Fixin’ Fences & Making Memories

As we prepare to bring our small herd over to our farm, the fencin’ needed fixin’ first.  This part of the pasture has beautiful stone walls but, they are not high enough to keep the cows in, so adding electric fencing is a must.   Pictured below is the Mayor and his father winding up the barbed wire. 

This was the first time I was able to wander through the pasture without the Sheriff (as he was having himself a tractor ride) and it was just awesome.  I think fields are just one of the most peaceful things on this earth; put some animals grazing on them and you’ve got yourself a little piece of heaven here on earth!!!  The picture below shows the opposite side of the pasture and those stone walls are plenty high and will work just fine without an electric fence.  Our cows are going to love all of this green grass as well as the large shelter for them to relax in.

Here is a picture of the old dairy barn.  This poor thing needs so much work, but with a little love and a lot of sweat, we will restore it;  keeping it as close as possible to the original dairy barn. My hope is that this barn will not only serve as a home/safe haven for our animals, but also a special place for my little boy to experience life events and lessons.  Things such as picnics on rainy days, places to hide when we play hide and seek, fixin’ tractors, caring for his farm animals and teaching him about the awesome miracle of bringing a new cow into the world, and the painful experience when we lose one.  I can picture him sharing special moments in the barn with his father as he gets older, perhaps restoring an old car, having his first beer or just having man to man talks.  My wish too is that my son will have a close relationship with God and that perhaps this barn will allow him to have a quiet spot to talk and develop that relationship with God.  These are just a few of the many things that I wish for this barn.    

Here's the view from the kitchen window……it doesn’t get any better than this.  This is our pasture with our neighbors farm in the distance. 

Here’s the Sheriff!  He’ll be driving that tractor before I know it.  He absolutely loves being on his farm!

I took a walk over to the stone wall that borders our neighbor’s property because I wanted to take in the beauty of my neighbor’s field.  As I hoisted myself up on and over the stone wall, I was not prepared to for what I saw!  WOW is all I said as I hung onto the wall and stared at the small cemetery that stared back at me!  Now I know some would be “creeped out” by this, but all I could think of is history and how cool is this???  I’m curious to know who is buried there, and did they live on my farm, or perhaps my neighbors farm?  I’m hoping at some point to talk with some of the neighbors to find out whatever I can.  Stay tuned for more on that.   WOW!

There is just something I love about the picture below; perhaps it’s the love I have always had for silo’s?  I think it's a subtle reminder of how very small I am in this world.  

Here’s the Sheriff...out and about discovering in his pasture!!!  He managed to find the only dandelion flower in the whole pasture.  He is just so cute! 

Dadda and son sharing a ride together on the tractor.

And before we left for the day, the Sheriff asked if he could  walk in the mud puddles….I couldn’t resist!  Remember, life’s too short not to enjoy mud puddles.....so go ahead.....get your shoes, or even better, your feet muddy!    

Until next time y'all.......

I'm sharing on the Simple Saturday Blog Hop!

Carrot French Fries

I enjoy cooking from scratch and am always looking for simple recipes that taste good especially vegetable recipes.  My family and I could certainly use more vegetables in our diet, so I was super excited when I found a recipe for carrot fries.  I must confess I was a bit skeptical about trying these because I’m not a big fan of carrots and can’t imagine having them as fries.  The result - delicious, easy to make and tasted like sweet potato fries!  These are a winner for me and have become part of rotations.

Here’s what I did:

Scrubbed 2 lbs of carrots.

Peel the carrots ….and save the carrot peels for homemade chicken stock.  I keep a scrap bag in the freezer for onion & carrot peels. 

Cut the carrots into French fries.

Toss with a tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt (I use sea salt) and pepper.  Arrange carrots in a single layer on baking sheet.  My special touch is to sprinkle a bit of brown sugar (see my homemade brown sugar recipe here) over the carrots.  Bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes on each side until cooked and crispy.  You can find the recipe I used here.  Enjoy!  TLFF

I'm sharing on the Simple Saturday Blog Hop!

Rebuilding the Coop

Hi Y'all,

Here's a picture of our coop when we purchased the farm and as you can see, the coop was in rough shape.  Before the Mayor could even begin his work, he had to remove all of the overgrown brier patches, broken windows, garbage and rocks... and that was just on the outside.  There was more garbage and used tires that needed to be removed from the inside.  On the backside of the coop, three trees were removed that were growing along the side.  

The first repair on the coop -- "new" used windows.  A friend of ours replaced the windows on there home and gave us these windows for free!  

Next came framing the new windows which also helps to support the roof.

Pine boards were then inserted on the inside for support and another layer on the outside for protection.  

Here is a before picture of what the south side looked like.  

Here is the south side after the repairs.  

Here are a couple pictures of the inside of the coop.

Here's the new door, built by my father in law.

Now, we have to decide which kind of chickens we would like to be part of our family.  What is your favorite?

till next time......

I participated in Simple Saturdays Blog Hop

About Us

Hi Y’all, my name is Claudine and I want to welcome you to the Lewis Family Farm!  We are so glad that you stopped by!  Joining me on this thrilling journey is my brilliant & wonderful husband who we will refer to as the “the Mayor”. He has been given this name because he knows so many people and has the gift to gab!  We also have my precious 1 year old son who is known as “the Sheriff” because he calls the “shots” around here.  So grab your farm boots & cowboy hat and let’s go see what’s happening on the farm today!  

