Growing My Own Food Supply

I am getting emails about stocking up our food supplies. This is what I have been talking about for a long time now. This is what homesteading is all about.......growing all your own food, or at least as much as you can. Taking charge of your own life....independence from other sources. I still have about 15 pounds of potatoes left over from last year's crop sitting in my pantry. Some of them I may plant with my new seed potatoes. Some people just smile at you sweetly when you warn them about planning ahead and doing this. They think that the stores will always be overflowing with food for them. That money will always be available to purchase all the food they want. And most of them purchase process foods which cost more and don't taste that good. My husband is spoiled as he always eats good quality food at home....unprocessed.

I hope that most people will take notice of the store prices to plant their own gardens this year. I just cannot understand why all people do not do this. My own plan is eventually of mostly only eating the food I grow, supplemented with the addition grains and dried grains that I pick up at my local bulk food store. It will the way of our future I am sure. I love to cook and garden so they two go together so that we can live. It is the circle of life.

I am so fortunate here in upstate New York that we have been having such great weather. I have planted 50 strawberry plants in the last week, covering them up with the threat of frost the other night. I filled two stone raised beds that I built myself with all of them. Plus, I have a few assorted stone planters I built that hold 1 single plant each. Filled each of them also. My old dairy sink that I made into a waist high raised bed, every year I fill it with various types of salad greens. I planted that four days ago also. I have been on a roll here since spring really did arrive.

Last week I canned 13 pints of black beans and this week will can 13 more of another kind of bean.......maybe pinto. I seem to have run out of my pint jars, having mostly quarts now. But when I can beans or jams and preserves, I like to use the pint jars. So now I am trying to stock up on those. I bought a dozen yesterday at Dollar General for $7.00. Now I don't know if that is a good price or not as I have never bought jars new before. The girls that worked in the store were quite young, but seemed to really be interested in canning. The girl waiting on me said that her father was going to teach her as the last time she did it, it did not turn out very well. I like to see young girls wanting to learn this art! It gives me hope for the future.

Anyway, people ask me why I can dried beans. The reason is that they are easier to use. Plus the fact that I can just toss them into something at the last moment for a meal. Now I think we will be eating even more beans as they are way cheaper than meat. Plus they are an excellent source of fiber! I find they fill us up and nobody is looking for snacks later. There is such a huge variety between the beans, lentils and peas, though I only can the beans. We love southern food as I grew up in Florida and get to craving that southern style of cooking every now and then. So black-eyed peas is one of my favorites!

My husband has my raised beds all ready for me to plant. I am waiting on the weather for them, as that is where my tomatoes and green beans are going. Have to be sure all signs of cold weather is all gone before I take that chance. My tomato seedlings have been doing outstanding. I cannot wait till they are safely tucked into their own raised beds. I expect to have an awesome crop of vegetables this year to can, to dry and to just store in my root cellar.

Spring Has Sprung!

I love spring time! The birds are singing, the dandelions and tiger lillies are poking their heads out of the wet ground today. The sun is shining, generating my electricity by shining on solar panels most of the day. Wow! What an awesome world God has created. I give all the thanks and glory to him for this day.

I have been spending some time every day now brushing my three horses. They have been shedding for awhile now. Now they are starting to show that sleek, new coat coming in. It is so shiny and new. Of course, spring has them pretty antsy too. They know that the new grass is coming up too. I made sure to check my solar electric fence this morning so nobody gets out accidently leaning over or under looking for those blades of new grass. Good thing I did too! The whole back corner was down, but just the lower line and nobody really wanted to get out anyway. It's all fixed now.

This past week end we had the opportunity to hear The Syracuse Symphony and it was just great. Loved it! I hadn't been to Syracuse in quite some time, and I used to go there pretty regular before. It was like seeing an old friend, though it didn't look much different. When my husband drove a over-the-road truck we used to pick up loads there all the time, as well as drop off pallets. One of my favorite truck stops was the Pilot in Syracuse. More old memories.....good ones too.

I have started some of my tomato seeds and have more to get started. It's hard to get everything done at once. Winter clean up is a big job here because we have LOTS of snow and LOTS of wind. So there is many branches and things to clean up that got buried by snow, not to mention that our garbage can had gotten frozen in all winter and I could not even take the lid off let alone empty it. I'll be doing that tomorrow morning for sure.

