A 3 Day Old Calf and a Blizzard

Earlier this week we had beautiful weather.  It was the perfect time for new babies on the farm: a calf, pigs, and lambs - all born within about 24 hours of each other. 

Unfortunately, this was also a week when a 2nd virus came through our house.  The first one hit just as we got back from Christmas parties, knocking everyone down but myself and our almost 3 year old Jonathan (who might have had a touch of it since he slept talked an entire night when the others were sick). This new virus first got a hold of our 5 year old (who is now better), and then Ethan and our 9 year old went down with coughs and high fevers. 

Yesterday afternoon I went outside to check on the new baby animals. and all was well and the day was beautiful. I came inside and took a short breather at the computer, only to hear that a blizzard was coming.  And just like that the snow started falling and the wind started howling to white out conditions. 

While supper was warming, I headed outside to check on the animals.  Ethan wasn't home from the office yet, and I knew that he would not want to be fighting through the blizzard with his temperature. Although the cattle were caked with snow, they seemed fairly content at the hay bales or behind wind breaks, and everyone else was warm and dry.

I fed the kids their supper, cleaned up while they played some games in the living room, and waited for bed time when I could sneak back out to check on the animals again, especially the 3 day old calf. 

Blizzards like this are hard on animals, especially the young ones.  A warm day which produces wet, heavy snow coats their hair.  As the temperature drops and the wind picks up, the snow turns to ice on their bodies, significantly changing the insulating properties of their hair. Imagine the difference of wearing a dry fluffy down coat vs. a fluffy down coat that has first been dipped in water and then frozen before you put it on. I think you can get the picture.

Once supper was done and the kids were tucked in, I crawled into my coveralls and coat, grabbed the spot light, and went in search of the calf.  Sure enough, he was covered in bits of ice.  It wasn't the worse ice coating we have had on our animals, but it was enough to make me want to dry off this young one. 

Thankfully I had purchased Ethan a lariat for Christmas and this calf was close to the fence.  I prefer not to go chasing and grabbing new born calves away from momma cows with horns.  Especially when I am out by myself. As you can see, I need to work on my lassoing skills a little, but I did get the poor, icy fella. (You can really see the ice worked into his coat by enlarging the picture.)

Much to the momma cow's dismay, I carried the calf inside, placed him in our bath tub, and went to work on him with a hair dryer and an old towel. 

After awhile, and after some wide eyes of a little one wandering from bed to use the restroom, the calf was fluffed so dry you could see the brown in his undercoat. By this time, the temps had dropped away from the heavy, wet snow so I felt comfortable taking him out. As you will notice in the background, momma cow was quite anxious to get him back as well.

After a few more checks on other animals, I worked my way back inside, worked out of my farmer attire and back into my mommy attire, just in time to come to the aid of my under the weather boy in the house.

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Tools of My Trade

We spent 5 years without a lariat. After much chasing, cornering, tackling, etc, I decided it was time for Ethan to receive one for Christmas.  Although we definitely aren't cowboys yet, we have been able to get hold of many animals with much less effort this first month of owning one. This is one of those items that should have been a must when we started working with livestock!

Thanksgiving Thankfulness from the Farmer's Wife

Every year we have so much to be thankful for, and every year that we are able to continue farming is counted as a blessing - this year especially.

At the beginning of the year we were having to take a good hard look at the logistics of even being able to stay on our farm.  Ethan had a transition in his town work and had been working retail for a year.  It became apparent, however, that his retail job was not a job that would fit with keeping the farm going.  After many long discussions, we decided to be open to the possibility of a move for Ethan to be involved in a ministry job. And so the applications started going out and the interviews started, up to 2 hours away from our farm - which of course would mean selling the farm.

Right as we were in this process, however, Ethan was approached out of the blue by a church within our town.  Ethan met with the leaders of this church to find out what their vision was as they were wanting to learn more about what Ethan's ministry passions were.  Before we knew it, Ethan was offered a full time position, which he started within a month. Not only did this offer allow Ethan to follow his call to ministry, but it also allowed us to keep the farm.

