Since the day we arrived at Lovell’s Orchard, it’s been nonstop peach picking, peach canning, store tending, and farmers markets, and that’s been a lot of hard work. But when it comes to farm life, there are many other hardships that rear their ugly heads at the worst times. The number of animals here, unfortunately, has been steadily dropping. To start, three of the original five kittens have gone missing, (one day they were all here, and over the course of only a few weeks, more just kept going missing) and now there are only two left. One of the four Geese have disappeared without a trace as well. Daniel and I both feel like the red foxes we have been seeing on our trips home from town are the culprits to blame.
Before we arrived, The Lovell’s had purchased this mesh like electric fence to keep predators away from their livestock, but since they started using it, a billy goat, a sheep, and a baby pig have all somehow managed to get themselves entangled in it overnight and have all died before we could hear their cries come morning. Needless to say, they no longer use the fence anymore. But there is a price to pay when you let your animals roam free on your property. The three remaining goats that now run free were curious and hungry last Sunday morning, and wanted the food in the rabbit cage containing the baby bunnies. So they flipped the cage over and broke it open, (while Luke, Rosi, and the kids were all away at church, and Daniel and I were away helping the Brevard’s bottle wine) causing momma bunny and two baby bunnies to escape. It’s been a week now, but even with all our combined efforts, we cant seem to catch momma bunny, and immediately after the cage was flipped, the two baby bunnies that escaped were both killed by the farm cats. Everyone was very broken up about it the day it happened, and it still weighs on mine and Daniels heart.
The worst story that we feel the need to share, concerns the baby ducks that were born a couple weeks ago. When they first hatched, there were fifteen ducklings. By day 2 or 3, we counted only fourteen. A couple days later, only thirteen. By the time there numbers had dropped to about ten or eleven, Luke thought maybe something was killing the ducklings, so he made the decision to put the Momma duck, and all the remaining ducks into the chicken tractor (a small metal 10x10 mobile enclosure that sits on the ground). Well, they did fine in it the first day, but when I went to check on them the next day, to my shock and horror, their were three dead ducklings laying in it. They had food, and plenty of water, and there was no possible way an animal could have gotten to them to kill them. I just don’t know why they were dying. Two days ago, Daniel checked on them, and found two more dead, leaving only five still living. And as if we didn’t all see this coming, Rosi and I went out to check on the last five yesterday while Daniel was out in the orchard picking peaches, four were laying in the grass dead, and the last one was barely hanging on to life. Rosi and I immediately rushed it into the house, and tried nursing it back to health. Holding its little beak up to some crumbled bread soaked in milk just waiting for it to try and eat something, anything. After an hour or so of trying to resuscitate this baby duck, Rosi had to leave and take the kids somewhere more positive. (And I understood this) But after she left, I made it my mission to bring this duckling back to life. I sat at the table with it for another two hours talking to her, comforting her, and trying my hardest to get her to eat or drink something. But she just stood there, lifeless. The damage, from what I can only assume was the extremely high summer heat we’ve been having, had already done it’s work, and after about another hour or so, the last remaining duckling died…
I guess in the rush of the harvest, it’s easy to give all your attention to the task at hand and put everything else of a lower priority on the back burner. By doing this, you keep the store shelves fully stocked with peaches and customers happy, in exchange for the goats eating the decorative plants outside the store, loose ducks and geese excreting all over the porch, and 500 pound pigs breaking down sections of fencing to take a swim in the pond…
Though this is all frustrating, we’ve been trying not to let it get us down. Everything that’s happened so far has just been another lesson Daniel and I have to learn before we can properly own a farm of our own one day. We only pray it doesn’t keep happening to the remaining animals. We don’t know how much more of this we can take.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Well, yesterday was the first day of summer where the temperature with heat index didn't reach over 100 degrees. The sun was behind the clouds most of the morning, the humidity was low, and there was a nice breeze. All the perfect ingredients for peach picking. So Tiffany and I strapped on our boots, jumped in the truck and headed into the orchard to start picking for today's farmers market. We picked for about 3 hours, and had the entire truck bed and backseat filled with peaches, and it was time to head back to the house. So we got in the truck, and I turned the key, but nothing happened. The battery had died. So we grabbed the cellphone, and called Rosi, but the call was dropped (There really isn't good cell service out here). We tried again, 6 more times, and finally got thru. We told her what was up, and she said she would send Luke out to jump the truck. So while we waited, Tiff and I explored the the creek that ran along the back side of the orchard, nothing but rocks. It looked as tho water had roared thru here a long time ago, but not anymore, It was kind of sad to see... Luke showed up in the car, and got the truck started, so we followed him out of the orchard in the car. We got back to the house, unloaded the peaches, than relaxed a bit before feeding and watering all the animals.
