One of the things I love most about travelling is the opportunity to see how other people live everyday life. What they eat, wear, drive, or do for fun. Having grown up on a dairy farm, I really love seeing different breeds of cattle, methods of gardening or other agricultural pursuits. It was a lot of fun for me to compare Panama with the two other countries I’ve visited; Guatemala and Barbados. I felt like Panama was kind of a cross between the two. Panamanians look and speak Spanish like Guatemalans, but the foods they eat and crops they grow are a lot like those I saw in Barbados, an island on the Caribbean. 

Apart from a few dairy breeds, most of the cows we saw in Panama were Brahmans. Brahmans were first bred in the States during the early 1900's, a cross between four types of Zebu cattle from India. They are extremely heat resistant, insect resistant due to their thick skin, and can live longer than other cows, some still having calves at 15 years and older. Brahmans are used mainly for meat production (and bull fighting in certain parts of the Middle East). I had to laugh when I pointed out a truck load of these cows to my sister. She was half asleep because her flight had come in around 11 pm, but sat straight up when she saw the cows. "Brahmans! Oh my gosh, I've never seen Brahmans before! Wow, that's sooooo cool..." she said as we passed the truck, turning around in her seat to see the cows as long as possible. I looked over at Hubs as if to say, See? I'm not the only one who thinks cows are cool! 

We did not see a whole lot of agricultural crops while we were in Panama, but on our way to Santa Catalina (for SCUBA diving) we drove through some more rural areas. A lot of the land was pasture, presumably for cows, but we also saw some farmers baling hay in small square bales, and fields of one of their major crops: sugar cane!

Author Tony Waters writes: "Subsistence peasants are people who grow what they eat, build their own houses, and live without regularly making purchases in the marketplace." We saw quite a few of these little huts on the way to and from Santa Catalina.

Another interesting tidbit of agriculture here is the presence of "living fences". That is, where tree cuttings are placed in the ground, grow, and become permanent fence posts. My plant book devotes an entire chapter to these living fences, and it's something I'd like to try sometime on our own property.

While much of US agriculture is focused on new, shiny, bigger and better, we did not see much nice farm equipment while we were in Panama. We saw more old, run down equipment driving through the countryside.

Something to Bring Home
One of the reasons I enjoy seeing and learning about subsistence farming in particular is because it's something I can do here at home.  The idea of subsistence farming is outdated here in the United States, but I think it can still work on a small scale. No, I don't think you can make EVERYTHING yourself. But you can make a lot of things yourself if you have some free time to do so. Certainly stay-at-home wives and moms can do a little subsistence farming, and I know single guys who enjoy hunting and gardening in their spare time. 

In developing countries it is easier to see how class distinction, economics and capitalism work together to create what we have in the US: a bunch of consumer debt. I realize that civilization brings a lot of good- better medicine and surgical treatment, for example. And I really like capitalism because it provides OPPORTUNITY for people. But for some people groups, the draw to consumerism is more powerful than the opportunity that capitalism provides.

What Happened to Subsistence Farmers in the US?
Last January we drove through the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee. Alongside the road we saw the Mountain Farm Museum and decided to stop and look around. The museum and farm told the story of how the mountain people (subsistence farmers) produced all of their own food, clothing, shelter and entertainment. Then it told how the area became a National Park* and "civilized" people started to come through and basically gawk at the mountain people. Of course these tourists wanted to buy trinkets and souvenirs, so the mountain people started making money selling handcrafts and trinkets to the tourists.

Of course, the cultural influence went both ways. The mountain peoples were introduced to the finery of modern society and got the itch to have fancy new clothes and other things. Unfortunately handcraft sales were not enough to support the mountain people's wants, so they had to take jobs in other areas. Because they had jobs, they couldn't be subsistence farmers and thus, the mountain people were "forced" into poverty.

All of this is kind of ironic, considering the fact that now it is cool to be a "homesteader" and grow all of your own food. I told Hubs, "It's too bad the mountain people didn't just keep wearing their homespun clothes AND selling crafts." They could have made some real money! And perhaps avoided poverty. 

