After our land Sabbath last year, in Autumn, we decided to plant wheat again, using the wheat we harvested back in 2012, which has also been used to supplement the chicken scratch.
Here is one of the sacks of wheat:
And then in the grain drill:
Here’s the prepared field:
And then me out there planting the wheat seed:
We did it shortly after a good rain, so it sprouted pretty quickly; and here it is growing well about 10 days after planting:
The Winter weather had some pretty good cold snaps this year, and not a lot of moisture, and we weren’t sure anything was even going to grow. I also didn’t do a very good job of making the ground even when I plowed it, so there are quite a few bare spots. Here it is near the end of March,:
But here it is again almost a week ago, and thankfully there is some wheat growing:
Also back in 2012, I planted turnips next to the wheat using the grain drill, and those actually worked out fairly well. With our mulch garden beds though, I thought I’d try planting turnips in there. Here are the rows ready for planting, dug out using a rake:
I had noticed that, the hay, pee and poop from the goat sheds, and the area around them, after time, rain and being trampled, turned into what looked like really nice compost, so I thought I would add that to the mulch-bed rows. Here it is:
And then in the rows:
I planted the turnip seeds in the rows, and thought I’d try just scattering some on the non-row area left in the mulch-bed garden, but it appeared that with the cold snaps, the turnips, even though some germinated, just couldn’t get going. I have a feeling I waited too late in the year to get them planted. And so, the rows basically looked like that after Winter. Bummer.
Still, we’re thankful to the Lord for granting the wheat He appears to be granting, and we look forward to perhaps being able to harvest it in due time, according to His will.
A couple to a few months ago, one of our hens went broody, we put some eggs under her, and the Lord graciously granted our first chicks of 2014! I’ve been lagging in getting this blog post done and out, as you can see, since they are about half way to being full grown. But, we wanted to acknowledge and thank God in His provisions of granting additions to the flock!
The broody hen hatched out three, and the three have made it very well, and here they are, with their mama. It looks like they are all hens too, and all Australorps as well, which is a nice bonus gift, since the Australorps are also great brooders:
And here is a little video of them:
Also, we’ve had another couple of hens go broody just a few days ago. Here’s one in the mini chicken tractor:
And the other in the piano room, although she started in a garbage can in the barn 🙂 :
As always, we are so very thankful to the Lord for granting any chicks and continuance of food provisions; and we are grateful for Him showing His graces and mercies in these ways.
This past Tuesday, we celebrated the Passover as a group. Each year we observe this, mostly as a teaching tool for the children, although we pray for spiritual blessings and benefits from it as well, in greater worship of the Lord Christ.
Here is the seder plate. The lamb represents Christ, the Lamb of God; the bitter herbs (horseradish here) represent the bitterness of bondage; the “matzah” is unleavened, representing how quickly the Israelites had to leave Egypt; the “karpas” (celery here) symbolizes the new life for the Jewish people and the hyssop used to sprinkle the blood on the door posts, and is dipped into salt water representing the tears of slavery; and the “haroset,” a mixture of apples, nuts, grape juice and cinnamon, represents the mortar the Israelites used to build the Egyptian cities, and the sweetness of a better world:
The seder continues:
And then we partake of the Passover meal, the meat even from one of the community members’ sheep they graciously offered for the seder:
With drinks and dessert, the wine and grape juice being for the various cups to be drunk or not during the seder:
And meal time. It was all very yummy!
And a final Psalm sung:
It was a very nice time of fellowshipping together in remembrance of God’s mighty works! We are thankful for the time, pray the Lord glorified Himself through the time, and we pray for His continued light and heat in our lives, and may we be a light to the world for His glory.
I had originally made an extended area from the pig pen for our pigs to be able to roam more using a solar powered electric fence system. This worked well for a couple of years, but then started to not work, and the pigs would just go under the wire. I even tried stringing a ground wire between the two hot wires, but that didn’t work either. I have a feeling the ground became too dry to conduct well, but I’m not sure what the root cause really was. And so, between that and having to eventually and continually replace the battery on the solar charger, I figured I need to try to do something differently.
I went through several ideas in my head, like rock walls, or goat fencing, but time and costs are issues. Eventually, given we had a whole bunch of cinder blocks left over from the original plan for our root cellar/storm shelter, which didn’t work out, and discovering that 16-foot, 50-inch high cattle panels are only $20 a piece, I thought I could end up with about 30 feet of fairly solid fence line for not too much expense. Plus, I figured that if it didn’t work, we wouldn’t be out too much. And, I could build them in sections, so that I could slowly extend the pig free-range area as I had time and resources to build fence sections.