The highlight of the week occurred a couple days ago. A film crew from a television show called "Bluegrass & Backwoods" came to the farm to interview The Lovelle's and shoot footage for their upcoming season. All that morning we we're running around the farm preparing for their arrival. Getting the grounds cleaned up and the store organized, getting the lawn mowed, cleaning the porch, and making sure the store was fully stocked with peaches. Just as Tiffany and I were putting the last peaches on the shelves, They were pulling into the driveway out front. So Tiffany and I bolted upstairs to shower and change out of our sweaty clothes. Once we were clean and dressed we ran downstairs as fast as we could only to find out we had to go and change back into our picking clothes because the film crew wanted us to pick peaches on camera. So we ran back upstairs and changed once again. After that we all proceeded to pile into the truck and Rosi drove us out into the orchard, and the team followed. Then we all picked a few boxes on camera while we talked amongst ourselves. While picking, the host of the show interviewed Tiffany and I about woofing and our travels. After the picking was thru, we changed out of our sweaty clothes again and I showed the film crew around the property. Showing off everything from the Baby ducks and the baby pigs, to the baby bunnies and the baby kittens. Then once Luke got home from work, it was time for the important interview. Luke and Rosi looked so nervous at first, but after the first couple of questions, they both warmed up to the idea of being on camera. After the main interview, the crew left and everyone could relax. Everyone except for Luke, who doesn't know the meaning of the word relax, he immediately found something that needed to be done, and started working on it. The whole day was alot of fun and now we're all ancy to see the show once it airs. Apparently it will air sometime next spring on 2 networks in Kentucky, and even a few in Europe. Don't worry, we will post the video to our blog, as soon as we get our hands on it.
Sunday morning Tiff and I had the opportunity to go to the Bravard's and help bottle more wine. We jumped on the chance, and spent all morning bottling wine. The first half of the morning went smoothly, but once we hit the third kind of wine the "Lady Genvieve", Things started going wrong. First off Jim forgot to clean the remnants of red wine out of the reservoir tank before pumping white wine thru it, So by the time the wine reached the bottler, it was a dark amber color. We tried to fix the problem by dumping the discolored wine back into the main white wine tank, but we didn't want to do that too much or else the whole batch would be ruined. So we attempted to bottle some of the wine into personal bottles, and that got rid of much of the tainted wine. But as soon as we started bottling the wine to sell we managed to reach yet another snag in the line. Within less than a minute of pumping the wine thru, the filter clogged. Jim cleaned the filter and turned the pump back on only to see the gauge shoot back up to maximum capacity within less than a minute. So Jim made the executive decision to call it quits for the day and send us on our way, but not without first paying us for our time and giving us a couple complimentary bottles of wine. The Bravard's are such nice people, and Tiff and I both love going out there to help them out.
As soon as we arrived back at the farm, everyone was in panic mode. There were no peaches picked for the store, Rosi and Luke had just gotten home from church, and there were cars lined up outside the store waiting for peaches. We pulled in, loaded the car with boxes, and pulled out again to pick. Filling two boxes, driving back to the store, delivering the peaches, driving back out, picking three more boxes, driving back and delivering, than driving back out to pick again. It went on like this for about an hour, until we pleased every last customer and the store was stocked again. It's work like this that really makes you appreciate a good nights rest come nightfall. Thankfully, peach season is almost at an end, and we'll probably run out of peaches by the end of the week. It's been a whole lot of fun, but it will be a nice change of pace to work on projects that arnt just picking peaches.
