July 2024 The Oasis Farm Report
Officially Made in Montana
3031 MILES!
We Made It!
We proudly announce the new home of The Oasis Farm,
MONTANA!
The last few years have been a test of strength, fortitude, movement, stagnation, struggles, resolutions, understanding, and acceptance. Yes, I could list many more descriptive words and in some ways, you might get a general idea, but honestly, it’s hard to know what another feels even when descriptive words are used.
Suffice it to say…it’s been a Metric Sh*t Ton of A LOT!
When asked how or what we were up to, we would laugh and tell others we were LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) through our day, slaying bosses and leveling up. We did this to put a more positive spin on the insanity we were living with.
When the decision was made that we needed to make yet another move we took the time to do a bit of due diligence. We made a list of all contiguous states and what affects our lives. As we researched each state and how they address each of the items on our list, anything that didn’t align we would mark that state off the list.
Of, course some things did not quite fit our style but these were not make or break it on the list…Items 1-10 were absolutes, while anything after that was negotiable. No place would ever be absolutely 100%, but deciding which hills are worth the effort and which are not is life.
In the end, our list was narrowed down to 3 states. Vermont, New Hampshire, and Montana. We looked into Vermont, but the East Coast was just too much of a leap so Montana became our focus. (This made me extra happy as I’ve lived in the state previously and always wanted to be back and there are grandbabies here).
We pulled out for the first leg of our trip on May 29, 2024, at 5:00 pm (it was almost 90° with triple digits on the horizon) and made it to a beautiful rest stop in Oregon where we stayed for the night (sleeping in Turbo). Leaving at 6:00 am the next morning we drove until we arrived in Charlo, Montana at 11:30 pm. (It was dark so no pics but this is what we awoke to the next morning.)
The entire 1st day was spent weed-eating so that the animal’s fencing could be strung. Remember that 90° I mentioned…Notice the layers. What a change.
We had been telling everyone (the animals) that there would be green pasture literally at the finish line and look here it is.
On our first full day in Charlo we enjoyed a wonderful burger at the Branding Iron Bar & Grill in Charlo with Terry one of the owners at Turtlehead Farm our newest Community Partner. Super Yummy, Great Service, Wonderful Atmosphere.
We also saw a few things we had not seen previously, but now get to on the daily.
With the animals set and Salina staying with the animals we headed back out on the 1st of June to grab our last load, Persephone our travel trailer (current home).
Knowing that certain routes were not going to be good for pulling on the way back up, we took those routes on the way back to California. (Great reason to see more of this beautiful country)
We traveled through Lolo into Idaho. The views are breathtaking, and I was so glad to share this with Brandy. Having traveled these routes multiple times before I had regaled her with things I knew and had seen.
Riggins for example, was something I had described to her, but as we came through and I realized it was the start of tourist season she got to experience firsthand what it is to see Riggins in all its glory.
We arrived back in California late afternoon on Sunday (June 2nd) to fantastic friends, hot showers, good food, fun conversations, and most importantly our bed. We left again Tuesday at 6:00 am having taken a day to do vehicle upkeep (oil and fluids change, a good wash, packing up, etc) and personal upkeep (sleep).
We tried to snap pictures of things we most likely won’t see again. There would be more if we were better on-the-go picture takers.
We saw some fun things along the way, while others in the truck didn’t. LOL
We were told of an alternate route for pulling into Charlo that would be easier on the truck. Armed with the option of a new route we saw even more country as we went up through Sand Point, Idaho, and down into Montana.
This route finished out our Wild Game/other things Crossing Signs as we were able to add Big Horn Sheep to the list we had compiled during our journey.
{Antelope - Bear - Big Horn Sheep - Buffalo/Bison - Cow (they are large & there were signs) - Deer - Elk (a picture & written “ELK”) - Moose}
We arrived officially at our new address with our home in tow at 6:30 pm on June 5th.