And here’s how it went…
I cut the cattle panel longways down the middle, and then into about half sections but where no panel horizontals were sticking out:
And then I set up the cinder blocks and set the cattle panel piece in place, leaving one section open, which will be an overlap section where I can wire two sections together, although one of the sections would need to not have overhang so it could butt up against the pig pen fencing:
It just sort of worked about fairly nicely, except on the last cinder block, I needed one with a groove for the cinder blocks to position evenly:
Then I set the 3-foot t-posts in place and wire them to the panel. I really was hoping that I didn’t mess this part up because Foreman William was there inspecting!
And then it was time to pour in the concrete. I mixed in dirt so I’d use less, although I think I mixed in too much because the concrete above the top of the cinder blocks ended up a little crumbly. Being they were in the sun and it was quite warm that first afternoon, I needed to keep the concrete moist and had to hand-tamp any cracks:
Also, if I had left over concrete after a fence section was poured, I made small concrete piles that would fit in the hole of a cinder block that I could use for the next fence section:
And here are the four sections complete:
I built them over by the barn so I was nearer equipment, but that meant I needed to get them over to the pig pen. And then I thought that I could place a board across our goat shed caddy and drag that using the truck. And here are the fence sections loaded. I loaded them by setting a board in place in the back, pulling the fence section over the back of the caddy and onto the board, and then sliding the board forward so I could repeat the process for the other sections:
And it worked! Here they are, delivered:
One of the things I wanted with the design was to be able to move the sections myself. Given the difficulty of getting them on the shed caddy, I wasn’t sure, but by tipping them over and pulling one side at a time, I was able to slide them into place. Here is the back side:
And in front. I’m still not sure if I’m just going to join the sections in front there or put up some kind of gate. Either way, if we need to back up an animal trailer to that front gate of the pig pen, I figure I can just un-wire the fence sections, and move the sections apart to leave enough room:
I plan to make at least another set of four sections, although I might need a couple more sections to be able to make a nice enclosed area; and then we should be able to give it a real test by having a small, but not too small, area completely enclosed. I think it’s going to work — hopefully by God’s graces it will, and we look forward to seeing the pigs being able to start to roam a little more, Lord willing!
I believe it was the same day Adelina and new heifer calf Graciana walked up to us during feeding time that our cow, Rosa, showed up with her new little bull calf! When they walked up, it was still quite wet; and so we figured it couldn’t have been more than a few hours old.
A cold front was just coming in too at the time. After dropping some range cubes, I was walking around trying to get a good look at Rosa’s calf, and it started to wander off, slowly, toward the pond. I thought, please don’t keep going or you’re going to…..and yes, fall in. I ran up, in case it was in trouble, but it bounced out with no problem, although now its whole front end was really soaked. And with a cold front coming in.
But the Lord graciously brought the little guy through, and here he is! We decided to call him Manolito, because he’s got so much of the grullo color his sire, Manolete, has. Manolito also means “God is with us” in Spanish:
And here’s his video with Rosa (which was taken about the same time as the video of Graciana as well, I believe):
We are again grateful to God for the provision of this new bull calf, Him bringing him through the cold front, the Longhorns’ continued health, and the fields the Lord has granted us to be able to graze them on.
The Lord graciously granted that as a group we finish a study that has been extremely beneficial to me — Jonathan Edwards “Charity and Its Fruits.” I can’t tell you how important I believe this study is, and probably something that should be re-studied at times.
We posted the first 8 parts here, and now here are the last 9 parts, part 16 broken up into two parts:
Charity and Its Fruits, by Jonathan Edwards
Chapter 9: The Spirit of Charity the Opposite of an Angry or Wrathful Spirit
One thing that stuck out to me was the idea Edwards mentions that a Christian needs not only the LIGHT of truth and understanding, but the HEAT of Christian love in their hearts as well:
From Chapter 1, Charity, or Love, the Sum of all Virtue:
“(1 ) That love is an ingredient in true and saving faith, and is what is most essential and distinguishing in it. Love is no ingredient in a merely speculative faith; but it is the life and soul of a practical faith. A truly practical and saving faith is light and heat together, or light and love. That which is only a speculative, is only light without heat. But in that it wants spiritual heat or divine love, it is vain and good for nothing. A speculative faith consists only in assent; but in a saving faith are assent and consent together. That faith which has only the assent of the understanding is no better faith than the devils have, for the devils have faith so far as it can be without love. The devils believe and tremble. Now the true spiritual consent of the heart cannot be distinguished from the love of the heart. He whose heart consents to Christ as a Savior loves Christ under that notion, viz. of a Savior. For the heart sincerely to consent to the way of salvation by Christ cannot be distinguished from loving the way of salvation by Christ. There is an act of choice or election in true and saving faith, whereby the soul chooses Christ for its Savior, and accepts and embraces him as such. But as was observed before, election whereby it chooses God and Christ is one act of love. It is a love of choice. In the soul’s embracing Christ as a Savior there is love.”
