Farmer's markets, local farm newspapers and journals, your nearest family farm and feed stores area veterinarians. All of these will know the local folks in agriculture. But also, and this may be your most robust source of information, is your county Extension Office. The Extension office is the outpost for the Big AG university for your state. They provide huge support for family farms and offer soil testing, water testing, horticulture expertise, local climate and ecology information. Most everyone in your county who is raising food for humans will be well acquainted with the extension. In addition, if you are inspired to support budding farmers with 4H and FFA, they will know all the kids involved in this because those kids report to their agricultural committees for accountability for health codes, market practices, etc. You can tell them the parameters of what you are seeking, and they can tell you who is providing that service. Certified organic, Conventional, GMO, no GMO, conventional but with some organic practices (getting organic certification is bizarrely expensive and many growers will not pursue it but are also not using herbicides and insecticides or feed with growth hormones, and such), hydroponic, greenhouse, ...they have the skinny. Well, at least mine does and that is typical in Michigan because AG is big here and Michigan State University is very robust in their support of their outpost offices. I suppose some states may not be as good.

Also, I do know many moms who do work while also homeschooling at the high school level by moving their kids to community college classes online or in person if old enough to drive, and then have some electives that hit they manage, grade, answer questions evenings and weekends etc. but are self I study for many assignments because high school students can be more independent with non-technical things like art history, many of the social sciences, etc. There are a lot of resources out there. The main thing is to have strong instruction for foreign language (and often times that is best being outsourced to a college anyway), math, math intensive sciences like chemistry and physics, and English writing. Even if you did part time to help saving money for the inevitable move, it makes it easier to move into full time work once she starts college because you have recent work experience on your resume`. The hard thing can be working out extra curriculars, but maybe dh can help with the driving for that or a family friend or another parent involved with the extra curricular.

It should have two baby outfits to show you. BUT, when I went into my stash of bias tape, and thread, I didn't have the right colors!! 😯😢😵 So I do have more fabric for the babies to show off. My hope is though this coming week will be busy, I will have two baby outfits done by the end of it. My goal is to make 12-16 outfits, 8 for each baby. Then I want to get some corduroy for fall/winter, and make them 6-9mos size pants/leggings, and some polar fleece jackets. The honeybees look light tan in the photo, but the background fabric is actually pale yellow.

Please know that I have great respect for you and your husband! This is a bizarrely bad time in our nation to be a farmer. This profession is being gutted by horrible agricultural policies, subsidies for the wrong places, the wrong people, and utter lack of support for the very costly changes that family farms need to make in order to continue to feed the planet in a evermore difficult environment. Many hugs!

This. If she has dementia, and fil has the medical POA, forcing her into a car against fil will is literally kidnapping in the U.S. I faced the same thing with my family when my father needed to be in a facility because my health and my mother's were in the utter toilet taking care of him. But mom had P.O.A once he was fairly non communicative with his cancer. I had zero rights in the matter, and my brother, the golden child, was controlling the strings. The only thing I could do was save myself, my marriage, and my health which at that point was tanking rapidly from dealing with the ongoing disaster.

Saturday: Posting early. I know what we are having for dinner because Mark is making it. Breakfast: Epic coffee addiction satisfied. Orange juice, boiled egg. Lunch: more yummy hummus and veggie sticks, lots of them. For some reason, that hummus just really hits the spot lately. No snack. Trying not to snack. If I can't make it, I will eat one small square of dark chocolate, and will myself to leave the kitchen. Dinner: Mark is making his divine Caputo Zero GF pizza dough. I have homemade pizza sauce, and it will be topped with fresh mozzarella, feta, mushrooms (lots of mushrooms), green pepper, green onion, shredded spinach, and black olives on his side, oh and fresh basil leaves. It makes about a 7" pizza and because it is so healthy, we don't worry about eating the whole thing. 😁 Lemon selzer water as well as plain water throughout the day. Be proud of me. I did not make an afternoon pot of coffee!