The highlight of the week occurred a couple days ago. A film crew from a television show called "Bluegrass & Backwoods" came to the farm to interview The Lovelle's and shoot footage for their upcoming season. All that morning we we're running around the farm preparing for their arrival. Getting the grounds cleaned up and the store organized, getting the lawn mowed, cleaning the porch, and making sure the store was fully stocked with peaches. Just as Tiffany and I were putting the last peaches on the shelves, They were pulling into the driveway out front. So Tiffany and I bolted upstairs to shower and change out of our sweaty clothes. Once we were clean and dressed we ran downstairs as fast as we could only to find out we had to go and change back into our picking clothes because the film crew wanted us to pick peaches on camera. So we ran back upstairs and changed once again. After that we all proceeded to pile into the truck and Rosi drove us out into the orchard, and the team followed. Then we all picked a few boxes on camera while we talked amongst ourselves. While picking, the host of the show interviewed Tiffany and I about woofing and our travels. After the picking was thru, we changed out of our sweaty clothes again and I showed the film crew around the property. Showing off everything from the Baby ducks and the baby pigs, to the baby bunnies and the baby kittens. Then once Luke got home from work, it was time for the important interview. Luke and Rosi looked so nervous at first, but after the first couple of questions, they both warmed up to the idea of being on camera. After the main interview, the crew left and everyone could relax. Everyone except for Luke, who doesn't know the meaning of the word relax, he immediately found something that needed to be done, and started working on it. The whole day was alot of fun and now we're all ancy to see the show once it airs. Apparently it will air sometime next spring on 2 networks in Kentucky, and even a few in Europe. Don't worry, we will post the video to our blog, as soon as we get our hands on it.
Sunday morning Tiff and I had the opportunity to go to the Bravard's and help bottle more wine. We jumped on the chance, and spent all morning bottling wine. The first half of the morning went smoothly, but once we hit the third kind of wine the "Lady Genvieve", Things started going wrong. First off Jim forgot to clean the remnants of red wine out of the reservoir tank before pumping white wine thru it, So by the time the wine reached the bottler, it was a dark amber color. We tried to fix the problem by dumping the discolored wine back into the main white wine tank, but we didn't want to do that too much or else the whole batch would be ruined. So we attempted to bottle some of the wine into personal bottles, and that got rid of much of the tainted wine. But as soon as we started bottling the wine to sell we managed to reach yet another snag in the line. Within less than a minute of pumping the wine thru, the filter clogged. Jim cleaned the filter and turned the pump back on only to see the gauge shoot back up to maximum capacity within less than a minute. So Jim made the executive decision to call it quits for the day and send us on our way, but not without first paying us for our time and giving us a couple complimentary bottles of wine. The Bravard's are such nice people, and Tiff and I both love going out there to help them out.
As soon as we arrived back at the farm, everyone was in panic mode. There were no peaches picked for the store, Rosi and Luke had just gotten home from church, and there were cars lined up outside the store waiting for peaches. We pulled in, loaded the car with boxes, and pulled out again to pick. Filling two boxes, driving back to the store, delivering the peaches, driving back out, picking three more boxes, driving back and delivering, than driving back out to pick again. It went on like this for about an hour, until we pleased every last customer and the store was stocked again. It's work like this that really makes you appreciate a good nights rest come nightfall. Thankfully, peach season is almost at an end, and we'll probably run out of peaches by the end of the week. It's been a whole lot of fun, but it will be a nice change of pace to work on projects that arnt just picking peaches.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Murphy's Law
Things have been more than busy here on the orchard, we had no idea it could get this intense. When peach season is in full swing, everything else is instantly put on pause until the end of the season and every peach is gone. Their most popular peach, the red havens, just happened to ripen at the beginning of the hottest week of the year and it seems like every family in a 50 mile radius wants them. Parents with kids come out to pick a box or two, elderly couples come in and buy the pre-picked boxes and the Amish come by at last twice a week and pick between 10 and 20 bushels. Apart from keeping the store fully stocked at all times, our biggest goal is to try our hardest to keep up with Luke, the owner of the farm. This guy is a machine. He wakes up before everyone else, goes to work in the coal mines all morning and afternoon, then comes home and works on the farm until it’s too dark to see. Always going, no breaks, from sun up to sun down. He’s a hard one to keep up with, but Daniel and I are really building up our endurance. I feel stronger now than I’ve ever been. I just wish it was enough.
