Biting the Bullet

I listed my first three items for sale on Etsy today. My shop name is Bless Ewe Farm, shocking huh? I managed to get my store up and running. The hardest part was deciding to go for it, each subsequent step seemed so much more do-able than that first decision.

My main goal in this was to have a purpose for my spinning. I spin an awful lot more than I knit, and I do not see that changing anytime soon. Having the shop provides me with something that will keep me creating and also challenging myself to try new techniques.



I am also the type of person that continually has my hands busy. I can be knitting dish clothes, sewing something small or spinning away with my wheel or drop spindle. I must say the articles and tutorials for sellers on Etsy are fantastic for helping newbies like me.

Once I decided what I was going to sell (first) I started looking at Etsy shops that sell similar items to mine and began collecting market data. I had to determine a price by comparing the prices on similar items. I also had to decide what type of packaging I would use for my items. I know a lot of fiber enthusiasts like to put their fiber in plastic bags but I loathe plastic bags. I decided a simple tag with a short description of the item would suffice. I also point out in my store policies that I ship using paper (to wrap the items in) and a combination of shipping envelopes or boxes. As much as I want to be competitive, I also want to be true to my convictions.




I reserved my Shop name months ago and I began developing my shop policies. I look to see what other similar shops policies were.

In the meantime, I have been spinning away, getting my items ready and finally today I decided on how I was going to take pictures of my items. Once those pictures were done, I started to list my items. It feels good to finally have this shop up and running. I don't imagine I will be keep too busy but in a small way it's a way for me to do something strictly for me and not the house, or the kids, or the husband. I think every homemaker needs their own "Etsy Shop" to give them some enjoyment.

Making a Home

At the moment, in much of the United States, homemaking is looked down upon as a profession. In reality, it is the most important profession and can be the most exciting of all... The home is our most important social institution and unless we give it the respect that is its due and stop the incessant erosion that is taking place, we will suffer irreparable loss...the home is the focal seat of education and emotional security. More and more the functions of the home have been taken over by the school, but the school is no substitute, no matter how fine the instructors or expensive the equipment... What mental insolvency has overtaken us that we can allow the core of our culture to be denigrated, weakened and reduced? Far better to burn your house and live in a cave than to lose the sense of wonder and privilege of making a home.

--Bill Coperthwaite

Homemaking and the value of such a choice has been very much on my mind lately. While reading a book recently I found this quote. I had seen it before and I remember the words touching my heart in a way that made me feel that yes, yes I am doing something of value and worth whether society recognizes it as such or not. Apparently that feeling in me was lost for a short time but I have since reclaimed it.

Starting Seeds

The weather has been a boon this year and I am grateful for it. The garden beds are ready now, I finished preparing the large 12 by 14 foot garden yesterday with my hubby's help and now we are "a go". All we need to do is wait for the last frost of the season which should arrive sometime around June 1 for our area (a borderline Zone 5 and 4).

I started some seeds a few weeks ago, some lettuce and broccoli. I did not sow all the seeds. I am going to stagger a bit this year so it is not all ready at once.



I also decided to use these neat newspaper pots instead of the plastic ones I normally used. Since we thought we were moving, I recycled all my old ones last September. Now of course, you all know, I am not moving just yet. Rather than buy a whole bunch more I decided to make my own. The newspapers can be planted directly in the ground with the seedling. So cool!

I found the tutorial at Natural Kids. I make them while in front of the television or when I have few moments. I need a lot so it is far better for me to do a few here and there then do them all up at once.

I am on the look out for biodegradable tape that I can use too, which presents a challenge but I figure a bit of plastic tape in a whole lot better than a bunch of large pots that can crack and become useless. A bit of "sweat equity" on my part helps keep emissions down when making and transporting those pots to a store. And newspapers get dropped off at my house without me even asking for it, so I am using what I have.

Earth Day Clean Up

The other day the kids and I joined a group of homeschoolers who were cleaning up a very messy ditch in the city. The place the city asked us to clean was a back road dumping ground, and one that was in desperate need of resuscitation.

The kicker came when my son yelled out, "We found a toilet!". Oh what a day. We filled about 10 bags of garbage and piled numerous items along the road like dumb bells, cardboard boxes, paints cans and lots of items that could have been recycled. One can of paint had been spilled all over the ground. It was awful. Made my stomach turn at times. We couldn't get to it all. You'd need an army to make a dent on this area of refuse.