I was amazed and humbled with the timing of this job.  It started the same week that our Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market started. To be perfectly honest, I was a little worried (read very panicy) as to how farming/farmers' market season/retail job would work for our family.  After 10 weeks of Ethan's new job, I had learned that I really shouldn't have spent so much time worrying.

And then it happened.  One fateful evening at our homeschool softball game, an evening I had stayed at home with the kids for some reason, Ethan tore his achilles tendon. (He did make the out though!) As we sat in the ER trying to process the injury, the questions popped up once more (as they have multiple times, yearly, since we started the farm).  Do we keep going?  Do we sell the animals and keep the land?  Do we just sell it all, buy a small acreage in the country, and become a boating/fishing family once more? 

Thankfully, my good friend, who had driven Ethan to the ER where I would meet up with him, looked me in the eyes and told me not to worry - people would rally behind us and help us get through.  And that is just what happened.

Ethan ended up in a splint for 3 weeks, followed by surgery and a cast for 6 weeks, followed by a walking boot another 3 weeks.  After developing planter faciatis, he was taken out of his walking boot to start physical therapy (which he continues).  I won't lie and say I was not frazzled, completely exhausted, and sometimes went a little nutso from taking over the farm work this summer, but I will say that the Lord provided for our needs.

We were never without family, homeschool friends, and church friends to help us out with things I couldn't get done myself - loading hogs and lamb for the locker, setting up new fence, doing improvements on the farm, manning the market booth when Ethan couldn't, etc.  I also had a meal a week provided to me once each week by my homeschool friends.  I can't say enough how I looked forward to that night of no cooking after early morning chores, hot afternoon chores (did I mention we had historic heat and drought this year), and after supper till the sun went down chores - all while trying to keep the housework up, garden growing, and husband and kids loved.

Ethan kept reminding me it was temporary.  And it was.  One day, shortly after the Farm Crawl (where 1000+ people visit our farm) and as homeschooling was starting, Ethan took over the chores again, be it ever so slowly and carefully. And then our 6 months of Saturday farmers' markets were over.  And now we are in a time of "rest" (for those who have town jobs and farm as we do, you know rest is said in relation to the rest of the year).

Today is Thanksgiving.  Each and every day I am thankful to the Lord for His sacrifice on the cross, which paid the penalty for my sins, and for His resurrection that promised life eternal to all who would follow Him . . . for His sacrifice and promise to me.

But today is a day where I also count my blessings from Him - for Ethan's new job which allowed us to keep the farm.  For family, friends, and our new church family who helped keep our farm afloat this year.  For our customers who cheered us on and blew us away with our best year yet and an increasing demand for our meat. And for what the farm has provided for our family - including the lessons learned.

It seems appropriate that this year is the first year we have had a Thanksgiving meal made completely with food from our farm.  I am reminded of the grace that was given this year to have a meal like this, in a year of drought and injury, and of the grace to be yet another year on the farm.

From our farm: sweet corn, broccoli, carrots, pickles (cucumber and dill), potatoes, sweet potatoes, heritage breed chicken, green beans, cooked carrots

Our sweet children, who were troopers this summer and helped me with growing, harvesting, and preserving each item above.

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Rendering Lard

Rendering lard may sound a bit scary, but it is actually quite a simple process.  The steps consist of:

1. Melt
2. Strain
3. Store

Here are some photos throughout the process.

Step 1: Melt

I started off with 3 frozen 4-5lb packages of ground Crooked Gap Farm lard. Start the heat low (mine was 1-2 on our electric stove) until you get a nice puddle of melted lard.  Once you get a nice puddle, you can turn the heat up a bit (I went from 3-5). Stir occasionally, taking care to scrape the bottom.  If your lard starts bubbling, you might want to turn it down.  This will keep the meat bits from scorching on the bottom.  I also like to use a heavy pan, in these pictures - my pressure canner pan, to keep the lard from scorching.  The bits of meat in the lard will start to float.  Once they sink again, your lard is ready to strain!

8:55 am :: Starting to melt frozen lard.

9:50 am ::  Lard is melting nicely. I can turn up the heat a little since there is a good amount of melted lard.

11:14 am :: Lard "bricks" are gone.  Bits of meat are floating.  (You can actually start straining lard at this point if you like - the first few batches will be your whitest lard.)