Bethany, the Subsistence Farmer
I'm so thankful and excited that I got to see a peek of how farming is done in Panama. I look forward this Spring to improving my own little "subsistence farm" (in a middle-class American way, of course!).

Til next time,
-Bethany

*I think this is why tourists started coming through, but my memory is a bit foggy on what I read at the museum. I could be wrong.

One of my favorite parts of being in a new place (or even being at home!) is learning about new plants. Today we walked some of the golf course where our condo is located and I got to take pictures and identify trees I'd never seen before. There are many bean-type trees here in Panama, as is common in this area of the world. However, we also found fruit trees and trees used for other purposes as well.

Happy Monday!
​-Bethany

I will be the first one to say that I love souvenirs. I'll drag my husband into gift shop after gift shop, because I can't keep myself from admiring all of the cool stuff. However, a couple years ago I realized that buying "stuff" as a souvenir isn't as fun as it once was. Rarely do I see an item I like that can't be bought online for half the price. And furthermore, I'm just not interested in collecting stuff like I used to be. I'd rather be collecting experiences, skills, and memories. Things that won't break or get lost as years go by.

A Problem
Last year when we were in Central America, I had the most fun walking through the markets and looking at different fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables. Unfortunately I didn't know what half of it was, and my Spanish wasn't good enough to ask and then remember what it was called. 

Another thing I loved to do was admiring the beautiful tropical plants and flowers that we would find spilling over rooftops in Antigua or blooming on the side of some dusty road in the country. Again, the flowers were lovely but I had no idea what they were.

Only a few days after the book arrived, I discovered that one of my favorite Central American fruits is actually a type of vine that I grew in my bedroom as a teenager. I grew it for the flowers, but as it turns out the fruit is wonderful as well!

Why Buy Before the Trip?
Traditionally, souvenirs are bought during the trip, not before. However, I've had bad luck finding exactly what I want at gift shops (regional or traditional recipe books, for example), and when I do find it the item costs 200% what it would, used, on Amazon. If the item IS something I can buy online, I'll do a little research and buy it ahead of time. In the case of my plant book, I was able to look forward to our trip even more, knowing that I could spend my time actually identifying plants instead of looking for the book at a gift shop (which I never would have found, because they don't even make a plant book for Panama).

Buying a souvenir ahead of time allows you to find something that is useful and that you will really enjoy for years to come. It allows you to price-shop (and thus save money), and also ensures that you will enjoy your souvenir throughout the trip. If it is something you won't use on your trip, buying ahead of time still lets you get what you want for a good price, and you don't have the hassle of bringing it back home.

What I'm Doing
Though I bought one vacation "souvenir" before we ever left home, it's not the only thing I'll have from Panama. Next week I'll be doing a post on free souvenirs, but in addition to the free- and pre-souvenirs I still plan on buying some "stuff" to take home, because we have room in the suitcase anyway. However, what I wanted to buy most (the plant book) is taken care of. 

Though it only cost around $20, the knowledge gained from my plant book will return with me every time we come to Central America. In fact, tropical plants and those sold as houseplants, exotic fruits and herbs overlap a great deal, so even if I never return to the Caribbean or Central America my book will still serve me well at home.

Here's to buying souvenirs that last!
-Bethany 

Curly dock is a common weed found in fields, fence rows and ditches. In the buckwheat family, I've used the seeds before to make a coarse flour, and as I mentioned here, the plant can be used as alternative feed for goats and other animals.

Identification: In the winter, curly dock is easy to identify because of its dark brown stalks and seed pods. It grows 1 to 4 feet tall with leaves 6-10 inches long growing from the base of the plant. During the summer the plant's flowers are small and reddish or greenish. They eventually turn into small, brown, three-sided winged seeds. During the summer the plant is camouflaged a bit more, but you can still easily identify its long thin leaves with curly edges. There are other type of dock as well, but this variety is called Rumex crispus.
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Edible: Young leaves can be eaten raw, but older leaves will be bitter and must be boiled in several changes of water. The seeds can be dried, threshed and ground into flour. I use a Vitamix dry container to make flour out of the seeds. I would recommend mixing this homemade flour into a white or store-bought flour for best results.

