Gifts from the Farmhouse!

Merry Christmas From the Colvin Family!
Take a peek at our Christmas preparations, and see the most important GIFT we've ever been given...

(I wrote this post last week, and as usual with allllll that's been going on it took a while to get it posted...I'm sorry!)

Christmas cards are going out, we're starting to decorate...rustic old farm style, we've been baking Christmas cookies galore, and the children and I have been making costumes for the Christmas play at church.... hit the music!"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

No other holiday brings a collective excitement to our home like Christmas!

Charity (6) has a countdown and has been painting "stain glass" ornaments, Levi (9) is my willing partner in odd decorations, Luke (12) with his big heart has gifts stashed everywhere, and Faith Anne is sewing up and embroidering a stack of....well, I can't tell! Noah is my quiet hunter, waiting for his prize deer to make Christmas dinner special. Titus has the Christmas bug bad too! He heads to the workshop every chance he gets, and  is making beautiful quotes and names with the scroll saw.

 The older boys all have stars in their eyes. Their gals will

probably be the only ones getting gifts from them this year! Caleb gave his gift early...Shelby Bennett, as of last Saturday, is wearing a beautiful diamond ring! Yes, they are engaged. It's very strange for this plain family...Adam, Caleb, and Isaac have all become jewelry conscience this year. 

We make a lot of our gifts. For me it's fun to sew or bake up a gift that I know will delight those I love. The guys head to the shop and fashion theirs out of wood. But a shopping trip with Daddy is a tradition in our family too. Last week we took the two "little" boys to Crossville, and had fun thrift hopping! Five thrift stores latter we each had treasures to use as gifts that cost ten cents to a few dollars! We pray the children will understand it's not the amount you pay for a gift that is important, but the love that is shown in the giving that is.

As we roll into Christmas week are there special people on your Christmas list that still need a meaningful gift? We are offering Farm Gift Cards on our main web page. They are an alternative to our traditional CSA and are being offered in large increments for this reason. We can easily sell them in $15, $25, or $100 also, just contact us with the easy link! We'll mail them directly to you, or in a beautiful Christmas card to whoever you'd like to give them to as a gift. It's a great way to say, "I love you", and also spread the word about eating local, and our farm. THANK YOU!

We made cookie plates with greenery on them to make them look festive for our loved ones.

One of our traditional Christmas cookies is Chocolate Crinkles. I'm not a big sweets person, but at Christmas, tradition takes over! This recipe comes from my Momma, Dorothy Krueger, and is Adam and Matthew's (our oldest son) favorite cookie. Folks at the Oak Ridge market have been enjoying these the past few weeks. Now you can enjoy them whenever a cozy cook day feeling hits!  It makes a large batch, but  the dough or baked cookies freeze. We like to free 1 to 2" balls that are slightly flattened. Then I slip them between wax paper for easy removal and bake up any amount at short notice during the winter!

Chocolate Crinkles

1/2 C. Butter

1/2 C. "Crisco" (we use Coconut Oil)

2 1/2 C. Sugar

2 T. Vanilla

4 Eggs

4 squares Baking Chocolate OR 3/4 C. Cocoa & 1/4 C. oil

4 t. Baking Powder

1 t. Salt

4 C. Flour

2/3 C. Milk

Cream butter, "Crisco" , and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat well. Next add chocolate line, baking powder, and salt. Mix. Lastly add milk and flour alternately. Mix cookie dough WELL. Place covered mixing bowl in refrigerator and cool 2 to 3 hours (overnight is best). 

To form cookies roll dough into 1-2" balls and dredge in confectioners sugar.  Line a cookies sheet with parchment paper (well worth the price) and place the balls on the pan. Bake at 325 degrees for "8-10" minutes. Watch carefully and remove as soon as the edges are slightly brown. Let set on cookie sheet 5 minutes (unless overdone!) before removing. Keep in an airtight container with a piece of bread in it. (I know this sounds odd, but the bread keeps them moist).

Everyone loves whole wheat chocolate chip cookies! My
the made the house smell yummy!

Samuel (3) baking cookies with Grandma
(The Farmer's Wife).

All the "littles" helped make our holiday treats.
I like to spend one-on-one time with each child as we
make each kind. Charity and
I made Chocolate Mint Cookies together.

While I was baking on the other side of the kitchen with a
child, the other children worked at the table making chocolate
covered pretzels....a family weakness.

