Monday, November 26, 2012

Poultry and the Corriente

Daddy and I are butchering a few chickens and turkeys at a time. The oldest birds are six months old and barely ready. Most will need a few weeks to put on more meat. The Barred Rocks seem to grow faster than the Orpingtons. So far it is taking us about 45 minutes a bird. With 30 chickens and six turkeys, I hope we can improve our time! Last month I dusted them all in diatomaceous earth to kill bugs. We aren't seeing bugs hopping around like we did with the first butchering, which makes the job much easier. I kept some of the pullets hatched by my hens last spring and they started laying about a month ago. The Phoenix chicks we bought last spring have turned out gorgeous, friendly birds. Although they are only half the weight of the other breeds, they are holding their own just fine, the two roosters even chasing the other chickens a bit. The three pullets are laying tiny white eggs. They all hop in and out of the 4 1/2' fence as they please. 

Our favorite beef is from the Corriente, a small breed descended from cattle brought to North America from Spain in the 15th century. Thought to be related to the larger Texas Longhorn, Corrientes come in every imaginable color. Today they are commonly used for rodeo events, particularly roping. In our area cattle used for rodeo practice at a private ranch typically get too tame to use at two to three years old, when the heifers are retired for breeding and the steers are butchered. From what I have seen steers average 600 or so pounds at this point. The market for Corrientes is strong, and this time it took me several weeks to locate some, but finally I found two steers at a great price. I know they haven't had antibiotics or shots, but the hay they were eating likely had chemicals in it, so I am keeping them around for a couple weeks giving them organic hay, as well as diatomaceous earth as a natural wormer before they go to the freezer. They are cute little guys and will even eat out of my hand. 




Tuesday, October 2, 2012

The Potato Crew

My potato digging crew, paid off in pumpkin pie. Thank you boys!

"What! Only a third of the way done?"



Sunday, September 23, 2012

Roasted Turkey


We had our first homegrown turkey for dinner- even though this was an older bird, it was better than anything we have ever gotten from the store!



Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Bitterroot Style Cornbread

2/3 cup butter
2 cups cornmeal (the best is freshly ground homegrown organic flint corn)
2 cups almond flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sea salt
1 1/2 cups water or milk
4 eggs
1/4 to 1/2 cup honey depending on how sweet you want it
1 tsp. vanilla

If you have time, soak the cornmeal and almond flour in the water or milk for several hours or overnight. Preheat the oven to 425. Place the butter in a 9x13 pan and put it in the oven as it heats. Whisk everything else together. Take the pan out of the oven and tilt it around so the butter coats the sides, then pour the excess into the batter and mix it in. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Pear Leather

An older couple from church gave us several boxes of pears from their orchard, so I've been busy making them into pear leather. They did not get sprayed this year so are smaller and have more bugs, but I'm happy not to have the pesticides and think it is well worth a little more work with a knife. Following Mama's recipe, I remove the bad spots and cores and put them in the food processor, skins on, with 1 T lemon juice and 1 1/2 T honey for every six cups of pears. I spread the puree out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and dry them in the warming oven set to low for about 48 hours. I take them out when they are still sticky, since they seem to harden more once they cool off. The leather makes a nice winter snack, if it stays around that long!

Winter Squash, Garlic, Chickens and Turkeys

After covering them for several frosts, I harvested about 75 pounds of pumpkins and acorn squash yesterday. Not much compared to last years 450 pounds, but still enough for lots of pumpkin pies this fall!

I sorted through the garlic I dug earlier in the summer, pulling out the best five pounds to replant for next year. I ended up with about twelve pounds for eating, plenty to get us through the winter.

Another hen hatched ten adorable chicks, bringing our total to 63. I've already sold several pullets to pay for feed. I think I have a buyer for the rest. We should get 30 young roosters for meat.

Friends helped us butcher our older three Bourbon Red turkeys last weekend. It was a little gross, but doing it with friends made it kind of fun! We have six youngsters left to butcher in November.


Saturday, September 8, 2012

Gluten Free Coconut Scones

Gluten Free Coconut Scones

1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup potato starch
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp xanthan or guar gum
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold butter
2 eggs
1 T. honey
1/3 cup cream or coconut milk
zest of a small orange
3/4 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup dried cranberries or 2/3 cup frozen blueberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 400. Put a baking stone in the oven to heat, or cover a cookie sheet with greased parchment paper. Mix dry ingredients and cut in butter. Add eggs, honey and cream or milk and blend well before stirring in orange zest, coconut and berries. Roll the dough into a ball and place on a little flour on a cutting board. Pat into a circle 3/4" thick and slice into eight triangles. Bake 10-12 minutes or until they start to turn golden brown.