Edible: Indians used to make a lemonade-like drink with sumac berries. Berries can be bruised and boiled (one book says "soaked in cold water"), strained to remove the fine hairs and berries, then add sugar to taste. The berries can be stored and dried for later use as well. 

One variety of red Sumac is a common Middle Eastern and Mediterranean spice. It was widely used in Europe to give food a tart flavor before the Romans introduced lemons to the area.

Animals also love to eat sumac. As I mentioned in this post, my goats love to eat sumac fruits out of my hand. Poultry also enjoy sumac, as well as other animals like rabbits, moose, deer and mountain sheep.

You may notice some tiny brown worms in the sumac fruits. Though it's probably impossible to avoid the worms entirely, by harvesting early in the season (July) you can get the fruit before most of the worms do. While picking off berries with a fork, keep your eye out for worms or a lot of worm droppings (dark brown grainy bits). Wormy fruit clusters can go to the compost pile or animal feed. Chickens love worms!

Medicinal: A gargle for sore throats can be made with a strong hot tea from the sumac berries.
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Other: Sometimes the wood of this plant, greenish or orange in color, is used for napkin rings or picture frames. Sumac stems can also make effective hand drills after they have been dried, or blowtubes and pipestems by burning out the center pith. When green, they work well for weaving baskets.
 
Cautions: There is a poison variety of Sumac that has drooping white fruit clusters. If the fruit is white, don't eat it! Otherwise all red fruits are perfectly safe to eat and feed animals with. :) 

********
Brown, Tom Jr. Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival. New York: Berkley Books, 1983. Print.
Angier, Bradford. Field Guide to Wild Edible Plants. Harrisburd, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1974. Print

Rose hips are easiest to find during the winter. Incidentally, they are a great source of vitamin C when other fruits are in short supply.

Identification: During the winter, wild rose hips are easy to find because of their bright red color. The fruits range in color from orange to dark red, and vary in size up to an inch in diameter. The ones I find are typically less than half of that size. Wild rose brambles can grow from several feet up to 12 feet tall, and will have prickly thorns as will any rose plant. The leaves are compound and saw-toothed, like garden roses.

Edible: Rose hips can be eaten whole, or they can be steeped in boiling water to make a tea very high in vitamin C. Even the leaves and roots, if washed well, can be steeped into tea. Some people make jelly, jam or syrup from rose hips, though my wild rose hips are far too small to make it worth my while.

Medicinal: Being high in vitamin C, rose hip tea is great for the immune system and preventing cataracts. During WWII the British government collected rose hips on a massive scale to be made into syrup and used as a source of vitamin C for children. The seeds are also a source of vitamin E, and the fruits traditionally have been set aside until the end of winter to use as a blood purifier. 

In animals, rose hips can be used to treat female ailments including leucorrhoea, metritis, and miscarriage. 

Other Uses: Rose stems can be used for making baskets.

*******
Brown, Tom Jr. Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival. New York: Berkley Books, 1983. Print.
Angier, Bradford. Field Guide to Wild Edible Plants. Harrisburd, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1974. Print
Levy, Juliette de Bairacli. The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable. London: Faber & Faber, 1991. Print.
White, Linda B. The Herbal Drugstore. United States of America: Rodale Inc., 2000. Print.

 Edible: Tender stems and leaves can be eaten raw, but tougher stems should be boiled. I've used chickweed before as a substitute for lettuce in tacos, because it has a nice, light flavor. It grows a large part of the year, and even now as late as December it is growing here in Michigan. A great source of fresh greens before or after the garden is producing.

The plant contains a lot of copper, good for all homestead animals except sheep.

Medicinal: The leaves can be mashed into a poultice to treat rashes and burns. It contains many of the soothing and tonic properties of slippery elm, and can be used as a tonic for the digestive system as well as external ointment for eye lotion, rheumatic inflammation and stiff joints.

Chickweed is an important tonic food for poultry, especially young chicks, and can be used to help treat coccidiosis in chickens.

Cautions: Do not let sheep (especially lambs) gorge themselves on this herb, as it has too much copper for their diet.

