There's a Lesson in Here Somewhere!?

 The CSA season has ended, but there are plenty of  vegetables, honey, jams, eggs, and now pastured chicken at each market! 

The guys here were packing the last shares, and tossing pumpkins from one truck, to the porch, to the other truck where share boxes were lined up. It's lots of fun,  just ask "The Friday Night Farmer"!

Caleb winds up for the toss!

This blog post transitions into our family blog this week...you'll still hear about the farm, and see pictures of the farm, but you'll also be able to get to know us as a family. We're a real family...with all the joys, struggles, and tears it takes to grow up. Come join us and get to know us a bit better. 

I'm going to start this post by being open and honest....

 Back in the middle 80's when I read my first copy of The Teaching Home Magazine I was enamored with the photo on the front of the magazine. They looked like the perfect family all dressed in coordinating colors with beautiful smiles. The article inside painted a rosy picture of how their home glowed, their children clamored for more studies, and peace prevailed. 

After almost 30 years of home educating our 13 children I want to be an encouragement to the parents that read this blog. Yes, there are days when my home glows, but it's usually right after chore time and right before real learning and living begins. Yes, there are days when I can't keep up with my children's appetites for learning, but there are also months of "gliding" as they internalize all they learned during the time of great learning excitement. And yes there are also days when peace prevails...but it's usually after about 9:30 p.m. when everyone is either asleep or enjoying private time in their rooms.. ha ha! 

For years I strove to have the "cover page family", only to find that it was an illusive dream. I had to learn there were no perfect families.

 We have grown to be uniquely "Colvin", and with that comes 15 different personalities that bring a special "flavor" to our family. Family is God's idea of a safe place to learn, to fail, and seek His face together. 

All that said, I wasn't going to post this week. You see, we have just finished our first week of school. First week you cry out!? I know most folks have been at it since August, but we structure our children's education around the farm. I liken our "school" to the old fashioned one room schoolhouse where all ages learn together. The farm work schedule determines our study schedule, and the farm is the center of our education. As the daylight hours grow shorter, we switch our hands-on focus from agricultural science, Distributive Education, (marketing) and apprenticeships in the field, packing shed, and kitchen to the school room. The field work is traded in for researching, computers, and an occasional textbook. Phonics is a game compared to the daily reading time before naps, and the thrill of using a computer to do their math is likened to most children's addiction to game boys. In the 6 months we concentrate on the "book side" of education, the children usually finish more than one grade in just a few hours a day. They welcome this change of seasons, knowing that a more "laid back physical" change is about to take place when "school" begins. When in reality we "school"/learn all year long, for it's our lifestyle...a lifestyle of learning.

All that said, we've had a terrible week...the 5 older laptops we use for math decided to just blink their start up signals, loose their "little minds" (hard drives crashed) and however else I should describe it. Four markets are still being packed in the morning, throwing the new schedule waaaay off.  I usually phase one child at a time into school so they know exactly what the expectations are relieving stress in the long run...but the written schedule was quickly discarded when Farmer Steve took off for a market and all the older boys were working in the field. (That spells no supervision for the little ones.) Add to this my mental challenges during times of stress and ...well...you get the picture.

Why am I posting this? I don't think I've ever read a blog or magazine article stating, "I failed this week"...but, we did, and I want other struggling families to know there is a purpose in the struggle. There is always plenty for us to learn in our failures. There will be a weekend coming up to regroup and pray about the direction for the coming week. God will be faithful to direct Steve and I back to where He wants us to go. He has in the past, he will in the future. We will be stronger for our struggle...

So, from one long time home schooling mother to another...there will be weeks, months, or even years where you feel like life isn't working. Your much prayed over plans seem to fall flat, and you wonder if you are really in God's will at all! Take heart! If God has directed your family's learning path, than satan will fight it. Just because it's hard doesn't mean it's wrong! I've learned through the years that God teaches us best during the hard times, and His face is seen clearer coming out of the fog. 

So, as I go into my 29th year of home education I am stepping out in faith...and as usual I found my Rock to steady myself on. Praise the name of Jesus!

Highlights on the farm this week!

*The Tennessee Department of Agriculture has licensed us for the sale of meats! Find our naturally raised, pastured, non-GMO fed chickens on sale at the markets this weekend!

*We had our first killing frost on Saturday night. God

was good to provide the bounty until the last shares were packed! We thank Him for that. The vegetables lost were the tender summer crops like summer squash, beans, and hot peppers. There are still PLENTY of hardy vegetables for sale at the markets. 