We somewhat recently had a small ice storm roll through here, and when the sun shone again, and the ice started melting, I thought it was an interesting example of what happens when the heat of Christian love, from the Sun of Righteousness (Mal 4:2), is there:
The verse I mention in the video is 1 Cor 1:8: “Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.
Here is Puritan commentator John Gill on that verse:
Now as touching things offered unto idols This was another of the things the Corinthians wrote to the apostle about, desiring to have his judgment in; it was a controversy that had been before moved, whether it was lawful to eat things that had been sacrificed to idols. This was considered in the council at Jerusalem, ( Acts 15:28 Acts 15:29 ) and it was agreed to, for the peace of the churches, that the Gentiles, among other things, be advised to abstain from them; which, it seems, the church at Corinth knew nothing of, for the controversy was now moved among them: some that were weak in the faith, and had not, at least, clear notions of Gospel liberty, thought it very criminal and sinful to eat them; others that had, or boasted they had, more knowledge, would not only eat them privately at home, having bought them of the Heathen priests, or in the common meat markets, where they were exposed to sale, and at public feasts, to which they were invited by their friends; but would even go into an idol’s temple, and sit and eat them there, to the great grief and prejudice of weak Christians; and what they had to plead in their own defence was their knowledge, to which the apostle here replies:
we know that we all have knowledge; said either affirmatively and seriously; and the meaning is, that the apostles and other Christians knew, and were conscious to themselves of their light and knowledge, and were assured, and might affirm with confidence, that they all, or the most part, only some few excepted, see ( 1 Corinthians 8:7 ) had the same knowledge of Christian liberty as they had; knew that an idol was nothing, and that eating meats offered to them could not defile, or do them any hurt; for they were very sensible there was nothing common or unclean of itself, and yet did not think fit to make use of their knowledge to the grieving and wounding of their fellow Christians: or else this is said ironically, we are wise folks; you particularly are men of knowledge, and wisdom will die with you; you know that you know; you are very knowing in your own conceits, and very positive as to your knowledge. It was the saying of Socrates, that that this one thing he knew, that he knew nothing; but men wise in their own opinions know everything:
knowledge puffeth up; not true knowledge; not that which comes from above, which is gentle and easy to be entreated; not sanctified knowledge, or that which has the grace of God going along with it; that makes men humble, and will not suffer them to be puffed up one against another; but a mere show of knowledge, knowledge in conceit, mere notional and speculative knowledge, that which is destitute of charity or love:
but charity edifieth; that is, a man that has knowledge, joined with love to God, and his fellow Christians, will seek for that which makes for the edification of others; and without this all his knowledge will be of no avail, and he himself be nothing.
And of course, in the 1 Corinthians 13 text we’re studying, vs 2: “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.“
All of these examples show, and Edwards says it directly, that it’s possible to have light — even true doctrine — without the Spirit savingly being there (like the devils that believe and tremble), as the sun can shine while everything remains frozen. But we know His Spirit is in our hearts by His fruit, summed up in Christian charity, being in hearts as well, evidencing itself as charity does, in the ways the Scriptures mention, and Edwards expounds upon, here in 1 Corinthians 13. This is why I believe this sermon series is so critical.
May the Lord grant us His light and heat, and we pray He mix His charity, in all of its forms, in all of our hearts, thoughts, words and actions, for His glory.
The third calf we discovered in this year’s round of breeding was one from a heifer we’ve had for several years but hadn’t given birth before. But now, that heifer is a cow, as she did indeed give birth to her own little heifer, which we’re going to call Graciana, which means “pleasing, agreeable” in Spanish.
Again, we are very grateful to the Lord for granting this new little provision, and for granting an especially safe first delivery, a delivery at all, and good motherly instincts to Adelina.
Heb. 11:8-10 - "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."
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