Hindsight Hazards

The harvests at Colvin Family Farm are still
bountiful! Come for a farmhouse visit and
see how our family melds farming with
home schooling the final 6 of our 13 
children.

Greetings from the farmhouse!

~If you are new to our family farm's blog, "Hello!" I'd encourage you to begin with last week's blog found below. ~

The rain has finally ceased, and the cool fall breezes are rustling the leaves here on our mountain. It looks and sounds like fall!

We've had a productive week on the farm and in the farmhouse school this week. I'm one to make a list, and check off projects as they are completed, so this week feels good compared to our first week of school!

 Has it been a perfect week? NO, and I want to continue to be perfectly honest with you. It's easy for bloggers to paint a rosy picture of their lives, especially if it helps their profits. Our lives could be easily blogged as ...living on a picturesque farm, lots of happy children scrambling to work and learn, Pintrest meals each evening, and the list could go on. But in reality, our family is a lot like yours...just multiplied by 6.5 if you have 2 children. We are learning hard lessons, working hard to get ourselves onto a winter schedule, my 13 year old washer LEAKS, and I too have to figure out what to cook each evening for supper. (That's the hardest part of cooking for me!) So please, don't idolize my life. Instead, ask God to show you who He wants you and your family to be and delight in His direction. 

I guess that would be my first "hindsight hazard" to share this week. Looking back over the past 29 years of home educating my children, I would read about or 

 see another family that appeared to "have it altogether", and wish I could have live as victoriously as they appeared to live. In reality I saw them a few hours a week at church, read a book about them where they wrote only about what they wanted their audience to know about them, or just caught a glimpse of them at a good moment. satan knows if he can get the Momma to mentally swerve away from God's direction for their family's lives, a lot of time and emotional energy could be drained from God's vision for the family. If I could go back and serve God better I wouldn't daydream about becoming the perfect family, having a farm, or my husband coming home from a corporate job to work with the boys, etc. All of that was in God's plan to begin with, and He laid it all on my heart so I'd be prepared to be the proper helpmeet to Steve when the time came for HIM to lead us in that direction. There was sooo much for me to quietly pray about and learn in the ensuing time! I wasted a lot of time in retrospect.

Adam harvesting fennel on Friday for the markets this weekend. Come visit him and Luke (11) at the Main Street Farmer's Market in Chattanooga on Wednesdays (Pastured chicken and jams available at this market), and the Franklin Farmer's Market on Saturday!

Back to the farm...the men have been cleaning up the sheds and workshops, scheduling next year's plantings, and harvesting in the rain. Since it rained most of the week,they are getting into their fall/winter schedule too. Thankfully today (Friday is our largest harvest day) the sun came out and the cool breezes began to dry out the fields they were working in. But by the looks of their boots when they came in for dinner, the fields are pretty muddy!

This is a rare good picture of Noah. He's our 10th grade field hand and works with Isaac (20) at Market Square Farmer's Market in downtown Knoxville on Saturdays. Pasture raised, Non-GMO fed chicken available at this market.

Farmer Steve works 3 markets...Oak Ridge Farmer's Market on Saturday, Crossville's Cumberland Sustainable Farmer's Market on Thursdays, and the Ebenezer Farmer's Market on Tuesdays. He's offering our pastured chicken at his markets, so try it out!

Kale, Fennel (below), several kinds of lettuce, sweet turnips, potatoes, Swiss Chard, snap peas, radish, cilantro, pie and decorative pumpkins, garlic, and many other vegetables are still being harvested.

 Each day at least one of the boys would come into the dry farmhouse and say, "Oh it feels good, and smells good in here!" We've  been having fun experimenting with comfort type foods again. The bounty of the winter squash crated in my pantry led me to try creating a new stuffing for acorn squash. In the past we've used a wide assortment of ingredients such as sausage, apples, walnuts, and brown rice to "stuff" the center of a winter squash. This week I used chicken. Don't limit yourself to this recipe! Look in your cupboards and refrigerator and concoct your own stuffing!