3031 miles later we are settling in nicely and have added souls to our population count. Kids and grandkids have stayed for a weekend. We’ve implemented new infrastructure and toodled back roads (see Found on the Farm). We are in our happy place and when that happens we are unstoppable.
As you read through the July Fun 411 below I encourage you to pick a few of the “Days” throughout the month that make you smile or even smirk and celebrate the day.
Have fun, be fun, and encourage fun.
Side Note:
If you’re having a tough time figuring out how to answer that dreaded question (moms know this one), many days below celebrate some food or ingredient (noted by bold & italics). Pick a couple that inspire you and use them to help plan your meal.
Let the calendar help answer that dreaded question for you.
July Fun 411:
Flower: Larkspur, Water Lily
Birthstone: Ruby (Contentment)
7-1
Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day
International Chicken Wing Day
International Joke Day
Image Courtesy of clipart-library.com
7-2
World UFO Day
I Forgot Day
7-3
Compliment Your Mirror Day
Eat Beans Day
Stay Out of the Sun Day
7-4
Independence Day
Image Courtesy of clipart-library.com National Country Music Day
Sidewalk Egg Frying Day
7-5
New Moon
National Apple Turnover Day
International Bikini Day
7-6
International Kissing Day
International Cherry Pit Spitting Day
National Fried Chicken Day
7-7
Build a Scarecrow Day
Image Courtesy of clipart-library.com Chocolate Day
National Strawberry Sundae Day
7-8
National Blueberry Day
Body Painting Day
Video Games Day
7-9
National Sugar Cookie Day
National Dimples Day
7-10
Pick Blueberries Day
Pina Colada Day
Teddy Bear Picnic Day
Image Courtesy of clipart-library.com
7-11
Make Your Own Sundae Day
National Blueberry Muffin Day
Cheer Up The Lonely Day
7-12
Pecan Pie Day
World Kebab Day
National Motorcycle Day
Image Courtesy of clipart-library.com Different Colored Eyes Day
7-13
Oxymoron Day
Fool’s Paradise Day
National French Fries Day
Embrace Your Geekness Day
7-14
National Macaroni & Cheese Day
National Nude Day
Pandemonium Day
7-15
Cow Appreciation Day
Image Courtesy of clipart-library.com Be A Dork Day (Be your a-dork-able self)
Gummi Worm Day
Tapioca Pudding Day
7-16
Fresh Spinach Day
7-17
National Hot Dog Day
Peach Ice Cream Day
Yellow Pig Day
World Emoji Day
7-18
National Caviar Day
World Listening Day
7-19
National Daiquiri Day
National Raspberry Cake Day
7-20
National Ice Cream Soda Day
National Lollipop Day
National Moon Day
Ugly Truck Day
7-21
FULL BUCK MOON
Image Courtesy of almanac.com National Ice Cream Day
National Junk Food Day
National Be Someone Day
7-22
Hammock Day
7-23
Vanilla Ice Cream Day
Picnic Table Day
7-24
Tell An Old Joke Day (Dad Jokes & Chicken Jokes are my favorite)
Cousins Day
National Tequilla Day
International Self-Care Day
7-25
National Chili Dog Day
Culinarians Day
Threading the Needle Day
7-26
All or Nothing Day
Aunt & Uncle Day
Summer Olympics 2024 Begins
Image Courtesy of clipart-library.com
7-27
National Love is Kind Day
Walk on Stilts Day
Take Your Pants For a Walk Day
7-28
National Milk Chocolate Day
Parent’s Day
National Waterpark Day
7-29
National Chicken Wing Day
National Lasagna Day
International Tiger Day
7-30
National Cheesecake Day
International Day of Friendship
Paperback Book Day
7-31
National Watermelon Day
National Avocado Day
For the Month:
Weekly:
Week 2 - Nude Recreation Week
3rd Full Week - Capture the Sunset Week
Sunset over Ninepipe Reservoir
Month Long:
National Blueberry Month
National Grilling Month
National Hot Dog Month
National Ice Cream Month
National Park & Recreation Month
National Picnic Month
National Watermelon Month
Prochnost (Strength) & Slàinte Mhath (Good Health), from the Oasis
La Vita e’ Bella, M.o.M. (Mistress of the Manor)
The Oasis Farm Population +/- 53
Caretakers: 3
Cats: 4
Chickens: +/- 31
Cows Beef: 0
Cows Dairy: 0
Dogs: 3
Goats: 3
Pigs: 0
Quail: 0
Rabbits +/- 3
Sheep: 3
Turkeys: 3
Let us know if you have something and are interested in gifting, bartering, trading, or selling.
