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It's that time of year where the garden beds that we planted those tiny seeds start producing their big fruits. I like to garden, but I ABSOLUTELY love to "put-up" our own food, especially when it's food that we've grown ourselves. There's just something about harvesting the veggies or fruit from your own garden, and putting it into jars, knowing exactly what is in it and then after the process is all finished, standing back and looking at what i've made from our own food. That in itself is very satisfying.

This year is a bit different with our gardens, because I have the help of a very dear friend, Jane. Jane and her husband, Jamey have decided to join us on our homestead, helping us garden and farm while we (mainly Joel) helps them build their first home. We sold them an acre of our land in hopes to share our farm with them. I guess you can consider this a "commune." So, we share the homesteading responsibilities and one of the major ones being the garden.

Since I recently had Silas, who is now 5 months old, I gave Jane the majority of the garden responsibility. The reason for that being, I knew it would be a big adjustment for us to go from a family with 2 kids to now being a family with 3 kids, and I knew most of my time during the gardening months would be spent nursing an infant and trying to get a good routine down for our new, growing family.

I knew that I wouldn't have enough time or energy to make much of a garden for ourselves this summer, so who better to do it than, Jane. I am so happy to have her around. She has made us one fabulous garden! She's also stretched me and taught me to like different veggies, mostly greens. I have helped her with the garden, like planting and weeding and harvesting, but she was the master-mind behind all of it. I definitely would not have had the energy to plan the garden she has made for us. We are now getting some amazing veggies out of our garden. We actually have been for a while, because she got a good start on planting things early.

With all of that being said, the last few days has been so much fun canning our produce. I canned a bunch of pickled beets and today I will can some bread and butter pickles!! I've frozen a few qrts. of shelled peas and snow peas. I love to look at all the things that we've grown and see them made into wonderful, yummy things. I've also made a batch of strawberry and rhubarb jam. The strawberries I picked from a local farm and the rhubarb is from our farm. I love that I can have jam that doesn't cost me a thing and has no added preservatives or high-fructose corn syrup added to it.

Harvesting season is just beginning. I can't wait for the other veggies to come into maturity. I am especially excited about our pumpkins, other winter squash and onions.

There's just something about doing all of this homemaking stuff that fills my heart with joy! :)

let me tell you about a little lady by the name of, June Mitchell

Recently, I took a drive down to Belfast to visit my midwives, mainly just to show Silas off to them and to make a trip to the wonderful Co-op health food store. I arrived to MorningStar Midwifery's building but to my dismay the doors were locked. Knowing that Donna & Ellie were going to be there that day, I opted to just hang out in front of the door. I had Silas and Jeremiah with me and we were just minding our own business when, I saw this tiny old lady, probably 70 something, with long white hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed in a while, wearing a long sweater over a t-shirt that had holes in it and a skirt that came to the middle of her calves, she was also wearing long socks with colorful stripes on them with sandals and was pushing a cart with what looked to be her belongings all in a suitcase.

Now, as I was observing her and making my own judgments about her and hoping that I didn't look to eager to talk, she walked right up to me and immediately started oohing and ahhing over Silas. I was trying real hard to politely "shoo" her away by just not really engaging her or not giving her eye contact. She continued to "coo" to Silas who returned wonderful smiles towards her, which made her feel giggly. She then started talking to me, in a very tiny voice, which I found fitting for her very tiny body. She was just asking the normal questions people want to know when inquiring about babies, like, how old, did you have him naturally? etc. I told her that I had him at home and in fact with the midwifery practice that I happened to be standing in front of. She got excited when I told her that these ladies were midwives who help deliver babies at home. As we're standing there, the cars whizzing by, she continues to talk to me, but now i'm having a hard time hearing her, mainly because of the traffic and her soft, tiny voice. So, keep in mind that she's telling me something and i'm not able to hear her well, but I see her start to untie her sweater and pull it away from her belly that in all honesty was bigger than the rest of her, and she kept rubbing it and then making googly eyes over Silas. I started to move in closer to her so that I would be able to piece together what it was this woman was trying to tell me. Was I hearing her right?! Was she now telling me that she was PREGNANT?! I kept listening, not really saying much, other than, "yes, really?," you know, that sort of not so rude response. Once the traffic waned a little bit I realized, that, yes, I WAS hearing her correctly, she was telling me she was PREGNANT! I really didn't know what to say, other than, "wow, congratulations, how far a long are you?" She then laughed and told me how embarrassed she was and that she knew that it sounds just awful for a woman her age to even be able to get pregnant. She proceeded to tell me that she only ovulates 2 times a month and that she had met this younger man who took advantage of her back in November and it just so happened it was while she was ovulating. So, at the time that this was taking place that would make her about 7 months pregnant.