There are 4 components to a good vegetable stuffing,whether you are stuffing peppers, zucchini, or winter squash.
1. "Starch" ~ brown rice, mashed potatoes, or bread to name a few. Since I'm on a restricted diet, I have been using Millet, Couscous, or Quinoa.
2. Meat ~ Optional, but an essential in our home. I usually use some kind of sausage until I tried chicken this week in this recipe.
3. Vegetable~ This is a good place to "hide" a vegetable that is eaten slowly in your home...eggplant was used in this recipe to multiply the chicken, but I didn't list it in the recipe below. I like to use greens because they give the dish color and pack a great nutritional punch.
4.Seasoning~ I use a lot of garlic as it's so good for us. I put cheese under this category too as it is mostly for seasoning, texture, or garnish.

 I know there looks like a lot of steps, but it is real easy to make. This serves 6-8.

                                     
Stuffed Acorn Squash
1/2 Acorn Squash per person
4-5 boneless chicken thighs
(breasts would work too)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 C. chopped pecans
1/4 C. chopped almonds
1/8 C. chopped sunflower seeds
4 large Swiss Chard leaves (or other greens)
1 small zucchini
4-5 cups cooked brown rice or Quinoa
sea salt/pepper

1. Wash the outside of each acorn squash and cut in

half. Remove seeds.

2. Place upside down on a baking sheet with a lip. Place in 350 degree oven. Pour water onto the pan until there is about 1/2" on the entire surface. Bake while preparing the filling.

4. Meanwhile, cut chicken into cubes. Place in a hot skillet with 2- 3T. of olive oil. Stir.     

5. Chop zucchini into small cubes. Set aside. 

6. Cut the Swiss Chard into ribbons, then in half lengthwise. Set aside.

7. Chop nuts in food processor or hand chopper like mine from Pampered Chef. 

8. When the chicken has lost its color, add zucchini. Stir.

9. Next add the nuts and Chard to the frying pan.

10. Cook, stirring often until the begins to go limp. Add the rice until it "looks right". Remove from heat.

11. Remove squash from the oven and carefully flip over. Using an ice cream scoop, fill the cavities with filling.

12. Optional: Top with mozzarella or Parmesan cheese.

13. Cover with foil and place it back into the oven.

14. Bake until you can insert a knife easily through the squash. 

ENJOY!

Safe inside the farmhouse this week school took it's more familiar role in our day. Let me introduce my little schoolhouse to you. Again, let me say that my children are children. A work of God in progress.

Titus is 18 and working diligently to graduate in December. He's only studying Government, 1/2 semester of English, Bible, and U.S. History along with Personal Finance. Soon we'll graduate our 8th child.

Noah is in the 10th grade, and quietly digging into his studies. We use Listen My Son which is a high school unit study based on Proverbs 3. Since I have used it and Far Above Rubies (a unit study for high school girls based on Proverbs 31) with all but one of our young adults we use a comfortable blend of the advanced assignments from both curriculums that allow independent study.  Noah purchased a muzzle loader rifle this summer with part of his earnings, and is eagerly awaiting deer season.

Faith Anne was eagerly waiting for school to begin! She's our new high schooler, and began Far Above Rubies this summer. She's been studying what it means to be a "virtuous woman" by reading about godly women in history, looking up words that Scripture defines a godly woman as, writing letters to older Christian women asking for wisdom in the coming years, and MUCH more. After studying the skills of the Proverbs 31 woman, she's decided to concentrate on her sewing skills this year. We bought You Can Sew! DVD curriculum since she's been struggling with it. I've met the instructor and she's great! She'll never know that the seam's been torn out 3 times and the lesson replayed 10 times! Faith Anne enjoys embroidering, and has begun making and embroidering aprons for friends, and a small bakery that sells at several of the markets we sell at.

Luke decorated his "study nook" in a safari theme this year.

Luke is my laid back 11 year old in 6th grade. I prayed over his curriculum a lot this summer as we need to motivate him past the preteen slump. With only his math text in hand I sought the Lord for the rest. One evening, out of the blue came His direction! I had never even heard of The Father's Books before, but within the hour I was assured of God's direction. I purchased "Book Reports" by faith, which is very unlike me...I plan, pray, research, mull, and make lists for months! We need to motivate Luke, and I'm convinced after only 2 weeks that God chose right without any help from me! ha ha! Luke loves to read, so this curriculum takes that love and motivates it to express itself in writing. Of course he'll have to understand grammar and form to do this, so there is just enough instruction in each unit to further polish his writing without assigning page upon page of  blahhh "circle the nouns in each sentence" type of assignments. A big plus to me is that it teaches the same high standards for selecting godly books that we have as a family! They boldly teach God's standards for choosing literature which is like taking a highlighter to our teaching and standards! After only 2 weeks he's working independently and cheerfully! The learning center is another answer to what to teach Luke...I'll explain what we do there later.