There are so many items needed on diversified farms such as ours.
Building a relationship with your local farmer is one more way to know more about your food while helping to keep small farms like ours viable.
It will be a win-win!
Thank you in advance for your attention and participation.
-Fencing
-Egg Fridge
-Hay &/or Grain Feeders
-Painted Desert Ewe/Ewe Lamb (looking to diversify genetics)
Employee of the Month…
Big Momma
She is strong and sturdy and raises babies like no other. Her look says it all.
Please Help Us Welcome…
Princess Aurora and Princess Sabine are Prince Phillip’s new goat-friends. Aurora is in milk and giving us a quart a day. She is sweet and gentle and fits in perfectly.
Moveable Chicken Tractor
Making maintenance of life easy one tractor at a time.
Stretching Wings
I was able to catch a video of one of the swans taking a daily spin around the area. You can hear the trumpet call and Nick’s (The Tom Turkey) response.
Eggs
$5.00/dozen, $7.00/18 pack
Veterans pricing: $4.00/dozen, $6.00/18 pack
-Pick-up and Delivery by pre-arrangement or find them at the Farm Store on Gunlock Road in Charlo, MT.
Chirping Cricket Calculations
How hot or cold is it where you are?
Listen close and the crickets can tell you.
It’s true!
If you know just a few things and can count, then you too can calculate the temperature. Learn this little skill and you can amaze and astound your family and friends.
Using crickets as a thermometer is based on research by a man named Amos Dolbear.
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has a very easy-to-follow educational article titled…
Can crickets tell the temperature? The answer is in their chirp!
In this article, you learn not only about Dolbear’s Law, but they have a wonderful, easy-to-follow experiment to practice finding the temperature in your area.
Almanac.com has a wonderful article titled…
Cracking the Cricket Code: Chirps to Temperature (°F & °C!)
There is a lot of great information along with a general calculation for estimating the temperature using the chirps of crickets.
More About Crickets…
After learning about how to estimate the temperature based on the chirps of crickets I began to wonder how many species of crickets are there. Oh, my goodness was this a Rabbit Holing adventure!
Did You Know:
Crickets are part of the Gryllidae family of insects.
There are over 900 species of crickets.
Only the male of the species chirps.
Some insects have “cricket” in their name, and they are NOT crickets. One example is the Jerusalem Cricket also known as the Potatoe Bug. :o
You can breed certain species of cricket to sell as feeder crickets. This information can be found at…keepingbugs.com. Maybe if you like crickets you can start a little side business selling bait to the fishermen. Check out their article…
How Do You Breed Feeder Crickets Successfully (Practical How-To Guide)
A few other great articles about crickets are…
How to Identify Different Types of Crickets: A Friendly Guide to Their Diversity from bugdomain.com
11 Different Types of Crickets from animalshq.com
19 Types of Crickets: Easy Identification Guide with Pictures from worstroom.com
Different Types of Crickets from animalwised.com
14 Types of Crickets from wildlifeboss.com
Remember crickets are kind of cool and potato bugs aren’t bad guys.
Veggies to the Left - Veggies to the Right
Let’s put up some veggies.
When your harvest starts to runeth over it’s time to find creative ways to use the abundance.
Here are a couple of great options.
Summer Squash Pickles found on almanac.com
Preparing the Vegetables
Ingredients
10 cups squash, thinly sliced (no need to peel)
2 cups thinly sliced onions
2 cups thinly sliced green pepper
1 large jar pimento, diced
2/3 cup salt
Instructions
Soak squash, onions, and green pepper in 2 quarts of salted water for 2 hours.
