How to Clean Beeswax

I promised to share my herbal balm recipe, and here is the first step - cleaning the beeswax. Of course, you can always purchase cleaned beeswax, but I like to be involved in every process from the very beginning if at all possible. I like to work with the most basic components of every product, to get a feel for the raw ingredients. And fortunately, we're lucky enough to have a local source for beeswax, as we have several beekeepers in the area.

How To Clean Beeswax:

The first step is to remove the heavy dirt and particles. We do this by placing the beeswax in a pot of water and heating it until the wax melts. I want to remind you here to be very aware of what you are doing when you melt beeswax. Don't walk away from the stove! Once the wax melts, turn off the heat and allow the wax and water to cool.

The picture on the left shows cooling beeswax just starting to set up. When it sets up, the wax will sit on the water. Remove the beeswax from the water, and dump out the used water. Fill the pan back up with water and simmer it again. You repeat the process exactly as before, but this time, when the wax is melted, filter it water and all through a tightly-woven cloth or an old stocking. Have a second container and the cloth ready in advance, because you want to pour this before the beeswax starts setting up again.

Allow the wax to cool and become solid. Remove the wax and throw out the water. I take the water outside rather than pouring it down the drain. Beeswax will stop up your drain! Allow the wax to dry for a day or so, then use it as needed.

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Is this a messy process? Yes! Do you have to be careful? Yes! But it gets easier after the first time, and there's a lot of satisfaction to be found in doing it yourself from the very beginning.

We'll talk about infusing the oils for the herbal balms in the next post.

How Many Sheep Per Acre?

If you find yourself wondering how we're able to keep five sheep, two goats, and a flock of free range hens, and have a huge garden all on one acre, well, we don't... not exactly. Peaceare Farm is, indeed, one acre, but we work every day in cooperation with our neighbors - and our sheep are a great example. Our neighbor, who has several acres, found herself in a position in life where she no longer had time or energy to keep all that acreage mowed. Having noticed our close-cropped pasture, she asked if we wouldn't mind grazing our sheep on her property as well. We were happy to oblige. On our one acre, with five sheep and two goats, supplemental hay was a necessity year round. By agreeing to graze our sheep on her property, we solved two problems at once, relieving our neighbor of mowing duties, while tripling the size of our grazing pasture. We haven't had to supplement with hay in the summer since!

So how many sheep CAN you keep per acre? That depends on who you ask... And it also depends on the condition of your grass. I've read anywhere from 4 to 15 - and that's a w-i-d-e range! I think it's safe to say a maximum of 4 on poor pasture, more only if you are willing to supplement with extra feed. The most important thing is to create a suitable environment for the sheep. It also depends on the breed of your sheep. There are small breeds, such as Welsh Mountain, or large sheep, such as Romney. Rule of thumb: The bigger the sheep, the fewer you keep!

Here are a few more things to keep in mind:

• Do your research. Make sure that the breed of sheep you choose is suited to your climate.


• Good fencing is a must. Sheep rub against fence posts, lean against fences, etc. You will not keep predators out for long with cheap roll wire fencing.


• Be aware that your sheep will need to be sheared once a year, and it's hard to find someone willing to come out to your place to shear a small flock. Unless you're willing to do the job yourself (which is m-u-c-h harder than it sounds!!!), you will have to make some kind of arrangements. There are breeds that don't require shearing, but they are not the standard breeds. Think it through in advance, and again, DO YOUR RESEARCH!


• Be aware that you are going to have to trim their hooves, deworm when necessary, treat hoof rot, etc. Routine veterinary duties fall on YOU.


• No matter how wonderful your pasture is, your are going to have to feed hay during the winter and during times of drought. You have to have a source for purchasing hay, a pickup truck to transport it to your property (a large hay bale weighs app. 800 pounds), as well as a dry place to store that hay. You must plan for all of this in advance of acquiring your first sheep!


• Sheep need salt blocks and mineral.


• Sheep need a source of fresh water - and someone to replenish it daily.


• You CANNOT keep just one sheep. They are flock animals, and a single sheep will be miserable, and will make you miserable, bleating for companions. Its a terrible stress on the sheep to be alone, and they will not survive long in solitary confinement. Two sheep are an absolute minimum!


• Keeping sheep is a big commitment of time as well as resources. Before you start a flock on your property, consider how their presence will impact your ability to go on extended vacations, travel spontaneously, etc. Do you have a reliable sheep-sitter?
  

All that said, sheep are beautiful, wonderful, gentle animals. We have never regretted our choice to make sheep a part of our lives, and you won't either, if you take all of the above into consideration before you take the plunge. Just look at these cute faces! Hazel (on the left) is Romney. Ivy (on the right) is a Corriedale-Borderleister mix. Nettle and Gretel (in the back) are twin sisters, of Dorset-Suffolk mix.