Levi is my sweet little boy (but growing sooo quickly!). At 9 he's my 3rd grader. He's ready to dive into any study I aim him for! (Well, not the spelling test today.) He is Charity's other teacher as they are buddies. We're still reinforcing the basics while broadening his horizens. Like all his older siblings, he's using Teaching Textbooks for his math, and feels real grownup to use a laptop!

Charity practiced her spelling words using Wikki Sticks. It soon turned into an art and nature lesson when they began fashioning bugs.

My baby, Charity Rose is our 1st grader. It's very odd knowing she's our last child! I've had babies, preschoolers and kindergartners for over 30 years! She's not one to be left behind in the dust though! She had all the phonics songs from Sing, Spell, Read, and Write memorized by 3 years, finished her A Becka kindergarten math book by 5 1/2, and wants to do anything Levi is into. I'm slowing her math down a bit so she can fully understand the concepts, not just memorize them. She's reviewing her Italic handwriting, and hopes to leave those exercises behind, and just do copywork the rest of the year. She's almost reached her goal in just 2 weeks. She too loves her learning center time...

One change this year is to add some fun to our spelling lessons...This day we spelled our words with tongue depressors with letters on them. It's a great way to introduce consonants and vowels.

On Monday I introduced this week's words by writing them out larger than usual. Then Charity had the fun of painting the letters over mine! After this activity alone she only had to work on 3 words!

Charity lost her first tooth this week! Now she's a real big girl! In our family we give a 1/2 gallon of ice cream for each tooth lost. It's amazing how this helps the children learn generosity. They willingly hand out small spoonfuls of ice cream to each person in the family at a meal each day. It's not much, but they are in the position of sharing for the first time in a major way.  Her favorite color is green so she chose pistachio almond ice cream...it's green!

Before I go on in this lengthy post, let me share another "hindsight hazard". In the first 10 years of home educating our children I felt like I HAD to teach every subject so the children wouldn't miss anything they NEEDED to be productive adults. After that I gradually saw that some subjects were best left until the child matured a bit, and they wouldn't be stunted in a way to wait. For instance, in the government schools children begin learning 

grammar

in kindergarten and first grade. I tried this with my oldest son Matthew...tears...wasted time...lesson learned. I now wait until 6th to 7th grade to teach grammar formally. An English Professor friend confirmed my assessment by adding, "Why teach the same thing every year when you can teach it once in the middle grades and be done with it?!" So all my younger children write a lot, but we concentrate on handwriting, spelling, and form. An exciting essay will come without knowing the intricacies of grammar. I've concluded that grammar prepares my children for the advanced writing assignments in high school. This same concept could be applied in many areas of our children's education.

So, while I wanted to stimulate Luke I was unclear on how to do it. God directed me bit by bit to return to the unit study method and modify it to fit our family. The learning center idea has created the wonder and excitement only God knew he had. (It's odd, but I didn't take any pictures of him in all that he did!)

Levi turned to a field guide to help him know the leaf colors, and to learn a bit about each tree. Soon Charity tried to use it too. He taught her about looking up tree names and finding what page they were on...a bit above her? Yes...but she's learning, and he verbalized a skill he had learned. The best way to fully learn is to teach.

What is the learning center?! Well, it was fashioned out of our old dining room table that had been in storage since we grew out of it about 18 years ago. It seats only 8 with the leaves in it, but at its smallest size it fits cozily in the corner of our family/school room. Next I took a science fair tri-fold board and decorated it with our current theme of autumn. I posted a few teaser topics and pictures to get their minds engaged, and to create mysterious excitement. I'm sure the topics we delve into for a week or so at a time will be varied, but to introduce the center I picked the basic topic of autumn. We're focusing on fall leaves this week. We've gone on hikes gathering specific kinds, and later specific colors of leaves. We've made leaf collages by copying them on to paper, coloring them in their true fall colors, then using an xacto knife they cut the intricate leaves out and glued them into their nature journals. We've extracted pigments of the leaves and identified which were chlorophyll (green pigment), Carotenoid (yellow and orange), Taninn (brown in color), 

and 

Anthocyanin (reg pigment). We also experimented with two methods of preserving the leaves they found on the leaf-color scavenger hunt. We're making mobiles from them to hang over the center to replicate falling leaves.