3:05 pm ::  Came in from chores to find bits of meat had sunk to the bottom.  Done!

Step 2: Strain

I recently discovered how helpful it is to use two strainers when straining the lard.  The bottom strainer has a layer of cheesecloth (found in the Walmart Craft department for making ghosts and things).  The cheesecloth will strain out the tiniest bits of meat and allow the liquid to drip through. The top strainer catches the larger bits of meat and keeps the cheesecloth less clogged up.  The bits of meat caught in the top strainer can be returned to the pan to melt down further and further until you get cracklings, if you like them. (Hopefully I'll get pictures of the crackling process sometime.) You can either strain your lard into the container you want to store it in, another pan to keep it warm before filling smaller containers, or straight into smaller containers - which I'm not so talented in doing.

Strainer 1 set up with cheesecloth over container.

 

Strainer 2 set inside strainer 1 to catch meat and help keep cheesecloth clean. 

Step 3: Store

After you have strained your lard and filled your sterilized containers, you need to set it aside and allow it to cool.  This can take a day or more to completely finish depending on the temperature and size of container.  You can either let your lard cool at room temperature or put it right into the freezer to get a more even consistency.  Lard will keep best if the final product is stored in the freezer, but it can also be kept in the fridge, root cellar, or on the counter if kept sealed.

After your lard has been strained into a container of your choice.  I used this large bucket since I have a project up my sleeves!  While your lard is still warm, it will have a deep amber color.  Just set it aside now to cool.

 

 Once  your lard has fully cooled, it will be a beautiful white color.

One of my favorite ways to store lard is in quart jars - ready to pull out and use for my cooking.  The lids will self seal as the lard cools.

  
Using your Lard
You may notice that your lard is quite soft and might almost be runny at room temperature - this is a good thing!  It shows the high quality of your lard - unlike the lard that has been hydrogenated at the grocery store. In order to make your lard easier to work with, you may want to put it in the fridge or freezer a bit before using it, especially if cutting it into pastries.


More Info
For more info on the home rendered lard and its health benefits, see the following sites:

• The Unbearable Lightness of Lard: http://hardscrabbletimes.com/2008/08/29/the-unbearable-lightness-of-lard/
• Praise the Lard: http://www.pri.org/health/praise-the-lard1453.html
• What's "The good lard" http://www.pri.org/stories/health/praise-the-lard1453.html

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Diaper Pails

We are now starting our 4th round of cloth diapers, with 2 using them at the moment. (We use prefold diapers and diaper covers that my mom and I made, similar to the ones you can buy. If you would like to read more about our cloth diapering, you can do a search on the right side of my blog.) With 6 1/2 years of cloth diapering under my belt, I have learned a lot and changed a lot!

One of the things that I have changed is our diaper pail. I started out with a trash can with a flip up lid. I used an ice cream bucket to carry soiled diapers to and from the toilet to dump into the trash can and then rinsed the little bucket. It worked okay, but I wasn't completely sold on it. Not only could you eventually tell which room the diapers were in, but the trash can/diaper pail also had to be cleaned on occasion.

When we still lived in town, I started acquiring buckets. I needed a few for collecting coffee grounds for composting, but I guess I decided that it would be a good idea to keep getting more buckets. Some I got from the Hy-Vee bakery, but most I got from a local deli. They had about 2 a week from their pickles. And these are the buckets that I affectionately call "the pickle bucket". Creative, huh?

When we moved to our farm house, I did not move our diaper pail. I had used and cleaned it for 4 years, and I thought it would be best to just throw it away. So once we got into our new house, I needed something for the cloth diapers. The handiest thing I had around at the moment were some unused pickle buckets. I grabbed those, and it was one of the best diapering changes I have made yet.

So now our diaper pail is "the pickle bucket". Here is what I love about them.

• The lid has a rubber seal so no smells seep out.
• 2 pickle buckets stack quite nicely, taking up little space. They fill up at just the right time and make just the right size load to wash.
• Diapers are easy to load into the washing machine. Just take the lid off and dump them in.
• They are easy to handle, with their convenient carrying handles.
• When they are getting a bit "used", I don't feel I have to clean them. I can just throw them out.
• And . . . new pickle buckets have a rather pleasant "pickley" smell for quite some time when you open the lid. Sure beats the other smells!

