APPLE CIDER PRESSING DAY!!
COME TASTE FRESH APPLE CIDER,
WATCH HOW It IS PRESSED!!
Get some fresh air, enjoy the autumn colors, taste apple cider and see animals!
Bring your friends (but not your dog, please)!
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AUTUMN IS HERE!
Autumn is Here! It was a chilly 35 degrees the other morning but the fall colors bring beauty to the gray sky!
With autumn here, preparing for the winter is exciting. Cleaning my chicken coops out with essential oils and water was a new task on my list this fall.
I like to use DoTerra Essential Oil, from my friend Janel Ecker. You can also purchase from her at https://www.doterra.com/US/en/site/pondera
I have 2 portable coops that have attached runs. To clean, I opened up the large door into the coop, pulled out the nesting boxes and moved my trays that catch the poop. Each nesting box was washed and set to dry. I was then able to reach into the coop with a garden hose that has a spray nozzle attached. I first power washed off as much poop as I could and then sprayed the inside with my homemade, economical, and safe essential oil spray.
I then resprayed with water and let the sun dry everything out as much as is possible here in western Washington. Replacement of the nesting boxes followed. (The reason I have chickens!!) 🙂
Too much essential oils can cause respiratory issues for the chickens so do be careful and make sure the ventilation is great!
Chicken Coop Spray Recipe
- 1 32 oz. spray bottle
- 1 cup vinegar, either white or apple cider
- water to fill the bottle
- 10 drops of Lemon oil
- 10 drops of Tea Tree Oil
- 5 drops of Lavendar Oil
- Mix and use immediately!
Clean environments mean healthier chickens and delicious eggs!
–Deena
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New Classes for Cultured Home
Cultured Home 2017-2018
19506 SE 138th Pl Renton, WA 98059
Cultured Home builds virtues and life skills through experience.
Classes are held on Thursdays in the East Renton Highlands, near the Maple Hills neighborhood, and 15 minutes from Issaquah.
8 -10 am Math Lab will be taught by Samantha Zistatsis. Instruction will be customized to the students enrolled in the class. Samantha has a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and has taught at Renton Christian School for the past 8 years.
10-noon Conversational Spanish for the Beginner with Juanita Cazares. Juanita is a native speaker of Spanish. Her training in Early Childhood Education, years of experience working with elementary students, and professional expertise in translating materials from English to Spanish are a great combination.
12-2 pm Continuing Spanish with Juanita Cazares.
3:30-5 pm Art in Many Forms is taught by Deena Rumsey. She has an A.A. in Fine Arts and believes that art is beneficial to all as it allows the expression of emotions in a healthy and productive way. The class age will be from 9-16 years old.
Each class is $75/ month Materials Fee: $50 for Art in Many Forms only
Last Sunday of the Month
2:30-3:30 Farm Life Tours Sunday afternoons are a delightful time to learn how God has created the order in our world through humans, animals, plants, insects, and soil. Nathan and Kathy Rausch will teach this through their own experience and success in running a farm. This is a free event!
3:30-4:30 All Age Sing Along This community event will follow the Farm Life Tours. Kathy Rausch has a Master’s in Music and will lead the singing. This enjoyable time will focus on Folk Songs. This is a free event!
For more information or questions, email: info@culturedhome.com
All the dates for the class and events are placed on the attached calendar.
2017-Cultured-Home-fall-class-registration-updated 9-5-2017
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Cultured Home Presents–FALL CLASSES!
We are thrilled to announce classes will be held in Art, Spanish, Math, Farm Life & Music!
Cultured Home is focused on building virtues through the Fine Arts.
19506 SE 138th Pl, Renton, WA 98059
(About 15 minutes from downtown Issaquah, near the Maple Hills Elementary)
Starting in September, on Thursdays…and running through May, 2018, the teachers of Cultured Home are developing virtues through Art, Spanish, Math, Farm Life & Music. Each teacher is looking forward to investing in your child, culminating virtue and learning together. Each class will be 1.5-2 hours long. The monthly rate is $75 per student. Art In Many Forms will have an additional materials for each semester.
THURSDAYS
TIMES CLASSES
8:45-10:45 a.m. Math
12-2 pm Conversational Spanish for the Beginner
4-5:30 pm Art in Many Forms
DATES
2017 2018
Sept. 21 & 28th Jan. 11, 18, & 25th
Oct. 5, 12, 19, & 26th Feb. 1, 8, & 15
Nov. 2, 9, 16, & 30th Mar. 1, 8, 15, & 22nd
Dec. 7 & 14th Apr. 19 & 26th, May 3 & 10th
Farm Life Tours: Free to All ages, held on the fourth Sunday of each month from 2:30-3:30 pm (see dates listed below)
Community Sing Along for all ages, focusing on Folk Music. Held on the fourth Sunday of each month from 3:30-4:30 pm
Dates for Farm Life Tours and Community Sing-alongs: September 24th, October 29th, January 28th, February 25th, March 25th, April 29th, May 2oth, & June 24th
Please click on the links below to register for the class!
