The Long Winter, Version 3.06.13

Last week we were doused with snow and the power companies were doused with power outages.  It was the first time in almost three years that we had an outage for more than a few minutes, which is pretty remarkable given the wind and rain storms that have swept our area.  During the time we were out of power, we kept commenting on how it would not have phased Byron's great-grandparents, who built this house and didn't have power until well into the 20th century.  And during their long lives, they never had indoor plumbing! 

I question how we, as a family, can become a little less dependent.  We are totally dependent, as a society, on power, whether that comes in the form of electricity, gas, or what have you.  Even if you have a generator, you need to fuel it with something.  And eventually, that something is going to run out. 

***End of public service announcement for the coming Apocalypse***

Anyway...though we don't have a generator (yet), we are blessed to have a woodstove.  And we were very blessed that it was cold enough outside to store our food in a cooler on the porch, being that a refrigerator, if left unopened, will keep food for about 12 hours.  A freezer will keep food for about 48 hours, but power was back on before we had to worry about losing everything.

And even though our neighbors graciously offered to let us come over and get water, Byron had a lot of fun melting snow for the animals:

And the animals had no idea anything was amiss!

Rachael, who is now weaned, and Flower, who has been ingloriously renamed "The Rectangle" due to her girly figure, are good to go as long as there's hay around.

We're still using the hen house for hay storage, but will soon put the chickens out on pasture.

The Rectangle in all her snowy glory.

And as a side note, I have an update on my wild-yeast caught sourdough bread: success!  However, I'm back to using the starter my friend gave me because it has a lot more flavor.  The microbes I caught were a bit on the bland side.

Who Needs Video Games?

"When I was  kid, all I needed to entertain myself was a stick and a string!" 

Maybe my kids really will use that line on their grandkids.  Check out their most recent creation, made in the dead of winter:



Steps

Swing

Sticks and strings.  Proud of my kids' creativity.  Made by Akea, checked for safety by Byron.

Updates

Yes.  I'm into creative titles these days.

I can't believe my blogging has precipitously dropped off these past few months.  When I was homeschooling both kids, I would oftentimes take a few minutes in the morning to at least start a post.  Now that Akea is attending public school, it's a rush to get everyone out the door to drop her off, and she comes home with plenty of homework, most of with which she needs help.

And having Charlie at home, by himself, means he needs more attention from me.  It's just the way things are rolling these days.

From a homesteading perspective, things are slowing down, but I have been attacking some projects inside the house.  So right now, our life looks like this:

Outside
1. The steers go to the butcher tomorrow.  When we bought them, we knew they weren't pets, but because we raised them from their first week of life, we've grown a bit attached.

2. The younger hens are almost six months old and have been laying small, pullet eggs for about a month.  We're happy that the flocks merged without a hitch, and the goats are enjoying being pastured with them as well.  Our thought is that the goats provide a degree of predator protection for the chickens.

3. The garden has been done for a while.  The no-till idea didn't mix well with my fatigue and the drought this summer, so Byron will till it in the spring and we will try raised beds.  I have a bit of lettuce in pots.

4. We need to prep the hoop house for the chickens, which involves clearing it out, protecting the sides where they'd dug under last year, and making a small access door into the garden.  We want them to be able to go outside when they want, instead of being cooped up (literally) all winter.

Inside
1. I painted the kitchen and large common area at the back of the house, and have begun to work on re-upholstery again.  Soon to come is painting and/or refinishing a few pieces of furniture, then organizing.  Lots of organizing.

2. Byron plans to repair the floor and damaged joist in the downstairs bedroom, and lay hardwood flooring.  Part of the holdup has been figuring out exactly how to reconfigure the bathroom, but I think we have finally made our decision...we're keeping it simple and not tearing up and rebuilding walls.

3. My Nutrimill died!  I believe the motor burned up.  However, I have to give props to L'Equip, the company that makes the machine.  They told me to send it in, and they're fixing it free of charge.  Totally took my word for it that I'm the original owner, too, and told me not to even worry about sending in the receipt.  In all this, a big thanks to my friend, Katey, who has let me borrow her hand mill!

In all this, we are trying to figure out some ways to streamline the homesteading aspect of our lives.  Raised beds will hopefully be easier on me, and Byron would like to set up some semi-permanent electric wire paddocks for whenever we get more cows.  Any by the way, we are going to try to get a couple heifers (young, female cows) that we can breed, which will be much more sustainable than buying calves.

