Learning how to Garden... Garlic

I found this website http://www.hawkeyegarlic.com/store/faqIndexWs.asp that is local snd am really excited to get to do something to my new garden already!

Q: Planting Guide
What do I need to know to plant my own garlic?

A: * Plant between September 15 and November 30...after the first light frost.

* Garlic likes loose rich soil with lots of organic matter to provide good drainage.

* Plant the largest cloves to grow the largest bulbs. Leave the outer skin on the bulbs and do not seperate the cloves from the bulb until you are ready to plant.

* Plant the colves root end down, pointed end up, 6-8" apart. Cover with 2" of soil and a 6" layer of mulch. Do not remove mulch in the spring; it help control weeds and preserve moisture.

* "Scapes" are the curly stems that often form as the garlic matures. Cut or break them off after they are 10" long- they will inhibit bulb growth if allowed to grow, and they are good in soups and stirfrys.

* Harvest after leaf die-back begins and there are still five green leaves remaining on the plant-sometime in June or early July. Do not wait too long or the bulbs will begin to separate in the ground.

* Do not bang the garlic against a hard object or each other. It will bruise. Tie in a bundle of 6-10 and hang in a shaded, dry, well-ventilated shed or garage. Leave hanging for 4-6 weeks.

* After thoroughtly drying, trim off the roots and cut the stalks off about 1 1/2 in above the bulb. Store in net bags - old onion bags are good.

Calendar

Did you that infact Christians go to church on the first day of the week???

I just learned on Saturday that there is another calendar out there!! We use the Gregorian calendar, but Christ used the Hebrew calendar, which is still being used!

I am in total awe.

The Sabbath is really on Saturday. I wonder how many people really know that?

More on this later, as I get more comfortable with the knowledge I am soaking up like a sponge.

Going to church and tything

I have been researching a lot lately and have discovered that there is actually no where in the Bible that says we must go to a physical church building. There is also nowhere that says we have to tythe. I posted this link on my Facebook account. I also asked for no comments on the subject, which everyone has either respected or they just have not wanted to expand their horizons. http://www.truthorfables.com/Tithe_Test.htm

I am so appauld that I as well as the rest of the people that attend church have been lied to. But it is our own fault. If we had been reading our Bibles the way we are supposed to, then we probably would have figured this out for ourselves.

The "church" is where 2 or more are gathered in his name, not a specific place. And also "Moses' Law" for tything is not in effect anymore, since Christ died for us.

It is amazing what Preachers and Priests get away with, especially from our government, who do not take taxes out of thier take home pay. People don't seem to realize that churches are businesses. Why do you think that there are at least 5 back to back pages of them in the yellow pages?

The different denominations are just different ways that they decide to interpret the Word, so that there are many choices out there. If you go and don't like what they are preaching, there is always another church less than 5 minutes down the road that you can go to, until you hear something else you don't like.

Why not start reading the Bible yourself and not use any of the Bible study guides out there, and use your God-given family to discuss different passages that you don't quite understand. If you truly believe, then God will show you the answer you seek.

It is amazing what I am learning. I have never felt more comfortable in my life knowing what I do now. As I learn more, I hope to blog more often.

I also thought this was quite interesting...
http://www.truthorfables.com/Tithe_Trial_P_Jones.htm

Holidays

Why is it that on Christmas we spend most of our paychecks on junky toys that will be obsolete in a matter of years, tell our children that a magical man brings the presents that we ourselves bought with our hard earned money and also take the time to wrap? We also go out of our way to have our children sit on a man's lap at the mall, that we don't even know. We also decorate our houses with tons of junk that we complain every year that we "have" to put up, then we "have" to take it down! We are also not helping the environment any with all of the trees that are cut down each year, and also the tinsel and burned out lights that go straight to the landfills.

Why is it that on Easter we tell our children that a bunny lays eggs, but yet it is us that has to sneak away to hide them to create yet another illusion (lie) and also the fact that our hard earned money yet again goes to the Easter basket that is filled with so much junk food, that we then proceed to complain that our kids want so much junk food???

And why in the first place do we allow children to have so much junk food and toys in the first place?

Eric and I were talking about this in depth until almost 1:30 this morning. We think that Thanksgiving is fine, since it is a holiday to celebrate the fruits of our harvests, which we hope will be a huge harvest for our household next year. As for Easter and Christmas, we will not be celebrating. We will focus on teaching our children what they need to know about the Bible, instead of only focusing once a year on certain stories.

I know that we have been guilty of this, but a stop is being put to it right now. Family togetherness is much more important.

"Spring" Cleaning

Well, yesterday was an unexpected day that ended up getting a lot done around the house. We decided to go through everything and check expiration dates, which led to organizing the cabinets, getting everything out that we haven't used in quite a while and putting it in the storage room "baking section" (what I am calling it now). That led to cleaning out and organizing the hall closet and turning it into another pantry. After that Eric went outside and finished the raised bed boxes and cut out a shelf to hopefully finish the kitchen cabinets, so we can store the larger dry goods that we buy from BJ's.

I am very happy at what we accomplished.

Raw milk endevours

I am so excited about finding so many other people that love raw milk and whole foods! I am enjoying this new turn around for me.
We started in a herdshare 3 weeks ago and I have already made cottage cheese, yogurt and kefir!!! I think that I am going to stick with the kefir for a while though. The cottage cheese and yogurt were a little sour for my taste.

Anyway, here is another blog to get a free Le Creuset 6-Quart Stockpot. Can we say WOW???

http://www.cheeseslave.com/2010/09/09/giveaway-enter-to-win-a-le-creuset-stockpot-55-value/comment-page-10/#comment-69279