The Secret to Homesteading.

The secret to homesteading is really very simple. Start small and start where you are. Don’t try to do everything at once or you will become overwhelmed and give up because you think it’s too hard. So start small. Start with a few plants and once you are comfortable with that get a few more going. Before you know it you will have a garden.

Start with a few chickens. Get them figured out before moving on to something else like goats or turkeys. It’s all about doing one thing first until you are comfortable with that one thing before you move on to the next. This doesn’t matter what you are doing. If you want to learn to preserve your food, learn one food at a time and learn all the ways that you can preserve that one food, then move to the next.

Start where you are. If you are in an apartment, animals really aren’t going to work so start with a few container plants that you can learn to grow them. Start slowly by providing herbs or a couple vegetables for you and your family. Once you are ready and able to get land, then you can begin to learn how to grow those vegetables or herbs in the ground.

If you try to do everything at once, it will end in a disaster and you won’t want to continue. If you start small and start where you are, you can learn as you go without losing everything all at the same time. Because believe me, when something goes wrong everything goes wrong at once.

Have a great day!

Renee

Everyone always talks about the good days of homesteading, the produce from your garden, the kids being born, your children growing. But very few talk about the bad days. I know they don’t happen often, thankfully, but they do happen.

There will be injury and there will be death. We had this happen just last year. I got an email from a friend that she could get me some cows for cheap. Like really cheap. I got a heifer and a bull for 150. That is for both of them. I jumped at it. I mean who wouldn’t right? Well I found out right quick that I didn’t know enough about cows at the time. I hate myself for jumping so fast now, but I thought at the time, “they are ruminants, it’ll be just like raising goats.”

I was so wrong!  No matter what I did, I could not save the heifer. We had her for a week before she passed. I still have her ear tag. I know idea that cows and goats were so different. We did manage to save the bull though. I wish that I could blame the breeder but I know that it was my fault because I did not do my research before getting them. It was a “now or never” type deal. I learned so very much from that girl though and I think about her all the time.

I wish that I had done my research before bringing her here, but hindsight is 20/20 right. So I know better now, but like I said bad days do happen and you need to be prepared for that. It’s not always sunshine and roses on a homestead, but of course that is what we usually put out there.

Have a great day!

Renee

This Day in History: Three Leave Powell’s Grand Canyon Expedition.

On this day in 1869, three men decided to leave Powell’s expedition of the Grand Canyon and brave the lands above the canyon rather than brave the rapids of the Colorado River that were coming the next day.

John Wesley Powell and his men make it through the rapids and come out on the other side of the canyon that next day. The three men that went above were not as lucky. They ran into Indians and were killed. This however, ensured that Powell’s next expedition was well funded where this one was not.

Some of the rapid before were pretty bad and the rapids ahead were apparently worse, the three men that went above didn’t think the wooden boats would survive the rapids so they planned to go on foot instead.  This turned out to be a huge mistake. Of course the men didn’t know this at the time or they may have made a different decision.

Because of this expedition and the one’s that followed, the Grand Canyon is the place it is today. These brave men went in to see what they could see and came out on the other side. The Grand Canyon today is a huge tourist area because the views are amazing and the landscape is so pure.

Have a great day!

Renee

Today we are to list the top 5 blog that we read, or that you should be reading. I have more than 5 so I may revisit this topic later, but to start with I just wanted to go through the 5 websites that I have found most helpful to me on my homesteading journey. So here we go:

1. Homesteading Family – I love this blog because they have some amazing information and recipes for homesteaders. Well not even just homesteaders, for anyone really.

2. Better Hens and Gardens – This site also has amazing information. I look forward to these posts because I learn something new every time I read the blog.

3.  Mama on the Homestead – This blog is wonderful because she goes into more than just her homestead but life in general. I have found so much good information on this site though.

4. Melissa Knorris – This is another site that I just love. She has more than just a blog though. She also does classes to teach the skills you may need on your homestead.

5. The Organic Goat Lady – This site has saved my butt a time or two. She raises goats organically and doesn’t rely on medicines and vaccinations to keep her goats healthy. She  also has some courses on raising goats.

And that is a rap! That is my short list of blogs that I am reading right now. I love each one for very different reasons and they all provide great information that I use almost daily.

Have a great day!

Renee

I think the thing I say the most is probably “start where you are at, but just start”. I know a lot of times this is probably the hardest thing for me to do. I am a perfectionist and I want things to be perfect before I show them to anyone. I have learned (more so this year) that if you wait for perfection it will never happen.

I know that most people only want others to see the good side of things, life is perfect and all organized into nice little categories. We’ve all seen that Instagram person who looks like they have their life together and they never loose their shit, well I’m here to tell you that they do lose their shit, you just don’t see that part of them. That is their private part of life that no one sees outside of their happy little bubble.

If you wait for things to be perfect you will never do whatever it is that you want to do. So start right now, where you are, and show the world your messy side. It will get better, and you will figure out how to improve on things as you go. But if you start right now, you know that you tried, even if it doesn’t work out the way you want it to. I’ll tell you what, the ride will be fun though when you look back  on it.

