Homesteading

Homesteading:  A weekly account of our journey to becoming off grid homesteaders.  Our path will be long as we are only paying in cash and our funds are very limited.  Mike and I have no idea what we're doing so we'll be learning as we go.  I know we'll make mistakes and that's ok.  It's all part of the process.  

We would love to read about your homesteading experiences, so if you'd like to share your favorite resources, tips, funny stories, recipes, books, website or even just a photo from the week, please leave a link in the comments.

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This last weekend was our first camping trip of the season on our land.  It feels so good to be back sleeping under the stars.  It's also nice to be back to working on some homesteading projects!

Mike's step dad made us a little stool for our bird sanctuary out of a tree that fell on their homestead.  I'd like to make a few more of these, to put around the campfire!

Luke has been asking if we could make a nature book, so we're taking pictures of things he wants to identify.  We think the second photo is an Allegheny Serviceberry.  They grow all along the hill and along the edge of the woods.  Right now, the trees are covered in clouds of white flowers, but soon will have sweet, juicy berries. We hope, anyway!  In the fall, the leaves will turn a brilliant shade of orange and red that glow like fire, in the evening sun.

Last week, we mowed an area where are going to build the house.  This week, we staked out the perimeter of our tiny house and mowed the area where we'll put the giant garden next year!  We decided to till the garden for the first year and then work the soil as no till from then on.  We just don't have money in the budget for a truck load of compost, and by then we should have a good amount of our own humanure compost.

I also had to share the most exciting part of our weekend... snakes!  And lots of them.  Jake said the garter snakes were the most angry and feisty he's ever picked up, hissing and biting.  Garter snakes are usually mellow and very tame.  He also found a Fox Snake out on the road.  It's the largest fox snake we've ever seen in the wild.  Jake measured it against is 6ft tall body, and this snake was a good 5 feet long.  It stunk really bad, so he only held it long enough for me to take a few pictures and then let it go back into the ditch.

For this next weekend, we're looking forward to building our harvest table!

The Dandelion

Dandelions are beginning to bloom!  While the lawn care trucks circle the streets of our town, I'm rebelling against them with dandelion salad, dandelion jelly, dandelion greens, dandelion wool dyes.  The neighbors like to stick their nose up in the air at our lawn eu natural, but I say.... Bring It On!

Knitting and Fishing

I took my knitting to the river so I could watch my men folk (they laugh every time I say that) catch us trout for dinner.  It's always a pleasure to go during the week after the tourists have gone home; just the sounds of nature and the company of each other.  It was a perfectly overcast day for knitting a sweater outside.  The breeze off the spring fed river was cold, but the grass was soft and vibrant green.  I snuggled up under a wool blanket and was happy just to be outside again.  It even rained a little, but we didn't mind.  

A group of small yellow birds were out and about, too.  Cole had mentioned just the other day that he'd like to see a goldfinch in person and then wouldn't you know, a half dozen descend upon the river.  He was so excited, he yelled, "GOLDFINCH!"  They were the funniest little things; bouncing around the grass like one of those tiny plastic wind up chicks!  Then they would take off, doing acrobatic stunts over the water to scoop up insects.  Besides Cole's hilarious impression of a tourist fishermen, the birds were pure entertainment for the day!

We stayed well into the evening, until everyone was so cold, we couldn't stand it any longer.  It was a good day with fresh fish, fresh air and half a sweater finished!  

p.s.  The trout, cooked by Jake, were delicious, in case you were wondering. 

p.p.s  I'm joining in with Ginny for Yarn Along