*I've been savoring my stash of summer squash in the refrigerator knowing they are the very last...I've enjoyed "zoodles" (noodles made out of zucchini) in stir fries, and also a bountiful chicken and vegetable fried rice. I made a small portion of fried quinoa also with a great mixture of stir fried vegetables. You can use just about any vegetables that are in your frig...it's a good way to use up the bits and pieces of your last share!

"Farmanese" Chicken Fried Rice

Your choice of vegetables, I used:
1 Carrot, shredded
2 C. Broccoli florets
1 large Onion
3 cloves Garlic, minced
2 C. Snap Peas, cut in 1/2
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
2-3 C. Brown Rice, cooked and cooled
1-2 Pastured Chicken Breasts or Thighs, cut into small cubes.
Coconut or Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Soy Sauce/Liquid Aminos

Organize all your ingredients on the counter by the stove. You'll be stirring and adding things quickly, so preparing really helps! (You can use warm rice, but it works a lot better when it is cold. This is a great way to use leftover rice...or planned  leftovers. We eat rice a few times a week, so when only feeding a few [it happens these days with 3 courting boys!], I make a full 5 cups and have the reserve in the frig. Rice keeps in the refrigerator at least one week.)

Heat a wok or large frying pan till hot. Place a tablespoon of oil, the garlic, and onion into the hot wok. Stir, do not let burn. Add the chicken and continue to stir. When the chicken is no longer pink, remove the chicken to a small bowl.

Add another tablespoon of oil to the wok. Next add the  the vegetable that will take the longest to cook. I added the broccoli next. Stir, cooking for a couple of minutes. Continue to add vegetables in the order it will take to cook them ending with the mushrooms. Keep on stirring! (That's why it's called a stir fry!) When the vegetables are very crisp tender, place the chicken back into the wok, and begin adding the rice. There's no need for exact measurements here. I simply mix in the rice until it looks like the amount that will feed the family.  Continue to stir deeply as you don't want your rice to stick. Add soy sauce or Aminos at this point to taste. (I don't season at this point, but just put the sauce on the table for individuals to put on to their liking.)

I substituted quinoa for brown rice in a small portion for me.

*Our youngest hens have begun to lay! We will soon

have over 300 hens laying beautiful brown country eggs. These hens get fresh pasture daily also, so enjoy the natural goodness of real eggs.

*We're starting to get feedback from our shareholders about their season of natural eating. We're encouraged by your feedback! Write us and tell us if you enjoyed your weekly box of vegetables, or how you think we can improve next year!

*My older boys took the initiative to can sliced

jalapenos for the winter...I stayed out of their way while the peppers flew, vinegar disappeared by the gallon, and jars began to line the counter. 161 pints later, they think they are set for the winter! Cravings are a great motivator for my boys!

*Levi (9) made supper all alone for the first time tonight! Oh, he's cooked sausages, heated up leftovers, and helped out a lot, but never a GREAT meal like tonight! I want to brag on him! He stir fried Bok Choy with garlic, sauteed fennel with onions, baked organic boneless chicken thighs, and made a huge pot of brown rice. GREAT JOB LEVI! 

My school week reminds me of Elisha at the brook Cherith where God sent him at the beginning of the three year drought..."and it came to pass that the brook dried up." 1 Kings 17:7 My spiritual life would be hindered if I didn't learn that there is much to learn in the difficult, the darkness, and the "fog" of a trial. 

The dwindling brook where Elijah sat and mused is a true picture of the life we all live. Elijah's security dried up with the brook. This is a picture of our past, and a foreshadowing of our future. Security in things, or people has brought heartache in the past, and will bring insecurity in our futures. And in some point in time we all must learn the lesson of trusting "the gift" or "the Giver". The gift (in this example, the life giving water of the brook) will be good for awhile, but the Giver is Eternal Love!

Cherith was a difficult problem for Elijah until he got to Zarepath, and then it was all made very clear. "God's hard words are never His last words. The woe and the waste and the tears of life belong to the interlude and not to the finale." 1 Had Elijah been sent straight to Zarepath to be cared for by the widow, he would have missed the lesson that helped him grow to be a wiser prophet, and a better man. He learned to live by faith at Cherith, trusting the ravens daily to bring his food...trusting the stream to continue to flow despite the drought. 

When in our lives a resource dries up we can learn more completely that our hope and help are fully in God who made the heavens and the earth. He is ever-faithful...look past the "stream" that has dried up to the Giver of living water...

"Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

John 4:13,14

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Matthew 11:28-30

Abundant Blessings,

The Farmer's Wife,

Val

1 F.B. Meyer, Streams in the Dessert

Winding it Down...

As we go into our last weekend of Colvin Family
Farm CSA deliveries we'd like to remind everyone
there's more to come!

Welcome to our last CSA blog entry for the season! I'll still be writing weekly for a few more weeks to help you keep in touch with "your farm". During the winter I'll be posting at least once a month. The blog will follow the off-season of a farm family. What does a farmer's family do when there's snow on the ground? Well... keep in touch by reading The Farmer's Wife blog and you'll get a peak into the farmhouse when the cold winds are blowing.

We still have plenty of vegetables in the field IF

the cold temperatures this weekend do not kill them. So be looking for us at your local farmer's markets in the coming weeks. We pray we'll be serving you until Thanksgiving at the following markets: Oak Ridge, Market Square, Cumberland Sustainable,  Franklin, and the Main Street Farmer's Market in

Chattanooga. We'll continue to serve Dixie Lee in Farragut until it peters out also.


The good news is that we hope to have our website online store running all winter long with new items being added weekly until markets open full time next spring. There are also a few all winter markets that we plan on attending that you can either pick up your online sales at or buy off our table. Market Square's monthly markets at the Train Depot, Cumberland Sustainable Farmer's Market. This market is an online market where you can buy organic vegetables, meats, dairy, freshly baked whole wheat breads, home crafted personal care items, and MORE! Lots of folks enjoy the convenience of buying online, paying online or with one check at the market for all your purchases. Cumberland Sustainable Farmer's Market is a convenient way to shop weekly during the winter. Crossville is right off I-40, a short 1/2 hour trip from Oak Ridge. Our farm manages this market, so if we can serve you in any way, just write or call. There is a feature on the website that allows you to virtually visit each farm you plan to purchase from to read their growing standards, see pictures, and "get to know your farmer". Just because your CSA share is ending doesn't mean you have to go back to the grocery store for your vegetables and meat. Please support your local farm families by continuing to come to the farmer's markets.

Sooo, on to what went on at Colvin Family Farm this week?

First thing this week our 300 broilers reached

maturity! It doesn't seem that long ago they were cute little balls of fluff. We moved them each day in movable pens to new grass, so they have feasted on grass and bugs, along with the GMO/naturally grown feed. Last

week we invested into 3 new 20 cubic feet chest freezers to store the meat for markets. All was set for the big move to the FDA packaging facility. 3:30 a.m. Monday morning (in the rain) the boys began moving the birds for transport. By 5:15 they were pulling out and heading for Sparta, Tennessee. A little over 24 hours later the meat was back on the farm packed in the new freezers. We'll be selling various cuts of the meat along with whole birds all during the winter.

Whole chicken, along with individual cuts
will be available throughout the winter.
The chicken was raised naturally on pasture with
GMO/Soy-Free Feed.

*Coming Attraction*
Farm Raised - Free Range Pork
Raised on Colvin Family Farm Vegetables
and GMO-Soy Free Feed

Also on Monday the farm kitchen was in full swing once again. We canned more okra and pickled okra along with prepping all the beans that were leftover from the weekend markets for canning.

On Tuesday Cerina and I made pumpkin butter from

the pumpkins deemed unfit to sell. The butter's got the perfect spiciness that made the farm kitchen smell like...FALL! Then we had a ball experimenting with watermelon! Noah (16) helped us seed and puree the tender sweet pulp so we could make watermelon jelly! It tastes fabulous and will give us a mid-winter treat when the cold winds are blowing! There are small amounts of these products for sale. We'd love to hear your comments on them here or on Facebook!!

Before the sun was up on Wednesday we were busy

making shares for our last mid-week shares. The light is very dim, so the pictures aren't great, but as the sun made it's beautiful appearance the truck was packed for Market Square and Main Street Farmer's Market's shares were also ready. The beauty of a full harvest is a blessing this time of year, so we are counting our blessings that we got the whole 18 weeks of deliveries made without a weather related disaster! We had our share of floods, hail, and frosts last year! 

The sun coming up over the home farm Wednesday
morning as we finished packing mid-week shares.