I will be back to update from time to time, but my guess is that it won't be as frequent as it has been in the past.  As our kids grow, they're beginning to show interests in different activities.  For Charlie, it's soccer and guitar.  Akea is interested in basketball and drama.  True, this seems contrary to the homesteading lifestyle to a degree, but we are trying to find that balance.

Wake Me Up When September Ends

Maybe by then the dust will have settled a bit.

But in the meantime, here's a small peek into what we've been up to:

Making applesauce.  I think I had the heat too high in the pressure canner for this round, though I'm open to suggestions.

Freezing a bushel of corn, and now persimmons.



Inventing weapons.

Remember "business in the front, party in the back?"  Byron's beautiful landscaping, completed this summer.

Baby chick, growing up.

Our biggest change, and a tough decision...sending Akea to public school.  She's adjusting well.

This may not seem like much, but somehow, days are full with homeschooling Charlie, wrestling with finicky bell waterers, baking, cooking, more baking, preserving, homework, cleaning.

I'm linking up with Rural Thursdays and Farmgirl Fridays.

Perspective, A Couple Weeks Later

I mentioned in my last post that life had become rather overwhelming.  For a couple weeks, I ran things alone here while Byron was chaperoning a student trip to Europe.  I went to Europe in graduate school and we both felt like this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him, and he spent much of his time taking photos and videos to share with us. 

Amid sickness (and we rarely get sick, so go figure), 100+ degree weather, the loss of three chickens, a violent storm that left many people without power for days, and a nasty computer virus, friends and family came to our rescue while Byron was away.  You know who you are, and we are so grateful to you.

During Byron's time away, I've been whittling away at my many responsibilities.  Homesteading has a romantic ring to it, but the reality of it can be a slap of mud to the face - literally and figuratively.  I'm happy we're raising much of our own food - don't get me wrong - but one homeschooling mom and a dad who works outside the home for much of the year can only handle so much.

Here's where I'd like to do some whittling:

1. Number of chicken flocks: Right now, we have four flocks.  We have our Cornish Cross we're raising for meat, and their time on earth is nearing an end.  However, we also have three old Barred Rocks and three guineas who wander around, almost thirty six-week-old Barred Rocks, and 18 one-year-old Rhode Island Reds (two died recently).  This makes for quite the little dance to do during morning chores and during the day to check on water.  We're hoping we can combine the young hens with the one-year-olds, and we may either eat or give away the old hens and guineas in the fall.

2. Water: Right now, I haul water in buckets placed in a wagon to the various animals throughout the day.  We'd like to dig a pond and figure out a pump system, but since we move our animals, I'm not sure if this would be any more efficient than what we already do.  The benefit right now is that I have no need for Jillian Michaels workouts.

3. Goats: We recently were given four Nigerian Dwarf goats, and while they are very sweet, they DO escape and they ARE extra work.  Case in point: we were rather late for some church responsibilities today because when we woke up, we found them wandering around the front yard.  And to be honest, I don't see myself becoming a master cheese maker one day; I see myself pursuing photography or another art form.  Byron wants to make a permanent, fenced-off area for them.  And while I don't mind having a couple goats, I'm not sure we need four.

4. Meals: I make all our meals from scratch, and while that is something I would never give up since you can't beat the nutritional value, I have decided to rotate the same. seven. meals. every. week.  I'm sure this sounds terribly boring, but to be honest, I don't enjoy cooking very much (though I do like to bake) and my family is rather picky.  So with seasonal variations, I shall venture forth into the overly chartered waters of pasta night, burger night, roasted chicken night, and so forth.

How do you simplify your life while trying to homestead?

Homestead Where You're Planted

I think about ways to save money a lot.  It's one of the reasons we're doing what we're doing.  But truth be told, there are a lot of ways out there to save money, couponing being one of the most popular.  I tried a bit of that, but like many people, can rarely find coupons for items - especially food - that I actually buy.

So I thought I'd start a series about frugal living to encourage others in leading healthy, full lives without going broke.  I'm cheating a bit on this first installment, because I recently submitted a guest post to Money Saving Mom and am providing a link to it below.  "Homestead Where You're Planted" is the original title, and will suffice as the title to this post as I mull over a catchy title for the series.  Sorry - I'm spent right now.  Let's just say that running over a pothole and ruining two tires is not going to be a money-saving topic I address.

But at least we can (grudgingly) have the repairs made, thanks to other ways we find to save.

In the meantime, click here to read my Money Saving Mom post: "Save Money by Skipping the Grocery Stores"!

I'm linking up with Rural Thursdays!