Since the heat had been so stifling (with humidity, it felt about 110) we could only go out picking 5am-9am then 5pm to sundown. To fill that space, the Lovell’s friend’s the Bravards who own the Vineyard they took us to a week ago called and said they needed some help bottling wine. This sounded like an amazing opportunity for us. So with Rosi and Luke’s permission we took the side job. The bottling room for the vineyard is amazing. It’s a big building made of concrete blocks and stone that he built himself. The door to the building is 4 in thick wood and makes the whole thing look like a castle. They are prepared to withstand a siege. Jim Bravard is a really nice guy and was more than willing to share all his wine-making knowledge with us, from the different kinds of wine to the most important thing; Sanitation. We basically manned assembly line jobs. Jim bottled the wine, I corked it, then Daniel put on the seals and boxed them up. Even though it was repetitive work, the good company and air conditioned room made it a fun time. We went out to help twice bottling white wines and would have gone back but the orchard really needed our help.
The walk in cooler for the store broke down and the peaches couldn’t stay in there anymore. We moved the peaches where ever we could find cool air. All the refrigerators got filled first, then we resorted to cranking up the AC in the house and packing the boxes in the kitchen around the floor vents. Of course the moment the cooler went out and we had to watch how many peaches we could store, everyone wanted the prepicked ones. Murphy’s Law. Dan and I were out all day picking bushel after bushel. Rosi even called up a few Amish families and they came out and picked. Then a school called in the mist of all the "crazy", and scheduled a tour for 25 small children the morning of a farmer’s market. We had to decide whether to go to the market and sell the peaches we had to get rid of or take the school group. We picked the school and ran around the whole night before and morning of making sure everything was perfect for them. We even prepared 25 goodie bags of peaches for the children to take home with them. We were all excited after all our hard work then we sat back and waited. And waited... And waited... Finally, Rosi called them up and talked to one of the administrators. They said that they had never even heard of a tour scheduled, so they told her they would call back once it got straightened out. They never called back. Again, Murphy’s Law.
Things really started turning around yesterday. Me, Rosi, and Daniel decided it was going to be a good day regardless of anything. In the morning we listened to some relaxing music sitting on hay bales under a tree then went in and ate some fantastic French toast Rosi had made to celebrate Maddie’s 9th birthday. I cleaned the dishes then Dan and I went and over tended the store while Rosi took Maddie and Hank to the humane society to see if a stray puppy they found had an owner. It didn’t and Maddie got a puppy for her birthday. YaY! When Luke got home that night and the kids were gone we piled into the truck and drove down to the back of the orchard to check out which peaches were next to be picked. The Bounty peaches were huge! The size of a baby’s head and just as soft (awkward joke). We decided that these were the peaches that would make farmer’s market and proceeded to pick as many as humanly possible. We filled the truck to bursting then munched on some wild blackberries before heading back to the house. All the peaches got lined up on the kitchen floor next to the vent until there was only a little bit of walking space. Daniel and I then vacated the house and moved back to our apartment to shower and eat steak and watch true blood.
At 5 o’clock in the morning we woke up and loaded up the truck and Rosi and I got to the farmer’s market by 6. We were sold out by 7:30. It was like god shined down on our truck and announced that these peaches were the key to eternal life.
After we got back, the day was kinda chill. I crochet some stuffed animals then made raised beds for Rosi’s herbs. I took the idea for them from the farm in Indiana and used some of the old tires that were laying around and made them look all pretty. Daniel cleaned up and organized around the front and back yard. Its nice doing things outside that make them happy that also isn’t just picking peaches. It was like a vacation.



