The High Desert Homestead: May 2015

Our first seven kits are now six weeks old and I am happy to say they are weaned off mama, eating fabulously on their own. Only three to four more weeks and what bunnies we haven't sold, as two to three are being sold as pets, will be finished and frozen.

With a recent drop in income on my end of the family bacon winning I have been looking for any extra way possible to save during this time. Hence the beginning of the meat chicken/rabbit adventure.... The frugal bone in me knew there had to be a cheaper way to feed these rabbits.

In looking around my property, with my refusal to purchase or utilize toxic weed killers AT ALL, one will notice the vast salad of "weeds" everywhere... Well in attempts to jump start a looming labor I have in the last week been weeding twice a day and feeding all my profits to the rabbits! Better yet... I have completely weaned them off of pellet feed. All 15 of my rabbits are now on a 100% all natural, GMOfree, organic, COST FREE....blah blah blah diet!

I even take the baby bunnies out into a smaller grazing pen everyday. I simply move it about every few hours to give them a new variety. They are currently working around all the beds, rows, and mounds in the garden. Fertilizing as they eat any weeds or grass sprouts. Have I said what gold rabbit manure is??? Seriously come get some, your garden will thank you. Highly nutrient fertilizer + odorless = win for this pregnancy mama and her olfactory nerves!!!

The best part of this new bunny diet is they can't get enough of it. I can't understand why I didn't start sooner. At random I felt like feeding Belle and her babies some fresh greens one day last week and their reaction had me hooked! All across the board they show more interest in these greens than any other pellet feed I have fed them. It gives me piece of mind knowing just how simple this food is, no processing or adding necessary. The rabbits seem happier and my wallet is happier no longer handing over hard earned money for fancy organic feeds.

Of course with the upcoming baby we have saved feed for convenience and we have already delegated a special spot for winter rabbit feed in the homestead budget.

Any dollar saved is a dollar earned, especially in our case! Our next homestead purchase needs to be a cutlery set for butchering and processing all this meat...

--->two pigs to be slaughtered the first week of June

--->19 meat chickens to be slaughtered first week of June

--->5-10 meat rabbits to be slaughtered mid June

Safe to say we have a few burners going! And baby #2 hasn't even been born yet! But we wouldn't have it any other way..

And all is well for fresh grazed rabbits..

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In honor of our 5 year anniversary last week on the 26th and baby shower for little girl #2 I wanted to make a special post about the love of my life. Yes, it is a little late in the making, but hey I have had baby bunnies and sprouting plants coming out my ears the last two weeks so better late than never here ya go!

For anyone who knows my main man Spencer, presumably you've heard about his hair. Being divinely blessed with better hair than me the man has tried many hairstyles, I can't say that all have been of his choice... though he chooses yours truly to maintain his do.... and yes hes ended up with a buzz cut or two.... at my hands :(

Over the last 5 years with him I can safely say I have become quite gifted with scissors and a set of clippers.

When we first started dating we actually had the same length hair... no joke. He was still rocking the 90's kid long hair and I had in a time of needed change, chopped my hair. It grew and grew, every time we saw his family it was hey boy when ya gonna cut that hair! I loved it, but alas he couldn't maintain it nor cool down in the summer. The first time he asked me to cut it we ended up one misshaped hair cut turned buzz cut later and the poor guys was done!

As I said before if you know Spencer then you've know about his hair....

Man bun in full force...

Long hair don't care...

I will say I grew to love that hair..

Mop top as it was at times...

Okay I'm wearing a pony tail, but yes, at one point his hair was longer than mine.

And at times to my dismay, he even rocked the pig tail braids!

So when he came to the point after almost 4 years of all-natural no cuttin' hair growth he decided he was again, done done! The struggle to find a hair style that works for him and doesn't require my personal touch daily was also necessary. The long hair was too hot, too much maintenance, and at times I will say people got handsy with it.... So we settled on a modern type pompadour style which I can say is the sexiest hair cut he will ever wear... What? Mama got no shame about that! A man with a good hair cut and a beard is enough to.... well you can use your imagination...

When my love was offered a job of town he needed a reliable pomade to keep his do slick! In order to avoid the cost of spendy pomades, he was bringing back the 80's.... the smell of AquaNet will forever remind me of him. With my frugal nature and cheap-skatedness (thank you Daddy!) I knew there must be a cheaper and healthier way to maintain the mane that didn't include overwhelming sprays or $15-$20 crew pomade.

When I began the transition to take our family out of consumerism and turn us into producers, part of that meant making our own bath and beauty products. So when I came up with a recipe for homemade pomade right before he left, we jumped on the chance to stock him up for a couple months.

Bad quality photo^^^--- but this was the finished product after a public hair cutting giving him a Cobain-esque do and a donation to locks of love.

This homemade pomade makes me want to jump for joy... its oh so fresh, and so clean! Only 4 ingredients whip up this awesome product... Can you say GMO, petroleum, and chemical free? I can.. homemade pomade! It is organic and only takes about 30 minutes to fill 3 tins, need I say more???

All you need is coconut oil (which I purchased organic, virgin, and GMO-free at our local Costco) Shea butter also works for this portion, almond oil (or some other carrier oil, i.e. jojoba oil, grape seed oil, olive oil), beeswax pellets, and arrowroot powder. I also purchased the small storage tins through Amazon, here!

Let's get started--->

3 tbsp beeswax

2 tbsp coconut oil

2 tbsp almond oil

1 tbsp arrowroot powder

2 vitamin E pills (optional --- in case you will store it up to 6 months) I couldn't find an organic option online so I opted out --- I'm sure there are options out there, when I find them you'll know!!!

In a double boiler, melt the beeswax with coconut oil, stirring enough. You love my pyrex bowl/saucepan double broiler huh?
When the beeswax and coconut oil is melted, let it sit on heat for 20 minutes to process the coconut oil.
Mix the arrowroot powder and almond oil separately in a small bowl, until arrowroot is dissolved. If using Vitamin E poke vitamin E pills with a pin squeezing the contents into the bowl and let it cool until it's hardened.
Remove coconut/wax mixture from heat then and add arrowroot/almond oil mix.
Using my handy dandy super old school hand blender, or you can use your super awesome modern electric hand mixer... pshh.... blend the pomade until it begins to turn into a pudding like texture.
Scoop into metal tins and store in a cool dark place. If pomade gets too cold it can be hard to use, same goes for too hot. If you encounter these issues place it in the sun or the freezer for about 10 minutes and it will set back up wonderfully :) it's all natural folks, no emollients or emulsifiers to keep it from doing what nature intended.
Use a pea sized amount on hair, it goes a long way :)