As to where I keep them, they are in the laundry room. I change diapers in the bathroom, and the laundry room and bathroom are connected. (You can see our house layout here.) I know they aren't as beautiful as a white garbage can with a lid, but they are out of site - and they work so much better!

I know there are a lot of you out there who use cloth diapers as well, and many who have used them longer than I have. Since I still have a bit to go with them, and I'm sure there is more that I can do differently, I'd love to hear your best cloth diapering tips!

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Dessert Jars

Thanks for all of the great information on brown sugar. I was surprised so many people use it and glad to hear others like the dark better too.

To keep with the theme of sugar (and because we received a lot of it this past weekend), here's a little post on what I do with all of the candy that the kids get.

Caleb and Hannah each have their own "dessert jar" which is a wide mouth quart jar. Whenever they get candy it goes into their jar. After lunch and supper they get to pick one thing from their dessert jar. It can be quite a hard decision.

The dessert jar has also turned into a tool for discipline issues. I recently pulled out two lids that fit the jars. When someone has a behavior problem during the day the lid goes on their jar. If there is a lid on a jar at dessert time, no dessert comes out of the jar. They do get to take the lid off though and try again for the next meal.

As you can see, our jars are well stocked right now. They each have a lunch sack half full of candy too! Hopefully these jars will help them with eating candy in moderation. When I was growing up I probably would have scarfed it all down within a week - as you might have guessed from my brown sugar post.

Disposable Diaper Tip

If any of you have ever had a newborn in disposable diapers, particularly generic disposable diapers, you have probably experienced what I call a blowout. You know, when the diaper acts more like a chute than a diaper and your baby ends up with a dirty mess covering his or her back. This phenomenon can also happen with older babies too, especially when they are sick.

There are a few ways to avoid this. One is to use cloth diapers with a good cover. Blowouts rarely happen with my babies when they are in cloth. Another is to buy the expensive diapers - the ones that are super stretchy on the top and can get a snug fit. Even though we buy generic, I have received quite a few of the better brands as gifts and have seen blowouts in them as well.

One of the times that I had some expensive diapers cycling through my house, however, I got an idea. These diapers had a little "poo pocket" at the top. it was a little flap that stopped blowouts. So I tried it with my generic diapers, and it works pretty well.

Here's what you do: The first diaper in the photo shows a generic diaper. All you have to do is fold down a bit of the back before you put it on the baby, as shown in the second picture. I'll admit, it doesn't work every time, but it works more than not having it so I'll take it.

Better yet though . . . cloth diapers! :)

Forward Progress

The last few days we have been making progress all across the board. All three of my kids are getting better. Isaac ended up with RSV (which is what the other two probably had), but he got to stay home since his oxygen counts were good. It is nice to have them feeling better now.

My parents have been here since Thursday helping with the house. By the end of today all of the floors should be laid, the upper closet doors on, and the trim around the house in place. Things are really looking nice.

Also, when my parents were on their way here they picked up a washing machine I had located on their route through. For $75 dollars I now have a Whirlpool washing machine with the same drum size and settings as my old one. We picked up a hose clamp, and today I am able to do laundry again!

Fleece Inserts for Cloth Diapers

When Hannah was a baby and in cloth, I was having trouble with her waking up when she would wet. Somehow I got the idea to make fleece inserts to keep the wetness away from her skin when she was sleeping.

I went and picked up some fleece and cut it into rectangles, just big enough to cover the diaper when folded. When she would sleep, I would put one of these on top of her folded diaper. They worked great! She would stir a bit when she wet, but would soon fall back asleep. I continued to use them as she grew, but I used different colors of fleece for the different sizes, making them easier to sort.

Now that Isaac is in cloth, I have pulled out the fleece as well. It does add a tiny bit of bulk, but it's definitely worth it for naps!

(I scheduled this post before our washer went out, so maybe now I will have to also post my disposable diaper trick.)

Poison Ivy Treatment from the Cupboard

I really haven't done much besides clean since my last post. Since I was going to be gone Saturday and Sunday, I cleaned up the house quite a bit on Friday for a realty agent walk through that was yesterday. I also did even more polishing and cleaning last night and today since there was someone who wanted to see the house. It's amazing how much time the polishing takes up, even when everything is already clean!