Buttery Goodness

1/2 cup softened butter
1/3 cup raw honey
3/4 tsp. vanilla

Whip together and serve with the scones.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Mama's Birthday Cake

I had some fun making a barn cake for Mama's birthday. It came out a little messy, but it still looked like a barn so I'm happy! I used my Chocolate Almond Cake recipe with vanilla frosting. I put some of the frosting in the blender with a slice of cooked beet to make the "red". For the grass I did the same with dried peppermint leaves. For the dark gray roof I mixed in a tiny bit of activated charcoal powder. I sprinkled on some coconut sugar for the path. It tasted great!



Chocolate Almond Cake

This one is one of my specialties, a cross between a cake and a brownie.  It is quick and easy, and even people who aren't gluten-free rave about it.

1 ½ cups almond flour
½ cup cocoa powder
½ cup evaporated cane sugar or coconut sugar
½ tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp guar gum or xanthan gum
5 T oil (I use sunflower)
1 T vinegar (I use brown rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 cup of water (Will vary according to how fine your almond flour is. Start with a little and add more until it is the usual consistency of cake batter)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8” pan. Mix dry ingredients and dust greased pan with the mixture.  Add wet ingredients and mix well. Pour into pan and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out almost clean.

Vanilla Frosting
½ cup/1 stick butter, softened
1 lb. powdered sugar
¼ cup water (more or less)
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp cream of tartar

Fudge Frosting

½ cup/1 stick butter, softened
½ cup cocoa powder
3 cups powdered sugar
1 T water (or more depending on how thick you want it)
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch salt

Beat butter until fluffy. Gradually add remaining ingredients and beat a few more minutes.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Sweet Corn!

I finally found a sweet corn that works in our climate! The winner is Double Standard Sweet Corn, an open-pollinated heirloom variety from Azure Standard in Oregon. At 73 days to maturity, it produces a deliciously sweet bi-colored corn that tastes like a hybrid. Yum!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Parsnip Seeds!

Harvesting is the most fun part of gardening, and saving my own seeds means I get to harvest not only the veggies, but also the seeds. Yesterday I harvested parsnip seeds. After putting them through screens to remove bugs, twigs and other foreign objects, it looks like I will get about a gallon and a half of seeds, a lot since parsnip seeds only last a year.

Parsnips are biennials that make the roots you eat their first year.  In the Bitterroot, they can survive in the ground, uncovered over winter before sending up a stalk and making seeds their second year. Carrots and Beets are also overwintering biennials, but both need to be covered or dug, stored over winter and replanted the following spring in our climate. Beets will cross with chard if they are blooming at the same time. Carrot seeds will last about three years, beets will last six.

Seed Saving Books

Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth

Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties by Carol Deppe




Friday, August 17, 2012

Bread Day!

Bread? After my speech about carbs in How Fattening is Fat? Don't worry, this isn't ordinary bread. This is the moistest, yummiest, healthiest low-carb bread you have ever tasted!


Gluten Free Almond Bread

This bread is delicious hot out of the oven. It also makes good sandwiches and delicious French toast.

3 cups almond flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1 T xanthan or guar gum
2 T sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 T baking powder
1 tsp salt
5 eggs
6 T melted butter or coconut oil (or half of each!)
1/4 cup honey
1 cup water
1 ½ T vinegar (make sure it is gluten free; I usually use apple cider vinegar)

Mix the almond flour and water. Cover and let soak overnight. Soaking neutralizes enzyme inhibitors in nuts, making them easier to digest and their nutrients more accessible. If you did not plan ahead, you can skip the soaking and mix the almond flour with the dry ingredients. The bread will still be healthier than anything you can find in the store. Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients. Grease two 8”x4” loaf pans and dust them with flour mixture. Beat eggs and mix them with other wet ingredients. Add to soaked almond flour, then slowly add dry ingredients. Beat on high (or stir fast) for a minute. It should be the consistency of thick cake batter. If necessary, add more flour or water until it is. Spoon into pans and bake for 25 minutes. Cover with foil and bake until done (10-20 minutes). Let sit in pans until cool enough to touch, then run a knife around the edges and turn them out unto a rack to finish cooling. 