Without my big heating woodstove going, I have to keep my seed starts upstairs to get started or it'll be too cold downstairs at night. I cannot see keeping a big woodstove going for them. It gets way too hot during the day for us and we go to bed pretty early so there is not much sense in wasting wood. The wood cook stove warms the kitchen up in the early morning and I can cook breakfast on it then. Then start it for supper and for warmth in the evening.

An Inspiration To Her Faith

Mom Lupole Playing Her Cowbells

Last year, as my mother in-law was wheeled from her hospital room, down the hall, to the operating room, the orderly wheeling her stopped, "I'm going to let her sit here, and wait for Dr. Anderson. You can wait with her. I'll be back for her."

She had a few minutes to tell her family any last words she had to say, before she underwent the operation to remove one of her legs. Soon, her doctor appeared, dressed in his scrubs.

As her family members all reached out to say their good byes before she was wheeled through the intimidating operating suite doors, her daughter, Pat showed the surgeon her other leg, "Dr. Anderson, look at this leg. It's worse than than the one you are taking off. Can't you take them both off at the same time?"

He reassured us, saying, "It looks worse than it is. But it really isn't. It might come back after the other one is taken off. I'd like to give it a chance." I think, in all realty, he thought, she might not make it through the first operation, let alone a second one, at the same time.

Dad & Mom Lupole in happy times

Her husband for 63 years had tears running down his face, as he tried to say any last words to his best friend and love of his life. It was the only time she shed tears over the ordeal she was about to face, but not for herself, for her husband.

"I love you, Bob," she managed to get out, trying to smile at him.

"I love you too," he answered her back, not knowing if he would lose her today.

My husband, Larry, her son, did not believe she would survive this operation. "How can she make it through this operation when she is diabetic and already in kidney failure?" he asked me.

She suffers, not only from Diabetes, but congested heart failure, has a pacemaker in, and because of the kidney failure, goes to dialysis three times a week. Bad arthritis has also hindered her movement in many ways. Not to mention, her age, of 82 years.

The hospital employees led us to a waiting room that was away from the regular waiting room, as we would have filled that room to capacity! We had many people stopping by all day to see how she was making out. She made it through the operation, and afterwards, we all donned hospital gowns to go in, and say a few words to her. Everybody taking turns.

In May, she was back for the second operation, to take her other leg. But this day, as we sat in her hospital room waiting for the surgeon, with the pastor of the church she was the organist at, she was sick. We felt the surgeon could not get there fast enough. She had gangre, and it appeared to be affecting her whole system. When the surgeon finally came, we felt like running her down the hall ourselves!

I was not brought up in a religious home myself. My parents, both were. But when they had children, they both worked, and I guess it wasn't something they felt was important for us, or had time for. They were good parents, and I am not faulting them for this. But that's just how it was when I was growing up.

When I married my husband, Larry, I knew his family was very religious. Though he wasn't as much, as the rest of his family. His mother, would really grind on me many times about going to church, about accepting Christ as my savior, about reading the Bible, etc. All it did, was to turn me off from it. I was never against it, I did believe in God, and did pray to him when someone was sick, or needed help. But I did not understand there was more to it than that.

My mother in-law is well known around Binghamton, New York, and the surrounding area, as she is a very talented musician. Playing a slew of musical instruments, including the musical saw and the cowbells, as well as the organ and violin. Her notarity comes from having played them for many years in the area nursing homes and churches. She even played the violin in the senior's orchestra. Every year she would win the talent show at the county fair, playing her musical saw, until they asked her not to enter, and give others a chance!

One of the hardest parts for her, has been the fact that she can no longer play her musical instruments. In fact, she had to send her beloved piano and organ to her daughter, Pat's house, so she could come home, and use her dining room for her bedroom. She thought she'd be able to come home, and do all the knitting, crocheting and needlepoint she never had time to do. But even that was not to be, as her finger on her right hand has arthritis so badly, that she can't even do that. She has to be satisfied sewing on her sewing machine and reading. Her son, Ken, who lives with his parents, has taken over most of the care of their home and his mother. He keeps the house running smoothly!

Wouldn't you think she would be very depressed? Nope, not my mother in-law! She's not depressed at all. I mean, she was a woman on the go! She used to go places and do things all the time. Now, she can only go to church rarely, as it is so much work to get her ready to go somewhere. I asked her recently, if she has depressing moments, and she said no, she does not.

I believe her. You see, her husband, Bob, her close knit family, and her faith in God has seen her through this. She has a real enthusiasm for life and the Lord. I found myself, seeing her as an inspiration to me. She made me question myself on where I stand with God, and what I want my life to be. I started reading the books written by Norman Vincent Peale, and reading them to my husband.

