Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from the Mentink family! As I look back over this last year, I am so thankful for all the ways the Lord provided for us. The drought made farming/homesteading look a little different this year, but we have made it through with plenty. We also had a lot of time together as a family, which is something we really enjoy!

As Christmas approaches, we are all thinking about gifts for our loved ones and friends and preparing for Christmas. We used to spend a lot of money and time on shopping for Christmas gifts, decorating, making cookies, running around to parties, and more. It was a very stressful time, but not anymore. We have simplified our Christmas significantly, and we no longer feel that financial burden or exhaustion. We have learned to slow down and truly enjoy the holidays.

Our son Aiden has a passion for working with wood and small engines. For several years he has been creating wooden items and giving them as gifts. One Christmas morning Asher received a handmade wooden truck and trailer with wooden hay bales to go with it. We were all impressed, and Asher was thrilled. I was thankful that I didn’t have to worry about the toy being made with harmful substances, and it was very environmentally friendly, since it was made with wood scraps. Aiden makes all of his items with wood from our farm or nearby places. Our family burns wood to heat our home, and we recently bought a saw mill, so we collect a lot of wood, and Aiden enjoys gathering from there. For several years we have used wood that other people didn’t want or trees that have fallen or need to be removed, but we have never cut a tree down specifically to use for heating or milling.

I was told this story yesterday and felt led to share it.

A woman named Judy was 30 weeks pregnant and had been experiencing debilitating headaches. It got so bad that she went to the emergency room in severe pain one day. When she arrived, she was sent to labor and delivery where she was bullied into doing a bunch of tests that she didn’t feel comfortable with because of her pregnancy. At one point they realized her baby was breech, and all the focus turned to this instead of her headaches. She spent most of the day at the hospital feeling defeated, and when she left the hospital, she never felt like she had a solution or reason for her headaches.

Our processing day on the farm started as usual today with an early morning start, filled with routine chores and breakfast. Everyone works together to ensure everything gets done as early as possible on butchering day. The animals must be taken care of as usual, the garden watered and plants inspected for bugs, and the house cleaned and organized. The cows must be milked and moved, the sheep and cows get herded to fresh grass, layers get moved every other day and fed and watered, cream is taken off the gallons of milk and excess milk is given to the pigs along with their organically grown feed and pasture, cats and dogs are given scraps of meat, eggs, or cream produced on the farm, and the horse thinks she needs to eat as well.

We picked our first apples of the year at a dear friend’s house two days ago and this fruit drip has been a popular treat at our house again. Along with making apple juice, apple cider vinegar, applesauce, fruit leather, apple butter, and more, we have been enjoying them fresh and this dip makes it a very special treat. This is not super sweet, but with the right ingredients it has great flavor and doesn’t make you feel bad. It’s best if eaten right away. We love using our homemade vanilla, and you can find the recipe here, along with flavorful, high quality vanilla beans here. We have been using frozen strawberries from our beyond organic garden and frozen Aronia berries that we picked from a local farm not far from our home, called Homestead Aronia. I highly recommend them! The Aronia berries could be left out of the recipe too if you don’t have access to them. Slices of apples are our favorite, but there are other fruits like strawberries, grapes, blueberries, and more that would work too. I might even try it with homemade sourdough graham crackers too! You can check out our recipe below.

What are you harvesting and enjoying right now? We love to hear from you!