****
Brown, Tom Jr. Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival. New York: Berkley Books, 1983. Print.
Angier, Bradford. Field Guide to Wild Edible Plants. Harrisburd, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1974. Print
Levy, Juliette de Bairacli. The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable. London: Faber & Faber, 1991. Print.

I remember several years ago browsing the portfolio of a costume seamstress. On her order page, she put this warning: "Remember, wearing an Elizabeth Swan costume will not make you look like Kiera Knightley. You will still look like you, in an Elizabeth Swan costume." I think Pinterest should come with a similar warning. Decorating you home with Pinterest crafts will not make your home look like the one on Pinterest. It will just look like YOUR home with a bunch of Pinterest crafts.

In addition to my annual Christmas wreath (plus one for Hubs' office door!) and centerpiece, this year I thought I'd try making some decorations for our mailbox. This was my latest Pinterest adventure, not without difficulties.

The total cost for all of my Christmas arrangements was about $5.50.

The Fight for Frugal Christmas Decorations
I'll admit, it's not easy to find cheap Christmas decorations in nice working condition.Hubs and I have found the used market (garage sales, thrift stores) for Christmas decorations to be really poor. Traditional decorations like lights and ornaments are hard to find for less than 75% of retail price. I don't think it's worth buying scratched up mismatching decorations for such a small discount. And it's not like people grow out of their Christmas decorations or give away hand-me-downs. We had a particularly bad experience this year with our used tree stand.

We found a thrift store tree stand for $1.50. However, it was missing parts and buying the special screws needed cost us $4.00. At home, we spent an hour adjusting and readjusting the tree in the stand. Finally we got it only-a-little crooked and decided that was good enough. We strung up the lights and did something else. About 30 minutes later, we were watching TV and all of a sudden the whole tree fell over. What a nightmare! Thankfully there were no ornaments on the tree yet. Once again, we tried to readjust the tree and I realized that the stand was made to use clamps, not single screws. Hubs went out to the shop and got some more screws to drill directly into the tree. It worked, and the tree has stayed up since.

I wonder if it was really worth it to buy a used tree stand. We only saved $5-$10 and it took us an hour or two and a falling tree to get it to work. A tree stand is something we will use for the next 20 or 30 years, and it might be worth it to buy one that works. 

Realities of Being Frugal
Despite what Pinterest and frugal blogs may imply, it can be difficult to make something cheap look expensive. 
One of my favorite bloggers has one of the most beautiful homes and backyard/garden I've ever seen. The photos she takes of her projects makes frugal living (making gifts, having an extremely small food budget, etc)- look absolutely glamorous. Some people would read this lady's blog and think that she has such a beautiful home because she is creative and frugal. The reality is that she and her husband paid dearly (and are still paying for) the home, and almost lost it in the years after 2008 when her husband was out of work.

Frugal people seem to have this idea that we can LOOK like a million dollars without paying for it. Because you know, we are so creative and have lots of skills to use. We think we can make something out of nothing. One time I was at a potluck and someone wanted me to try their soup. "Oh, you would like it- it's so frugal- there's like, nothing in it!" I tried the soup, and sure enough it tasted like nothing. If you put nothing in a soup, that's what you get... nothing. If you put a Christmas decoration on an unattractive mailbox, you still have an unattractive mailbox. Being creative and skillful can improve the situation, but it can't work magic.

That being said, I think Pinterest results will vary depending on how hardcore frugal you are. Personally I would not recommend doing a comparison photo... mine was just for the blog. :) I still think our mailbox looks more Christmas-y with the arrangement than without it, though. 

Have you tried making Pinterest projects? Do they ever turn out as good as the photo?

Today I'm going to share some of the alternative feeds I've been supplementing my goats with. Buying feed is the reason my hobby farm is a hobby farm and not a business farm, especially during the winter. At my current rate I'm going through two bales of hay per week. At $5 per bale, that is $10 per week or $40 per month- about $1.33 per day. For comparison, my chickens cost about $1 per day to keep... and they are laying eggs.

Currently we have enough hay and feed to get through December and January. That will leave February and March for us to buy hay. I'm hoping that Spring babies, fiber, and milk products will bring in enough to pay for winter hay, grain for does and the occasional mineral block, which are the only costs I have for keeping my goats. Already I can predict how much my goats will cost per year to keep ($55 hay + grain for 4 months, and $15 grain for 8 months = $340). 