Kettle Corn

I am in love with Kettle Corn!  And up till about four years ago, I had to wait for summer fairs to come around just so that I could buy my kettle corn.  I have tried several in the grocery store, but ugh, I just did not like them.  So I started looking on the internet and found this recipe on  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/kettle-corn/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=kettle%20corn&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Reviews

Here is what you will need:

• 1 Large Pan
• ¼ cup of vegetable oil (or oil of your choice—I have used coconut and peanut with great success)
• ¼ cup white sugar (can use brown sugar—gives it a caramel color and taste)
• ½ cup popcorn kernels
• Salt

Pour oil and 3 kernels in pan and place over medium heat until you hear all three kernels pop. 

Once popped, add sugar and stir it around well, then add the remainder of the popcorn and cover it.  I then alternate every three seconds from leaving the pot on the burner to shaking it.

  Once the popping has slowed, remove from stove top and immediately sprinkle with salt. 

Let the batch cool a little, and enjoy!  WARNING---this is highly addictive! 

If I need to store (which rarely ever happens because I eat the whole batch), I will store in a glass container so that the popcorn stays nice and crunchy.  I find that plastic containers will soften the popcorn.  For gift giving, I like to use cellophane bags tied with a little piece of jute—very country looking.  Why not combine a bag of kettle corn with a DVD movie for a movie night Christmas gift...after all Christmas is just around the corner y'all!

Enjoy & blessings....
The Lewis Family Farm!

George Foreman Grill & Panini's

Like many of us, I am excited when I find another use for something that I already own- like my George Foreman grill.  This past week I was looking for something different & quick to make with the leftover turkey meat from Thanksgiving.  I found a Thanksgiving Panini on the Pioneer Woman’s website http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/leftover-thanksgiving-panini-recipe/index.html which looked delicious, however, I don’t own a Panini machine.  Immediately, I thought of my George Foreman grill and decided to give it a try!  I was very happy with the results and the Panini was delicious!  Below you will find how I made my Thanksgiving Panini—yum, yum!

Ingredients:

Two slices of whole wheat bread

Chilled Gravy

Cranberry Sauce

Turkey

Stuffing (I made cornbread this year)

Butter

Directions:

1. Turn on your GFG so that it will be nice and hot.  Be sure to have all of your ingredients out and ready to assemble.

2. Butter one side of each piece of bread.

3. Lay one slice butter side down on a cutting board, and put some gravy.  Cold gravy works best so that it doesn't run off the sandwich.

4. Next put some cranberry sauce, then turkey & stuffing.

5. Lastly put the other slice of bread on top with butter side facing up.

 

  

6. Using a wide spatula, lift your sandwich and place it on the hot GFG and slowly push the cover down.  I held my cover down so that the heat would penetrate through the whole sandwich.  This took only a couple minutes and it was done. 

My husband loved the sandwich and now I can make other varieties of Panini’s with my GFG. 

Do you have a favorite Panini combination?  If so, I would love to hear from you!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Lewis' Family Farm!

Sharing at TheHomesteadBarnHop

It Starts with a Dream.....

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always dreamed of having a farm.  I grew up on the outskirts of the city which was country back then and have always had a love for animals and being outdoors.  The reality of owning a farm was diminished by the fact that #1, I didn’t think farms really existed in this area anymore as more and more farms were being sold and developed.  Reason #2, I did not have any farm experience.  I grew up with a dog, cat and a small fish tank in my room.  We never had chickens or even a garden.  And Reason #3, would I find someone who would share my dream of moving way out to the country (possibly to a farm), raising animals, growing a garden and canning/storing food for our family? These three things held me back, but certainly did not keep the farm dreams from running through my head all of these years.

My husband was born and raised in the country and comes from a farming background.  His love for farms came at a very early age when he would spend time at his Uncle’s farm riding the tractor or rounding up the herd.  He was fascinated and so inquisitive with all the aspects of farm life. 

At his own home, he recalls helping his parents in the garden with weeding and picking the fresh veggies.  He was also responsible for caring and cleaning the chicken coops which housed both egg-laying and meat chickens.  The taste of fresh meat, eggs and produce is something that has always resonated with him, even to this day. 

In 2005, I married my husband and we started out living in the outskirts of the city but soon decided we wanted to live out in the country.  So a year later, we began the process of building our home on a 3 acre lot.  We loved everything about our little piece of heaven, with the exception that we wanted more land.  Now fast forward 7 years, we are still living in our home, but have traveled to the south a few times (Tennessee, North & South Carolina, Virginia) and rediscovered our love for farms and our new interest in growing/raising our own food.  Each time we returned back home we kept tossing around the idea of owning a farm; but where?  And could we afford it?  In 2012, we received surprising news that we were going to be parents to a little baby boy!  We were so thrilled and now the thought of owning a farm becomes even greater because we want our little buckaroo to have the same country upbringing that we had and more!  In 2014, the opportunity to own a farm became a reality for us and we were thrilled beyond belief.  The farm did not come to us without years of preparation which included, saving, sacrificing and living simple not only in our married years but also in the years prior to us dating. 

Those same preparations are taking place today as we are not living at our farm yet.  We are busy making plans to move from the home that we built to the farm.  Our farm needs so much work, but like the home we built together, our farm will be a labor of love that we can enjoy and make memories that will last a lifetime for our son.  Won’t you join us on our awesome journey as we restore this old farm and learn to raise our own food.  We don’t know what the future holds, but we invite you to follow us on “the Lewis Family Farm”!

The Lewis’

September 2014

Sharing at  The Homestead Barn Hop & Simple Saturdays Blog Hop