A Book Recommendation

Last month I read the book Folks, This Ain't Normal by Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm, and I seriously think every American needs to read this book.  Though I may be preaching to the choir here, I'd love to get the word out beyond the homesteaders, foodies, and environmentalists who naturally would target this book as a good read.  Can you help me do that?

In it, Salatin keeps coming back to one underlying factor holding up our industrial food system: cheap, foreign oil.  And how the minute that thin membrane splits, productions costs will go out the roof.  And here we were, thinking local food was expensive...

Let me also say he does not espouse sending more of our military overseas to ensure that this foreign oil stays cheap, nor does he encourage the continued raping of the American landscape to produce oodles of our own energy.  Why?  In either case, these are finite, unsustainable solutions that will collapse someday.  Instead, returning to a local, pasture-based, diversified food system is the only sustainable, long-term solution to feeding ourselves and potentially, the world.  Unfortunately, most of what you see on the shelves of the grocery stores is the product of a monolithic industrialized food system which is heavily subsidized by the government (a.k.a., your tax dollars).

So how, and why, would we even begin to defeat this Goliath?
1. Buy local.  Does it cost more?  Yes (local food generally isn't government-subsidized).  But is there a way you can start small?  Can you support a local farmer by buying a dozen pastured eggs every week?
2. Plant a garden.  It's cheap, fun, and most definitely a learning experience.
3. As I mentioned before, industrialized food is not sustainable.  Our generation may not see it, but it will collapse someday if things don't change.
4. We may be one of the richest counties in the world, but are we the healthiest?  Not by a long shot.  Industrialized, heavily processed foods laden with high fructose corn syrup and ingredients that scientists can't even pronounce are a huge culprit.

But I digress.  The point is, please read this book.

I'm linking up to Homestead Revival's Barn Hop!

Our Neighbors Give Us Crap

…literally!  Since last spring, Byron has been making trips back and forth from a neighbor’s farm to collect horse manure to bring home and compost.  As Randy and Lynn’s driveway is only six-tenths of a mile from ours, it’s quite convenient to make a trip – or two or three – to pick up loads (pun intended). 

The arrangement is mutually beneficial.  With Randy and Lynn’s four horses (not to mention a handful of sheep) dropping copious amounts of stinky stuff out of their backsides each day, managing that much waste can become overwhelming for any animal owner.  But we covet the stuff and make every attempt to procure as much manure as possible.  The funny thing is, Byron actually enjoys this whole process and is quite proud of the black gold he’s made by composting the manure!

Books have been written on how to compost – in addition to more how-to articles than blades of grass in an acre of well-managed pasture.  While it’s easy to get overwhelmed when you get too scientific about the composting process, it’s a fact that manure, or anything organic, will break down over time.  We’ve found a ratio of two greens-to-one brown works just fine.  So as not to bore anyone with a list of what constitutes greens and browns – just do a Google search and you can find all the lists you could ever want to peruse – we typically mix two parts horse manure (a green) with one part shredded leaves (a brown).  By keeping this mixture damp (read: initially watering it, then letting it get rained on whenever the skies open up) and turning it occasionally (read: taking a pitchfork to the heap), we help ensure conditions are ideal for a hot pile that effectively kills weed seeds, etc.  Here are some photos of how we go about composting:

While Randy and Lynn sometimes have a load of manure from the horses’ stalls ready for pickup, Byron collects a majority of the manure he brings home directly from the pasture.

Akea and Charlie love to volunteer to help Byron collect manure.  This, of course, means they get to pet the horses and feed them carrots.  Akea LOVES horses!

Byron transfers the manure from Randy and Lynn’s wagon to a couple of old trashcans for the trip to our farm.  Each can is quite heavy when full – especially if the manure is fresh.

We use a pitchfork to unload a majority of the manure from each can …

…until the can is light enough to pick up and dump.

Once the manure is spread evenly…

…we add leaves….

…and water, before repeating the process.  Byron typically collects six to eight trashcans full of manure at a time; the layering really helps get the compost pile hot.

That chicken would love to frolic in the hot compost pile on this cold day – as much for the warmth as for the tasty worms helping aid the decomposition process.   Note the ice blocks on top of the pile and the steam rising where the pitchfork was used to expose the inner part of the pile.

I'm linking up with Rural Thursday!  Click here to visit.

January Calm...

...before the storm, which will come in the form of 660 S.F. of heart pine flooring that Byron will install this winter.  Until then, here's what's been going on:

Snow.  Which melted by the time I took this photo.

Rain.

Cozy chickens.

Cozy cows.

School.

And more school.

Fencing.

Painting.