So since I don't have much news, I thought I would give a summary on some home treatment I used for this round of poison ivy. I have been VERY happy with how quickly the welts and blisters have gone away and how well I was able to keep the itch under control. It will be good for me to record what I did this time anyway since I seem to get poison ivy every year. I'll list the different stages and what I used.

(Please note, these are some home remedies that worked for me from various things I gathered together from people who aren't in the medical profession. I am in no way qualified to give medical advice!)

Stage 1 - Contact
I missed recognizing this, but if you know you have come into contact with poison ivy, wash with degreasing dish soap and cold water ASAP. It only takes a few minutes to react. (See later in this post why not to use hot water.) Then wipe down with rubbing alcohol, along with wiping anything off that might have also come into contact with the plant and picked up its oils.

Stage 2 - Bumps and "Pimples" Forming
If you notice that you are starting to get a rash, wash the area frequently with cool to warm water using a degreasing dish soap. Also, rub the area lightly with salt, rubbing light enough not to break the skin. Also, frequently wipe the rash with vinegar. The sooner you can do these things, the quicker and less intense your breakout will probably be.

If itching has started, you can also make a mixture of any of the following to dry and leave on: dish soap, salt, baking soda, cooked and cooked oatmeal, vinegar. When you rinse it off, use cool to warm water. These things really helped take away my itch. DO NOT itch with your fingernails as poison ivy outbreaks are notorious for infections - which I have had with mine twice now. (One resulting in blood poisoning.) As awful as it sounds, a light salt rub (mixed with some soap) really feels good and will take the itch away for awhile.

You can also start taking oral Benadryl, although it can make you quite sleepy. Be careful with the Benadryl cream. It does a good job of taking the itch out, but some people will react to the cream when they have poison ivy and make things worse.

Stage 3 - Blisters (with oozing)
When you start getting blisters, you really need to keep the area clean to avoid infection. You can continue with the mixes of dish detergent, salt, baking soda, cooked and cooled oatmeal, and vinegar. Salt rubs mixed with soap also are good to keep up, (and feel great!) but take extra precaution not to break any blisters. If your skin seems really weepy, letting a paste of baking soda or cooked and cooled oatmeal dry on the area will help dry things up.

You may feel like although your skin is really weepy, it is quite dry too from all of the treatment. If this is the case, oatmeal works better than baking soda, and after you get done washing something off, an application of aloe will nourish your skin a bit. I found that sometimes my skin was just weeping because it was getting overly dry, and the aloe would stop the weeping for awhile.

Another thing that is good to use at this time is plain yogurt or buttermilk. These contain good bacteria that can help prevent infection - although if you suspect infection, it is important to see your doctor to get an antibiotic. Trust me!

Also, during this time, you can keep up the oral benadryl if you can stand the drowsiness.

Stage 4 - Healing
This is the stage where the blisters dry up and your skin is healing. You may still have itching at this time, but you are over the hump. Soap and salt rubs are still helpful, as well as aloe, buttermilk, and yogurt. Only use the baking soda and oatmeal if you really need to relieve some itching that the others won't, as your skin might be quite dry by now. Try to add as many moisturizing things as possible.

This whole process can take up to 3 weeks (or more). The least it has taken me to get to the healing stage was 1 week, which was this time. Something to note, however, is that the outbreak doesn't all go at the same rate or at the same stage. The concentration of oil you recieved and the thickness of your skin where you came into contact with the oil will make a difference on when the rash shows up and how quickly it clears up. It may seem as if the rash is spreading over a week or two, but the rash is not contagious and most likely the new spots are just areas that received less oil so they don't react as vigorously.

Also, oil will stay on shoes, door knobs, steering wheels, etc. for even up to a year. If you really think that your rash is spreading, you might want to wash or take rubbing alcohol to anything you think got oil on it.

Something to be cautious of too is heat. Heat will open your skin's pores and can possibly drive the rash deeper, making it worse or making areas that just received tiny bits of oil break out if they wouldn't have otherwise. The hard part is that heat feels really, Really, REALLY good on an itchy rash. Even while knowing this, I fell into the trap of using heat this time to relieve the itch. Instead, try a soapy salt rub. I came to realize this brought the same results as the heat for me.