Just remember we are all human and we all have a messy side. Some more so than others but that’s alright. That’s what makes each person who they are. I want to see who you are, not what you think others want to see. So just start!

Have a great day!

Renee

Today’s post is an easy one. Ask me anything you want. Yes, anything. I will answer every question that comes in and who knows, maybe some of them will become blog posts later on. I will have to see what I get to know that for sure though.

Homestead or farm related would be best, but I will answer any question that you leave me. Anything! I have to say that I am really looking forward to this one. Just leave me a comment below with your question and I will answer it just as quickly as I can.

That’s it for today! Leave me a question in the comments below and I will answer them. If you are getting this on my podcast, there should be a link for my website there if you would like to ask a question as well.

Have a great day!

Renee

I think the main question I hear over and over again, is “can you homestead on less than 5 acres?” The short answer is yes. However, I keep hearing people telling others that unless you have 5 or more acres it’s not a homestead. My question to them is why not?

I am a firm believer that one should start where they are. If there is no yard, do container gardening in the window sills. Use your kitchen waste for compost. You don’t need a whole lot of soil for containers. You can start with herbs to use in your kitchen or some vegetables grow well in containers too. It all depends on what you want and what you need.

Honestly, we are on just over 1 acre and we are listed by the state as a farm. I put in for our farm number this year with the Farm Service Agency. That is 1 acre. So why would someone need 5 or more to do this? You don’t! Yes, more land would be better but it’s not necessary to be homesteading.

We have a fairly large garden, chickens, goats, cows, and pigs. They all have 1/2 an acre to roam on and for what we have, that is plenty. We are growing the majority of our food. We have fresh eggs every day. We have fresh goats milk (the cow is too young for breeding just yet). We have most of what we need. If I could just get the herbs going we wouldn’t have to go the store for much of anything. So when someone tells you that you can’t homestead on less than 5 acres, find out why they feel that way and then explain to them that you are!

Have a great day!

Renee

According to the email, today is supposed to be easy. However, the pictures I found to share with you today actually make this the hardest blog post I have written so far. You see, we just lost my dad last year in October. This is the first time I have looked at any of my pictures of him. I’m proud to say that I did so without crying. I can’t say that will be true by the end of this post though as just thinking about what I want to say has me fighting tears already.

This man was an amazing father, grand father, and great grandfather. He also had some great-great grand children but never had the opportunity to meet most of them. I took care of my dad the last 7 years of his life and gave him what he wanted, to pass at home. I am so grateful that I was able to give this to him. I have no regrets where my dad is concerned. I spent a lot of quality time with him while he was here. I will forever treasure these memories I have of him.

I am so sad that he left so soon. His great-grand children still ask where papaw is when they come over. It breaks my heart every time. I know they don’t really understand but it’s still hard to explain to them.

I will say that because of this man, we had a good childhood. He worked a lot so we didn’t get to see him as much as we would have liked, but when he was there, he was completely there for all of us kids. He made sure that we had what we needed, even if it meant that he didn’t have what he needed.

I will always treasure my time that I had with him and I miss him so very much every day. So, if your dad is still here with you, give him a hug today and make sure he knows that you love him and treasure him. Because you never know when that last day will be.

Have a great day!

Renee

I had a very rough week last week so I am picking back up where I left off. Of course this means that for me the challenge will run into September but I am ok with that.  Today is write about something that helped you to over come a challenge. I think so far the biggest challenge I have faced with the animals would be my Falene. She is such a pain in the butt but I wouldn’t change her for the world. We are still working with the vet to try to figure out what happened, although she is doing better now.

In July, she started acting very strange. She would get aggressive for no reason, and has never been before. So much so, that I had to put in a pen all the time. I couldn’t let her out of the pen because she would attack everyone and anyone that went into the back yard. Most of my goats have horns and they know how to use them. Then she quit eating. That is when I called the vet. I tried to drench her with vitamins and minerals and it did nothing so I knew I needed help. The vet came out and checked her over. Ran blood work and gave me something to give her for pain, something to stimulate her appetite, and some more  injectable vitamins and minerals. Nothing seemed to work.

The vet also gave me an alfalfa powder to mix up and feed her by syringe to get nutrients into her. She would come back in a couple days with the results of the blood work.  Nothing changed and nothing helped. On the day the vet came back she stated seizing.  I thought sure I was going to lose her. She said all her blood work was fine so we still don’t know what is wrong.

After two days of her seizing, we were finally going to put her down because I couldn’t stand seeing her going through this, especially knowing that she was in pain. I went and said my good bye, hugged her tight, and took her collar off. Aarron was going in to put her down and she got up and started eating her hay and was drinking again! She just got up! So he decided to give her a few days to see what she was going to do. When the vet called again to check on her, she was fine! We still don’t know what was wrong with her, but I’m guessing the love and attention she got was a helping factor in getting over whatever it was that got into her.

Have a great day!

Renee