Sunday, September 15, 2013

The Different Lifestyles.

I'm not sure what the exact definition of 'lifestyle' is but, I'm positive that it'll link back to my family.  Lifestyle in Arizona is chaos,  full of running around doing this and doing that. sadly it all seemes to be happening at the same time, literally!  It is so much  different than Goshen. Everything was planned out for the week and we followed to the schedule. I told my mom that I had a feildtrip on the 12th of September. I was excited for GreenHand Conference, the bad thing is that I had to be at school by 7:20. It wasn't so bad concidering that my teacher had showed a video of last years GreenHand and it pretty much looked like a bunch of FFA's come to a High School and play a bunch of games! But my mom had scheduled an appointment for that morning. Not only was I disappointed that I couldn't get on the bus with my friends and go to Millinium with them, but I had to be late for the conference witch started right when it seemed like we walked through the door, My teacher ended up giving me her cell phone number so I could call her when I get there.  Somehow I managed to lose her number by the end of the day. THE FEILD TRIP WAS TOMORROW! I was so frustrated with myself for having lost the sticky note. Tomorrow is going to suck!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well today didn't suck after all, I had a blast a the conference and got to play games and learn more about my future for agriculture. Sadly, I was late to conference because I had to go to the docters for an examination, so when I did get to Millennium High there were only XL shirts left on my team. It kind of made me mad at first, but, it was comfy. I sat with a friend at lunch and ran into another durning. Malory didn't go to Desert Edge though. We knew each other from middle school. By the time I did get back to my own high school I was exausted and ready to take a nap. Today was great. Tomorrow would be Friday and I would have the weekend off.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Happening on the Farm.

I honestly can't think of anything better than living on a small farm outside a tiny town. I guess I have it good when it comes down to it, because that's exactly where Goshen is located. I've been here for a week now and so many discoveries have been made. Now, I'll admit some of them aren't that good but others are happy memories for the future.

The animals are now used to having me around again so I can go up and pet a lot of them without the 'sniff and run away' deal. I can't imagine how many times I go out for morning chores and the animals hear my voice they all say 'Good Morning' in their own little way. Really a goat can express themselves very well. It could be from speaking it to coming up and walking along with us as G-ma and I do the morning chores. We don't have goats in the front pasture right now, but we did last summer and when G-ma and I went out to do chores I would make a funny joke that the goats were like her 'paparazzi' because she's an author.   They would literally do chores with us.

We had eggs in the incubator and they hatched this week, so far we have three little chicks.  Do you experiment in the kitchen? That's what G-ma and I have been doing all week. It started out with 'zucchini chips' baking zucchini for about twenty minutes total and then pull them out and let them  cool. After they're cooled off enjoy as a yummy snack. Also we tried baking cheese on the zucchini chips. That was really good. We call it 'Cheezhini'. What you do to make it is slice the Zucchini and put it in rows on a cookie sheet, no spaces needed, just don't let them overlap. Bake them for ten minute then, pull them out and flip them, on that side you will put a pinch of cheese and bread crumbs on each slice. Bake the other side for ten minutes. When the ten minutes are done pull them out let them cool and enjoy crunchy delicious Cheezhini.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Holy Homesteading

My family and I are not ones to really get the meaning of 'homestead'. Though, we do have a garden and some flowers around the pool in our backyard, and we keep it watered everyday and have harvested a few peppers here and there. Arizona is just a little hot for natural plants to grow. I noticed as my mom took me to Lowes to find plants for us to plant last spring that they have to be special types of vegetables. Types that can stand dry heat and sunlight for most of the day. Before I moved last year I was born and raised just north of Kansas City, Missouri.

When I was six my G-ma moved towards the Joplin area, nothing can excite a six year old faster than coming to your grandma's house to find her neighbors are goats and chickens.  It was just two acres of land but, it was nice, it had a little well house and a barn. There was a milk stanchion to milk the goats and kept the feed there. We kept the fresh eggs that we didn't need in the house in the well house. We also kept our jelly and other canned goods in there as well.   Her garden was always big and and full of delicious wonders. Okra was a memorable one for me because it was something new. All six year olds aren't real good with new foods, I can't deny I wasn't either, but, this new vegetable was just amazing! I wondered why I never saw it at the store with all the other vegetables. To this day, now 8 years later,  I'm still curious to why I never see Okra at local stores.

Canning is also a big interest when I'm visiting the farm. The name of it was called EinGedi. I remember when I was about seven or so and my sister and I would go out in the front yard and we would gather whatever flower we were told to gather, my clearest memories are gathering Honeysuckle. We would also gather Red Bud leaves off of the tree by the well house. Red bud jelly has been a favorite for as long as I can remember. We can all kinds of things, the spiced vegetables have been a hit the last couple years. In 2009, my G-ma and Poppy moved just outside of Seneca, Missouri. They called it Goshen.

I would visit there as much as possible, which was every break and long weekend I had. I always had  love for the critters and always had a love for serving G~d right beside my G-ma. I'm no expert on anything, I guess no one is when they're going into 9th grade, but,   I was always fascinated with the work she did and I grew up wanting to eventually live in Goshen myself. The thought of raising my own herd of animals big and small just excites me. Gardens just interest me and I never really got the chance to try and raise one growing up. I guess that's because my parents aren't really interested in the outdoor livestock raise your own food kind of way but, my G-ma is that kind of person and everything about the farm still does catch my attention like it's new.

I've been doing the same routine for four year when it comes to outdoor chores in the morning. We let chickens out and feed hay to the baby goats. Really that's it right now but, I still find new things everyday. It doesn't matter what it is, it could be a new baby chick or goat to a new recipe we could try. I guess when it come to 'homesteading' the place for me to be is Goshen after all.