The loaves are not very tall and make a very small slice of bread when cut the ordinary way. You can slice them longways, sideways, slant-ways...

Thursday, August 16, 2012

How to Make an Herbal Salve

This stuff really works! It is good for cuts, burns, insect bites, rashes and more.

Fill a jar half way with dried plantain, comfrey, yarrow, echinacea, chamomile and rosemary. The plantain is the most important ingredient. Cover the herbs with olive oil. Fasten a rag or paper towel over the mouth of the jar with a rubber band and set in a sunny window sill for two weeks or longer.

Strain out the herbs and discard. Warm the oil in a saucepan with about 2 oz of beeswax for every cup of oil. When the beeswax is melted, remove from heat. At this point, you can add a few drops of vitamin E oil or grapeseed oil, which both act as natural preservatives. Pour the salve into tins or shallow containers and leave the lids off until set.

The salve will keep for years. I carry a small tin in my purse and keep jars all over the house and in the horse trailer. It makes a fantastic gift, and it is so much fun to see the surprise on friend's faces when they discover that my "herbal concoctions" really do work!

My Favorite Herbs

I tell people that, with a few exceptions, herbs work as well as or better than drugs and without the side effects. Herbs can be grown or wild-harvested, dried and made into medicine yourself. These are just a couple of my most commonly used herbs.  I'm not a doctor, this is just how I use them for my family, and it works!

Garlic
Reputed to be much stronger than an ordinary antibiotic, garlic is good for preventing and treating infections, including cold and flu. Cooked garlic loses its medicinal properties, so it has to be used raw. It can be chopped finely and mixed with honey, which also has antibiotic properties, or chopped a bit larger and swallowed like a pill. Always eat it with a little food; it can make you sick eaten on an empty stomach. Raw garlic can also be placed on the feet, where it will quickly be absorbed into the whole body. For an ear infection, I place half a clove of garlic on some gauze and tape it to the ear. Garlic is strong stuff and the gauze prevents skin irritation.

Plantain
Plantain grows across the US, and is my favorite for wounds, burns, insect bites and stings. When someone gets stung by a bee, I quickly find some plantain, chew it a bit and place it on the sting. It not only takes away the pain, but also heals.

Activated Charcoal
You won't find this one growing in the woods, but most herb companies sell it. A capsule or two will absorb the toxins if you get food poisoning or the stomach flu. It can be mixed with water to form a paste and plastered on a poisonous snake or spider bite to draw out the poison. I take this stuff everywhere I go.

White Willow Bark
This is the stuff that aspirin originally came from. Boil it for 15 minutes and sip on small amounts of the strong tea. Don't give to children under 16. White willow bark can also be ground into a powder and fed to horses for pain - I feed one teaspoon a day for up to a few weeks at a time.

Elderberries and Ginger
When a cold is brewing, I simmer a pot of elderberries and ginger for an hour and strain to make a strong tea. I add a little lemon juice and raw honey and everyone sips on it throughout the day. Ginger is also good for treating headaches and an upset stomach. 



Sunday, August 12, 2012

My Favorite Gluten Free Zucchini Muffins

These are not very sweet - a bread not a cake, but they are really good! We like to eat them with butter, but they could be iced when cool or sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar before baking. Makes 24

2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
2 tsp gluten free baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp xanthan or guar gum
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs
2/3 cup melted butter
1 cup coconut sugar or Rapadura (evaporated cane juice)
2 cups shredded zucchini

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix the dry ingredients. Grease your muffin tins and dust with some of the flour mixture. Mix wet ingredients and add to the dry. Blend and spoon the batter into pans. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let sit in pans ten minutes before placing muffins on a cooling rack.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Modesty



Modesty
By Kaitlyn DeBoer, started July 2011, finished August 2012

In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. ~ 1 Timothy 2:9-10
A hundred years ago, modest dress was the norm even amongst non-Christian women, now it is all but forgotten. Modesty is vital and should not be neglected. One of the biggest reasons us Christian ladies need to be modest is so that we don’t cause one of our brothers in Christ to stumble (Romans 14:21 and 1 Corinthians 8). Most men constantly struggle with their thoughts in this area. Women usually don’t have this temptation, so it is hard for us to understand. If we are well covered up, we are not to blame; but when our dress encourages them we become as guilty as they are.

“But I want men to be attracted to me!”     

