Still in the Process
11/05/07 - 2nd Day - After Breakfast. Good Morning. A bright and shiny day here in Central Texas. We had a great Sabbath and Lord's Day, and we really appreciated all of the fellowship here in the community. As most of you know, David and I took our sows to the butcher in November and we picked up the meat a week or so ago. For the Lord's Day fellowship, David grilled some 1 inch thick pork chops and a bunch of jalapeño cheese sausage from his butchered sow. It was great. We were all reminded of God's providence in providing sustenance for His children. Which reminds me of the breakfasts I have had lately. Let me lay it out for you...
Farm fresh eggs from our own chickens.
Farm fresh bacon from our home-raised organic pig.
Farm fresh milk from Holga the Longhorn cow.
Whole wheat biscuits made from wheat ground by hand and purchased from a co-op.
Yummm... and I cannot express to you the satisfaction of having a good portion of all your meals come from your own farm and from the work of your own hands. God is good.
We are also busy helping some young folks here on the land get started in the Agrarian life. Today, Liviu and I are working on bolstering and strengthening one of our pig pens. Our six piglets have released themselves from captivity and, though they do stick around and go back to their pen at night, they spend the day on the land free-ranging, eating acorns, rooting, and basically otherwise living like free pigs. In a few days, the pens ought to be done and then the pigs will only free range when we let them out. It is good to remind them that I am in charge. It was funny, the other day they came walking up our drive 6 abreast like a street gang. I said, "look honey, here come the Outsiders", or maybe it was the "dirty half-dozen". David said it would have been funny to tape it and play it in slow motion with that music from The Right Stuff. This morning they were in the corral while we were milking, making a nuisance of themselves trying to get into Holga's grain bucket. They obviously have not yet learned what a Longhorn can do with a horn.
Today we will be going to Santa Anna to get some hay for Holga, and to pick up some other supplies.
We got together in the group the other day and decided that we are going to have a community work day on the first Wednesday of each month. Everyone was enthusiastic about it and we will use that day to work on the community roads and entrance ways, working on the area where one day (Lord Willing) the community center and library will be, etc.
I am also going to be phasing out some of my former dress as I personally move towards the Biblical concept of modesty and of right acting and demeanor. Many of you know I gave up "shorts" over a year ago. I am also going to be phasing out T-shirts as well. I don't have the money to go and just buy a new wardrobe, but I won't be replacing T-shirts except as undershirts. My goal is to go to long-sleeve collared shirts, even in summer. I have read enough and studied enough to see that it is actually cooler to remain covered in the summer. I know that I really have not missed wearing shorts, and on those occasions when I have worn them just in the house I have an increased feeling of immodesty and impropriety. So I will be buying some long-sleeved collared white shirts here pretty soon.
By the way, I will be putting together a sermon on Modesty - probably today if the Lord wills. I also will be preparing the last three sermons for posting which I have not yet posted. Those were from the series on The Mark of God and they were entitled "Work of Faith", "Labour of Love" and "Patience of Hope" - all taken from 1st Thessalonians the 1st Chapter, Verse 3.
The months are flying by and we are intending to butcher two of the piglets at somewhere around 100 lbs. I am suspecting that that will be sometime in the last half of December, which will be perfect timing. Our freezer is still full, though Danielle and Tracy have been busy canning pork all through last week. So far they have canned 60 lbs. of meat, which is awesome to have in our root cellar. We probably have another 60 lbs. of meat to can - some of it pork and pork sausage, and some of it beef hamburger. I figure that we ought to eventually shoot towards having somewhere near 1000 lbs. of meat in some type of storage - canned, dried, smoked, salted, larded, frozen, etc. Then, if the Lord wills, we will begin to diversify more, adding and replacing with turkey, chicken, and fish. We have a bit of turkey and chicken canned, but not much. We usually catch enough fish in the spring to can some, but this year we had some fish frys and ate all the fish.
It is all about the process. We are learning and growing every day. We are still relatively new at this, and we are learning as we grow. Hope you are too.
I am your servant in Christ Jesus,
Michael Bunker
Farm fresh eggs from our own chickens.