Luke and I experimented making "red" fudge
to fill the indents on the Chocolate Thumbprint
Cookies. Since we never do anything in a small
way, there were leftovers to use up. The chocolate dipped
Rice Krispie treats got a red drizzle...

We also have a special spinach dip that we put on our Christmas Eve buffet  that I'd like to share. It's sooo easy to make and stores well right up until New Years when we serve it again. I hope you try it also!

      Spinach Dip

10 oz. frozen chopped spinach

1/2 C. Helman's Mayonnaise ("tastes best") 

(This year I'll be trying plain Greek Yogurt with salt to taste.)

1/2 C. Sour Cream

Plain Bugles

Cook and drain the chopped spinach well. Mix in mayonnaise (or yogurt) and sour cream. Refrigerate and serve with our traditional plain Bugles. (We've also used Toll Crackers Club Crackers in a PINCH. But Bugles have been our once a year traditional splurge.) 

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

John 3:16

This special manger scene from my Momma is in the living room,
but the Wise Men are traveling from afar so
they are the centerpiece on our 12' farmhouse kitchen
table.

The most important gift ever given is represented in the farmhouse in many ways. Our focus is Him...our Saviour Jesus Christ. We're a Christian family...so this time of year more than ever, we turn our hearts with thankfulness to the GIVER OF ALL GIFTS, and praise Him for the ultimate gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. 

Could you give one of YOUR children up for the harlot, (John 7:53-8:11)  a thief, (Matthew 27:38-54) or the greedy (Matthew 9:9)?  How about for me? "No.", you'd answer, "I'm sorry I couldn't." But God did! He offers you and I the gift of eternal life IF we accept the gift of His Son's death in our place to cover our sin. 

" For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Romans 6:23

"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."
Romans 3:23

If we but cry out to Him asking for forgiveness for our sins...for we have allllllll sinned. He is ever faithful in covering our sins with His blood! There is nothing to earn, no church to appease; just an Almight God that wants a personal relationship with you! How amazing! What a gift!!

Do you want the ultimate gift that will fill that aching void in your heart? Only Jesus Christ can cleanse you, and fill that spot He created in your life. Call out for the ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS GIFT today! 

"And the Word (Jesus) was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

John 1:14

"Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift."
2 Corinthians 9:15

Seek Him today, 

for Wise Men still seek Him.

Abundant Blessings

&

Merry Christmas,

The Farmer's Wife

Val

One of our sows gave birth outside the barn. There were
ten CUTE piglets which is great for her first litter.
I love seeing hogs in their natural environment!

Aren't I cute?!

These hogs have just been sent off for processing.
Look for fresh, non-GMO fed hogs to be
sold at winter markets within the next couple
weeks!

The heavy frost we received this
morning looked like snow!
It was gorgeous.

Samuel really enjoyed trimming the tree
this year. It sure was fun to see it
all through his eyes!

Adam helped Charity hang ornaments
up high...this is his last Christmas at
home, so we're making the most of the memories.

Hope and Josiah (1) help put ornaments on the
tree too...

Samuel put the angel on the tree with Uncle
Adam's help. The new rag light garlands trim
each window.

Steve helped me hang the rag light swags.
Thank you sweetheart!
I saw a picture on Pintrest of a rag light
swag and wreath. I fell in love with the
rustic homey feeling after making the first one with
the children as a school project. We ended up trimming 6 windows with them! I love the warmth of the rooms!

Simply rip or cut strips of cloth into 1 X 7" strips.
Seperate your colors out into different bags. Then measure your lights around the area you will be trimming. Overlap any sections of lights back over themselves and twist tie the double layer of light wires together. Next, tie the lights up between two chairs. Begin to make your light swag by tieing the strips of cloth in a chosen pattern between each light. Fill in any gaps in the end before hanging your lights!

We had our extended family in for "Christmas Adam".
Our children name this "holiday" when our traditional
Christmas Eve celebration was preempted by a special service at
church.
Christmas Adam is Christmas Eve Eve...

Adam's fiance Allison is excited
about the Welcome sign given her for
her new home!

Jeannie Brock got into the hyper
mood of the children...

It's 12:03 a.m. Merry Christmas!

Winning Our Crown...