We didn't have "learning center time" the first week of school. (See last week's blog and you'll understand why!) What I was doing in the corner each day was a big mystery! Questions flew as a specific time in thier schedule was set apart for time there. Excitement built until one morning there were manila envelopes with posti-note instructins on them were on the table at the center; with a tub of scissors, leaf stencils, and other fun looking tools. I used the center as an encouragement for the children to manage their time (our Biblical focus) well so they could have their full center time.

Textbooks for science and history don't fit our style or schedule well. This varied approach will keep interest high and we'll study many areas that traditional texts only mention lightly....robotics, coin collecting and the U.S. Mint, and art are a few of the the topics we'll delve into together as a family. The beauty of this idea is that I can easily become read aloud time if a living book fits our upcoming theme well. I'm excited, and that's what we all need.

In years past I've tried to keep up our regular school pace after starting to farm full-time. This did not work well. I should have backed off then, but pridefully plowed ahead with a full schedule of unit studies and high school work. The tension the overly full schedule created wasn't worth it. "Hindsight Lesson" learned: It's okay to create a school schedule to meet the unique needs of your family. If your children are excited about life, they'll be learning even without structured instruction. Mine read, write, create, build, and work hard all  year long. Life is school. (I'm not advocating not having school...too many families are opting for this. Just make a flexible school schedule.)

My last "hindsight hazard" for now is one that I've learned about myself over my "season apart" healing during the last 6 months. I'm seeing the importance of being a balanced home school Mom. I'm a slow learner and it's taken over 30 years for me to see the difficulty I have balancing two of my roles in our family...Momma and teacher. I've always seen them as one role, and they are functionally.

"...and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou riseth up."

Deuteronomy 6:7

These have been my guiding words as we were blessed with one child after another. One word rung especially clear in my mind through the years..."diligently".

I am a born teacher...so in my zeal I lean towards the side of teaching rather to the nurturing side of being a mother. The teacher side of me continues teaching at every moment of the day and has difficulty seeing past the character/educational/occupational goals that I'm striving to instill.

The Momma side of a woman is her tender, nurturing side. They are emotionally involved, and see the gift yet unopened in their children. They love them towards maturing these gifts.

One way I'm working to apply this balance in my life this week is through seeing each child's true needs. We've begun a new fall/winter schedule and we're using it as one of my important "tools" to train the children to use time wisely. (During farming season we teach flexibility, as that is what the season calls for!) By learning to follow the given flow of the schedule it is shaping the children towards being wise stewards of their time during the "off season". 

One downside for a teacher is if a younger child gets off schedule from being out late to a market and sleeps in a few minutes. It throws their early morning off schedule, and they fail to complete their chores before breakfast. The teacher in me is tempted to "teach" about being disciplined in getting up instead of being sympathetic that the younger child is just worn out. 

There is a balance that I'm still working on, for in the real world, adults must be disciplined in getting up to work despite how late they are up the night before. We expect this of our young men, but we can't expect an 11 year old to be as mature as a 24 year old either. Becoming the Momma that encourages towards this goal instead of the teacher that stretches (ouch!) her pupil towards maturity is my goal. Type A (Martha) personalities like myself must see this hazard as they train their children for Christ.

I apologize for the length of my blogs...I'm too wordy. I'll learn and grow in this! I also apologize for the tardiness of this post. The Internet "ate" my blog last night and I've had to redo the wholllle thing in "spare" moments today. I'm constantly learning!

I'm so thankful that the Lord is so patient with me as I learn and grow. All of my hindsight was learned at Jesus' feet as He gently pointed out each painful lesson over the years. One day I pray I'll have learned each lesson well and hear "well done thou good and faithful servant..."

Abundant Blessings,
The Farmer's Wife,
Val

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