A Healthy, High-Protein Snack For Your Chickens

We like to feed our chickens this high-protein afternoon snack. In the winter, this mix of sprouts, dried greens and soybeans will boost your birds' immune systems to ward of illness. In the spring, when egg production increases, the hens require an increase in nutrients, so this snack is a year-round favorite.

Preparing the Soybeans

1. This recipe serves 10 hens. Soak about 2 cups dried dried soybeans overnight in water. Use two cups of water for every one cup of dried beans, more or less.

2. The next morning, put the beans and the water you soaked them in into to a large pot and bring to a full, rolling boil. Slow boil for AT LEAST 15 minutes.

Note: Trypsin, an enzyme found in all beans, is toxic to birds. It can scar the lining of their intestines and disrupt their ability to absorb nutrients from their food. Therefore, 15 minutes boiling time, at 180 degrees or higher, is truly an absolute bare minimum, as anything less than that won't remove the Trypsin. I cook mine 30 minutes, to be on the safe side.

3. Strain beans and cool. Store in refrigerator.

Preparing the Sprouts

Sprouts are a good source of amino acids. Chickens LOVE sprouts! You can sprout lentils, flax, alfalfa, etc. I sprout wheat for my hens because we always have a goodly supply of of organic wheat berries on hand for bread making. Sprouting is simple. Put about 1/3 cup berries in a quart mason jar and cover with water. Let sit overnight. The next day, pour off the water. Covering the top of the mason jar with some kind of netting (an old onion bag works fine) will make straining off the water easier. After the initial soaking, you just need to rinse the berries a couple of times a day. Fill the jar with water so the berries are covered, then pour the water off. Within a couple of days, you'll see them sprouting. You can feed them to your chickens any time after the sprouts appear! I like to keep two or three jars of sprouts going all the time, so I always have a fresh batch sprouting.

Dehydrated Greens

Gather greens in the spring and summer thinking ahead to winter. "Greens" for this recipe can be all sorts of things from the garden and from the yard - dandelion greens, turnip tops, extra spinach... What your chickens like in the summer, they will appreciate in the winter, dried. Just throw them in your food dehydrator until they are dry, and store them for winter in a closed container. Spread out over a whole growing season, this is not a big deal.

The Snack

I like to combine about 2/3 cup cooked soybeans, a handful of dried greens and about a half cup of wheat sprouts, depending on the weather. Our chickens are free range, so in the summer, we skip the dried greens.

Yes, our chickens are spoiled, but we love them, and with this snack mix, you can ensure that your chickens love you, too! Once they've had a taste of this high-protein delight (from your hands), they will come running from every direction any time you come out of the house!

Welcome to Peaceacre Farm! Here are a few pictures of our acre. Enjoy the tour!

Conor dressed for fun!

Nettle and Hazel. Nettle was just a few days away from being shipped out for "processing" when we rescued her. She seems pretty happy on Peaceacre Farm!

Conor and Scout admiring the garden under new-fallen snow. Straw bales add extra insulation for the hen house in winter. In the summer, the bales go straight to the garden as mulch. A win-win!

Chris builds the hoop houses

Swish Chard and turnips growing under hoop houses. This picture was taken in the dead of winter.

Turnips held all winter in the ground under hoop houses. Roasted with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, the flavor is extraordinary. They are now Chris's favorite, and he never liked turnips before tasting these. Wintering over considerably improved the flavor.

Chris built this cold frame using scrap wood, greenhouse plastic and four storm windows we picked up at a yard sale for a few bucks. We added solar collectors (a fancy way of saying plastic water jugs filled with water and spray painted black) to hold in the heat. We also insulated the coldframe with wool.

Inside the coldframe in the deep cold of February. I can't say we raised enough greens to feed the whole family, but a few fresh greens on a cold, gray day is food for the soul, indeed. If you suffer from the winter blues, forget the Prozac - build a coldframe!

Fiona relaxing after being sheered.

While the sheep relax, my work begins - wool-washing at Peaceacre Farm!

Rasputin was advertised as "good eating for the BBQ" - what could we do but rescue him?

Conor in the kitchen getting ready to pass out dog cookies

Mr. Creek

Conor getting ready to trick or treat in his homemade, glow in the dark skeleton costume!

Barred rock hens make up about half our flock. Fabulous chickens - we highly recommend them!

The shed in summer, with hollyhocks blooming

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Fresh Produce

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Handmade soap

Two views of the woods. Although our property is one acre, it adjoins public woods with a large lake. This is the most important classroom I have in home schooling Conor.

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My favorite gift. My daughter created this sacred space for me in the woods behind our house as a Mother's Day present.

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After we put this tour together, we realized that we have very few pictures of the vegetable gardens, herb gardens, habitats we've created, etc., so check back. We'll expand the tour as more pictures become available!