Farm fresh bacon from our home-raised organic pig.
Farm fresh milk from Holga the Longhorn cow.
Whole wheat biscuits made from wheat ground by hand and purchased from a co-op.
Yummm... and I cannot express to you the satisfaction of having a good portion of all your meals come from your own farm and from the work of your own hands. God is good.
We are also busy helping some young folks here on the land get started in the Agrarian life. Today, Liviu and I are working on bolstering and strengthening one of our pig pens. Our six piglets have released themselves from captivity and, though they do stick around and go back to their pen at night, they spend the day on the land free-ranging, eating acorns, rooting, and basically otherwise living like free pigs. In a few days, the pens ought to be done and then the pigs will only free range when we let them out. It is good to remind them that I am in charge. It was funny, the other day they came walking up our drive 6 abreast like a street gang. I said, "look honey, here come the Outsiders", or maybe it was the "dirty half-dozen". David said it would have been funny to tape it and play it in slow motion with that music from The Right Stuff. This morning they were in the corral while we were milking, making a nuisance of themselves trying to get into Holga's grain bucket. They obviously have not yet learned what a Longhorn can do with a horn.
Today we will be going to Santa Anna to get some hay for Holga, and to pick up some other supplies.
We got together in the group the other day and decided that we are going to have a community work day on the first Wednesday of each month. Everyone was enthusiastic about it and we will use that day to work on the community roads and entrance ways, working on the area where one day (Lord Willing) the community center and library will be, etc.
I am also going to be phasing out some of my former dress as I personally move towards the Biblical concept of modesty and of right acting and demeanor. Many of you know I gave up "shorts" over a year ago. I am also going to be phasing out T-shirts as well. I don't have the money to go and just buy a new wardrobe, but I won't be replacing T-shirts except as undershirts. My goal is to go to long-sleeve collared shirts, even in summer. I have read enough and studied enough to see that it is actually cooler to remain covered in the summer. I know that I really have not missed wearing shorts, and on those occasions when I have worn them just in the house I have an increased feeling of immodesty and impropriety. So I will be buying some long-sleeved collared white shirts here pretty soon.
By the way, I will be putting together a sermon on Modesty - probably today if the Lord wills. I also will be preparing the last three sermons for posting which I have not yet posted. Those were from the series on The Mark of God and they were entitled "Work of Faith", "Labour of Love" and "Patience of Hope" - all taken from 1st Thessalonians the 1st Chapter, Verse 3.
The months are flying by and we are intending to butcher two of the piglets at somewhere around 100 lbs. I am suspecting that that will be sometime in the last half of December, which will be perfect timing. Our freezer is still full, though Danielle and Tracy have been busy canning pork all through last week. So far they have canned 60 lbs. of meat, which is awesome to have in our root cellar. We probably have another 60 lbs. of meat to can - some of it pork and pork sausage, and some of it beef hamburger. I figure that we ought to eventually shoot towards having somewhere near 1000 lbs. of meat in some type of storage - canned, dried, smoked, salted, larded, frozen, etc. Then, if the Lord wills, we will begin to diversify more, adding and replacing with turkey, chicken, and fish. We have a bit of turkey and chicken canned, but not much. We usually catch enough fish in the spring to can some, but this year we had some fish frys and ate all the fish.
It is all about the process. We are learning and growing every day. We are still relatively new at this, and we are learning as we grow. Hope you are too.
I am your servant in Christ Jesus,
Michael Bunker
posted by Michael Bunker at 11/05/2007 05:33:00 AM
2 Comments:
Michael,
Thank you so much for this and all your posts. It is so refreshing and interesting to read of all the hard work and simple pleasures you all do and enjoy on your homestead. Praise God for all his provisions! Have a blessed day!
Beth
Michael,
What you said about the long sleeve collared shirts is true. I have been covering up during the summer for several years (I started because I burn so easily). I stay perfectly cool with my sleeves down and a little sweat evaporating. The evaporative coolere analogy you used once is the perfect description of how you stay cool. Sweat on Brother!!
Al
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