Drain.
Syrup
Ingredients
3 cups sugar
2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 tsp celery seed
2 tsp mustard seed
Instructions
Combine syrup ingredients and bring to a boil.
Drop drained squash, onion, green pepper, and pimento into the syrup but don’t cook. Mix well.
Put the mix into hot sterilized jars and cover with syrup. Process in water bath for 15 minutes.
I gave you the summer squash recipe first so that you can see that it is interchangeable with the ever abundant zucchini.
I love bread & butter pickles and there are many recipes using zucchini rather than cucumbers. Most of the recipes require hot water bathing processing and one is for a quick refrigerator version. I’ve listed them below with links.
Zucchini Bread & Butter Pickles from homesteadingwhereyouare.com
Bread and Butter Zucchini Pickles Recipe from creativecanning.com
Zucchini bread and butter pickles from healthycanning.com
Bread & Butter Zucchini Pickles from afamilyfeast.com
Quick Bread and Butter Zucchini Pickles from montanahappy.com
Or how about
Zucchini Marmalade from practicleselfreliance.com
INGREDIENTS
2 cups shredded zucchini
2 lemons
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
2” piece of fresh ginger
INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare jars and a water bath canner (if canning).
Use a sharp paring knife to peel off the outside of the lemon peel. Just the yellow part, leaving the white pith behind, but saving it for the next step. Slice the lemon zest/peel pieces into thin strips.
Juice the lemons, saving the seeds to the side, but keeping as much pulp as possible with the juice. Dice the white pith from the lemons as well, but keep all the parts separate.
Take the lemon seeds and diced up white pith and place them in 2 cups water in a jam pot. Simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes. (The volume will reduce dramatically, but be careful not to let it boil dry. During the simmer, the water will thicken as it extracts pectin from the citrus seeds and pith. In the end, you should have roughly 1/2 cup thickened gel.)
Remove pith and seeds with a slotted spoon, leaving just the roughly 1/2 cup pectin water in the jam pot.
Add in all the lemon juice, pulp, and zest strips. At this point, all the lemon should have been incorporated into the recipe, but the seeds and pith do not remain in the final zucchini jam.
Add in the sugar, minced ginger, and zucchini. (If you'd like a milder jam, use less ginger or omit it altogether.)
Turn the heat up to high and boil rapidly for about 10 minutes until the mixture reaches gel stage (220 degrees F). Test the mixture with a digital thermometer, or on a plate that's been chilled in the freezer.
Pour the finished zucchini marmalade into canning jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
Cap with 2 part canning lids and either store in the refrigerator for immediate use, or process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.
NOTES
If canned properly, this jam will be shelf-stable and should last at least 12-18 months in the pantry. As a refrigerator jam, the jars will last a few weeks in the refrigerator.
Always refrigerate jams after opening.
-OR-
Zucchini Relish Recipe for Canning from creativecanning.com
INGREDIENTS
2 cups zucchini, diced (about 3 medium)
1 cup onion, diced (about 1 medium)
1 cup red bell pepper, diced (about 2 small or 1 large)
2 Tablespoons Salt (pickling and canning salt, or kosher salt)
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons celery seed (whole)
1 teaspoon mustard seed (whole)
1 cup cider vinegar (5% acidity)
Pickle Crisp Granules (optional, helps veggies stay firm after canning)
INSTRUCTIONS
Wash vegetables.
Remove stem and blossom ends from zucchini and dice into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces. Measure 2 cups.
Peel and dice onion. Measure 1 cup.
Stem and seed peppers, then dice. Measure 1 cup.
Important, don't skip this step! Combine diced vegetables in a large bowl and sprinkle salt over the top. Stir gently to distribute the salt, then add water until vegetables are completely submerged. Allow the vegetables to soak in the saltwater for 2 hours, then drain completely.
Prepare a water bath canner (optional, only if canning).
