One of the most exciting projects we have completed on our homestead this summer was building an outdoor pizza oven. Years ago in Oregon, my husband Brian built an amazing brick bread oven, following Alan Scott's plans detailed in the book The Bread Builders. The oven was huge - he could bake 20+ loaves of bread at a time - and it was so well insulated that it held heat for days. Brian ran a "Community Supported Bakery" for almost 9 years, selling organic, artisan sourdough bread baked that he baked in his wood-fired oven to friends and neighbors. When we began creating our off the grid homestead, we knew that we wanted to include an outdoor bread and pizza oven. … [Read more...]
How to Homestead (and Still Go on Vacation)
A sentiment I read a bit too often in homesteading circles is that once you have a homestead, you can never leave the house again. I'm here to tell you that this is false. In my 17 years of homesteading, I have gone on many, many vacations, including a month-long honeymoon to Costa Rica, a three week road trip, and countless shorter trips. I love to travel and it's a priority for me, so (although it can be stressful), I figure out ways to make it happen. Here's how. How to Homestead and Still Go on Vacation Find a great house sitter Okay, this is probably the hardest step, so let's get right to it. The biggest key to having a successful and relaxing vacation is to have an incredible … [Read more...]
Homesteading Book Reviews
As the daylight hours grow longer, it's rare that I climb in bed until well after 11pm. Still, I try to prepare for sleep by reading and have a giant stack of in-progress books above my bed. Although I'm a sucker for a good novel, I can't read them before bed because I get drawn in to the story and won't put the book down! So homesteading and non-fiction books are my favorite way to unwind. Here are a few homesteading books and eBooks that I've been enjoying recently. Patio Raptors Meredith Skyer writes the blog ImaginAcres and heads the awesome site Backyard Chicken Project. She knows her chickens, shares amazing content, and takes incredible photos. Meredith has combined these talents … [Read more...]
When Will my Cow Calve?
When will my cow calve?? That's the question we asked each day for the past two weeks! Since Creme Brûlée had been impregnated through the use of Artificial Insemination (AI), we had a "due date" pinned down and in the calendar. Unfortunately, like humans, the due date doesn't tell you exactly when your cow will give birth. But, by paying attention to a few signs, we could anticipate when Creme Brûlée would calve, and were able to be home and waiting to greet her calf, and help if needed. How Long is a Cow Gestation? Like humans, cows are pregnant for about 9 months. According to most charts, the average gestation period is 283 days. However, smaller breeds, like Jerseys, tend to give … [Read more...]
Preventing Tick Bites on the Homestead
I've seen a lot of posts on Facebook about this being a bad year for ticks. Ticks are no fun. In addition to being disease-carrying creatures, they tend to gross people out. Honestly, I'm immune to their ick factor, having pulled hundreds out of my family. But, I do give ticks a great deal of thought, and I thought I'd share with you our strategy for preventing tick bites on our homestead. When we purchased our land it had been in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for years. CRP land is taken out of agricultural production, and while certain management practices are allowed, like planting hardwoods, or mowing, it is essentially fallow. In our case, the non-forested areas grew up as … [Read more...]
How we Afford to Homestead
"I'm sure people ask you this a lot, I'll ask again. How do you support yourselves? I understand spending money is probably a fraction of what city people pay. But a drivers license costs money, property tax. I have no doubt that we could simply go live off the land. but, money, even if it's a smallish amount needs to come from somewhere." I love this question, posed by a reader, both because I love writing about the financial realities of homesteading, and also because the question of how we afford to homestead, and how homesteaders support themselves is an under-discussed topic in the world of "self-sufficiency." Plus, when I meet new people that are not in homesteading circles, it's the … [Read more...]
17 Tools Homesteaders Can’t Live Without
Good tools make jobs faster, homesteading more enjoyable, and tasks easier. Sure, good homesteading tools cost more money, but they are usually well worth the investment, as a quality tool will last for years. We started collecting tools when we first moved onto a rental homestead in 1999, and still use many of those same tools today. I asked some homesteading friends which tools they considered indispensable on their farm or homestead. Here are 17 essential tools for homesteading and gardening that we wouldn't want to live without. Essential Tools for the Garden and Barn Favorite Garden Tools I bet if you surveyed 100 gardeners, each one would love a different garden tool. And … [Read more...]
Train Travel with Kids (on a Homesteader’s Budget)
Because we love to travel, and because our family and dear friends live in opposite corners of the United States, we spend a fair amount of time traversing the country. Our preferred method of transportation is by train, on the Amtrak. I tend to get a lot of questions about train travel, especially how to make it work when you're traveling with kids, and how to make train travel affordable, so I wanted to share our experiences. (And yes, I am writing this on the train!) Although commuter train travel does not seem to be economical for larger families, our family of four is usually traveling long distances, such as this Missouri to Arizona trip. The train makes it possible for … [Read more...]
Out the Front Door
{Out the Front Door: An occasional series featuring snapshots and snippets of homestead life, right out our front door.} This spring has felt particularly full, as we've finally hit our stride as small business owners, while simultaneously increasing the food growing, making, and storing capacity on our homestead. Blogging has fallen a bit to the wayside, and micro-blogging has taken its place, primarily on Instagram. (If you're on Instagram, I'd love to connect! I'm @homestead_honey). But there are SO many projects happening that I've wanted to share! Such as this project: Fencing and mulching our fruit trees. We love free ranging our chickens, but hate that they kick up the mulch around … [Read more...]
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