Water Fun

After weeks of begging Dad for a pool to no avail, Will and Sam took matters into their own hands............

-Morgan

Full Quiver News

Our Turkeys have Arrived!
The baby turkeys (poults) just came yesterday, thrifty and cute. We put them into our warm cozy brooders and they’re doing great! If all goes well, we anticipate them being ready the weekend before Thanksgiving. These poults will go out on pasture in about 3 to 4 weeks. They are very fragile when young and need a lot of TLC. We check on them about every 20 minutes during the day to make sure they’re comfortable, so we take shifts. Are they too hot?, or too cold?, have plenty of water?, easy feed access?, etc. They are the most labor intensive animal that we raise during the first few weeks, but they’re a lot of fun to watch. Unlike chickens, they are actually very personable and friendly with people. They always seem to have a curious inquisitive look on their face as they check out their surroundings.

We also received some replacement pullets in the mail on Thursday. We got Black Sex-Link this time, they're really cute when they're so tiny!

FRESH

Last night, Dad, Mom and I went to a screening of the new movie "Fresh". It was a very informative movie. Dad got to be in the panel discussion afterwards along with several others, including another farmer, the Willliamsburg farmers market coordinator and the Weston Price chapter leader for our area. Mr. Terrance Jackson, the one who put it together, is a taxi driver who is from New York, he was appalled by the lack of availability of natural, local food in this area, after listening to the terrible health stories time and again from the folks he drove to their medical appointments he decided to put this program together to raise the awareness of the need for local, natural food in this area. He's thinking of showing another movie this fall, about the link between cancer and our diet, and then following up with Fresh again. I don't believe Fresh is available to purchase, except for screenings, but here's a link to the website which has some trailers for the movie. http://www.freshthemovie.com/ -Morgan

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.

Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.

Panel discussion after screening will include:

Libbey Oliver, Williamsburg Farmers Market

Paul Hubbard, Weston A Price Foundation

Scott Wilson, Full Quiver Farm

Richard Morris, Polyface Farms

Bobby Hill, Hidden Brook Farm

A Huge Stink

Okay, if we thought yesterday's skunk incident stunk, boy were we in for it this morning. We awoke in our own beds to the suffocating smell of skunk. Apparently in the wee hours of the morning, Bess, our dog chased a skunk under our house and there it sprayed, the horrible scent permeated the floor boards, our clothing and even our skin! The smell was so intense some of us children who were awakened early, sought refuge outside where the smell had mostly dissipated. It was there Mom found us later when she and Dad got up. We begged Dad to let us have our Bible reading time outside because of the smell, but Dad refused saying we needed to get used to it as it could smell like this for weeks or even a month! So we all trooped back inside holding our noses and trying not to gag, we sat as close to the fans and scented candles as possible and were glad to head back outside for morning chores. It being Sunday, we worried that we would bring that terrible smell with us, maybe folks would ask us to leave! Thankfully, the smell faded from us pretty quickly, and our church clothes were not harmed, we also used plenty of lotion and perfume to cover up any lingering skunk fragrance. It is late afternoon now and the house is smelling better than it did, though some parts are still pretty bad. I think we've had enough skunks to last us a lifetime! Dad was thinking maybe last night's skunk was the mate of the one Katie and Will trapped, and he came up to the house because he smelled the scent on the trap.
-Morgan

A Big Stink

We've been having predator problems for the past while, something’s has been eating our chickens steadily every night! Dad and some of the others sat out for a couple nights and they saw quite a few foxes and a skunk as well, but they could never get a shot at them. So a couple days ago Dad bought six heavy duty steal traps and last night Katie and Will set them out with high hopes and plans to check their traps first thing. So this morning they got up really early and went out to see if they had been successful. The first five traps were empty. On their way back to the last one Will thought he spotted something.

“I think we caught something! I think we caught something!” He yelled, jumping an electric fence and dashing over to the last trap.

It was the skunk! When he saw it he started jumping up and down in wild excitement, completely ecstatic at trapping his first animal, "We got the skunk!!!!!!!" he yelled. And then, whooping and hollering he dashed back to Katie yelling. “High five me dude!!! This is awesome!!!!”

Katie started whooping with him, they high-fived and whirled each other around in giddy excitement! Their victory dance came to an abrupt halt though when they both remembered that it was early in the morning and they were right by our neighbors house. Whew did they stink after they took the pictures and brought up their prized catch! It was right before morning chores and Katie didn't want to stop and to clean up so she decided to just drowse herself with perfume in effort hide the horrible smell. When Will saw what she was doing, he decided it looked like a pretty good idea and he asked her for some, so Katie gave him a good dose of "Apple Blossom" too. Well, that was adding insult to injury. Now they smelled ten times worse! When Dad caught wind of them, he ordered them to the shower immediately! We hope to catch those crafty foxes next!

-Morgan and Katie

An Exhortation to Young Men (Written by Scott)

My dad wrote this message in commemoration of father's day, he gave it in church last Sunday.

Dad’s: I want you to think about your sons today… those future fathers of your grandchildren.

What kinds of battles are we preparing our sons for?

Read 1 Sam 17

I'm thinking of a young man that you know. The Bible calls him the man after God's own heart. We think of him as the great king... the giant slayer. But before all this, where do we find him? Maybe he's 13 or 15. Out in a field somewhere. Helping his father with the family business. Can you see him there? Out in the wilderness... It was probably pretty boring out there. Hours and hours of just you and the sheep...