I marveled at her strength to be able to accept what she has gone through. Her faith is the cornerstone of her ability to live with complete dependence on others. She feels that she is lucky to be alive, and yes, she misses her legs and to be able to move around freely, but she is thankful for what she has. Her family and her faith.

Heart of God in Owego, NY.

My husband, Larry and I went to church for the first time together on Easter Sunday this year. We read the Bible every day together now. I have accepted the Lord as my savior, and want to live my life by following the Bible. I have also found that other areas of my life have improved at the same time. It must be my positive thinking!

Only a few months ago I had a conversation with her that ended with me telling her that nothing or no one would ever change my mind about following the Lord, and she said she was so glad to hear me say that. I believe that my mother in-law was instrumental in bringing me to becoming a real Christian, and wanting to learn more. I now feel that same enthusiasm, that she has always had!

As I am writing this now, she is in a hospital room waiting for her 84th birthday on January 13th, hoping to live to share that final birthday with her beloved husband, Bob. Yesterday, as my husband and I went to visit her there, she was surrounded by her family, and even though on heavy pain medication she shared a happy day with us all. Her granddaughter was there with her family, her husband and their eight children, and they sang the most beautiful song to her. I know that made her so happy, as her heart is in music. She listened intently to their singing, as the oldest was only 8! Not one was off key, as my husband, a musician also, told me later.

She did live to see her birthday and her son, Ken brought a beautiful cake for his parents' birthday. You see not only did they share 65 years of marriage, but also the same birthday four years apart. Her hospital room was kept pretty full that day as her sister in-laws and grandson and his family joined the rest of us there.

On January 17th, she went home to be with the Lord. Her death was a very profound experience with me. I have worked in the health care field and am very familiar with death and the dying process. But her death was like no other. She was watching someone or something on the ceiling. Her eyes were moving back and forth quite a bit. She even looked clearly toward the window, as if watching something. I do not think she could see the snowflakes coming down....but she was definitely seeing something or someone.

Everyone seemed to think she was in pain, but I do not think that was the case. I think she was in the transition period. I mean, here is a woman who had no strength to lift her hand to scratch her face, yet she was raising both of her arms up, as if toward someone up above! Even as she died, she was a testimony to her strong faith and love of God. I will never forget her or the wonderful things she taught me.....or tried to teach me. There is no doubt in my mind that I will see her again.

Copyright © 2010 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2010 Kathleen G. Lupole

Updated: August 2016

Our Horses, Georgie Girl and Dark Shadow

Georgie Girl, Boss Mare

I love this little girl so much. I cannot explain to anyone how much this horse means to me. She is my pride and joy. She is an ex-racehorse, banned from the Finger Lakes track as she refused to race. She was the fastest in all the breezes and the track people thought she should have been a perfect racehorse. But on race day, she went over twice in the starting gate with the jockey (I am sure, he beat her for that one!). Then she would lag behind 50 horse lengths. I cleaned stalls to get her.

My brother Mickey on Dusty

I wanted a horse my whole life. Then when we grew up, Mickey, my brother, always had one. I lived where I couldn't have one. So I never really was around them too much. Then when Larry and I got together, he had grown up with horses, and worked around them now and then. When we moved out here, he started training and caring for horses at a local farm, where they raised Thoroughbreds for racing. He took me to work with him and I fell in love with the horses there.

The Farm Our Horses Were Born At

Georgie Girl, especially, won my heart. She would pace in circles in her stall. The stall gate was covered so she couldn't look out. She was not friendly at all. Very high strung. I just took a liking to her. She had been their darling. She was the perfect racehorse, even the people at the track thought so. She was the fastest in the breezes, no other horse could catch her! She did not want to be a racehorse. She would show them how fast she could go, but the day of the races, a few times, she went over in the starting gate. Then when she actually did race, she'd lag, way back. The jockey could beat her with his crop, she didn't care. One thing, I have learned about her, is that she likes to be your partner - not your slave. And she is very smart. She doesn't "give" to anyone easily.

Dark Shadow

At the barn where Georgie Girl lived, she and all the other racehorses were only allowed to be outside for about 15 minutes every day in a covered arena, while their stalls were being cleaned. They would race around and play. All of them got to be in there with another horse. Only Dark Shadow, who my husband ended up buying, was made to be alone in the arena. She could not stand it and would whinny at the top of her lungs and race full tilt around that arena like a crazy horse. She was never worked with or even had feet trimmed. Everyone was afraid of her. At that time, she was only 3 years old. When I first went there, I thought she was the stallion. She acted like one.