2017 CH fall class registration
The Teachers’ bio page is coming soon!
For more information: email info@culturedhome.com
THANK YOU FOR VISITING CULTURED HOME!
MAY YOUR DAY BE BLESSED AND ENRICHED WITH CULTURE!
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First Joys of Spring!
What a glorious day! Thursday, March 23rd, the sun was shining brightly and the warmth was embracing us. A few wispy clouds floated in the sky as we walked in a lush field, patiently awaiting Mo (aka Maurine), the cow as she was showing great signs that her calf would be born that day. It was a calm, life-giving process to watch her give birth to her 8th calf…HE is a brown bull.
Mo giving birth
Mo cleaning her new calf
It’s a Bull!
He looks to be brown!
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Eggs! Eggs! Eggs!
SPRING IS ALMOST HERE!!
How do we know? Eggs! Eggs! Eggs!
My very first experience with chickens has occurred and they actually do lay eggs! I, Deena, was getting quite discouraged, along with my hubby and the kids but on February 28th, my daughter ran into the house to announce…WE HAVE 2 EGGS! The house was in a state of sheer excitement! So, our girls are doing their jobs. We have collected 14 eggs ranging from a nice brown to green to white. Boy, are they yummy!
With the help of the Rausches, this has been thrilling for our family. This leads me into the whole reason that we even have chickens…soy. Hmm, who would have ever thought that it really wasn’t the egg that was causing my daughter’s stomach to hurt but the feed that the chickens were given. Almost all chicken feed is soy based at about 17%. I found this very interesting and started to ponder if that was the root of my daughter’s stomach aches…and it was. The Rausches & Rumseys feed only organic, soy & corn free feed to their chickens which leads to no tummy troubles and very pleasurable children.
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Life in 2017
2012 through 2016 was a season filled with life’s ups and downs, which limited our ability to keep the Cultured Home website current, but we are thrilled to be back, now!! We are so looking forward to 2017! We are excited to announce that we are partnering with Deena Rumsey and what a blessing to do this together.
LOOK…..Summer Classes, are here and will teach how the soil, animals, and most of all, people live in a healthy ecosystem! It is truly amazing how if the soil is healthy, every living creature benefits.
Look forward to new updates on a regular basis on Harmony Harbor (our farm), which houses The Music Barn and Cultured Home classes…those names could only speak of blessing and enjoyment in LIFE!!
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Axe Demonstration
Here I am working with my axe to chop up some freshly cut alder trees harvested from one of our pastures. These were from ~30 trees that were prepared for our pollard demonstration.
A coppice is when trees re-grow quickly from live stumps, which are harvested about every 5 years. A pollard is when the tree is cut from a stump that is tall enough to be out of reach of the grazing animals. It is an excellent way to quickly grow wood, improving soil while continuing to provide shade for the animals and grass in the pastures.
The coppice attempt a few years ago failed because the animals ate the young alder shoots. I’m excited to track the progress this year!
In the mean time, the wood harvested is drying so it can help heat the house next winter.
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Ruth’s day with Maureen the cow
At dinner, Ruth Helen told us her story of the day. She started by telling Abigail and me and covered everything again in greater detail when Kathy and Samuel came in for dinner, and when we called grandparents so they could hear the story firsthand. Ruth’s story went like this:
Mo, our gentle cow with Mocha and Notable
“The story is about Mo. I just wanted to feel what it was like to ride Mo. She was laying down so I got on her back and kind of kicked her sides to get her up. So she walked around a little bit. I rode her up on the hill, from the woods to the barn. I had a little longer turn because I had to turn her, or else she would crash into the barn. I turned her with her ears because I didn’t have reins. It actually worked! Then I mostly went in a little circle. When she was walking in a circle, she started to trot a little bit, and then it was even funner. I held on to the neck. It wasn’t bumpy. Then she sat down, and I got off. Nobody was watching except for Mocha (the yearling heifer cow), and the baby calf. Mocha was too skittish, and Notable (this spring’s calf) was too small for me to ride them.
Later I tried to get Mo up for Joel to have a turn, but he missed it. Mo got up when Joel wasn’t watching.
I wanted to get some fresh milk, and I didn’t want Mama to see. I didn’t get the milking pail, I used my mouth for the milking pail and so I just stuck the milk right into my mouth. How I got the milk out was the nipples were dry so I couldn’t get it out so easy. I pushed on the udder, and then squeezed the teat so it squirted into my mouth. I got a LOT of milk. Joel and Mo got a taste because I squirted some into Joel’s face and I squirted some into Mo’s mouth. She was chewing, and I got it right when she opened her mouth, so I got it right at the right time. The milk was warm and YUMMY!”
This is quite an adventure for parents’ to hear about from their 5-year-old daughter. At least her mom can laugh, since all’s well that ends well. Too bad nobody saw this, because I wish we had a picture!
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