She definitely had a belly on her, but my first thoughts were that she had some sort of tumors or something like that, not a baby!! What she was trying to find out from me was if I thought that my midwives would help her because, her doctor wouldn't because he kept trying to tell her it was cancer and just prescribe meds to her that she didn't want to take because she knew it was a baby and she didn't want to hurt her baby. At this point, I realize, that she isn't all with it and that she probably really does have some sort of a tumor growing in her but she is trying to deny that because that could be scary. And she had 6 kids with her previously abusive husband, so she could handle giving birth to her 7th, right?! I begin to have compassion on her and really feel sorry for this little old lady. So, I played along with her being pregnant and just told her to call my midwives that they would probably be more than willing to help her out. She jokingly said at one point, "i've done this 6 other times, but never on my own, so I think I could handle it, I would just need a shoestring to cut the umbilical cord right?" I told her that she needed to be a little more prepared than that, and she should just call Donna & Ellie and see what they say.

As I felt the conversation dying down, I had realized that we never exchanged names. So, I asked her what her name was and she shook my hand with her tiny, frail, old hand and said, "my name is June Mitchell." I told her that I would be praying for her and that she should take care of herself and give those midwives a call. As she started down the hill to continue on her daily walk, she turned around to me and said, "thank you dear, you know, not everyone stops and talks to me, usually they just keep walking, but not you, you were very sweet to take time to listen to me." And on that note she headed down the hill. As I watched her hunched over, tiny little body with a big belly, walk away, tears filled my eyes with sympathy for June.

I've never been one to just talk to anyone I see on the street so that situation was a bit nerve wracking for me. I must admit though, that I was glad that I took the time to listen to her, even if she was crazy, she obviously was feeling lonely and probably scared, whether it was that she really thinks that she was pregnant or if she really knows the truth that it wasn't a baby growing in there but really a tumor.

I did get to see my midwives that afternoon and they happened to be pulling up as June was still in view. So, I "warned" them that they might be seeing that little old lady over there walking down the street, and as I was pointing to her, Ellie said, "oh, you mean, June, yes, she's a very sweet lady and probably told you that she was expecting, right?" I said, "yes, you know her?" Ellie told me that Belfast is full of characters and that June is one lives in the homeless shelter there. It all made sense to me at that point. I just smiled and then went on to showing off my baby.

The moral of the story is, talking to strangers isn't all that bad and will probably end up meaning more to you than the other person. I wonder if June thinks about me as much as I think of her.

as it turns out...

I'm horrible at blogging. :) I just find it hard to find time that i'm at the computer not nursing Silas...blogging takes two hands. ;)

So, here I am finally, Silas is taking a nap, Titus and Jeremiah are playing in their toy room, and momma gets a free minute or two-until one of them needs me to intervene. Life seems to be chaotic now that we are a family of 5! Let me say that again, a family of 5!! I can not believe that I have 3 little boys to love and care for. It's a big responsibility and overwhelming at times, but I wouldn't change it for the world!! I love this life that Joel and I have created for ourselves. I still find it hard that i'm married some-days...it just seemed like I would NEVER get married, then, it seemed like I would NEVER get pregnant...and here I am, just gave birth to our 3rd boy in the comforts of our own home, in MAINE! What an amazing experience that was. That's for another post though... I don't have enough time to pour my heart into that right now. So, here's an update of sorts of what is happening around the Gagnon Farm!