So there you go. That's what I know about poison ivy remedies from your cupboard. If you have any that you fall back on, I would love to know.

As far as things not from the cupboard, (I guess Benadryl is one), I have heard that over the counter Zanfel is great (but expensive). Also, I have gone to the dr. to get steroids more than once, and they knock it down like none other. This has been my 2nd worse case of poison ivy, and it probably would have benefited from steroids, (my worst case involved lymph nodes swelling and red streaks racing up my arm - signs of impending blood poisoning leading to shots of powerful antibiotics and steroids) but I was so excited about how things from my cupboard were working that I decided to just finish off with them.

I hope you never have to use this information. :)

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Tools of My Trade

Since writing this post I have gotten poison ivy multiple more times.  I finally broke down and got the poison ivy treatment described below - oh my!  I can't say enough about it!  Now, if I can't get my hands on one of the following, I will use the above remedies, but I am going to always try to keep the below on hand because they are worth every penny!

I first used Zanfel, described underneath, until I learned that it was actually the same formulation and company as Mean Green Power Hand Scrub, which is much, much more economical by volume. I now keep a container of this hand scrub in my medicine cabinet.  It not only feels wonderful to use on a poison ivy infection with its gentle exfoliants, but somehow they have figured out how to come up with a product which helps remove any remaining or deeply absorbed poison ivy oils from the skin. My rashes that used to last 3 miserable weeks or more are now gone within a week - and the itching is immediately relieved throughout the day with applications just a couple of times each day until the rash is gone.  I have used this on my young children, and we have not had misery from poison ivy rashes since. It almost makes me not so fearful of getting into poison ivy anymore . . . almost! (Just Google Zanfel for instructions on how to use this product for poison ivy.)

Zanfel was the original tube of poison ivy treatment I purchased, at the suggestion of a friend.  It is the same formulation as Mean Green Power Hand Scrub, just marketed in a smaller tube at a higher price for poison ivy relief.  If you don't want to wait for an order of Mean Green Power Hand Scrub to  come in, I would highly suggest driving to Walmart or your local pharmacy to purchase a tube.  It will still be worth every penny. 


I have not personally used Rhus Tox, but a couple of my friends have introduced me to this product. Judging by the reactions I see them get, they are either more sensitive to poison ivy than I am, or they get into it more than I do. (One of them has it all over her yard.) They go on and on about this product whenever they have an outbreak. Not only does it help once they get one, but it has made their reactions much less severe as they start it in December and take maintenance doses throughout the season. (I'll have to get the schedule they use.) Now that I can spot poison ivy better, don't get into it much anymore, and have Zanfel on hand, I have not had the need to try this. If I were to get a major outbreak again, I think Rhus Tox (helping the body to heal) might be great to pair with Zanfel/Mean Grean Power Hand Scrub (removing difficult residual oils which continue irritation).

Nutri-Cubes?

Have you ever noticed that after you boil vegetables in water or even after steaming them, the water turns a shade of the vegetables?

Well, that water does not only contain the color of the vegetable, but it also holds a decent amount of nutrients that have leached out into the water. Some of the water soluble vitamins are the very important B complex vitamins and vitamin C. These are also vitamins that your body needs to replace daily.

So, when you are dumping that colored water down the drain, you are dumping some good stuff.

When you cook your vegetables, use as little water as possible to help them retain as many nutrients as possible. (Vegetables cooked in large amounts of water lose more vitamins and minerals than vegetables cooked in small amounts of water.) After your vegetables are done cooking, remove them from the pot - but don't dump that good water!

Here's an idea of what to do with the water:
Pour the remaining water into a container and put it in the freezer. After it is frozen solid, remove it from the freezer just long enough so that it pops out. Then place your vitamin cube in a gallon freezer bag, and add more vitamin cubes as you make them.

When you make soup or have a recipe that you need water for, and one that retains the water, take out enough vitamin cubes to equal the amount of water you need. Not only are you saving some of those nutrients, you are also adding in some great extra taste.
One of my favorite sayings is, "I paid for it, I'm using it!"

