Homesteading
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Freedom Scorecard
I came across this snazzy little tool presented by Tag at LifeDoneFree, which he calls a UGS Calculator. (“UGS” stands for “UnGovernable Score”.) Basically, it’s a gauge to determine how free you are based on what you deem is needed to be free. For a while now, I’ve been trying to keep tabs on taking care of our First- Things-First needs, and thensome, to get as free as we can be. And I really like how Tag has put this spreadsheet together to help monitor one’s progress on achieving freedom in the many aspects of our lives.
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Shabbat Shalom, Y’all
In 2009, or thereabouts, I began researching & studying the US Constitution, and the course I was taking led me to read the book of Deuteronomy anew. (The course itself was not religious in nature — it just referenced the books of the Bible where the Ten Commandments were listed.) So, after a short while, having meditated on the chapter containing the Ten Commandments (chapter 6), I took to heart the instruction (verses 6-9) to teach these commandments diligently to the children & talk about them all the time, posting them at one’s gates and on the posts of one’s home. Thus began my Ten Commandments Campaign.
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My Freeze-Drying Future
Last fall, we planned on processing our ginormous (yes, that’s a real word) fence-jumping Black Angus steer. However, when the day came to load him onto the trailer to go meet his Maker, a series of unfortunate events took place, to include the mangling of several cattle panels and garden fencing. Therefore his ticket to ride went to two other smaller animals, and that beast lived to see another day. 🙁 Knowing this mammal needed to end up in our freezer, sooner than later, yet our freezer space would be limited given the other two animals, we had to come up with either another massive freezer or another plan to…
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I’m Not a Cow Person
I’m not a cow person, but we have cows — a lot of them. In fact, we just had one born on the homestead last week. Check out this momma & her calf. If I had my druthers, I’d get rid of most of our herd because we have too many for our land to support them all. But my husband keeps reminding me that we need them because they are doing precious work for us that would otherwise take decades for us to do. They are bringing fertility to the land. A lot of it.
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What is a Food Forest Garden?
Here’s our personal definition of a food forest garden. Discussion and tour includes layer design, edible landscape, self sustaining, resilience, abundance, prosperity, creative mandate, land stewardship, hills and valleys, tips, free nitrogen, passive irrigation. How do you define a food forest?
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Unique Keyhole Beds Video
In today’s video we show part of our zone 7 garden design, inspired by keyhole beds, and also go into more detail as to why we recommend Rototilling as permaculturists. Included are some tips for bringing in pollinators, and our favorite tools and machinery for being the most efficient without causing harm to the land. Along with that, we discuss our method with using weeds, or wild edibles, as cover crops.
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Cow Gone Fishing
My husband decided to go fishing in our pond last week on his day off, and I thought a nice little picnic lunch would be in order. Evidently I wasn’t alone in that idea. I just brought us a few humble PB & J sandwiches, some potato chips & sour cream, and a rare bottle of apple juice. And our guest brought the entertainment. Then the bait bucket got overturned, and it was time to bid farewell to our neighborly beast. Homesteading on the land with a pond comes with its perks: Dinner and a Show, featuring Surf & Turf-in-the-making. Wish you were here.
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Propane Flame Thrower Weed Control Video
Clearing the weeds out of our gravel parking lot for the Homestead Stand. Using a propane torch is an easy and more natural choice to kill weeds. No pesticides required. No weed eating required. Burning broom sedge is a good way to add bio-char (charcoal) to low humus soil. It seems nature has been designed to heal itself. Broom sedge has no grazing value so it grows in large dry stands on the thin soils of ridges and overused land in Virginia. It sits there just waiting for a ignition source. This is a rugged pioneer plant than is early on the ladder of natural succession back to forest. Any…
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Naughty Hens, Securing our Stand Video
In this daily update video, we secure the border of our Homestead Stand and the surrounding gates and fences to keep our chickens from wandering out into the road. Alongside that maintenance, we’re planning to move dirt from our aged manure pile to build up beds in order to plant potatoes and comfrey. Subscribe to keep updated on our journey and learn some new things along with us.
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Planting Yukon Chief Sweet Corn Video
In today’s video we demonstrate how we’re planting our corn this year and what we do to get it in so early, just a few days past the spring equinox. In this example, we’re planting Yukon Chief Sweet Corn which is known for its early maturing at 55 days and its dwarf stalks, coming in at three to four feet in height. Going against tradition of a much later planting time, we’re planning to have these stalks grow in our large greenhouse. Stay tuned for the journey in future videos!