Week 18
Colvin Family Farm
CSA Delivery

Thursday brought us the challenge of Cumberland 

Sustainable Farmer's Market! We harvested alllll kinds of vegetables for the market along with baking new fall treats like these new apple fried pies with

cream cheese frosting! The Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls were another fall treat too. We also offer whole wheat breads made with fresh stone ground wheat. This market is packed and run by Farmer Steve and his youngest children...what a challenge! :) 

So, as you can see there is plenty still being harvested. Don't miss out on your weekly Certified Naturally Grown vegetables! Visit your local farmer's market, or visit our online store.

One way I can tell the year is winding down is when I look at all the pictures our family has taken over the week. This week there are more pictures of girls (the top three...Allison, Shelby and Destany) guns (target practice is now an almost daily occurance) and

 get-a-ways are more prominent than field work!

Add caption

On the way back from Sparta with the chickens this week, Adam and Caleb stopped off at Rock Island State Park. They climbed around amongst the rocks and took lots of pictures. They get to see a lot of our fair country as young farmers! They've been to Washington, D.C., Wisconsin, New York, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, and all points between! 

We've enjoyed the return of lettuce this week! I've been making lettuce wraps for my sandwiches this

week. What a creative way to cut down on wheat...I know! I'm the farmer's wife that makes around 25 loaves of whole wheat bread a week! But cut wheat out I must for a while...so I've been tucking all kinds of vegetables, sospretta, and plain yogurt into one of our large lettuce leaves. Who would have thought a bread-less sandwich could be so good?!

I'm looking forward to getting on with fall now...we start school Monday...all the clothes are switched...the maple tree in the yard is ablaze...cool evenings find me cuddled up with a book and a cup of peach chamomile tea... things are winding down.

The Word of God tells of a time when God's plan for the ages will wind down also. The future we will spend for eternity will be determined by how we live today. Since I'm saved I'm investing each hour of my day in what will bring God glory. I want to be able to cast crowns at Jesus' feet to show Him my gratitude and love. How I spend each day will determine how I'll be able to shower Him with my praise.

If you don't know Jesus Christ as your Saviour, He desires for you to draw close to Him. He will show you the way of salvation. It is a free gift, we don't have to earn a thing! "Believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and thou shalt be saved..." Acts 16:31 Repent from your sin, and cry out to Him. He is waiting for you! Read my testimony in this blog post.

The Colvin Family would like to thank each and every shareholder for your support during the 2014 growing season! We've learned a lot about how to grow smarter, serve better, and shine for Jesus! Come and join us for 2015! Watch your e-mail and our website for early sign up bonuses!

Abundant Blessings!

The Farmer's Wife

Val

I've" Bean" Blessed!

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We've "bean" blessed! We don't deserve God's blessings, but His love reaches out to us non-the-less!

As the old hymn goes, "Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God hath done! Count your blessings; name them one by one...count your many blessings see what God hath done."

With the leftover beans from last week's markets we

You can hardly see
Charity breaking beans
beside Destany!

canned 74 quarts of beans, and bartered the rest for 6 gallons of raw milk from a neighboring farm. (A double blessing!) I've "bean" blessed with two special helpers, Destany and Shelby. (Isaac's and Caleb's gals) The look on their faces as they came in the door and saw the mountain of beans was priceless! The men had mounded alllllllll the beans on our 12' farmhouse table and it was at least 3 feet high and 8' long! Their gasps led to proclamations of, "I've never seen that many beans in one place!" We worked most of the day, and then said, "That's enough." The pressure canner jiggled well into the night!

The men are pulling up our mulch, discing the ground and getting things cleaned up a bit at both farms. The strawberries will go into the high tunnels this week! I'm looking forward to the strawberry harvest of 2015 since I missed this year's harvest.

300 broilers (meat chickens) being taken to the USDA processing facility on Tuesday. The guys have a count on how many more times they need to be moved! ha ha! It's a lot of work, but these chickens get fresh pasture daily. They also eat bugs, NON-GMO feed, and drink lots and lots of fresh well water daily. We've "bean" blessed with a good chicken season, and want to share it with you! The meat will be available soon! 

I've "bean" blessed to bake lots of pumpkins this week in the

farm kitchen. I hope to make a big batch of pumpkin butter along with some savory breads that make the kitchen smell like...well, FALL! 

The final jamming is done...and we've "bean" blessed with great sales all ready! The blueberry, blackberry, and peach are quicly being snatched up by our customers! We had fun working two long days getting it all done, but it was well worth it! I hope you enjoy it. There are a few jars left of the above jams left and plenty of strawberry. I thought it would sell throughout the winter...not. Get what you want now before it's gone.