Mark found a dozen organic eggs for $5.99 at the closest grocery store here since we use quite a few eggs. We have cut way back on meat, so we tend to eat boiled and scrambled eggs regularly. They had signs up that folks could only take one dozen per household (not enforceable so they may as just say one per customer at the checkout and hope people aren't there with teenagers and sending multiple individuals through the line). Two stores in the county are out. Wal-Mart is limiting egg purchases as well.

I am so sorry! Hugs hugs hugs

Household scale can vary by up to 5 lbs and a trainer once told me that if the floor is not perfectly flat, any slope at all, and the sensors can go wonky. Even medical scales in facilities need to be recalibrated regular due to wear and tear, but home scales never are so it isn't surprising.

I am so sorry about that burn. Ugh! I hope it heals quickly.

Breakfast: boiled egg and later some orange juice I haven't been putting the obvious coffee addiction on my daily report because I assumed after all these years, you all know that the day give up caffeine I am no longer breathing. 😂 So just assume every day is two mugs in the morning and two in the afternoon. Lunch - I was craving hummus. Hummus, carrot, red pepper, and celery sticks plus a few gf pretzels. One tangelo. Supper - Italian soup (home canned tomatoes, fresh onions, garlic, basil and oregano plus just a little bit of sugar and some salt) with ricotta and parmesan dumplings. Absolutely delicious! We had big salads because I scored a nice container of spring greens. If I get munchy later, I will have some more hummus, but I honestly thing supper was so filling that it won't happen.

Mark: "I need to get in shape for kayaking too. I guess I will do what you are doing and 20 or 30 more reps than you do with the 10 lb bell." Me: "Okie dokie, babe!" Someone who shall not be named that is not me is in the bathtub soaking his aching body. Sure, I may only be doing 15 crunches, but a dude at 58 that hasn't done sits ups or crunches since college and has a desk job, might want to consider starting a little slower. Just saying. 😁😁😁 She who shall not be named feels stretched, and the arms are a little achy and can tell she has worked out, but also is not moaning and groaning from the bathroom and asking where the Epsom salts and Icy Hot are.

Ouch! That is just down right unaffordable. Sorry it didn't go well at dad's house. Maybe between friends and other family like aunts and cousins you could not stay at your dad's too often. Ugh. If there is a contest for "most toxic ex husbands", yours could definitely make a run for the trophy.

Look what I bought! Our honorary daughter is having a baby girl, and we are to baby A, Marmee and Pops, so I am having fun with the idea of having her to sew for, and cannot help myself. I have an online order being delivered tomorrow with three or four prints for her. I am making sundress tops with little shorts for summer. Baby is due in late April which can be chilly here, so I making them in 3 months size which should be perfect for when it is hot. But I am making one newborn size and a little fleece cardigan to go with it, and little flannel pants so she can swap out the shorts if it is cold.

He isn't coming. Who knows why, but I doubt you will ever have him come. If he has health problems, and is looking at having to do something else for a living or retire, he may not care about the stuff. It tends to sell for pennies on the dollar at auction when a business goes under, and might not be worth paying someone to get it. I am rooting on the guy who took it apart getting to keep it.

Probably not for Australia. I am looking at data for the U.S. and for the varieties grown. Here in Michigan, there is a LOT of irrigation for corn in particular. Winter wheat tends to be just fine. Again, I have been looking at agricultural articles and alerts from extension offices (these would be satellite offices of our big AG universities), USDA, and farm journals. None of them cover anything for other countries though they do note some worldwide crises, though not a lot.

Yes, I think people assume that all of the inflation issues have been related to shipping or higher wages. However, there are other more pressing issues causing this. I am so worried about Lake Mead and the Colorado River this year. Frankly, also worried about the Platte Nebraska/Colorado. I don't know how much longer super thirsty crops and cows can be raised. A lactating dairy cow needs 30 gallons of water per day and would drink upwards of 50 if provided. One cow. Dairy farmers are struggling here, big time, and Lake Michigan and Lake Huron lost 7 trillion gallons this past year, and lake levels are down 9 inches. Lake Superior gained, but the answer is not to have a bunch of massive dairy herds in the U.P. because there isn't much for good grazing so hay would have to be imported. Plus, the U.P. is an ecological heaven that needs to be left alone. Dairy and beef cattle farms would upend its environment in a devastating way. And still, even with the water loss, Michigan is not in bad shape, water wise. But, of course, if we don't buckle down and tackle some issues, it won't stay that way for long. 22% of the world's potable water must be treated with the utmost respect...staring directly at Tyco in Green Bay for its current 2.5 mile wide sledge of PFA's it released into Lake Michigan. 😠😠😠

Things discovered: A 2 lb hand bell weighs more than you think when you are out of shape, and so arms are very sore. Too sore really. A little sore is fine, but this is in the "body barking at you to seriously be more careful" range so I am backing off to the 1lb barbell for two weeks, and then will try the 2lb again. I am willing to admit I am a weakling!