And they without a doubt will be, but not the type that you want. A year or so ago I and two other girls took part in a conversation with two young Christian men who were humble enough to tell us the truth. They explained to us that when women dressed immodestly and they were tempted, they would always run the other direction. They expressed their appreciation for those of us who dressed carefully and considerately so as to not tempt them. When you dress immodestly, the weak men will flock to you, while the strong Christian men will be running the other way as they ought. For those of you who are unmarried; if you end up married to one of those guys who gave in to temptation, what is going to happen when other half-naked ladies walk by? If he couldn’t control himself with you, what makes you think that that will change when you are married, especially once you get old and those younger girls are more attractive?
In addition to not tempting men, our bodies belong to God and to our husbands, or future husbands if we are not yet married. According to 1 Corinthians 7:4, “The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.” If you aren’t yet married, the woman spoken of in Proverbs 31 does her husband good “all the days of her life”. The verse doesn’t say “all the days of their life together,” it says “all the days of her life.” You belong to your husband or your future husband.

“You can’t tell me what to wear. The Bible says not to judge!”

Actually, the Bible says “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.” – Matthew 7:1-5 If you are not a believer, there is no need for me to judge you, because you already stand condemned. But if you are a sister in Christ, it is my duty to point out your sin to you in love. If  I see you sin and am silent, your blood is on my hands; but if I show you your error and you continue to sin, your blood is on your own hands (Ezekiel 3 and Matthew 18). 

“That’s fine for you, but everyone is different and has to decide what it best for them”

Yes, each woman’s standard will be a little different from the next, but the basic standard of modesty should remain the same. My standards include a neckline that is no lower than the necklace that I usually wear [I now wear a longer necklace so this standard has changed to two inches from the bottom of my necklace]. I should be able to pinch at least an inch on each side of a blouse, and skirts should cover my knees when I sit down. Clothes should not be tight around the hips.

“What about pants?”

The Bible does not say that women should not wear pants. God commanded the Israelites that a woman should not wear that which pertaineth to a man, but we are no longer under the Old Testament law, and in our culture pants are worn by men and women. I wear skirts because they are more modest and more feminine. In a skirt I feel like a lady, which reminds me to act like a lady. The majority of the pants I am seeing are low-rise jeans that show skin when you bend over. They have designs on the back that draw attention to the wrong area. They show off the shape of your legs. They are anything but modest. If you want to wear pants, how about borrowing a pair of your daddy’s? I don’t think anyone will be tempted with those.


Thursday, August 9, 2012

Zucchini!

Due to sprinkler problems, my zucchini are a little behind this year. I finally harvested the first one today - a gorgeous, perfectly straight 17" Costata Romanesca. Light green and deeply ribbed, Costata Romanesca is my all-time favorite summer squash. They can get to two feet and still be delicious! My seeds came from Fedco (www.fedcoseeds.com).

How Fattening is Fat?


Fat does not make you fat. Extra carbohydrates are stored as fat.

White flour and white sugar are empty calories that suck your body of its nutrients. With America’s normal “low fat” diet of white flour and white sugar, we are both fat and malnourished. Diets don’t work because they send your already malnourished body into survival mode and tell it to prepare better for the next time of “starvation” by storing more fat than before. As soon as you go off the diet, your body stores even more fat to prepare for your next diet, so you gain more weight than before.

If you want to be healthy and a normal weight, eat real food. Don’t buy boxed garbage; cook things yourself. Eat organic meat, eggs, butter, lard, raw dairy, nuts, seeds and veggies, with small amounts of fruit, sprouted grains and natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup. Don't go down to zero carbs - that is not healthy either. Small amounts of carbs are good to give you energy and to balance out your diet. Don't be afraid to have some potatoes with your steak and salad or make a Sunday dessert. And don’t worry about the fat, especially animal fat. It has been consumed since creation and is good for you. Pile on the butter – yum! This diet will not make you super model thin, it will keep you at a normal, healthy weight. Organic real foods do cost more, but you will make up for it because you will be satisfied with way less. Plus you can grow real foods yourself if you want to – you can’t grow factory food.

The only time I have seen someone eat this way and not lose weight was in someone who also had a severe yeast overgrowth in their gut. If a yeast overgrowth is severe, you might have to fix it before any weight will come off. Over and and over again, I am seeing people go down to a normal weight and maintain it without ever going hungry just by eating this way. This is no new fad, it is just going back to a more old fashioned diet. I think that real food tastes way better too, and people who normally eat junk rave about my cooking.