Keeping Hands Busy

Last week the house kind of fell apart as my poison ivy blisters got somewhat out of control. My left hand became useless. It was so blistered and swollen that I couldn't even move my fingers. I wrapped it in towels to keep it from being painfully bumped against something. I just did the basics as the week went on - making food and changing diapers. I even switched from cloth diapers to disposable so I wouldn't have to mess with laundry.

Because the house was starting to become quite a mess, I sought ways to keep the kids busy. They are great at picking up their toys, but I was afraid the toys would get lost in the rest of the mess.

One of the things that I came up with to keep them busy was to have them help me with my compost. Our tub outside the door was needing some carbon (browns). I had been adding quite a bit of nitrogen (greens) with our kitchen scraps and things were becoming a bit off balance. I could tell by the fruit flies that had turned the compost tub into the neighborhood hangout. So I pulled out our old newspapers and let the kids shred away as I got supper ready. They had a blast, and now our fruit fly problems are taken care of.

As for my poison ivy, I finally got some steroid pills to take for my blisters and swelling from the emergency room over the weekend. I know what you are thinking. "You went to the emergency room for poison ivy blisters?" Well, I actually went in for the blood poisoning I got through my poison ivy blisters - revealed by the 18 inch red streak that was crawling and branching up my arm. After I got an antibiotic shot and antibiotic pills for that, they decided maybe I should have something for my poison ivy too. I am much relieved to say that all the meds seem to be working and, now both of my hands can be busy again.

Poison Ivy Tree

Last year I saw what I thought to be a poison ivy tree. I always thought that poison ivy was a ground cover, but I was certain that I discovered a poison ivy tree and discovered it growing adjacent to our yard in the railroad ditch. I had a hunter I knew check it out, along with some other people, but they all said they were pretty sure poison ivy didn't grow that way.

As I sit typing this though, my fingers on my left hand are so swollen that I can't put them together. I have blisters and oozing bumps (yeah, I look kinda gross right now) not only covering my fingers, but also on my hands, wrists, forearms, neck, face, around my eye, on my lips, and even some in my mouth. There is also a spot on my ankle and maybe one or two showing up on my back. Yup. Poison ivy trees do exist.

Okay, so I may be stretching the story a bit. Not with my poison ivy rash - I really do have all of that, but with the tree. It is actually a big, dying tree covered with massive poison ivy vines which pretty much cover up the tree. Here's a picture of it. If you click on the picture you can see the leaves of 3 and the way they turn color before most other plants. Also, take note that the tree itself is wide enough that I couldn't put my arms around it if I tried (which I didn't, and I won't!). That will give you somewhat of an idea of how massive this vine is.

How did I get the poison ivy if I didn't hug the tree? Well, that is my own fault. I was cleaning out our overgrown railroad ditch again at our walnut dumping spot - this time quite a ways away from our raspberries, but about 10-15 feet from our poison ivy tree. Even though others disagreed, I had a suspicion that the tree had poison ivy on it so I should have been watching out for it on the ground too. It turns out that whole part of the ditch has poison ivy on the ground. And I found it. Before I saw it.

I thought I would share some of the things that have worked for me to keep the itch bearable. My favorite is to run as hot of water as I can stand on the spots as long as I can stand. I guess it overloads nerve receptors and turns them off for awhile. This lasts around 4 hours. (edited 5 '08 to add: Although this feels REALLY, REALLY!!! good, it might actually make the poison ivy worse - opening up pores and causing it to go deeper.) For the spots that I can't burn with water, vinegar helps take the itch away a bit. Also, a paste of oatmeal left on until it dries feels nice. I also have heard that rubbing the inside of a banana peel on the spot helps. Feel free to share your favorite home remedy. Also, I would love to hear how to get rid of this stuff.

So now I guess that I am going to have to find another spot in our yard where I can play. I'm starting to run out of options of cheap outdoor things to work on with our lot in town. Thankfully though, our yard has 5 or 6 really large walnut trees on it so I can comb the yard for walnuts for awhile if I can't think of anything better. I will just have to watch out where I dump them.

Here are Caleb and Hannah helping me pick up walnuts. I am so glad they didn't get into the poison ivy as we were dumping them.

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