Spending to Save

     Today was another busy day as usual. As I had business to attend to in the city already, I made a stop at the tool store to make a small purchase. Since we have been cutting so many trees, it is difficult (and expensive) to stay on top of the necessary maintenance. I can cut about 2-3 medium trees before my chain becomes dull. To get a chain sharpened at the local feed store costs five bucks and a few days of having no chain. So, I got a cheap chain sharpener which cost me about $45. Nine chains and it pays for itself within two weeks! Now, with the help of my dad who also cuts wood here, we can push harder and get more accomplished with less downtime.

 

 

Blacksmith Shop Construction Project

            I have decided to expand my knowledge and test my skills by undertaking the lost art of Blacksmithing. No, I am not going to have acetylene torches and Lincoln welders. This is going to be a most primitive shop, reminiscent of those the pioneers would have constructed.

 

     We are constructing our own shack out of fallen oak and elm timbers off our land. Everything that is going into this shop is going to be hand constructed. Even the timbers we are using have been stripped of their bark and are drying as I write this. To remove the bark, I used an ancient tool called a drawknife to slice away at the tree's skin. With long pulls of the razors edge, the bark peels away like the skin of a ripe banana.   

 

     Today, I laid over seven trees. With my team of mighty helpers, we quickly cleaned up the debris. We took the extra limbs that were of no use to the burn pile, which will be turned to ash to add to the garden compost; the larger pieces out of the trunk are being used for the corner posts of the shop, and the ends are to be used as firewood.

   

Drawknife at work.

               My beautiful wife working so hard to get the bark off.

 Finished product! You can see the contrast of bark on vs. bark off. 15 minutes per 8 ft. log.

Saving Money on the Electric Bill

     Next week we will be coming up on our seventh year anniversary...We were thinking back at all the places we have lived in our short married life (rented an apartment, bought a house, moved to GA and rented a house, bought a house in GA, and this house.) So, not counting all the places we have stayed in-between this will be our fifth. We looked at the cost of what we spend on things each month and realized that of all the places that we have lived, this winter our electric bill was the lowest it has ever been.
     In the past, we have spent anywhere from $120-$250 a month on our electric bills. This past month we got our bill and it was only $61!!! We were so excited that with a little effort and being mindful of what we are doing we could bring it down.
     Today was a perfect day for cutting firewood. After church, we were able to cut about two ricks of wood in only three hours. And that included running to town to get a fresh chain. The wood will need to dry quite a bit before burning, but by mixing green logs (fresh cut) and seasoned logs, we can maintain a longer, hotter burning fire.
     In order to maintain the most efficient cutting time, our family has a series of roles. I use the saw to fall, limb, and section the tree up while Melissa keeps brush out of my way for a safe working environment. Beau keeps watch of the puppy and does any gopher (go-for) chores we need. We try to do these kind of chores while Jett and Claire are napping in order to free up our attention to the task.
     While we are in need of firewood throughout the winter, the reason for removing so many is to make space for our upcoming spring garden. The pigs will be released into the area to cultivate it for the remaining winter months. Once spring arrives, our garden spot will be tilled, fertilized, and nearly ready for planting.
      This firewood is our sole source of heat through the winter. We don't turn on the HVAC for heat at all. In our home the wood stove is positioned central to the entire house. It  easily heats up the living/kitchen/dining areas and when the bedroom doors are open in the evening, will keep the kids warm too (this is about 2,000 sq.ft. of heated space). I also make sure the children turn off lights when they leave the room and we keep unnecessary items unplugged. We do, however, keep three heat lamps on at all times for the baby chickens and puppy. This brought our total electric bill last month to $61, which we were very excited about.

Ephesians 2:8  (KJV)  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Purple Potatoes & More

When I was a little girl my favorite color was PURPLE!!! Everything I had/wanted was purple. EVERYTHING....
Today we went to my great grandpa's house where my great uncle Paul lives. After enjoying lunch and family inside we wondered outside... We were headed for the creek where my family always likes to go for a stroll but we stopped in the garden and planted a couple of trees. Where there are trees planted now was a huge beautiful garden that my great-grandpa had when I was a little girl. And when I was a girl I found the most wonderful purple vegetable. I insisted that we take it home and cook it for dinner. It was purple, so it had to be good right?  I was incredibly wrong... I hate to admit when I am wrong; but, I was very wrong about the eggplant tasting good.... IT DID NOT! And to this day 20+ years later I have never had eggplant again.

 

Purple has always intrigued me though. This past summer I spent a month in Virginia studying for my graduate degree. I took my mother along with me on the trip and we took advantage of the weekends when I was not having to study to go to local farmer's markets and see what the locals had that we did not.... I found the most beautiful purple potatoes. We bought all they had left and brought them home to cook for our family. We had mashed potatoes, French fries, and dehydrated chips out of them. They taste just like regular potatoes, but they are purple.

 

Needless to say... We will be planting them in our garden this year! Aren't they beautiful! Along with the purple potatoes we found a few other unique items that we want to try a hand at planting. The picture to the left is a screenshot from the website we ordered our seeds from. Just a few of the items are peanuts, purple carrots, purple potatoes, purple beans, and purple asparagus. (Asparagus not pictured.) There will also be a few other fun items to try and some old staples too.
Alex has been chopping some of the oaks down to make way for more garden space. Right now the pigs are tilling the land and fertilizing it to get it ready for planting.

2 Corinthians 9:6 - But this [I say], He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he with soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

 

The day it began....

These pictures are from a very warm day back in August. The day it began....

The Lincoln County Farm Center, in Chandler, OK called to tell us our order of chicks had come in. We ordered 25 to get the minimum order in thinking that was too many and we would have to downsize really quickly! That makes me laugh now because only a few short months later we have more than that and have plans to get many more in the spring.

We started with Ameracauna, Black Austrolorp, and Buff Orpingtons. They should start laying in March and we will have some wonderful BLUE, GREEN, BROWN, AND CREAM colored eggs to sell straight off the farm!

 

Welcome to Newport Oaks!

Hi! We are the Newport Family from Oklahoma. We just moved back home after Alex (dad) spent some time serving in the Air Force as an active duty member. He is now serving with a reserve unit and plans to devote his full attention to homesteading and creating a farm for the family. Melissa (mom) is a teacher at a local elementary school and loves crafting and researching all things about farming. We have three children: Beau, 6, Jett, 3, and Claire, 1.

We hope this blog will keep you informed about everything going on at Newport Oaks (Our Small Farm) and will keep us connected to you!