Colvin Family Farm is
home to 2 parents, 10 children,
1 son-in-love, 2 grandchildren, 6 cats,
300+ chickens, and 29 hogs. (This number is to increase on Wednesday.) This is where God has placed me to serve Him...it's here among the nitty- gritty of everyday life I'm "winning my crown".

Another week has flown by! With the addition of school to our still full farming schedule the week goes by in a blur. I described the feeling to one friend as as I feel like I'm "surfing a BIG wave"...the wave breaks and I come to shore each day around 1 p.m. when we eat lunch. Then I'm "surfing" again. The tide goes out each evening about 8:30 when everyone is down for the night, and the adults are quietly going about their business.

The farm work is still humming away. The rush of the season is past, so the little details that easily slip to the back burner are now being dealt with. Larger projects like getting the strawberries and garlic in are being taken care of also. And my favorite!...the final bush hogging of the season is taking place. It's a blessing to see things look beautiful again.

Levi traced this rooster a special shareholder
drew for me this summer. 

On the home front we're feeling more at ease with the shift of seasons...older boys (16 & 18) are in from the fields 4 days a week for school. (We still have a large harvest each Friday.)

It's amazing to see how much school work can be done in that amount of time when they get a chance to "relax" inside for school. My plans for the 3 high schoolers that should have taken them up till Thanksgiving are about done! 

The younger children (12, 9, & 6) are daily driven to see what we'll be doing in the learning center. It's a true answer to prayer to see how they will easily glide through the basics each day to get to the differing activities in the learning center! 

This week I introduced the topic of money with the help of the U.S. Mint. On their site there is a treasure for every parent or teacher...home educating or not! (Grades K-12) There are countless activities,

research projects, print-offs, and games to teach children with in an engaging way. They also have online games that reinforce learning that we've not played yet.

As a marketing family my children need to be comfortable with every aspect of money at a young age...with the help of the Mint, it ties history, language arts, geography, science, and math all together. This is an area of delight for Luke (12 this week) as he collects U.S. coins, and really any child is easily attentive when the word "money" is mentioned!

Charity (6) is learning to count coins in her A Becka math program. This week they added quarters to the list of coins introduced...it fit right in with what she has in her hands at the learning center!

Luke and Levi really dove into the fun! Anything to do with coins really excites Luke! I taught (and

reinforced) the use of bar graphs to introduce our topic. With small containers of differing change they counted and recorded on their graphs their totals. 

Then we went to the mint's worksheets. They were easily tailored to our needs. It was rewarding a few days later when Levi (9) called out to me to see his computer screen where he was doing his math. (This is usually not allowed...but...) There on the screen was a lesson that introduced bar graphs! The connection was made and the lesson was a breeze because of it!

We also played some more multiplication and division

domino games. I'm fascinated by the potential of this game...why haven't I gone past the basics with it before? Explore the possibilities of using dominoes in your home by doing a Pintrest search on "domino math". See my last post below for more. 

A big question I've struggled with in the past...so I know others do too is, "When do I fit the "extras" in?" Anything that goes beyond the Reading, Writing, Arithmetic some days really doesn't fit in to be honest! We have learning center Monday through Wednesday as we are still marketing full time. Give yourself a little slack...BUT, these

activities will create an excitement in your child that will motivate them to not drag out the normal basic studies. (You know, when a lesson of math that should take 20 minutes, takes an hour plus! ) So, do a bit of research yourself and try an idea or two and see for yourself! (Read my past few posts to see what we've been doing in our eclectic learning center.) 

                         

You may read my description of our week above and think, "She's really got it made!" These are the highlights of my week. We've all got our struggles where God has placed us to serve. We deal with the challenges of child training, work schedules, 3 courtships, financial challenges, relationships, and weather related issues on the farm. These are the very hardships that we all are enduring in our lives today that are given by the Master for the very purpose of enabling us to grow to be like Him, and one day win our crown.

Don't  wait for some ideal situation, some romantic difficulty, some far-away emergency, but rise to meet the actual conditions which God has placed around you today. Your crown of glory lies embedded in the very heart of these things...those hardships and trials that are pressing you this very hour, week and month of your life. 

Honestly, the hardest things in our lives are not those that the world around us sees. Down deep in our secret soul unseen and unknown by any but Jesus, there is a "little" trial we don't dare to mention, that is harder for us to bear than any suffering.