Some good reading:

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon
Death by Supermarket by Nancy Deville

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Is Soy a Health Food or a Killer?

Soy as a health food seems be quite popular these days. I have done a lot of research on soy and discovered that it is not exactly the health food I thought.

http://nogreaterjoy.org/articles/soy-alert/?topic_slug=health

In addition to confirming the information in the above article, I learned that the Japanese, reputed to have consumed soy as a staple for thousands of years, actually only ate fermented soy condiments. Fermenting changes soy into almost an entirely different food, and the Japanese never sat down to a meal of soy, only using it in tiny amounts.

I don't even feed my chickens soy. I pay top dollar to have soy free feed shipped here, or mix my own soy free feed from scratch. My chickens are happier and live longer, and I know that my family will be far healthier when they eat the soy free meat and eggs.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

August Chick Count

So far this year, seven of my Buff Orpington hens have hatched and raised a total of 53 chicks, mostly Orpingtons and Barred Rocks. It is really exciting to see so many hens that still have those instincts to set and mother chicks! That means two dozen cocks for fall butcher. I'll keep a few pullets and sell the rest. Both breeds are listed by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy as recovering. We also bought five Phoenix this year, a threatened Japanese long tailed breed. They are not very hardy, but Nick and I want to cross them with the Barred Rocks in hopes of a hardier long-hackled chicken. I am lots of fun with these guys!

Recommended Reading

I am finished with my schooling, having graduated from high school and chosen not to go to college, but that does not mean that I am done learning. I am very against young ladies attending college, but I do believe that we should be educated - highly educated. God created the woman for the man. Most of us young ladies will get married and our job, our primary way of serving God, will be to be our husbands' helpers, or help meets. Our single years are valuable for equipping ourselves with the knowledge to help our men in whatever way they may need. If you intend to homeschool your children like I do, start now to learn valuable life skills that you can pass on.

As a librarian and a reader, I am often asked what books I recommend. Here is a list!


Homesteading


The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery
The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan
Herbs
Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West by Gregory L. Tilford
Organic Body Care Recipes by Stephanie Tourles
Growing 101 Herbs That Heal by Tammi Hartung
The Herbal Home Remedy Book by Joyce A. Wardwell
Gardening
Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth
Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza
Joy of Gardening by Dick Raymond
Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte
 Health
Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon
Death by Supermarket by Nancy Deville
Seeds of Deception by Jeffrey M. Smith
For Young Ladies
Preparing to Be a Help Meet by Debi Pearl
Created to Be His Help Meet by Debi Pearl 
Leave Dating Behind by Christina Rogers
Her Hand in Marriage by Douglas Wilson
So Much More by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin

www.preparingtobeahelpmeet.com
Fun
The Vision by Debi Pearl



Thursday, August 2, 2012

Horses

A few pictures from my early summer photo shoot...

Chance (light bay) is a 26 year old Appendix (Thoroughbred/Quarter Horse cross) gelding
Shady (bay overo pinto) is a 15 year old Paint mare
Snickers (dark bay) is a five year old Paint gelding (Shady's first colt)
Migdalah (red dun) is a yearling Quarter Horse filly
Phillip (sorrel) is a ten year old Quarter Horse gelding


Chance, Shady and Snickers

Migdalah and Phillip












Fun at the River

Nick and I took Kirby Bear (the dog) and Snickers (the horse) down to the river yesterday and Dad snapped some shots.





Open Pollinated vs. Hybrid Seeds and GMOs

An open pollinated crop (often abbreviated to OP in seed catalogs) is pure and will reproduce identical plants, while a hybrid (or F1) is a cross between different varieties. When you plant hybrid plants, you will get a crop of similar plants which will likely mature earlier and be more vigorous than an open pollinated variety, but if you save seeds from those plants, the next generation will be a mismatched pool of totally different plants. Some will be like the parent hybrids, while others will be like each of the varieties that the hybrids originally came from. If you buy your seeds each year, hybrids are great, but if you want to save your seeds each year, you want open-pollinated varieties. Gardeners have saved their own seeds for thousands of years. It is vital that we continue to do so, not only to preserve the heirloom varieties passed down for decades and centuries, but more importantly in face of the rapidly growing monopoly of genetically engineered (or GMO) seeds that has taken over the market. Genetically engineered (aka genetically modified organisms or GMOs) different than hybrids. The following article explains it well.

Science Fiction Horror Story
by Michael Pearl

Which word in the title is erroneous: Science—Fiction—Horror—Story? It’s the word fiction. The food you eat is no longer the food God made for the human body.