Dark Shadow

Larry made friends with her. He got on her and she went over twice with him. He doesn't get thrown off a horse normally, he usually goes down with them. If they rear up with someone on them, many times they will lose their balance and it'll cause them to go over sideways. He did manage to talk his boss into letting her go out in the pasture with the "wild horses" (as we called them). They were not wild (my Tawny was one of them), but horses that were not used for racing so they could go out on the 50 acres that was fenced on their hill. The first week Dark Shadow went out there, Sally, the lead mare (and my Tawny's sister) just ran her down for the whole week. Dark Shadow went into that little herd of 10 horses like gangbusters! She wanted to run, and Sally did not let up on her. By the end of the week, Dark Shadow was friends with Sally and pretty tamed down. That's how it is for a new horse joining a herd. They have rules!

Georgie Girl and Larry

When the owner offered to sell me Georgie I could not believe it. Then one day he came to me and told me since she is now my horse, I can let her out with the wild horses that are out all day, if I wanted. He warned me that she might get burdocks on her if she did though. Larry and I looked at each other for half a second then ran to her stall to get her! She walked along with Larry like she was a little girl going somewhere......or she thought he was making a mistake and she didn't want him to know!

Georgie and Dark Shadow

Larry led her out to the group of other horses waiting to go out for the day in the pasture. They all smelled her, as they might live on the same farm, even in the same barn.....but they did not know her as the racehorses are kept separate. So she just walked along with them in the group and they seem to have accepted her. I was a little worried about her as she was the newest member of the herd......and in the horse herd that means she was on the bottom. And she was not used to being with others in a group like that.

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Georgie, Tawny and Dark Shadow

So a few days later, I saw Sally, the boss mare and she seemed to be pushing my Georgie! I did not like that but there was nothing I could do if I wanted her out in the pasture with the others. She had to learn to take care of herself. But I worried about her after that.A bout a week later, the wild horses gathered in the paddock in front of the trail to the pasture and did not go straight up it. Usually when that would happen, I would take a hold of Sally's halter and lead her and the rest would follow, as she was their leader. I took a hold of her, and led her......nobody followed! ???? I looked at the rest of them and didn't know what to think. Georgie looked at me, then walked straight up past me.....and the rest just fell into place behind her................ My worrying had been for nothing.....my Georgie Girl had taken over the herd! She was now their leader!

Copyright © 2008 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2008 Kathleen G. Lupole

Updated 2018

Setting Our Homestead Up

One of the things I have really liked about living here is that we are "off the grid". Which means that the power lines do not come to our house. That is why this was always just a seasonal deer camp for all the previous owners. The people we purchased from were from Long Island. So people were surprised when we started living here full time.

One feature of this house was the root cellar downstairs. It also has a built in wooden bin that is connected to the ceiling. It may have been used to store apples as there are so many apple trees through out our property and the adjoining state forest land. The cellar also has a dirt floor and the foundation is built with field stone. It is a perfect root cellar for our climate. It is well below the frost line and doesn't get much lower than 50 degrees all winter.

My plan is to build wooden shelves downstairs in the root cellar. Haven't progressed to that point as of yet. There are other priorities right now. So I have things down there, but the improvements I plan for down there will just have to wait.

The pantry is right off the kitchen, and you have to walk through there to get to the cellar stairs. That is the way pantries were built. I have put shelves up on the walls, a peg board at the end holds all my kitchen utensils, a metal cabinet with a wooden door is where I keep our dishes. It is my favorite room. I will also do many improvements on it when I can. But it will do for now.

The kitchen had built in cabinets when we moved in, but I had my husband take them out. I wanted windows so I can look outside and see those massive trees and thick forest. Who wants tiny windows and cabinets that I have to get down on the floor to look for things in? I prefer everything to be kept in the pantry. My cast iron collection sits on a big wooden bookcase that my father built, and I put behind my wood cookstove. They need to be close.

My goals have always been to be as self sufficient as I can be. We have never paid for firewood since we came here. We use the wood to cook and heat. We do have propane and need it for the refrigerator. But we are very frugal with it. Our propane cooking range is very nice and big too, but I use it only when I have to. So I am able to keep my bill down.

