If you’re in the northern hemisphere, it’s time to button up your home before winter. Depending on your latitude that could mean anything from cleaning gutters to raking leaves. For us, we don’t rake leaves until December or January depending on how cold it is, but there’s plenty for us …
Many years ago I read an article (and subsequent YouTube videos) by a man who claimed he re-energized his spent and nearly sterile soil by using wood chips as compost. Wood chips were like a religion to him and he’d have tree trimming companies bring him chips by the 18 …
It was a long, hot summer, but the homestead is finally getting a break from the heat. Every year we try to do one thing that improves or makes our lives easier on the homestead. This year was the year I finished putting up weed barriers on the walkways between …
I’ve lived in Texas for over forty years and this is the first time I’ve ever come across a cicada killer. Cicada Killers (Sphecius speciosus) is a wasp that can get up to two inches long. Now I know everything is bigger in Texas which might account for the one …
My Facebook friends already know that we lost all fifteen healthy pullets to varmints. It was a cruel blow to an already trying quarter. But every problem is also an opportunity. Yes, we lost every chick, but now that we’re starting from almost nothing, we can try different breeds. I’ve …
Homestead life goes on even when it’s hard. Garden: My garden is all over the place. Some things were successful, others still need time to show their worth. Part of the problem came from the flip-flopping temperatures in March. Usually, I have everything planted in March and harvested by May, …
It’s been a rough few weeks. The predators have been out in force. Every time we thought we’d secured a pen, they’d find another way in. I even moved the chickens to another pen that I thought might be safer, but that’s when the poor rooster met his end. He …
Hatching new chicks can be exciting and sometimes nerve wracking, waiting for a little chick to crack its shell and fight its way out. It took me a long time to learn that sometimes helping was not helping at all. Someone new to hatching might want to help peel away …
One of the perks of living in the country is that we’re not limited by city regulations. This includes burning trash and debris on our property. We’re old pros at it. We’ve been burning brush on our property since 1986. Our burn piles have gotten smaller since getting goats and …
I put off milking my goats for a long time. At first, I told myself, well, we only have Boers and they’re not known for milk production. Then we moved into Nubians, and my first argument fell flat. This is the first year my Nubians kidded. I let them wean …
I have this theory. I think many human beings live only long enough to see dreams completed and then they give up. If that’s true there’s a chance I might live forever. Six months ago I might’ve said that the homestead was nearly completed to my satisfaction, and now it …
Once a year we binge on Downton Abbey. It was a hard sell for Greg the first time we watched this, but after the first couple of episodes he was hooked. This is our third year of binging it and we’re familiar enough with it to give us a chance …
I didn’t think I’d be doing a State of the Homestead report this early in the year, but we hit the ground running in January. Goats: Welcome to our new goat babies! Toffee (one of the Nubians) gave us two kids, a boy and a girl, but she picked the …
Life slowed down just in time for Nana, the border collie, to get hurt. We stopped all our other outdoor activities on the homestead and have spent the last two weeks keeping Her Royal Border Collie company while binge-watching Babylon 5 from start to finish. The first week was a …
The garden is pretty much spent. Only the okra continues to bloom and produce. Some of my Roma tomato plants are producing, but that’s about it. It’s time to scale back and put most of the garden to bed. I’ll probably plant a few broccoli, spinach, and Swiss chard but …
Time for another State of the Homestead report. We’re in the dog days of summer where everything struggles to keep from wilting–including me! The weather has been weird. Our winter was so mild I could’ve started the garden in February if I wanted. We’ve also had more rain than usual–a …
Nothing makes me sadder than to find food rotting in the fridge. It makes me feel like a failure. It doesn’t happen too often now–unless it’s something Greg bought for himself and never finished eating–but even then, I’ve found ways to salvage a bad situation. • Make Soup • Freeze …
Jury duty starts tomorrow, so I’m catching up on all the things that need doing today. I don’t want you to think I’ve abandoned you, so I’ll leave you with a few pictures of Tilly, aka, Bacon. She has gotten huge almost overnight. We thought we’d be putting her in …
If you live in the South, you should already have planted your garden. Northerners can wait until June for more cold sensitive plants. The Plan • This is the fun part. Think about what you like to eat or flowers you like to see on your table. What fruits and …
It’s been a busy Spring but I got most of my outdoor jobs (or as I like to call them, my exercises in futility) done. 🙂 In the past month, I relocated hundreds of irises, started a dozen pots of new herbs, and landscaped the front of Greg’s shop. All …