Joel is still a supervising manager at Walpole Wood-Workers Inc. in Pittsfield. This is not his dream job, but it pays the bills and it's pretty good money with paid holidays and vacations. He would be so much happier dubbing away in his own woodworking shop making furniture or cabinets for local people around here. But for now, this is where the Lord has him. When Joel isn't working there he comes home and gets right to work around the farm. That guy can't sit still for too long, there's always something that has/needs to be done. Since it's getting warmer and staying light out longer during the day he's working a lot outside around the farm. He has re-built the grape arbor which is lovely and made us some rock garden beds, moved a shed and is getting ready to put up an electrical fence so that our 2 bull calves have more fresh green grass to eat!! They gotta get "beefed" up so that we can butcher them! Joel is always working hard around here and he does it all for us, his family! He loves us and it shows. The Lord sure has blessed me with an amazing man...I feel like I don't deserve him most of the time, and I'm proud to call him my husband.

Speaking of the animals, our two sheep, "Ewe and Ram" are in need of some shearing. We are looking around to see if someone local can do this deed for us, but we might just have to get a book and learn to do it ourselves to save us money. I want to save the wool and get it spun to have my own yarn. One day--far down the road, I will look into doing all of that on my own, but for now, I will pay someone else to do it. Our chickens (we have 2 barred rock hens, 4 buff orpington hens, 5 rhode island red hens and 1 barred rock rooster) have been much happier now that Joel made them a fenced in yard for them to scratch around in. Except, one of the barred rock hens doesn't like it in there and continues to fly out of the yard almost every day! She just doesn't like being "cooped" up I guess. :) I love all the fresh eggs we get from these ladies. I always seem to have an abundance of eggs...just call me the Egg Lady! :) I can't use up eggs fast enough...except yesterday something happened that usually I wouldn't have dealt with...I decided to make an egg dish that called for 12 eggs and then I made Titus his own egg dish with the remainder 3 eggs that I had left in my egg basket. So, using up all my eggs from my basket I didn't think that I would be in need of eggs for the dessert I wanted to make! I only needed 2 eggs...surely my girls had laid a few more. Well, I went out to check and sure enough they had but now 2 of the hens have decided to become broody and wouldn't get up off the eggs. So, this meant I used all my eggs for the day! They weren't getting up and I didn't want to disturb them, I want little chicks!! :) I'm usually begging people to buy my eggs cause I can't use them fast enough, and here I went and used up my whole supply and didn't get a dessert out of it!! Serves me right, I don't need the extra calories anyhow!!

On to the next subject--my needing extra calories. While pregnant with Silas I was doing so well as to eating healthy and not craving junk, like I normally do. I even gave up my ice cream habit---which for those of you who don't know about that, I would/could eat a bowl of ice cream every night as a snack. But, since I was preparing my body to birth my baby naturally and to stay healthy so that I could birth at home, I got into more healthy things. I actually didn't crave ice cream!! I didn't eat a lot of junk. Then, I think it was the day after Silas' arrival I sent my mom and Joel out for some ICECREAM!! I thought it would be a great treat for the marathon I just ran the day before! lol. :) I don't know what has happened but now that i'm nursing Silas I can't get enough to eat, and it's mostly starchy, sugary things that I want to eat! I feel so bad because for so long I was doing really well. Now, instead of dropping those baby pounds, all 20 of them, I'm sure i've gained some!! How depressing is that?! I know I only had about 8 pounds to lose after I had Silas, but i'm pretty sure i've not lost that! It's a viscous cycle. Anyways, enough of that... my baby boy is 3 months old. :( His birth was so amazing that I think about it almost daily! And my heart grows more and more passionate about others experiencing such a birth as mine. I really can't wait to get my Doula Certification and I would really love to apprentice with my midwives to become a home-birth midwife. That is my life's passion...I am slowly working towards it, but first I want to spend time with my kiddos before they grow up and i've been too busy to watch it happen. So, speaking of babies...Silas is such a happy baby. I always thought that Titus was an easy baby and always so content, but I think Silas takes that!! He always has a smile on his face, cries only when he's hungry, and sleeps the rest of the time. I must say I do get adequate sleep with this guy. He does get up every 2-4 hrs, but through the night we nurse/sleep and he sometimes goes 5 hrs. between his night feedings. He's such a blessing to have in our family. I can't wait to see how well he fits in with Titus and Jeremiah.