Cost Cutting With Free Resources
My goal this winter is to stretch the hay as much as possible. In order to do this, I'm using some alternative feeds that I can get for free here on our property. You wouldn't believe how many different plants you can feed goats. They really do eat anything! Fias Co Farm has a list of poisonous plants to avoid feeding goats, and also a list of plants that goats will eat. I used this list as a guideline for feeding my goats.

Goats are actually one of the best animals to give alternative feeds to. They love brush, which is easily harvested by hand, as opposed to grass for cows and sheep. Really, goats end up wasting a lot of hay, and this is why I like giving them supplemental food. 

When To Harvest
I am still learning and experimenting with alternative animal feeds. There were several things I could have grown or harvested this summer, which I obviously missed. Many people feed pumpkins or winter squash, and there is something called "tree hay" which is basically tree branches that are harvested while still green and then dried like hay. I could have done this with willow and maple leaves, but I wasn't aware that it was an option.

Earlier this fall I walked our property and harvested the sumac and curly dock, but the corn stalks and pine branches were harvested after our first snow. The apples were harvested just before it snowed, so they wouldn't be all mushy. 

One thing I didn't mention in my video was feeding kitchen scraps and rotting garden produce. The chickens are really the ones who appreciate the scraps- potato peelings, veggie ends, loose leaf tea, egg shells, etc. However, the goats will also go for things like lettuce or even squash. While Hubs and I will be eating most of our winter squash, I had a lot of volunteer cushaw pumpkin this year that we will probably not eat. This, then, will probably be eaten by the animals.

A Caution
Whatever you do, don't give too much of something. I remember earlier this fall dumping a whole pile of apples in the pasture. My goats went crazy! Unfortunately the next day they had soft poop and my doe would not eat any of her grain. Thankfully it was just a tummy ache for my goats, but since then I've given treats more  sparingly.

To feed branches, stalks and other branches, I just put a armful in the hay feeder beside the flakes of hay. I feed the sumac fruits by hand, as a treat. This is helpful for winning a goat's love. :)

Have you experimented with alternative animal feed? What was the outcome?

Last year I remember seeing the small, shriveled-up fruits of an unidentified shrub and wondered if they were good for anything. Probably not, I told myself. Not enough fruit there to do anything with. Recently, however, I was able to identify this plant and discovered that it has many uses.

Identification
Common prickly ash is easy to identify because of its small, shriveled-looking berries. The tree is one of two members of the Rue (sometimes called Citrus) family in Michigan. The berries have a lemon-lime-orange smell to them, and the branches have small thorns. The tree is small; only 5' - 15' tall. The leaves are are 2" long with smooth edges and, like the berries, have a citrus-y smell when crushed.

You can find the Prickly Ash tree throughout Michigan in a variety of soils, but they are often found where I found mine- along forest edges and fence rows.

Medicinal Use
Prickly Ash is often referred to as "toothache tree", because it contains a citrus-smelling oil called zanthoxylin, which causes numbness in the mouth. You can chew on either the fruit or the yellowish inner bark. When I was younger I would often get canker sores and use numbing gel to make talking or eating less painful. Believe me, this Prickly Ash works even better! The numbness took at least a 45 minutes to completely wear off, though at first it induces salivation (drooling) so that is somewhat annoying.

Other popular uses of Prickly Ash are to improve circulation problems like intermittent claudication, rheumatism, arthritis, and aging- or cold-related problems. The Native Americans were especially fond of this herb and used it for achy joints and sore muscles. They made teas and infusions both to drink and to bathe with.

Prickly Ash is generally considered safe to use, even for children and women who are pregnant. 

*****
White, Linda B. The Herbal Drugstore. United States of America: Rodale Inc., 2000. Print.
Tekiela, Stan. Trees of Michigan Field Guide. Cambridge, Minnesota: Adventure Publications, Inc., 2002. Print.
Richard Whelan ~ Medical Herbalist ~ Prickly Ash. (n.d.). Retrieved September 2, 2015.