Evolutionary scientists have irreversibly changed the DNA of plant, animal, and human cells. They are uncreating God’s creation, rendering staple foods unfit for human or animal consumption.

I recently read two books, and the following article contains quotes from those books (indicated by quotation marks), with some of my own observations. You need to buy and read both of them: Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette by Jeffrey Smith. The converging lines of evidence in these books indicate conclusively that genetically modified (GM) crops are inherently dangerous and may be responsible for the unfolding health disaster in the U.S.A.
All living organisms, whether plant or animal or human, are constructed of cells. Each cell contains the entire DNA chain of information that constitutes an organism―what it is―and differentiates it from all others. Each cell is made of billions of atoms, intelligently designed and arranged to contain and dispense complex information that assures the function, adaptation, survival, and procreation of the species.

Genetic engineering is the process of artificially tampering with these God-given, natural genetic blueprints. Genetic engineering (or bio-engineering) is a technique to splice, delete, add, isolate, and recombine or transfer genes from one organism to another that may be totally unrelated. Alteration of genes and chromosomes causes disruption and disturbance in the biochemical structure of species (plant or animal) and can result in species mutation.

“The discovery in the mid-1970s that scientists could transfer genes from the DNA of one species into that of another was heralded as a major scientific breakthrough. Plants, animals, and other organisms could now become equipped with genes that could never occur naturally and exhibit traits not previously found in their species or even their kingdom.

“Scientists have since worked on some interesting combinations. Spider genes were inserted into goat DNA, in hopes that the goat milk could contain spider web protein for use in bulletproof vests. Cow genes turned pigskin into cowhides. Jellyfish genes lit up pigs’ noses in the dark. Arctic fish genes gave tomatoes and strawberries tolerance to frost. Potatoes glowed in the dark when thirsty. Human genes were inserted into corn to produce spermatocides.

“The single dominant GM trait is herbicide tolerance. Crops are engineered to survive an otherwise toxic dose of weed killer.

“The second popular GM trait is a built-in pesticide. The plant produces pesticidal toxins in every cell. Monarch butterflies are killed when feeding on the corn. If a plant kills bugs, do you want to breathe its pollen, eat honey made from its nectar, or ingest the plant?

“Virtually an entire Filipino village of about 100 people living adjacent to a large field of Bt corn [genetically altered to produce a toxin that kills bugs] were stricken by a disease. The symptoms, which appeared at the time the corn was producing airborne pollen, included headaches, dizziness, extreme stomach pain, vomiting, chest pains, fever, and allergies, as well as respirator, intestinal, and skin reactions. Many, if not all of the villagers exposed to the GM-maize pollen in 2003, have remained ill to this day. Furthermore, there have been five unexplained deaths in the village. In total, 96 people got sick. In addition, nine horses, four water buffalo, and 37 chickens died soon after feeding on the GM maize.”

The increase in the number of people afflicted with chronic diseases in the United States roughly corresponds to the period when Americans began eating GM foods.

Proponents of creating Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) try to sell us the lie that what they are doing is just hybridization by a different method. Not so. Genetic engineering is not in any way similar to hybrid plants or selective breeding. “Plant breeders have worked with this system (selective breeding of plants) for thousands of years, selecting parents with desired characteristics, such as yield and disease resistance, in the hope that the offspring expresses both. With genetic engineering, however, a single gene is removed from the DNA of one organism and forcibly inserted into another. This doesn’t happen naturally.

“A pig can mate with a pig and a tomato can mate with a tomato. But there is no way a pig can mate with a tomato. Using genetic engineering, however, pig genes can be inserted into a tomato and vice versa.” This transfer of genes across the natural barriers established by God at creation is an arrogant and reckless confusion of nature. It is introducing chaos into perfect order.

“Another problem is that inserted genes may transfer from food into gut bacteria or internal organs. Animal studies demonstrate that ingested DNA can travel through the body, even into the fetus via the placenta. Trans-genes from GM crops fed to animals have been found in their blood, liver, spleen, and kidneys. The only published human feeding trial on GM food verified that genetic material inserted into GM soy transfers into the DNA of our intestinal bacteria.”