Do ya'll make a major switch in your clothing when fall morning temperatures dip below 50 degrees? We need warm clothing working outside in the fall and winter. So this week I switch everyone's clothing, adding "long-handles" (long johns) flannel shirts, and heavy socks to the mix of long sleeved shirts. It's a huge job getting it sorted, marked with the right amount of dots representing who is wearing it, washed, and finally ironed. I've spent the better part of the week working on this project. I finally got it all into the men's and family closets! Yahooo! We've "bean" blessed to see how God provides our clothing from season to season!

One of the racks of clothes that's been washed and hung...
It was just the beginning as I had 11 people's clothes to sort, wash,hang, iron, and put away.

We've "bean" blessed with good harvests this year!

We've "bean" blessed by a great packing crew that
comes out to help each Friday afternoon!

Packing shares!
Next year we pray we'll be in our new packing shed. Life will be very different...and I'll have a
porch again!

Timmy (the Friday Night Farmer) and
Noah wash bundles of sweet turnips! Noah's "bean" blessed by Timmy's friendship, encouragement, and good Christian example!

With me sticking close to the farm this season, someone needed to jump into my shoes at two markets. We've "bean" blessed with Cerina taking

over the Cumberland Sustainable Farmer's Market in Crossville, and Destany and Jeannie working the drop off in Dayton (no store this season). They have all been faithful to represent our Lord and farm each week and I want to say a BIG thank you to them!!

I've "bean" blessed with the Farmer and my Farmer Boys who work diligently for us all every day. They are up before the sun moving chicken pens and caring for their needs, watering the greenhouses, and keep going all day (okay, Noah collapses during his lunch break) providing fresh, nutritious food for us all! Many days it's well into the night before they call it quits, or come driving home from a market in the city. 

There are sooo many blessings in my life! I could go on for days! But I've "bean" blessed the most for how the Lord foresaw my depravity and  provided a way for me to spend eternity with Him in heaven! Jesus Christ was beaten unmercifully, and hung on a cross to pay for my sins and yours. Now, because I have believed on His name, accepted His provision for my sin, and made Him Lord of my life I can live in daily victory over sin!

I've "bean" blessed with eternal life!

Have you? Accept His gift today!

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

1 Peter 3:23

This Week's Recipes

If you are like me there are days when I pull alllll the vegetables out of my refrigerator and want to use them in a supper! Well, here is a recipe that will work on those evenings. You can also hide vegetables that are harder for some folks to eat in these cheesy patties! It's a clean out the fridge day meal.

Cheesy Roasted Vegetable Patties

2 T. butter/olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1/2 of a medium onion, diced

1 C. assorted vegetables, diced*

1 C. bread crumbs

1 C.  shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 C. Shredded Parmesan Cheese (green shaker if you don't have fresh)

3 eggs, beaten

salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Saute onion in oil until clear, add garlic and stir until fragrant. (Do not brown.)

3. If vegetables are wet, pat dry. No extra moisture is needed.

4. In a large bowl combine vegetables, garlicky onions, eggs, bread crumbs, and cheese. Mix well. Add salt and pepper if desired.

5. On a parchment or foil lined cookie sheet (spray foil), form the mixture into 10 patties.

If the mixture is too wet to form a patty, add more bread crumbs. If it's too dry, add another egg.

6.Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

My grandson would eat his with Ranch dressing or catsup. I prefer the taste of cheesy vegetables.

*Try what is in your frig...squash, green beans, turnip, peppers, onions, kale, butternut squash, or what's in your freezer or pantry like corn, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. *

With about 30 cups of pumpkin in my refrigerator I'm getting the pumpkin bread itch! We have our family favorite recipe, but this year I'm going to add some diced apples that just came from the orchard here on the mountain.

Pumpkin Apple Bread

2 1/2 C. flour (we use freshly ground whole wheat)

1 1/2-2 C. sugar or honey 

1 T. pumpkin pie spice

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. sea salt

2 eggs, beaten

1 C. pumpkin puree (if homemade, drain)

1/2 C. coconut oil

2 C. apples, peeled and chopped

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 9" bread pans, or muffin pans.

2. In a mixer or bowl add wet ingredients and mix.

3. Add spices, leavening, then flour. Mix just until the flour is moistened.

4. Add chopped apples and stir briefly.

5. Pour into prepared bread pans.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes (muffins) or 50 minutes for loaves. Test to determine if it's done by inserting a turkey skewer/toothpick. If it comes out clean it's done!

Abundant Blessings!

The Farmer's Wife,

Val