Since the heat had been so stifling (with humidity, it felt about 110) we could only go out picking 5am-9am then 5pm to sundown. To fill that space, the Lovell’s friend’s the Bravards who own the Vineyard they took us to a week ago called and said they needed some help bottling wine. This sounded like an amazing opportunity for us. So with Rosi and Luke’s permission we took the side job. The bottling room for the vineyard is amazing. It’s a big building made of concrete blocks and stone that he built himself. The door to the building is 4 in thick wood and makes the whole thing look like a castle. They are prepared to withstand a siege. Jim Bravard is a really nice guy and was more than willing to share all his wine-making knowledge with us, from the different kinds of wine to the most important thing; Sanitation. We basically manned assembly line jobs. Jim bottled the wine, I corked it, then Daniel put on the seals and boxed them up. Even though it was repetitive work, the good company and air conditioned room made it a fun time. We went out to help twice bottling white wines and would have gone back but the orchard really needed our help.
The walk in cooler for the store broke down and the peaches couldn’t stay in there anymore. We moved the peaches where ever we could find cool air. All the refrigerators got filled first, then we resorted to cranking up the AC in the house and packing the boxes in the kitchen around the floor vents. Of course the moment the cooler went out and we had to watch how many peaches we could store, everyone wanted the prepicked ones. Murphy’s Law. Dan and I were out all day picking bushel after bushel. Rosi even called up a few Amish families and they came out and picked. Then a school called in the mist of all the "crazy", and scheduled a tour for 25 small children the morning of a farmer’s market. We had to decide whether to go to the market and sell the peaches we had to get rid of or take the school group. We picked the school and ran around the whole night before and morning of making sure everything was perfect for them. We even prepared 25 goodie bags of peaches for the children to take home with them. We were all excited after all our hard work then we sat back and waited. And waited... And waited... Finally, Rosi called them up and talked to one of the administrators. They said that they had never even heard of a tour scheduled, so they told her they would call back once it got straightened out. They never called back. Again, Murphy’s Law.
Things really started turning around yesterday. Me, Rosi, and Daniel decided it was going to be a good day regardless of anything. In the morning we listened to some relaxing music sitting on hay bales under a tree then went in and ate some fantastic French toast Rosi had made to celebrate Maddie’s 9th birthday. I cleaned the dishes then Dan and I went and over tended the store while Rosi took Maddie and Hank to the humane society to see if a stray puppy they found had an owner. It didn’t and Maddie got a puppy for her birthday. YaY! When Luke got home that night and the kids were gone we piled into the truck and drove down to the back of the orchard to check out which peaches were next to be picked. The Bounty peaches were huge! The size of a baby’s head and just as soft (awkward joke). We decided that these were the peaches that would make farmer’s market and proceeded to pick as many as humanly possible. We filled the truck to bursting then munched on some wild blackberries before heading back to the house. All the peaches got lined up on the kitchen floor next to the vent until there was only a little bit of walking space. Daniel and I then vacated the house and moved back to our apartment to shower and eat steak and watch true blood.
At 5 o’clock in the morning we woke up and loaded up the truck and Rosi and I got to the farmer’s market by 6. We were sold out by 7:30. It was like god shined down on our truck and announced that these peaches were the key to eternal life.
After we got back, the day was kinda chill. I crochet some stuffed animals then made raised beds for Rosi’s herbs. I took the idea for them from the farm in Indiana and used some of the old tires that were laying around and made them look all pretty. Daniel cleaned up and organized around the front and back yard. Its nice doing things outside that make them happy that also isn’t just picking peaches. It was like a vacation.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
The Self Sufficient Farm
So 2 days ago Tiffany and I had the experience of a lifetime!
The day started with us waking up at 5 in the morning and hauling the loads of peaches we had picked the night before onto a trailer and taking them to the farmer's market. Since they are the only peach orchard for miles there were people waiting for us when we pulled in and parked. Well over half was sold within a few hours and once the crowds had slowed Luke decided it was time to take the rest of the peaches to an auction out in Amish country. The drive out there was full of corn fields, (as previously discussed). We pulled in to a huge empty lot with a large covered loading platform in the middle. We backed the trailer in and started loading the peaches onto small 5" x 5" movable pallets. (Apparently after dropping off your good at this auction, you can just leave, and the organization will just send you a check once the auction is over), so after signing in and lining up all the peaches in a neat row next to all the other venders goods it was off to our next destination.