Manufacturers of genetically-modified organisms assure us that the genetically-modified cells are destroyed in the stomach when eaten and cannot be transferred to the host. However, Sidney Pierce spent 20 years studying the green sea slug that eats algae and somehow transfers the plant genes into its body. The slug then possesses the algae’s ability to produce chlorophyll from sunlight—a universal trait of plants but not of animals. The young slugs must eat algae until they accumulate enough of its genes to begin manifesting the plants’ ability to convert sunlight into energy. The slug can then be sustained on sunlight alone, like a plant, without further eating. Pierce says, “It certainly is possible that DNA from one species can get into another species, as these slugs have clearly shown, but the mechanisms are still unknown.”

Scientists have discovered genetically-modified cells present in the organs of animals fed GM food. Corrupted DNA never becomes uncorrupted. It is passed on to future generations.
“Lab animals tested with GM foods had stunted growth, impaired immune systems, bleeding stomachs, abnormal and potentially precancerous cell growth in the intestines, impaired blood cell development, misshapen cell structures in the liver, pancreas, and testicles…alerted gene expression and cell metabolism, liver and kidney lesions, partially atrophied livers, inflamed kidneys, less developed brains and testicles, enlarged livers, pancreases, and intestines, reduced digestive enzymes, high blood sugar, inflamed lung tissue, increased death rates, and higher offspring mortality. About two dozen farmers report that GM corn varieties caused their pigs or cows to become sterile. 71 shepherds say that 25% of their sheep died from grazing on Bt cotton plants (altered to be toxic to bugs), and others say that cows, water buffaloes, chickens, and horses also died from eating GM crops. Filipinos in at least five villages fell sick when nearby Bt corn was pollinating, and hundreds of laborers in India report allergic reaction from handling Bt cotton. Soy allergies skyrocketed by 50% in the United Kingdom soon after genetically-engineered soy was introduced; and one human subject out of the few tested showed a skin prick, allergic-type reaction to GM soy, but not to natural soy. In the 1980s, a GM food supplement killed about one hundred Americans and caused sickness and disability in another five to ten thousand people.”

Genetically-altered soy, corn, cotton, and canola and their derivatives are found in 70% of all processed foods. If you have ever eaten a corn chip, corn flakes, or a tortilla, you have eaten GM organisms.

Tomatoes were genetically-engineered to have a shelf life of months instead of just days. Great for farmers, right? Except that when they fed laboratory rats a diet of GM tomatoes, many of them quickly developed lesions in their stomachs, and about a fourth of the rats died within two weeks. The control group of rats fed natural tomatoes did not manifest any of the negative reactions experienced by the GM-fed rats.

By now you might be thinking, “Well, I will just avoid corn, soy, and canola oil, and eat squash and papaya instead.” They are re-engineered, as well! Do you avoid sugar, relying on artificial sweetener? Aspartame is the product of genetic engineering. Do you ever drink milk or serve it to your children? What about cheese or yogurt? Cows are injected with genetically- engineered growth hormones. It so speeds up their milk production that the cows are used up and discarded in about two years. Many farmers testify that twenty-five percent of their herds don’t live that long. They suffer from infections in their udders, making it necessary to constantly inject them with antibiotics. What do those same growth hormones do when ingested by humans? Just examine the statistical rise in breast cancer in the last 20 years.

Eat more chicken? It, too, is injected with GM organisms. As the breasts on chickens get bigger, so do the breasts on young boys eating the chicken, and breast cancer continues to rise.

Wild animals will repeatedly reject the GM crops in preference for natural corn and soy. Deer and elk will walk through a large GM field to get to a small plot of natural corn. If geese, squirrels, rabbits, deer, elk and rats have an aversion for GM crops, should humans eat them? What do the animals know that we don’t?
What does God say about modifying his creation?

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:27, 31).

Can you believe it? God designs his human creation after his own image, tailors the plant and herbs to the exact food specifications humans and animals require, and then pronounces that it is all very good. And what do scientists do? They say, “It is good, but not good enough; we can do better,” and then proceed to re-create what God created. It produces havoc, and they forge ahead undaunted in their “mission.” They are like four-year-old children dismantling a computer to improve upon it.

I say with the Psalmist, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought [like needlework] in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:14–15).

If the above verse says anything, it says that before we were born, God designed the very substance of our beings—recording the design in a book—and then fashioned us after that secret design. We are awesome and wonderful in design, a marvelous work of God. Who could dare to improve upon the master design of the God of creation?
Clear prohibition against modifying God’s creation.

“Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled” (Deut. 22:9).

Note, God did not want his original seeds mixed so as to cause them to lose their inherent uniqueness. The result of mixing seeds produces a seed that was “defiled.”

“Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed” (Leviticus 19:19). Again, God is concerned to maintain the seed’s and the cattle’s original character.

“And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:11–12). God designed everything to bring forth after its singular kind, and neither a mixed kind, nor a new kind.

We live in strange times, when man has begun to move into God’s laboratory and is attempting to sabotage his design and change the very structure of creation. They dream of cloning humans, mix human and animal genes, throw in a few plant genes and come up with a Frankenstein monster. Science fiction has become a vision for tomorrow.

There was an earlier time, about 1800 years after creation, when men pooled their knowledge and built a city and a tower to reach unto heaven. “And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” (Genesis 11:6). This is a fascinating verse. God concedes that when many people combine their knowledge, they will not be restrained from accomplishing their wildest imaginations. So he divided them into diverse language groups to prevent them from conferring and sharing their knowledge and skills. That language barrier God put into place is now obsolete. Scientists of the world cooperate and share their knowledge. We are again at the place where “nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”

But God will have the last say in the Great Tribulation “which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev. 3:10). “And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth” (Rev. 11:18). I have never been sure what this passage referred to—“God destroys them which destroy the earth.” Surely it is not killing the snail darter or wiping out the buffalo that has angered God to the point of exercising “great wrath” upon all flesh. Nothing man has ever done is one percent as destructive as permanently changing the DNA of God’s creation. Look out Monsanto, Dupont: here comes the Judge!
What can you do?

First, you must be informed. The military-industrial complex is little more than a local gun store compared to the agricultural-industrial complex. When media outlets have attempted to publish the facts concerning GMOs in our food chain, they have been intimidated into silence by their largest advertisers—the producers of genetically-modified foods. When politicians get wise to the conspiracy to control the food chain, they are silenced by the fear of losing large gifts to their campaigns. You must get informed. Purchase the book, Seeds of Deception, and become acquainted with the issue. Go online, and read about GMOs. Stop buying foods that have been altered. Write to the manufacturers, and inform them that you will not eat their GMOs.

All we ask is that the government mandate labeling of GM foods. Just put a label on the product that says Genetically Modified. There have been many failed attempts to force labeling. The industry knows that once products are labeled, the public will ask, “So, what’s the difference?” and it will all be over for the agricultural-industrial complex. Labeling. Demand labeling.

In the meantime, grow your own food. If the grocery store labels food as organic, it is not genetically modified. Learn which plants have been altered and which ones maintain the integrity God gave them. GM tomatoes and potatoes have been removed from the market due to obvious health tragedies. Rice and beans are not modified, and, to my understanding, neither are any of the salad vegetables. Wheat, rye and barley are still good. Avoid all cooking oils and salad oils, and all prepared foods containing canola, corn, or soy. Avoid bread, crackers, chips, cakes, pies, and cookies containing corn, soy, or oils or derivatives of the same. Avoid milk, cheese, yogurt, cream cheese, sour cream or any food prepared with milk products. Avoid meats from animals that have been fed GMO grains or injected with GMOs.

You do realize that you won’t be able to eat at your standard restaurant, don’t you? If in the process of throwing out all processed foods you cease eating all corn syrup and sugar, within three days to a week you will see a remarkable improvement in your family’s health and in the temperament of your children.

You can go online and purchase Seeds of Deception by Jeffrey Smith, or you can order it at a discount from BulkHerbStore.com (call toll-free 1-877-278-4257). Check out their heirloom seeds, too.

Article from the No Greater Joy magazine. Subscribe at www.nogreaterjoy.org or write No Greater Joy, 1000 Pearl Road, Pleasantville, TN 37033.

Pea Trials

My first crop of peas is about finished and I have planted more in hopes of a fall harvest. I grew seven varieties of snow, snap and shelling peas this year, but will narrow it down to my favorites for next year. I am looking for tall varieties that do well in our climate and produce well over a long period of time. I prefer heirloom varieties for all of my seeds, but I am open to new open-pollinated varieties. Of my seven varieties, I found a definite new favorite - Mammoth Melting Sugar Snow Pea. This variety is a tall 1906 heirloom and produced a heavy harvest of large, sweet peas. My vines have been producing since the first week of July and are still going. Oregon Giant Snow and Sugarsnap both produced a good harvest, but not outstanding. Mayfair Shelling Pea was not particularly impressive, but I have heard really good things about the variety, so will give it another chance. Amish Snap and Green Arrow Shelling Pea did not do well.