Samantha Lewis

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since Apr 11, 2012
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Recent posts by Samantha Lewis

So much nutrient in the gray water!   I like giving the rinse water off my dishes to my garden.  Lots of nice rock dust in my laundry and shower water too.
1 day ago
Hello Sean!

It looks to me like you should be able to post in the forums.  

Maybe try logging in again and see if that works.

I am pretty new here so hopefully someone with more experience will jump in to help if you are still having trouble.

Thanks for playing!!
Coconut oil would be the first thing I would try.  That way, if it drips out on the garden path, I won't mind.  
Cacao butter has a higher melting temperature so that would work even in summer.  

I use coconut oil on my spinning wheel when it gets squeaky.   I just gob it into all the moving parts.  It works great and the wheel runs quietly.   Then the coconut oil is on my hands and that is nice too.
2 days ago
We feed our dogs and cats a lot of table scraps and food we grow.   This year I was able to provide all the meat for my dogs and cats for about 6 months.  


Here is more than 500 calories of food grade feed.

I raised and butchered this lamb




4 cups leftover noodles with cheese sauce




Leftover rice and a soup I made.




These are the happy animals:
Cats eating lamb and noodles



Dogs waiting patiently:



Dogs eating





3 days ago
I made this hat for Paul because he wanted one.


Nice soft yarn and circular needles



Fat ribbing so it lays flat.



It is so warm and cozy!  I almost did not want to give it up.  





Minimum Requirements:
 - hat must fit the wearers head--not too tight or extremely loose
 - hat must have knitted ear panels
 - must be made from all-natural materials
 - must be in extremely ugly colors, preferably Jayne's cunning hat colors.

To document completion of the BB, provide proof of the following as pics or video (<2 minutes):
-  Materials
-  Hat in progress
-  Finished hat (perhaps on a head)
3 days ago
Hello Nina!

Sounds like you made a smart choice and I am glad to hear you bred the ewes!
I pet all my sheep under the jaw rather than on the top of the head.   That way I will not make the mistake of patting the rams on the forehead.  

I often raise bottle baby rams.   They are friendly and easy to handle.  In my experience though, the bottle babies are not breeding stock.  The mothers pick the best lambs and I am raising the rejects as bottle babies.  Also they are often raised partly on formula which is an inferior source of nutrition.  

If you want to breed, I would let the mom raise the ram and make friends with it when it is very young.   I find all the sheep to be much easier to handle as adults when I take the time to gentle them as lambs.   No petting on the forehead though, especially for the ram lambs.    

Later on, if anybody even thinks of headbutting me, they get a big boot in the shoulder and a way outsized reaction from me.   Usually one treatment of this is enough.   I think of myself as a nice person mostly but I am the biggest animal in the corral.  


3 days ago
Hello Cc!

I have Finnsheep.  

They do have a pecking order.    I think I would get two or three shetlands so they can have their own social group.  


If you have the space for it I would keep the shetlands in their own pen for a few days.   Ideally, the cautious thing is to quarantine new animals for a few weeks.  
Not everybody does this though and we all have to find our own way.  

Once you are ready to introduce your new sheep, I would build a pen with an adjoining fence line with your ewes.  Let them all get to know each other through the fence.  There should be lots of eager noses and happy sniffing.  If there is any head butting and territorial behavior the fence will take the brunt of it.   I would watch them closely for a half hour or so and then feed everybody.   Maybe you don't feed hay, but give them treats or something so you can watch how they are in a feeding cycle.  You will learn who is who in the group and have an idea whom to watch for troublesome behavior later.  

After 24 - 48 hours I would put your new shetlands in with the jacobs and watch them.   After things settle down I would feed, making sure there are abundant spots to get to the feed or treats.  Competition creates problems, abundance allows the weak ones to feel at ease.


Please post some pictures of your sheep!
3 days ago

Susan Mené wrote:

Samantha Lewis wrote:Hello Susan!

I use essential oils to keep ticks off.   For me and my kids, I put them on my ankles, wrists, neck and midriff.  I keep my pants tucked into my socks and shirt tucked in.   I will also put the essential oils on the outside of my clothes.  


For cats and dogs I put essential oils around their neck, belly and down their legs to their paws.
Neem oil is another great one for pets.  

In addition, if you can have chickens hunt the area for you that will greatly reduce the population.


With the essential oils and the chickens we don't have any tick problems around the house.  If we go out in the woods though, I am careful to tick check everybody and wash all clothes and shower when we come home.



Thanks! Which essential oils do you use?




Hello Susan!

When I first read about this, the instruction was to use rose geranium essential oil.  I could not find this as a mix so I just bought both rose and geranium and mixed them myself.   That works really well and I love the smell.  Since then, I have tried many others and they all seem to work.  
My child is very sensitive to smells and only likes the citrus essential oils.   I use lemon, orange or grapefruit on him and that works great too.  

We do sometimes get ticks on our clothes or on the dogs, but they do not bite.   I think the main thing is to not smell like a person or animal.   If you small like a geranium or a grapefruit , you are not the prey they are looking for.


If you are looking for the most expensive and highest quality essential oils I would go for  Young Living https://www.youngliving.com/ or  dōTERRA https://www.doterra.com/US/en/. These are really powerful medicinal tools.


For kids, I use NOW foods  https://www.nowfoods.com/products/essential-oils
They are less concentrated and milder, much cheaper and they still work really well.  
4 days ago

Anthony Marc wrote:Hi all,

I've been trying to make lacto pickles at 4.5% salt to 1L brine, and at the 2 week mark I feel as through they're still very mild and raw tasting. I know that I can let them ferment longer, but I'm just wondering, if I wanted them to be ready (very sharp & sour) in 2 weeks, would I have to increase or decrease the salt? How much salt would be ideal?

I'd like a 2 week ferment to taste like a 3 week ferment @ 4.5%.

Thanks in advance.



Hello Anthony!

If you want it to go faster, make the pieces smaller.   I often use the veggie pulp that comes out of my juicer.  Just add salt, pepper and herbs.  It will be ready in a few days.    I also make very thin slices of carrots and other root veggies.  They work great as a pretty garnish.

Another way to make things go faster is to save the brine from one batch and just add new veggies.  The culture will be strong and quickly ferment your new vegetation.  

If you are starting with fresh salt and water it takes about three days at room temperature to get the culture active enough to bubble up through the jar.  At this point people usually put the jar in the fridge to slow it down.  
You can just keep it at room temperature though.  It will go much faster.  You will want to play with it and taste it everyday. Push down the vegetation on the top of the ferment to make sure it stays anaerobic.  There is extra stress on this top vegetation if it is sticking out of the brine, so you can use a glass weight to keep it below the brine or rotate the material so different vegetation is at the top.    When you get to the taste you like, put it in the fridge.

The more salt, garlic and spices you add the more shelf stable it will be.  
1 week ago
Hello Elanor!

Thank you for sharing that!

For me, it is really great to hear when the medicinal plants are working for people.   Astragalus is a wonderful herb.  Many people experience huge benefits from taking astragalus for all kinds of conditions.


This site has seeds for Codonopsis



and Astragalus in case you want to grow them yourself:



https://www.saltspringseeds.com/

I think it's fun, when I find a medicinal plant that I want to take regularly, to grow it myself.   It deepens my relationship, I get to know the plant in so many different ways when I have it in my garden and I get to watch it grow.    
1 week ago