What about meeting in a neutral place, maybe a museum, park, Christmas market etc, for two hours prior to the holiday, no food involved? Just no food. She has so much apprehension and anxiety about entertaining, and then the ridiculous control issues over everyone's food consumption, as well as many other control problems, that taking food and her home completely out of the equation seems like a good idea. If she refuses to do it, that is on her. You don't have to acquiesce to her crazy demands. Your family and your sister can then adjust and do what you want such as meet at a restaurant or whatever and don't tell her. You tried to accommodate her in a way that won't make everyone else miserable, she declined, so you made alternative plans which are NOT her business at that point.

I was going off of three agricultural articles on the summer subject. One was a couple of months ago on CNN, but the other two were from the USDA, and our extension office - very knowledgeable sources. I think of course the usual distribution and shipping issues also come into play.

Water. California is the big producer for year round tomatoes. We have seasonal tomatoes readily available in the Great Lakes region, but not from late October -June except for the greenhouse grown ones. California is in a decade long drought, and water rationing for irrigation is getting worse and worse. Tomatoes, like most vegetables, are very water thirsty crops, and few drought resistant varieties exist that are also sauce or paste tomatoes. Many farmers simply cannot irrigate enough to make tomatoes even remotely profitable for what they get paid for them. They also have to look at the future of water supply in California given that the Colorado River is in catastrophic water crisis, and every drop of water is becoming more and more valuable. Converting to planting low water consuming crops makes sense for them. This will get worse before it gets better unless this nation decides to play hardball on climate change. It means mass conversion away from lawns and to edible landscaping, high nitrogen producing, carbon sequestering yards, conserving water for agriculture, eliminating insane practices like farming the desert with avocados and strawberries, convert irrigation to drip and water wicking systems, reduce the consumption of beef and dairy - cows require a LOT of water plus the irrigation of fields for their food - reduce water use for manufacturing, and about 100 other things. The environment will force these changes. People will simply adjust their diets to what is available and affordable. I am increasing the number of raised beds here, and will be trying a water wicking system this year. I am in the Great Lakes region, and on a deep well. So I personally do not have water issues. But, I am fascinates by the science behind water conservation and new ways of irrigation. If it works, I will be able to be gone a week at a time, and my vegetables will have all the moisture they need on a 50-80% reduction in water used, and no one will need to babysit it while I am camping, sailing, and kayaking which I find appealing and convenient.

I expect the canned tomato product issue to become even more pronounced in the next six months with so many farmers in California reducing or eliminating tomato crops.

Bought these yesterday. Way too soon to even think about starting plants indoors. I probably won't even consider that until April 1st. But I couldn't help myself.

Duck eggs make for some pretty great baking results! I love ducks. Our kids and bantam, Call and Australian Calls. Beautiful, just gorgeous ducks. I loved their low voice quacking, and they were very tame and would follow our sons around when they were out of their duck tractors. We had an index pool for them, and nearly every day in the summers, they were allowed out to swim. Happy ducks. The eggs were great. But as the boys got older and honed in on rocketry, metal working, and ecology, they worked less and less with the ducks so eventually they were gifted to another 4H family.