Can you see him target practicing with his sling? Whittling with his pocket knife? Passing the hours in prayer and preparation. And then one day, from over behind some shrubs, a terrible cry. What's that! He crosses a ridge and there it is. A full size mountain lion. His teeth clutching a bleating baby lamb. David reaches for his sling, with two whirls, beans the lion right between the eyes... knocking him senseless. David runs over, snatches up the lamb from the predator, and just as he does... what does it say? The lion ROSE UP. Now can you imagine this angry lion rising up right in your face to deal with this little menace trying to steal his lunch?

And what did David do... he grabbed that angry beast by the beard in one hand... took his knife in the other hand... jabbed it into his neck... and cut him open.

Young men... I want to challenge you. I want to make you uncomfortable. I want to make you squirm a little. I want to motivate you toward maturity as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. Many of you will be fathers one day, and you are at a time in your life where God has blessed you with two great gifts. These two great gifts can work to your benefit, or they can work against you. They can serve you in bringing you closer to Christ… or they can serve you in fulfilling the desires of your sinful flesh. These two gifts are most powerful now, while you are young… and then slowly fade as you get older… and one day, you will yearn for them, but you’re the time of these gifts will be gone… never to return as they once were. Listen up young men. Consider my exhortations…

The first gift is the gift of time. You all have responsibilities and duties, but you also have vast amounts of free time that are available for you to use as you please. You may not see it that way… but it is a fact. You have T I M E. Time that can be used to fulfill the calling of God on your life… or Time that can be used to kick back and enjoy life. You are in a season that only comes once in your life. How will you use it?

The second gift, is the gift of energy. God planted in you a virtual powerhouse of seemingly unfading energy. An overabundance that only through thoughtful planning can you fully use. This energy, if left to itself, and not mastered, will absolutely reign in you, and will drive you in one of two directions of your own choosing. It will either draw you toward the things of God, or toward the satisfaction of your flesh. There is no middle ground. You can use your God given energy for good, or you can use it for evil. What will you choose?

Are you fulfilling your God given duty that God has called you to within your own family situation? Are you honoring your father and your mother by helping fulfill your family’s mission at home? Are you boldly taking ground from the enemy by seeking your brothers and sisters well being above your own comfort?

Do you strive to care for and protect the sisters God has placed in your family? Or are you too selfish to notice their needs? Do you have a private list of the ways you can help each of your sisters in their weaknesses. You have strengths that they don’t have, and you need to use those strengths to protect and nourish them. God says they are the weaker vessel. Are you too wrapped up in your own entertainment to notice that they have needs?

Do you see yourself as the important protector and provider for your own family some day? What are you doing to prepare?

When you approach a chore or duty, do you do just the minimal amount to get by? And then expect to have free time and play time? Do you put the same amount of care performing your chores as you do into your leisure activities?

Do you put the same effort into the things of God as you do in satisfying your fleshly lusts? This is really an easy accounting process… A simple list will suffice… Make two columns… on one side list the time you spend reading, studying God’s holy word, include prayer, meditation, and ministering to other believers and non believers in this list, also include parent given chores and responsibilities…

and on the other list these things: Playing outside, watching entertaining TV or DVDs, listening to Christian music or radio, practicing for sports, idle thoughts while driving or walking somewhere.

Where is your heart? What is important to you? We can tell by the way you spend your free time.

Do you have a goal for your life? Are you going somewhere? Or are you just getting by? Just responding to the punches life throws you, as they come?

Are you on a mission? Are you striving for something? Does your life have a purpose? Or are you just looking for the easiest route life has to offer?

Are you a man of God? Or a slave to having fun?

Are you serious about your life? Or are you consumed with the silliness of childhood?

Have you meditated on the verse that, you as a believer are in this world but not of this world? Or are you too consumed by fun and play to notice?

Do you consider the needs of others? Or do you only consider what others think of you?

Are you the first to volunteer for the hard and thankless job? Or are you the weak one that hides and hopes for the cushy easy job?

Are you alert to the things of God, or drunk on idle chatter?

Are your conversations with friends purposefully biblical? Or are they whimsical and frivolous? Without direction.

Do have a list of important things God has placed on your heart over the last week or so? Or are you just happy to have put in your 5 minutes of bible reading that morning?

Rise up young men! Don’t be satisfied with spiritual impotence in your life. Get a goal… get a purpose… get a reason to live... Follow the Lord because of what he has done for you. Wear yourself out on the things of God. Put behind you childish fun and games and get real. Live your life on purpose. Lead out in boldness and confidence, not looking back. Press on toward the goal that your heavenly father has set before you… do it with thanksgiving in your heart. Use yourself up as a willing vessel in His hands. Make your life count! -Scott Wilson

A "Purely" Homegrown Supper

It is very satisfying to "eat the fruit of your labor". For supper tonight we're having a pork loin, from our own pig, roasted with potatoes and onions from our garden. And (I was saving the best for last!) corn on the cob! After a busy day of Buying Clubs, tilling, gardening, manure spreading, cleaning, cooking, office work, cleaning out and setting up the brooders for new baby broilers that are coming tomorrow, and getting ready for the processing we're also going to do tomorrow....... It's nice to sit down as a family and enjoy the supper we've all helped to plant/raise, weed/feed, pick/process.

Before.......

Gabe with the pigs

planting potatoes

picking potato beetles

weeding

After.

Before...........

husking the corn

After.

-Morgan