The only other household bill I have is for the telephone. Since we have 2 phone lines and 2 internet connections, it does cost a little more, but I'd say it is certainly worth it. I purchase kerosene for our lamps because I like them. I can skip it if I have to as we have some electric lights. We also purchase gasoline for our chainsaw, our generator and our truck. You can not get away using some fuels no matter how you try. But you can just try to be as frugal as possible with it. We hardly drive anywhere more than once a week, so we do ok with what we spend for gas.

Sacrifice is what I have learned to do, to have what I want. You have to put up with certain things if you want things done a certain way. Some people would just have borrowed money to remodel a house like this. I see it all the time. But in three years my mortgage will be paid off. So I did not want some big loan to pay when I was finished with the mortgage. So we do what we have to do to get these things done. Little steps. Little bits of money at a time is easier to live with.

Every year we have added more raised beds. Cut down more trees. Cleared more property. Now we have lawn, horse paddock and a big two story barn. It took my husband awhile to build our barn. He did it little by little of course. The day we were on our way to the building supply store to order our metal roofing, we had half of the money for the amount we needed. So we decided we would buy half then and half at another time. Even though we wished we could buy it all at once! We stopped at our mailbox which was a mile from our house at that time, and there was a check in there from Workmen's Compensation for the mileage he had from driving back and forth for treatments (he had a bad accident at work and was on Workmen's Comp at the time) for over a year. It was more than enough for the rest of the roofing! So we were able to do it all at one time.

Working alone on a tall building such as our barn was a challenge for my husband. Especially since he was working with a crushed right arm. But he never gives up on something and figures out how to do it. The only thing he had any help on was when his son came over, and helped him put up the big beams on the top, that would hold the metal roofing. Other than that, he did it all himself. It was scarey for me watching him put the roofing on. He built a scaffold along the side to finish nailing down the roofing on the end, as there was no place to stand once you get to the end.

At the time we had only the two horses. Georgie Girl and Dark Shadow. Georgie got where she could not walk or rather, would not, walk through the mud. So he had to put up a lean-to first for them, as it was cheaper and quicker. He already had been working on the barn, as you can see from the pictures. But we needed something now. So he started building on it.......and she started watching him build it.

The Road To My Homestead

As much as I loved living at that home, it was not our own property. It was just off the interstate highway 88, which is the highway that goes straight up to Albany, New York, and is traveled very heavily. We were out in the country, but always was that constant noise of the highway. At night, you never had the peacefulness that I craved. Big trucks traveling on the highway late at night.

When we found our property and moved here, I would be lying to say I was not a little nervous. My husband worked at that time at a fork-lift manufacturer in a nearby town, but on the night shift. Here I was going to be living in the middle of thousands of acres of state forest with no nearby neighbors. At first, we did not even have a telephone. I have not always been the bravest person, so this was going to be a whole new experience for me.

This house was completely surrounded by the state forest. And I mean it came right up to a little tiny yard. When we were outside, the forest was right there. My husband had to completely clear the land for gardening and for our horses. Though at the time, we did not own horses, we always knew we'd get some. So we needed a paddock area as well as a barn.

We had bought a Sun-Mar composting toilet before we moved here as we knew it only had a outhouse. Also our cast iron bath tub, we bought at a little junk shop, and I still love that as much as when we first found it. I was preparing before we moved to have all the things we needed. I thought it would be difficult making the transition to living without electricity, but it really wasn't that difficult.

When we first moved in, we used a 1920 gas stove that I picked up in an antique shop. We would buy the gas tanks used for gas grills and that was what we used for the gas refrigerator (that came with the house) and the stove for cooking. We already had the wood cookstove, but we never did hook it up till two years later! It just sat in the kitchen unused. We just could not afford the chimney piping for it at that time.

The house already had a wood heating stove, which was huge compared to any I have ever seen or even since. I never see one this big even in stores. But the chimney they had it hooked up to could have never been used for it. So we don't really know what they did for heat. This was a deer camp and was used in cold weather. My husband thinks they just brought kerosene heaters with them when they came here.

We had to buy all new stove pipe and triple wall for it. My husband had to cut a whole in the ceiling to the upstairs and one up through to the roof. Then he installed it so it went right through the bedroom from downstairs. The upstairs is usually warm and cozy.My husband changed jobs not long after we moved there and was hired to train horses at a local horse facility where they raised horses for horse racing. So he wasn't gone at night after that. And most days, I could go to work with him if I wanted to. This was when I began my love affair with horses!