The quality of fresh produce here is very iffy. I have one good source, and that is the Mennonite bulk food supermarket. There are several local producers with greenhouses contracted to provide for them during the winter. The lettuce/salad greens are still not plentiful, but the carrots, celery, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, peppers, cucumbers, green onions (though I am currently growing my own indoors), fresh herbs, radishes, and berries are all really nice and affordable. It is the only place I buy produce now. I can't say about the quality of their tomatoes because we are using my dehydrated cherry tomatoes on our salads and tacos. Michigan apples are still being sold by the half peck and peck. It must have been a great year for apples because the supply is plentiful. I bought another half peck to run through the dehydrator since our sons drained me of apple chips and Mark was feeling sad. He loves them. I have seen two supermarkets actually out of common, frozen vegetables, and I suspect that this is because their own produce section is low stock and in poor condition so more people are buying frozen instead, or are trimming their food budgets to not include so much fresh. Chicken is hit and miss. Eggs are low supply and very expensive. I am also struggling to find cod loins and perch. We are trying to eat more seafood, and I have to say, the warming oceans and lakes is wrecking havoc on seafood supply. Another oddity, but off topic of food, is that Mark can no longer get 1/4" ply in cherry or maple for his woodworking. He can get oak and birch, but every single supplier is trying to sell warped, damaged ply (and he has to have nice stuff for the cabinetry work he is doing) at all time high prices. I don't know if this is because of the wildfires and harvesting is down, a delivery/shipping issue, or what. I should do some research on that. I have been reading about how food consumption will be forced to change significantly due to climate change, warming oceans, droughts. The bulk of diets will eventually have to be grains and legumes because they are low water consumers, and not grains like oats and wheat, but quinoa, and corn, and legumes that are low consumers like lima beans and chick peas. All the other legumes are big water thirsty crops. The only vegetables that are drought resistant and reasonable water consumers are radishes, okra, and mustard greens. Unless production is shifted from row crops outside, to greenhouses indoors using new technology that conserves huge amounts of water, our children and their children are going to see lean food times in their lives. The top five crops that should not be grown are almonds in California, strawberries and avocados (often from Arizona and why in the heck are we draining Lake Mead and the Colorado river to irrigate a DESERT to grow them?????), sugarcane from anywhere in the world, and bananas from anywhere. I was shocked to find out how much water sugarcane consumes. I wonder what the health of future generations will look like with such limited diets. We talk a lot on here about the American diet and all the things wrong with it, but an entire world on such limits is an epic disaster. Tomatoes may get scarce, in all likelihood, next summer and fall. It is a water thirsty plant, and farmers in California have announced they are reducing their tomato crops by 25-75% depending on the farmer with some also growing zero for 2023. Another pivot was to convert from citrus groves to vineyards because grapes require 25-30% less water. I think eating habits will have to shift. I do have hope that California will continue to get more rain and snow. I know it is hard because soil erosion due to wildfires means they deal with flooding and mudslides, but they need it so badly, and the nation is rather dependent on California and even Oregon for vegetable and fruit production. The snow pack is at about 174% which sounds great, but in the past decade they have often been at that point by the beginning of January only to get nothing from Jan - March, and then end up in drought conditions again. They need precipitation to continue for the next three months in order to get enough to fill aquifers and resevoirs. Carrie, have you done any research into agriculture laws in your state? Michigan, as it turns out, has something baked into our constitution about not prohibiting private citizens from raising food on their property. Several years ago there was a guy who wanted back yard chickens and edible landscaping at his house in the burbs of, if memory serves, Northern Detroit, and the HOA went bananas about it so he consulted an attorney with experience within the farming community. He successfully sued his HOA and won under this law. I can't remember what the actual statute says. Anyway, he has backyard chickens and landscaping. He agreed to no roosters, and zoning was allowed to limit the number of birds according to the square footage of the property for the well being of the birds and because of health code laws about management of manure. I think he ended up with four hens. Our township can only limit roosters within town limits under noise ordinances (which is just hilarious because there are neighbors here who run power tools at 6 am in the summer 🙄), and for the sake of larger critters, establish a minimum land/grazing requirement. So we don't have any sheep or goats in town now, no horses or cows. But just outside of town, right on the very edge of the town limit, there is a guy with a milk cow and mini donkey. So that means he is always also growing out a steer or heifer, and for some folks it is a real source of angst because they don't like it so close to town. My concern is he keeps them on five acres, and the paddock is small so they eat mostly hay. I feel that not having proper spring/summer/fall grazing is not healthy for his animals. But I guess legally it is okay.