After about 20 minutes of driving, we pulled onto a small dirt road and drove up to a small house in the woods. Luke and Rosi surprised us again by taking us to a small, independently owned vineyard for some wine tasting! Tiffany and I were blown away by how delicious all the wines were that we tasted. After trying about 5 or 6 different wines, they let us pick the one we liked best and purchased it for us. The owner was extremely kind and really seemed to love his job. He told us all about the ups and downs of the Wine Making business, as well as other places of interest in the area that we should visit while were in town. After that we headed back back to the farm, but not without first stopping at a wonderful Amish family's farm to buy some raw milk and a pound of freshly churned butter.
Rosi and Luke had been planning on going up to Indiana for a get together hosted by a homesteading magazine called "Country Side". They hold the event once a year over 4th of July weekend and have people camp in their property and have demonstrations on all different kinds of things (self-sufficient related). Rosi invited us to tag along so we packed some water bottles, piled in their 4-door, and started the 2 hour drive through the country.
Once we arrived at our destination, we got out of the car, stretched our legs, and walked up to the house. Making our way past the saw mill, the tents, the motor homes, and between the house and the garage into the back yard, we started to see all the people. People set up with blankets on the ground giving demonstrations, children running around with their dogs, and people sitting on picnic tables sampling homemade soups. Everyone looked like they were having a great time, and everyone seemed very interested in everything everyone else had to say. After Luke and Rosi found someone they knew to talk to, Tiffany and I wandered until we found someone giving a demonstration on how to make your own arrowheads. Sitting next to him were a few arrows, with arrowheads that he just made, and we walked up while he was making a spearhead. We sat and listened for a while, as he honed and sharpened the spearhead, and answered questions that people had. After that, we sat in on a lesson in pressure canning.
The highlight of the trip occurred when we were asked by the owner to tour the the property. It started out with a tour of "The House That Junk Built", we were shown the kitchen with the free cast iron sink dragged in from the woods, and the free kitchen cabinets reconditioned from a tear-out job from another house. Than it was on to the master bedroom trimmed with paneling and framework and wood flooring given to them from another tear-out job. Upstairs we toured the hole in the wall pantry complete with all the canned food to last a nuclear holocaust. After the house we were shown the beautiful garden complete with lettuce, okra, beans, raspberries, blackberries, cabbage, corn and everything else you could think of.
They had an outdoor shower heated with copper tubing coiled thru a trashcan filled with water sitting over an open fire, and cold water pumped up from one of the many ponds surrounding their property. They had raised garden beds made out of old hollowed out tractor tires, an herb drying station heated by a single light bulb and fan, a wine making station where they utilize a garbage disposal to puree their grapes/apples/peaches or whatever else they wanted to turn into wine, and a meat smoker made out of an old 2 door soda cooler. The best part of the tour was when we reached the garage. Sitting in neat little rows were about a hundred 2 gallon jugs filled with spent cooking oil that they've collected over the years. After sitting for a while, the oil separates into 2 parts, they turn the bottom half (the pure fat) into soap, and just inside the garage, was a 500 gallon tank filled with the top half, (Pure vegetable oil) which they use to power all the diesel engine vehicles on their property, as well as an air conditioner taken off the back of a refrigerated semi truck. All ran completely on the free vegetable oil they've collected.
The tour we took was a once in a lifetime opportunity, full of information and examples that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives, and eventually use to build our own house one day. This couple has finally reached full self sustainability. And can now life fully off the land without the necessity of depending on society for the things they need. Tiffany and I now know that one day we will be able to live like this ourselves. And that is our goal. Freedom can be achieved. We now have proof.
After we left, Rosi and Luke took us out to dinner at a country buffet called Moonlight BBQ, They had the most amazing ribs on earth. And supposedly President Clinton once ate there, Which is pretty cool.
Needless to say, after such a full day, we slept good that night.
The day started with us waking up at 5 in the morning and hauling the loads of peaches we had picked the night before onto a trailer and taking them to the farmer's market. Since they are the only peach orchard for miles there were people waiting for us when we pulled in and parked. Well over half was sold within a few hours and once the crowds had slowed Luke decided it was time to take the rest of the peaches to an auction out in Amish country. The drive out there was full of corn fields, (as previously discussed). We pulled in to a huge empty lot with a large covered loading platform in the middle. We backed the trailer in and started loading the peaches onto small 5" x 5" movable pallets. (Apparently after dropping off your good at this auction, you can just leave, and the organization will just send you a check once the auction is over), so after signing in and lining up all the peaches in a neat row next to all the other venders goods it was off to our next destination.