There my friend lies your crown. God help you to overcome it with His strength, and one day cast that crown at our Savior's feet.  

"And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death." 

Revelation 12:10,11

Abundant Blessings,

The Farmer's Wife,

Val

Our Week in Pictures

Last Saturday (the 1st) I woke up to a
winter-like scene. 

The ground was completely covered
by the time it stopped.

I was thankful to be in a warm home
while the men were busy marketing!

 

Caleb is braving Dixie Lee Market until the very end.

Our naturally raised hogs will be ready
for sale in December. Reserve yours today!

Caleb's gal went on vacation.
This allowed him time to cook with

Levi

They made apple bundles with
cottage sauce. A special, once a season treat!

Charity is a self-proclaimed artist...
This is Adam and his fiance Allison.

Since our winter squash harvest was so bountiful,
we've been eating it almost nightly this week!

This time I used sausage, quionoa, onions, garlic, and
organic mozzarella stuffed into a spaghetti squash.

Goodnight from our farm to your home.

From Can to Can't

Warm and inviting smells have been tantalizing us this week...the smell of baked local apples encouraged everyone to finish morning chores and get to the breakfast table...QUICK!

Hello Everyone!

The fall feeling is deeply entrenched in our lives now...it takes its time appearing here in Tennessee. Each day now greets us now with its' chilly darkness, then a color burst grows as the sun rises above the treeline by the time we sit down for breakfast at 8 a.m. Charity has been pointing out the sun each morning as we thank God for our food. 

Each new day is a blessing of new beginnings. It doesn't really matter how well I did the day before, Jesus gently forgives, and sets me back on my feet to live victoriously for Him again. Praise His name!

During my morning devotions life looks "doable" with Christ close by. I can teach and train the 9 children still left at home...I can get the house orderly before school starts at 9:15...I can keep up with 6 grades and be creative in the process...I can keep up with all the facets of the farm business...I can get the fall and winter clothes sewn...I can keep the food storage organized and growing for the winter...I can be hospitable to folks that desire to visit...I can be an attentive and caring Grandma...I can! 

So, I used set off to do just that! My finger was in "every pie" of my home! I had grown confident in the needed skills over the years, and pridefully saw the fruit of my labors in the pantry, root cellar, gardens, closets, and kitchen. Then...I fell.

God used my fall and concussion to show me I can't really. My life's verse has always been Phillipians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."  I knew my God was my strength, and that He delighted to pull me through each draining day...but I really didn't know how needy I was, or how dependent He desired me to be. 

Why am I such a slow learner?! Sometimes it's the harder lessons He sends that really allow us to see reality from His standpoint. So, I will praise Him for my fall...for through the past 6 months I've really seen that I can't, but He can.

We all hustle first thing in the morning after devotions to get our jobs finished before the breakfast bell on the porch rings!  With our new fall schedule I traded cooking breakfast with Caleb (22) so I could have alllllllllllllll the laundry for the day folded and away before breakfast. While I'm hustling, tantalizing smells waft from the kitchen making my stomach growl! Baked apples is a fun addition to our usual sausage and eggs during apple season. Leftovers flavor our children's "leftover meals" of rice and milk or a special treat of Shredded Wheat, so we plan for leftovers.

Baked Apples

1 apple per person

oatmeal 

cinnamon

brown sugar

butter

raisins (optional)

1. Wash and core apples, keeping the apple whole if possible. (We have a simple tool to do this with like this apple corer.)

2. Grease a pan or line it with parchment paper.

3. Stand apples on end in pan.

4. In a small mixing bowl mix a small amount (maybe a cup) of oatmeal with 1/4 C. (+ -) brown sugar or honey, and a heavy teaspoon or so of cinnamon. Mix with a spoon.

5. Fill the holes of the apple with the mixture.

6. Put a pad of butter (approximately 1 t.) on the top of each apple's filling.

7. Cover with foil.

8. Bake at 350 degrees until the apples are almost tender. 

9. Remove the foil and let the apples continue cooking till tender and bubbly yummy!

There is never a dull moment on our farm!  This week we...

*Bought 17 new feeder pigs.

*Began work on Adam's new house site.

*Began Faith's new sewing course! (That means she and I finished the aprons she had promised, and I had got to the bottom of the mending stack...all but the 6 pairs of jeans or overalls that need patching!)

*Experimented in the kitchen with the children.