As far as kids go--Titus is going to be 5 on June 11th. That's only 3 weeks away!!!!!! I can't believe that i'm going to be a mom to a 5 yr. old. That just seems unreal to me. I mean, I remember being 5...I just never could imagine that I would have a 5 yr. old of my own. Titus is our little Joel. He's so much like Joel, it's scary sometimes! But then again, he does get moody which is sooo much like me! Anyways, Titus is a thinker. Always has been and will continue to be. He is becoming more lively these days. He loves anything to do with working. He loves his tractors, his shovel, wheelbarrow, dump trucks and tools. Anything that looks like anything that Daddy has is his favorite thing to work with! Right now he's loving the use of his dump truck and wheelbarrow...he's begging me right this minute to go outside in the pouring rain to work on the gravel for the driveway. He needs to steam roll it he keeps telling me. I'm sure as soon as daddy gets home they will both be out there and Titus will be working just as hard as Joel will be to flatten/spread out the gravel. Titus is such a big helper. He loves to be busy like his daddy and loves difficult tasks. I mentioned earlier that he's turning 5 in three weeks. He has asked me for a pirate birthday, but then changed his mind and now wants a firefighters birthday party. I hope that I can get real creative to make this happen for the little guy. He asked for an orange cake...so, I found a great, healthy recipe that is just that. It uses coconut oil for the frosting and in the batter as well. I'm eager to try it, not only because it's a healthier choice for all of us, but it's dairy free and coconut oil is supposed to be really good for those struggling with thyroid problems, like myself--(mine is low). For those of you who might not know this, Titus is deathly allergic to milk protein, casein. So, this little guy can't have any dairy products what so ever! It's been a challenge for me to do this. The rest of us still eat dairy, but not nearly as often as say the normal American family does. And we have to be very careful not to touch him after dealing with dairy--cheese is the very worst. He's even showed signs of it while cooking to have an asthma attack. :( *sigh.* He's so used to it now though, that he's started to look at any box that a food product comes in and asks me what ingredients are in it and if it has milk in it and if he could have it or not. He doesn't get too bummed out when he can't have something. I'm thankful that he's becoming mindful of his own allergy though. I just wish I didn't have to worry about him going to someone elses house and not knowing if there is milk products in things. So many people are not in the habit of reading their food labels, and so many things have milk added to it that you normally would not think had it in it. But despite that allergy, Titus is a thriving little boy and a pretty happy one!

Jeremiah is my more typical little boy--he's the one who will bring me worms and touch any animal that he comes into contact with. He loves animals! He marches to the beat of his own drum! If he doesn't want to do something, by golly, he's not going to do it, with a little force he will! But boy does it take some forcing to get that boy to move sometimes. What a stubborn little guy. He is so different than Titus, from his looks to personality. So many people ask me if Jeremiah is even mine cause he looks so different. I have to admit I feel a little offended when asked such a thing. Yes, that blond hair, blue eyed, hefty little tyke is mine, ALL MINE!! If you look closely while he's in his daddies arms you can see a similar resemblance. I think i'm the only one who thinks he looks like Joel more than Titus does. Titus behaves just like his daddy but Jeremiah looks like his daddy. Now, I think as far as behavior goes, he's more like his sassy momma! :) (i'm not afraid to admit it). But, honestly he's got such a soft heart. He can be such a sweetie too. I love this kid! He's got the gruffest laugh i've ever heard a 2 yr. old have. He loves loves, loves Silas!! He gets very upset if I don't allow him to be right in his face to talk to him. This means literally him touching his head to Silas' head. :) He always wants to talk to him or hold him. I love that all of them are so close in age and I pray that we can raise them to love each other and have a close relationship as adults. Jeremiah is my people person for sure, he loves to be in the social things that go on. But he also likes his own space as well. He is very bright and such a happy boy as well.

So, that's my life in a nutshell...there are so many more things that I can keep going on and on about...but I need to give you readers a reason to come back for more!! I think next I will blog about what's happening on the Farm, literally, with gardening, building, friends...ect......to be continued! Our little Commune that is taking place....

So, i'm starting a family blog...

I have decided that I need to start writing out what goes on around the farm. Many people have asked me to do this...so, here I am.
I will update on what's going on with the farm, family and then any other thing that has found my interest at the moment.
I hope that you all enjoy our journey together. Please feel free to leave comments! Thanks...will update more when I have more time. Just wanted to get it out there that I'm starting a blog!
Blessings!