After about 20 minutes of driving, we pulled onto a small dirt road and drove up to a small house in the woods. Luke and Rosi surprised us again by taking us to a small, independently owned vineyard for some wine tasting! Tiffany and I were blown away by how delicious all the wines were that we tasted. After trying about 5 or 6 different wines, they let us pick the one we liked best and purchased it for us. The owner was extremely kind and really seemed to love his job. He told us all about the ups and downs of the Wine Making business, as well as other places of interest in the area that we should visit while were in town. After that we headed back back to the farm, but not without first stopping at a wonderful Amish family's farm to buy some raw milk and a pound of freshly churned butter.
Rosi and Luke had been planning on going up to Indiana for a get together hosted by a homesteading magazine called "Country Side". They hold the event once a year over 4th of July weekend and have people camp in their property and have demonstrations on all different kinds of things (self-sufficient related). Rosi invited us to tag along so we packed some water bottles, piled in their 4-door, and started the 2 hour drive through the country.
Once we arrived at our destination, we got out of the car, stretched our legs, and walked up to the house. Making our way past the saw mill, the tents, the motor homes, and between the house and the garage into the back yard, we started to see all the people. People set up with blankets on the ground giving demonstrations, children running around with their dogs, and people sitting on picnic tables sampling homemade soups. Everyone looked like they were having a great time, and everyone seemed very interested in everything everyone else had to say. After Luke and Rosi found someone they knew to talk to, Tiffany and I wandered until we found someone giving a demonstration on how to make your own arrowheads. Sitting next to him were a few arrows, with arrowheads that he just made, and we walked up while he was making a spearhead. We sat and listened for a while, as he honed and sharpened the spearhead, and answered questions that people had. After that, we sat in on a lesson in pressure canning.
The highlight of the trip occurred when we were asked by the owner to tour the the property. It started out with a tour of "The House That Junk Built", we were shown the kitchen with the free cast iron sink dragged in from the woods, and the free kitchen cabinets reconditioned from a tear-out job from another house. Than it was on to the master bedroom trimmed with paneling and framework and wood flooring given to them from another tear-out job. Upstairs we toured the hole in the wall pantry complete with all the canned food to last a nuclear holocaust. After the house we were shown the beautiful garden complete with lettuce, okra, beans, raspberries, blackberries, cabbage, corn and everything else you could think of.
They had an outdoor shower heated with copper tubing coiled thru a trashcan filled with water sitting over an open fire, and cold water pumped up from one of the many ponds surrounding their property. They had raised garden beds made out of old hollowed out tractor tires, an herb drying station heated by a single light bulb and fan, a wine making station where they utilize a garbage disposal to puree their grapes/apples/peaches or whatever else they wanted to turn into wine, and a meat smoker made out of an old 2 door soda cooler. The best part of the tour was when we reached the garage. Sitting in neat little rows were about a hundred 2 gallon jugs filled with spent cooking oil that they've collected over the years. After sitting for a while, the oil separates into 2 parts, they turn the bottom half (the pure fat) into soap, and just inside the garage, was a 500 gallon tank filled with the top half, (Pure vegetable oil) which they use to power all the diesel engine vehicles on their property, as well as an air conditioner taken off the back of a refrigerated semi truck. All ran completely on the free vegetable oil they've collected.
The tour we took was a once in a lifetime opportunity, full of information and examples that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives, and eventually use to build our own house one day. This couple has finally reached full self sustainability. And can now life fully off the land without the necessity of depending on society for the things they need. Tiffany and I now know that one day we will be able to live like this ourselves. And that is our goal. Freedom can be achieved. We now have proof.
After we left, Rosi and Luke took us out to dinner at a country buffet called Moonlight BBQ, They had the most amazing ribs on earth. And supposedly President Clinton once ate there, Which is pretty cool.
Needless to say, after such a full day, we slept good that night.
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