We've started to experiment with
coconut flour! These are
coconut flour pancakes.

While the coconut flour ones
cooked, the little ones made
whole wheat ones for themselves.

My coconut ones didn't turn out
real bad...I'm just used to fresh stone
ground wheat.

I served them with an almond butter
butter mixture.

Faith Anne baked alongside me on
Thursday for the Crossville market and
made chewy molasses cookies! Oh boy! Every
boy in the house came in to see if any "burnt" as they like to eat our "castoffs". (There was none...poor things!)

Levi came up with the great idea of
making butternut muffins. I didn't really catch on to what he was saying ..."a woman at market says she makes them with grated squash"... He wanted me to share our recipe with ya'll!

Butternut Squash Muffins

3 eggs
1 C. Colvin Family Farm Honey
or Sorghum Molasses
1/2 C. Coconut Oil
1 t. vanilla
2 C. grated raw butternut squash
2 C.  soft whole wheat flour (unbleached can be used in a PINCH)
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/2 C. chopped nuts (optional)

1. Peel and grate butternut squash. Set aside.
2. Crack eggs into a mixing bowl, whip.
3. Mix in next 3 ingredients. Mix well.
3. In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients.
4. Add dry ingredients all at once. Mix only until mixed as over mixing will create a tough muffin.
5. Remove the beaters from the mixer, and mix the squash and and nuts in by hand.
6. Fill greased muffin cups 3/4ths the way full if using whole wheat, 1/2 way if using white flour.
7. Bake approximately 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Cool on rack. Serve with fresh butter.

* Farmer Steve and I escorted his parents on their annual drive in the mountains to "see color".

*Harvested for the 8 markets we still sell at.

Our late tomatoes are being sold green...

We are looking forward to finishing our new
packing shed...we still wash with a hose...I can hear
you! "That explains it!"

Caleb and Shelby sure do have fun packing greens!

Our turnips can be used any way a white potato can be...mashed, fried, salad, in stews, even in chowder!

Faith Anne is wiping the butternut squash for
market.

Sweet Potatoes

Our favorite addition to stir fries lately has
been Tatsoi. I marvel in its beauty!

Adam and Allison "help" pack vegetables for Saturday's market...

We've roasted and stir fried (my personal favorite)
fennel from the sweet fall harvest. Have you tried it yet?

A side view of our table in Chattanooga
on Wednesday.

The texture and tastes of the different lettuce varieties makes an incredible salad!

People are raving about our tender pasture raised
chicken! 

Our family favorite turnip! What
a mess (that's southern) this would cook up to be!

* Home schooled the 6 grade school children.

Our learning center...preserving leaves in glycerine

Charity practices her spelling words occasionally
using shaving cream on laminated scrapbook paper. It's fun to see the colors come through and feel the gooey cream as you spell!

I use my baking scraper to "erase" the words.

Levi uses Teaching Textbooks 4.

Luke had fun extracting the pigments from colored leaves in our learning center.

* The boys cleaned up fields and prepared them for a cover crop.

After the growing season there is weeks of
clean up to do. There is always a race to get the cover crop in before it's too late since we grow so late in the season.

* And of course the young men courted their gals...

Our church had a hayride for all the children ...everyone enjoyed an evening of fellowship. I enjoyed an evening of quiet here on the farm.

Farming has many daily cans to can'ts in it...We can start growing in the early spring if the weather allows. We can't grow when God sends freezing temperatures. We start our day with a can feeling, but when the mid day sun beats down on you for hours as you work in the field the can't feeling overtakes you.

Family life encompasses many cans to can'ts too! They are too numerous to even begin listing! 

There is one thing I KNOW... my God, Jesus Christ is able to direct me in the way I should live so I will not really get to the can't attitudes again. 

Cry out to Him and learn how to live victoriously!

We are having revival at our church November 10-14, and then the 17-21. Brother Sammy Allan will be preaching in his old time style (lots and lots of stories of how God has worked in his life through the 50+ years of preaching) which is a delight to my soul. Come on out and join us at 7:30 p.m. each evening. 

Victory Baptist Church is in Dayton, TN...a short ride from anywhere we market! Bluegrass gospel music nightly along with our huge, fun choir! Ya'll come!

       "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work."

2 Corinthians 9:8

                         Abundant Blessings!

                         The Farmers's Wife

                                    Val