It was obvious this road, because it was off the beaten path and out of sight of businesses, was a common spot to roll down your window and chuck things about, or even pull up the truck and unload un-useables rather than pay dump fees . I had no idea people still did this kind of unthinkable damage and knowingly damage our planet. But like I explained to my daughter, people always think someone else will clean it up. Someone else will take care of it. In this case, the someone else was a group of homeschoolers and their tree-hugger parents. So sad that a group of kids have to clean up the mess we adults make.

Maybe my grandkids will not have to pick up trash along the side of the road, maybe by then we will have more sense than to leave things for others to clean up.

In my next life...

I'm coming back as a cat!

Raised Beds

We constructed our raised beds this weekend. For less than $30 we were able to buy all our wood, cut it down to size and nail it together. I was very particular about doing most of the work myself. My husband helped and reassured me that my ideas were going to work. He has more wood working experience than I so he knew what size nails to get and all that technical stuff. Our yard is on a slight down hill and it made for more manuovering to get everything somewhat level.


The task was so easy I am now considering raised beds for my 16 ft by 12 ft garden in middle, though I would probably do two rectangle or even four square beds with a walkway through them.

A Quick Project for Easter

I whipped these up last night. You can find the tutorial and pattern at Retro Mama.

I love these little eggs. I used scraps from former quilt and costume projects. I should have stuffed them with some raw sheep fleece I have carded and sitting in a cloth bag waiting to be spun (it's a bit coarser that my normal spinning fleece). To make all seven, it took maybe half an hour to sew and stuff them, and another 30 minutes to ladder stitch the sides while watching a television show.

I had been racking my brain all March trying to come up with an eco-friendly alternative to those plastic Easter eggs that break so easily. We always do an egg hunt and these little guys are so perfect for using year after year. We will combine these with our naturally dyed eggs and have a great hunt.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Garden Planning and a Record Book

Okay so I lied when I said earlier this year that I wasn't going to be able to work my garden this year. Our plans have changed and we have been presented with an opportunity to stay at our rental house while we take our time looking for our perfect homestead. Due to changes to my husband's job (former military) we have been in a constant state of "we're moving soon" for years now. While recent developments prolong the transition from town to country, I am looking forward to staying put for a while, with nothing hovering over me. It's a grand feeling.

I am beginning to take my little garden more seriously. All my locavore reading has given me a new outlook on my patch of grass and trees beyond. The possibilities are endless. I bought a notebook (made completely from recycled materials) with lined pages and sturdy pockets, perfect for seed packages and magazine articles I find interesting.



Today, after raking up the yard and cleaning it up a bit, the kids and I measured the garden plots. And I was able to make up a schematic of my plans. Right now I have a garden that runs along my shed which is currently filled with Tiger Lilies that I transplanted from the woods behind our house. I want to re-transplant these to a shadier spot and construct cold frames in this area, which measures 12 feet long, 3 feet deep.



My current garden behind the shed is 9 feet by 12 ft. I hope to expand this area to 12 feet by 16 ft. I will need to construct a temporary, yet sturdy fence to keep the deer out. Bambi and her mom decimated my crops last year and gorged on my hard work! In this fenced area I will plant crops that the deer tend to go after, like broccoli, spinach and peas.

There is a slight hill at the very back of my yard, and the plateau gets the best sunlight. Such a shame to waste. I have decided to construct a 4 ft by 11 ft raised bed here. I hope to plant pumpkins along the edge and train them to grow down the slope. I also want to plant corn in this area. Hopefully deer do not like corn as much as they liked my broccoli!

So here's how I devised my plan. Since most items' planting dates vary. Some are planted before the last frost, others are plants around the last frost, some are planted directly outside, others are planted inside. So after deciding what to plant, I went through my Northern Gardener book (bought for a $1 at the library's used book store) and figured out what needs to be planted when. I listed the last frost date at the bottom and then wrote down Week 1, Week 2 etc back up the page. Then I jotted down what needs to be planted during each week, and where (inside/outside). Voila!



Now all I need to do is check the week, and I will know exactly what I need to do in my garden. Oh the cleverness of me! I'm really not this self-centred, only when I experience a Eureka! moment. :)