Real world? Uh yea!

Part of real world sustainability is to live as sustainable as possible and still be in a community. To me this means to save money in places were we can. From growing your on food and eating what you can kill for your family, to learning to be content with what we have in front of us, and not spending outrageous amounts of money on "stuff".   My family and I are not completely sustained yet, but we are learning....I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:12, 19 KJV)

We try to live by these basic concepts.... Try is the key word.  So tonight to cut our over all budget back, we made our on dog food.  We have been doing it for several months now and it has saved us a good deal of money. We spend about 20$ per month doing this way, to buy food for our dog it would run us about 125 per month. And to top it off, Selah helped us stack and store the food, great individual time with my very sweet daughter.

Stay sustainable my friends! 

The little "read" schoolhouse

Ok, so this isn't the little red schoolhouse that many remember. This is the Little Read Schoolhouse. This, is homeschooling. My wife, Teresa, and I homeschool our kids. Our kids love to read and do it all the time. This, to us, is an important part of being sustainable. There are a million reasons why we homeschool, but one, as it pertains to homesteading, is that when school is done (and it doesn't take eight hours like it does at the public and private schools) the kids can help out around the homestead. Our kids know how to plant, harvest, chop, mash, cook, can, freeze, and eat what we harvest. There isn't a food they refuse (although there are some they don't care much for) and feel pride that they are an integral part of the growing process. They can help us research growing seasons and figure out why things aren't growing as well as they should. They can help water the plants (and sometimes each other) when the rain isn't plentiful, and there is hardly a day that goes by that at least one tomato doesn't need to be picked. So, as you can see, they are not only learning and pretending to help, they really are a big help and it would be exponentially harder to do what we do if they were gone every day to school. 

Never Forget

I don't think anyone will forget what happened on 9/11 in 2001. It was a tragedy that reminds us that we live in a fallen world. Sin came in over 6,000 years ago and we will be forever plagued with sin until Christ reigns on Earth. 

But, God tells us to be in, but not of, the world. We are to live in this fallen, crumbling creation, living the best we know how. This is one of the reasons we live sustainably. We want to be able to grow our own food and till our own land, in case the need ever arises that there is no other options. We want our children and our children's children to be able to do the same, because if the Lord tarries, there may be a necessity to do it for survival. But, for now, we are enjoying doing it, enjoying the fruit of the land that God provides us, and basking in the satisfaction that comes from a job well done!

It ain't all home grown

You may be asking yourself: "What if I can't get a certain food to grow in my yard?"

Well, this happened to us this year. We planted strawberries and harvested a grand total of 3. But, we love strawberries. So, we keep a fresh produce budget for when we see a good deal on a large amount of unprocessed fruits and veggies. We were at a nearby produce stand, Greg's Produce Barn (great food, great person who owns it), and they had 8 pounds of strawberries for $10!!!! What a deal! So, we bought 8 pounds and came home and canned them into jam. This is our lovely 9 year old daughter, Selah, mashing the berries. You couldn't find a better person for the job. She works willingly and cheerfully at whatever task she is given. She is such a blessing. 

You know what else is a blessing? Smearing homemade jam on toast in the morning! 

Train up a child...

The Bible says that if we train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it. We believe that this begins at birth, so from as young as they are able to, we  have our children working alongside us, helping and learning. It's not just about how to hang drywall or cook, but rather, how to run a home, and be obedient, and enjoy time together that does not revolve around games or play or electronics. So, mothers and fathers, do not squander the time. God tells us to number our days, and we shouldn't waste a minute that we can redeem for Him. 

The incredible, edible peanut

One of the most anticipated times of harvest for my family is peanut harvest time. We watched with very little patience as the tops slowly turned yellow and signaled their time of peak perfection. My son, Benjamin, and I went out to pick the hopefully bountiful harvest in the heat of the day. We sent up a prayer for some relief from the heat and was instantly answered with a quick, summer rain. The hard, unyielding ground softened, and the legumes were easily picked. And washed at the same time! 

My wife, Teresa, set out to boil these delectable snack items, and by bedtime, we had us a warm, healthy snack. All in in all, we had 15 quart bags to freeze. Next year, we'd love to have more, but this year definitely outdid last year's harvest of six bags. 

The bonus came in the form of my middle child, who is 6, learning that the harvest must be done when the plant is ready, rain or shine. Perhaps that lesson is even better than the taste of those peanuts...but maybe not!

Michael