In a separate saucepan or stockpot, bring vinegar, sugar, and spices to a gentle simmer (180 degrees F). Do not add salt, the salt is only used to soak veggies before draining.
Add drained vegetables to the simmering vinegar/spices and gently simmer for 10 minutes.
Pack hot relish into prepared half-pint or pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
If not canning, just seal jars and allow them to cool on the counter before storing in the refrigerator.
If canning, de-bubble jars, wipe rims, and adjust headspace to ensure 1/2 inch. Seal with 2 part canning lids.
Process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat. Allow the jars to sit in the canner for another 5 minutes to cool slightly, then remove the jars to cool on a towel on the counter.
Leave the jars undisturbed for 24 hours, then check seals. Store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator for immediate use. Properly canned and sealed jars should maintain peak quality on the pantry shelf for
12-18 months.
NOTES
Be sure to use pickling and canning salt, or kosher salt without additives. Iodized table salt has anti-caking agents added and it doesn't work well for canning.
If you're not familiar with water bath canning, I'd strongly recommend reading this beginner's guide to water bath canning before beginning.
Bug Off!!!
Homemade Repellent
This is the season of outdoor activities. It’s the time to be out in nature enjoying the great out-of-doors, camping, visiting the lake, backyard barbecues, and MOSQUITOS!
I know mosquitos aren’t something you enjoy about being outside. They just are outside. The nasty little creatures love to be simply annoying, buzzing, biting, and possibly carrying nasty sickness.
What’s worse is that the majority of options for keeping the nasty little creatures at bay are just not good for you.
When we think of our major body organs we oftentimes forget the biggest one, our skin. Skin is not a solid barrier, it is absorbent, and things get through. When you spray mosquito repellent that contains chemicals onto your skin it is then absorbed through your skin and into your body.
We are a family of extreme chemical sensitivity and have found that the popular mosquito repellants, even those deemed “safe for kids”, are just not good for us.
We chose a better option. Do It Ourselves.
The things to know about making your own version of NO Deeter Skeeter Spray (a version I used to sell in our store)…
Many of the ingredients you probably have on hand. If not they are easy to find and usually inexpensive to purchase.
There are many different recipes to be found.
When using either essential oils or herbs you can create your own blend or multiple blends.
Making multiple versions to fit your family’s needs is more cost-effective.
I have found a few great articles with included recipes from sites I follow regularly. The ingredients are all basically the same with subtle differences in recipes.
These are a wonderful jumping-off point for you to start creating safe insect repellent that you will feel good about putting on yourself and your loved ones.
I am intentionally not putting a recipe here. I believe it is best if you look at the different recipe options and choose accordingly. I don’t know what you have in your stash and I don’t want you getting the impression that you must specifically use what I shared.
Check out the options below and let your wild heart run. If you create something that you would be willing to share please do so by hitting the comment button.
Almanac.com - Stop Bugging Me! Recipes for 4 Homemade Bug Repellents for Your Skin
athomeontheprairie.com - DIY Essential Oil Bug Spray: Effective Natural Repellent Recipe
wellnessmama.com - Natural Bug Repellent Recipes That Work!
gudgear.com - 14 Homemade Insect Repellent Recipes (That Actually Work!)
getgreenbewell.com - Homemade Bug Repellant for Skin: DIY Mosquito Spray
Community Partners
Please join us in welcoming our newest partner,
Turtlehead Farm, Charlo, Montana.
This wonderful farm currently offers eggs, seasonal produce, cut flowers, and multiple types of art. They offer Harvest Host space (membership with Harvest Host required) as well as HipCamp spots.
They can be found showing off and selling their wares at local farmer’s markets and craft-type events often finding Shawn (co-owner) creating caricatures for customers right on the spot.
THANK YOU to Salina at Artistic Wonders for the wonderful Graphic Art.
If you require art of any sort, give her a shout at:
artisticwonderscreates@gmail.com
I'm so damned proud of y'all!! This made my eyes leak! ❤️❤️❤️