Weeding.  Yes, thanks to a mild winter, I am still weeding the garden.  And then I feed the weeds to the chickens, and cover each row with a layer of compost, made from the horse manure which Byron diligently hauls from a farm 1/2 mile away. We will thank ourselves for this in the spring, right?

And soon to come, re-upholstery.  I promise.

A New Year, a New Name

Happy 2012!  As you may have read, a couple days ago Byron posted that much of the land we use has been in the family for 100 years.  If you missed it, click here to read his post.

To that end, we have decided on a new name for the farm.  While Green Acres seemed kind of fun, kitchy, and appropriate given that Byron's great-grandparents were the Greens, a few months ago he came up with a name that better captures what we are trying to do: Green Legacy Farm.  Our main purpose in embarking on our farming adventure is to steward this land God has blessed us with so that we can both continue a legacy that began 100 years ago and leave something meaningful for future generations. 

As time allows, I am going to give the blog a facelift and look into changing the URL...but I will give plenty of warning.  And trust me, it won't happen right away.  This is going to be a large technological leap for the Luddite that I am, and it will probably involve late nights, tears, and threats to the life of my computer.

But here's something I want to share with you now: our new sign!  This sits at the top of our driveway, and was easier to make than you might think:

I want to go out today just so I can drive up and see this!

Leaving the driveway...

First, we already had the post.  It was dull, black, and in desperate need of a facelift.  It's amazing what a sixty degree day and a can of white spray paint will do!  I cleaned it up with a bit of sandpaper, first.

Next, the mailbox is new, and I spray painted it hunter green to match the color scheme.  The old one had been beaten to death by many a redneck.   I can remember guys from high school talking about bashing mailboxes and running over possums.  Let's pray the new sign (and the local possums) don't have the same fate.

Finally, the sign.  We bought an oval template from Home Depot and cut out a piece of plywood.  Next, I stuffed wood putty around the curved edge to seal any small holes.  After sanding, I primed and painted it white.  Then I printed out the lettering, cut out the letters, arranged them on the sign, and traced them with a pencil.  It took about three coats of green to make the lettering and design solid, but it dried quickly.

I feel like for all the renovation mess we're in right now, this is a glimpse into who we are.  We reused what we could, and for minimal cost ($25, maybe?) created something we're happy with.  And now one project is completely done!

And that, so far, makes for a very happy new year!

Click below to join in Homestead Revival's Barn Hop!

Hoop House III and Merry Christmas

At long last, my final update on our hoop house!  We've actually had it done for a couple weeks, but have been tweaking things as we put the Rhode Island Reds, and now the cows, in for the winter.  If you haven't checked out the earlier posts, click here for Hoop House I and click here for Hoop House II.

We used translucent plastic panels for the front.  The door opens into the garden, so on nice days, we let the chickens out.  Inside, we add carbon (shredded leaves, wood chips) to the bedding and expect we'll have some nice compost by spring.  The interior temperature has reached up to 70 degrees some days!  Warmth + sunlight = lots of eggs.

Here is the cows' side, nearly done.  Excuse the netting; it was a temporary safety before we got the fencing up.

Chickens' side, interior.  We removed the roost bars from one side of their portable house and installed them here.

Settling in nicely!

Rhode Island Red rooster.  Did I mention he attacked me a couple times???  Fortunately, he's settled down a bit and we have a mutual agreement to leave each other alone.  As long as he doesn't breech his end of the deal, all will be well (for him).

We moved the steers to their side of the hoop house a couple days ago.  Byron created a little run for them from the field.

Cows' side, interior.  You can see how the hoop house is divided by fencing, and the chickens checking out their new neighbors.  They seem happy, but the cattle were lowing quite a bit yesterday.  They like change about as much as I do.

Hard to resist patting their woolly winter coats!

Finally, my attempt to winterize the garden.  I've so far managed to get compost on one row of six.

I then covered the row with leaves and paper from feed bags.  This is kind of our own invention, and it needs to be tweaked since bags + wind = lots of running around.

That should just about update you on what we've been doing!  Byron has been working like mad on the fence, and I'm gearing up to start on those upholstery projects.  I will be back sometime after Christmas to update you on our progress!

Thank you so much for sticking with me this year.  Looking back, we've experienced several trials, such as continuing to await the sale of our other home and discovering additional problems with this home.  But these were accompanied by several triumphs.  We finally sold our other home in April, and were successful in raising fifty meat birds and twenty laying hens, with minimal losses.  We also have two very healthy steers that we daily moved to fresh pasture during the warmer months, and have beautiful floors in two rooms and the front hallway of our home.  We have much to be thankful for.

God bless you all.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!