Wild Moon Cottage is a small working homestead in the pristine Ozark Mountains. We have dairy goats, poultry, organic herb and vegetable gardens, a start of a tiny fruit orchard, several black walnut trees, wild berries and fields of wildcrafting goodness. We raise our own milk, our own eggs, much of our own medicine and food. I do laundry by hand, make my own vinegar, candles, soap, bread, cheese ........ For a living I am an artist and herbalist. My goal for myself and our homestead is to be as self sufficient and self sustaining as possible.

Monday, May 16, 2011

A Long & Winding Day

Today was a long but glorious day :) The morning was crisp and clean, I woke ready to be alive.

I had started a roast yesterday afternoon in the crockpot. I buy what i can afford and they can be pretty tough so i cook them long and slow until they fall apart. At night I unplug and let it cool then store in the fridge. This morning I took it out and let it come to room temperature before plugging it back in and turning it on low. I added potatoes with skin on, carrots, onion and herbs and let it cook all day.

Then morning chores. Feed the barns cats, let the chickens and ducks out, check for eggs, check Juniper, buffs chicks out, goats to the pond field. Back inside started laundry in the electric washer and had coffee.

Nik spent much of the day moving and stacking wood. I did 3 more loads of laundry, hanging it all to dry, folding and bringing in when ready. Did dishes, baked bread, made lunch of scrambled eggs, sausage patties and homemade tortillas rolled with butter.

Our Freedom Ranger chicks disappeared yesterday. We searched everywhere but never found them. This morning while I was hanging out some laundry they showed up. We checked them all over and they were just fine. I thought about putting them in the roo pen but decided they would stay with the flock. a few minutes later they were gone. We walked all over looking for them but never found a feather. Around 9:00 I heard a noise and we went to look. There they were, roosting on a board outside the barn. They are now roosting in the roo pen *-*

While searching for them I checked on some of our wild food patches. goose berries galore and two very big patches of May apples. The berry patch, which is closer to the house and checked often, if full of raspberries :) Also on Wild Moon Cottage wild food, medicinal and useful plants list is ...

Hickory
Mullein
Duckweed
Sassafras
Dock
Poke
Black Walnut
Oak (white i think)
Hickory
Sumac
Honeysuckle
Violets
Daylilies
Dandelion
Chicory
Gooseberry
Raspberry
Black Locust
Wild Grapes
Peppergrass
Wild Strawberries
Daisies
Plantain
Cinquefoil
Elderberry
More than I have time to type and there are so many other things I have not taken time to identify or even look at very closely. There is food and medicine everywhere :)

Crazy as it may seem, I'm trying to identify and document everything on the property. I had done so at the Burrow as well.

I'm going to be gathering and drying cinquefoil the next few weeks.

On top of those things I have started, bought, been given and traded for ....

orange mint
chocolate mint
lime mint
bee balm (cultivated)
sour cherry
spearmint
wild mint
pineapple plant
soapwort
sheep sorrel
garden sage
horse radish
ginger
Amish pie pumpkin
Jerusalem artichokes
Giant magenta lambs quarters
Kentucky coffee tree seeds



Tomatoes
Gypsy (my favorites)
Italian market
Roma
Tennessee Surprise
Marglobe
English Rose
Tumbling Toms

Peppers
Cayenne
Jalapeno
Red bell
Green bell
Pimiento
Paprika
Chili
Banana

This year there was a very low germination rate on peppers. I started some Golden Bells too but not one came up. Less than half on all others except the red and green bells and I would say 2/4 germinated. last year it was around 90 percent germination.

Now I just have to get them in the ground. The tiller belt broke and a new won't likely be afforded in time so we're going to go at it the way we used to, shovels, pitch fork and hoe. I have a mind that this years garden will be very, very important.

At some point in the day we found a Red Eared slider (terrapin) that we had rescued from the highway last week. He had a nick in his shell but was otherwise fine so we brought him here to be safe and set him free. He had found his way to behind the barn so we took him on out to the pond. Actually, if terrapins are like turtles, he is a she. We named it Smallweed and set it free again. It took right to the water and when Smallweed was a ways out it looked back at us and winked.

Last Sunday we got the start of what i hope will be a vast collection of pallets. I have quite a list of useful and needed things to make from them.

Barn stalls
Fencing
Deck for laundry washing
Deck for outdoor shower
Gates
Wood shed
Hay storage
Animal shelters
Pond Dock
I have drawn up plans for several things and am working on others.
We had some new additions to the cottage yesterday. Awhile back I posted offering to adopt 1 or 2 spayed or neutered cats who might have issues and would benefit from being adopted and employed as barn cats with fresh milk and egg perks. Well, yesterday one of the adoptees (Olive) had a litter of kittens *-* 6 in all but two died and now sleep with Leader in the Spirit Garden. The other 4 are doing quite well and Olive seemed to have great mother instincts. She and the kits will be kept inside until they can be spayed and neutered. Hopefully the kits will find perfect homes.



Another recent addition to the cottage is Thunder. I was very blessed to have gotten him in a trade. He's Alpine/Nubian/Saanen, he's a beauty and looks very Alpine. His father is huge and weighed 260 to 280 pounds. Thistle took right to him and has been nursing him. He was mother raised and close to weaning when we got him.



2 comments:

the wild magnolia said...

I love hearing of your farm exploits and adventures!

The kitties are adorable, a kitty puzzle!

Your goaties are precious too!

Thank you for sharing.

annaleehodges said...

I just adore your blog and reading about your days on the farm. I envy all the wonderful things you have growing on your land, how marvelous!
xo
Annalee
http://ramblingsofagypsynomad.blogspot.com