week’s outing in Glens Falls, NY for the Christmas Tree Lighting 🙂

Love to all,

Noble Homestead

 

 

Summer’s Winding Down

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Finally, I am getting a minute to post a “Hello!”  Summer has been a little hectic with some health issues and new puppies!  We will catch you up with a puppy vid soon.  In the meantime, here’s a picture of “Demmy,” our 5 1/2 month old “Dark Chocolate” lab: IMG_20180827_114358843.jpg

He’s my new best buddy 🙂  We had gotten him and his sister, but had lots of trouble with Littermate Syndrome.  We are so thrilled that we found “Josey” (her new name) a new, fantastic home and great humans!

I am finally starting to list my many summertime creations on our Etsy Store, as well. I know I am a little behind, but better late than never! Here’s a little hand painted Unicorn Seahorse pillow I made with a secret pocket in the back:

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I have a few rag rugs, some smudge sticks, and a bunch of masks to list. They’ll be up soon!

The fields are getting hayed, and I have been gathering plantain and jewel weed the past few days to make healing balm.

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A local farmer mows our fields and we split the yield.
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Broadleaf and lanceleaf plantain.

Sorry we’ve been lax on our YouTube videos.  We had to lessen our workload a bit this summer, but I’m starting to feel better, so LOOK OUT! tee hee….

Peace, Vicki

Cleaning Nontoxically – Vinegar For Tile Floors

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We moved into a new place in July of last year that was anything but new.  The floors were so grimy that we gave them a quick once-over and continued moving in.  The one in our bathroom was RIDICULOUS.  Being that it wasn’t the one used often, we let it go and covered it with a rug.  *I* knew what was under there… and it bugged me.  Well, yesterday was THE DAY!  I decided to tackle it, and also to see which would work better, nontoxic white vinegar or the toxic Multi-surface Cleaner on which I had previously relied.

 dow VS61t5nifipdl-_sy679_Who wins??

 

I cleaned one tile with the vinegar, diluted by half water.  A mop and then a scrubbing sponge didn’t cut it, so I broke out the BIG GUNS, my RIGHT HAND MAN:

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 THIS is the GUY for me!! 

I got one square scrubbed with the vinegar.  It DID take some effort! This is what it looked like:

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THIS was exciting!  I grabbed the Scrubbing bubbles and did another:

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The one on the left was cleaned with the vinegar, the one on the right, with the toxic cleaner! The left was much easier to clean.  I have NO IDEA what the stuck-on film was all over our floor, but I would guess it was a buildup of hairspray from an extended time!

The kids thought it looked like fun:

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I wouldn’t have let them clean with the TOXIC Scrubbing bubbles. They and I had a great time cleaning, and it looked fantastic when we finished!

THINK about what you are cleaning with.  It goes down the drain, and into our Earth.

Spring Fever and the Potting Shed

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Take a peek inside the potting shed!! I will be planting LOTS of seeds this year.  I had gotten a HUGE seed lot a few years back:

 

So it’s going to be very handy this year, when times are lean and I couldn’t afford to buy anything!

I started some seeds downstairs in my growroom, and some are in the kitchen:

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Come on, Spring!

A post shared by Vicki Noble (@noblehomestead) on

And the rest are in the downstairs grow room, which seriously needs attention, but the DOOR is cute 🙂

 

Fire Starters

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We’ll probably still need to keep the home fires burning for at least another month or so. Check out these ideas for Fire Starters from Don’t Eat It! Soap and Skin Care:

Don't Eat It! Soap and Skin Care

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During the winter months we use our wood burning fire place to supplement our heat and lower our monthly natural gas bill. In the summer we often build a fire at the farm. We might use it for cooking our dinner or just enjoy sitting around the fire to unwind at the end of the day. Without the proper materials building a wood fire can be more difficult than it sounds. In the past we have bought fat wood, sticks of pine wood that contain natural flammable oils, in order to get the fire going. This year we decided that the convenience that fat wood provides did not justify the expense. We could do better.

Some of the fire starters that we have used include:

  • Balled up news paper
  • A small paper bag stuffed with shredded paper – out of the paper shredder
  • Cheese cloth or paper towels that I have used for filtering bees wax

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Done with snow!

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Maya Angelou told it like it is! I am so sick of snow and ready for Spring.  I have my seed starting flats out and went through two bags of starting mix already! Being I am in Zone 5b, I have PURPLE peas and tomatoes and peppers growing downstairs under awesome grow lights.  I am READY!

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purplepeas

 

Pine Cone Bird Feeders – Ecological, Fun, Responsible, Sustainable

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Spring is coming and the birds are going to need to reenergize.  Here’s how you can help!

Check out our handmade and collectible items by Noble Homestead:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/NobleHomestead

My fav Pyrex set: http://amzn.to/2Emah5Q
20 pounds of Birdseed for $20 FREE shipping: http://amzn.to/2GXUqsu

Click here https://amzn.to/noblehomestea-20 before doing your Amazon shopping to help support us for free. It costs nothing extra. No matter what you buy, we will earn a small commission which gives us a small commission to grow our farm and channel.

Our Family wishlist: http://bit.ly/NobleHomesteadWishList

Look Who Came to Dinner and DIDN’T Play ‘Possum!

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So our cats live outside.  By this I mean on the porch, in their cathouse, and in the barn.  I have two insulated boxes set up on the porch with cushions I made that are filled with rice that I microwave on cold days and wrap in a blanket and those guys are TOASTY!

Well, the two cats scuffle on occasion but mostly cohabitate and we feed them in bowls on the porch, and if there’s any left over we leave it for them to eat at their leisure, within reason.  I was just coming up from my indoor garden downstairs and absent-mindedly reached down and to my right to “scritch” the cat my periphery suggested was there, only to hear an UNcat-like hiss.  I sidled away and whipped out the ol’ phone with the handy flashlight app that pops on with a certain movement.  Two flicks of my wrist and I was peering into a snarl of teeth and some creepy-cute beady eyes whose lenses flashed me back like lasers:

This one did not perform as expected according to legend, and did not faint, or “play possum.”  This opossum seemed to be down for a new challenge as it would be worth it to have a full belly of cat food.

I know better then to mess with wild animals, and I hope you will follow suit.  We humanely had it leave.  No more cat food left on the porch!

             

New Items in our Etsy Store

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I sent my friend Suzanne of WTFarmGirl a couple treats and her reaction has inspired me to sell them on our Etsy store.

I had made these reusable cotton face masks to help me with the dust when I am working in the barn or woodshed.  They help keep the dust out.  You can wear them either way, whatever suits your fancy, as they are curved to fit your face and the straps are a soft, round elastic.

SUPER hot-off-the-presses-I’m-listing-stuff-right-NOW!

I have no packaging or labels ready yet, but up it goes! I made some awesome apple butter with orange and clove that I call “Sunshine Butter” and also some “Salve So Good!” that has Cocoa Butter, Coconut Oil, Olive oil infused with plantain, Grapeseed Oil infused with Jewelweed, Carrotseed, Cedarwood, Lavender, Red Raspberry Seed, Clove, Calendula, Geranium, Vitamin E, and Rosemary oils.  You see many salves with some ingredients, but mine will rock your socks!  While you’re at it, slather some on dry heels and cover with cotton socks for a mini spa treatment!