Homesteading
Homesteading means different things to different people. While some enjoy being totally off the grid in a secluded area the flip side is urban homesteading. As modern homesteading catches on (and it is!) more individuals and families are reaching out online (one homesteader referred to blogging homesteaders as “digital homesteaders.” I’ve also read another homesteader who referred to herself as a “google farmer” because all that we need to know is at the tips of our fingers.
Our family also has ideas about what it takes for us to have a homestead. It has been a passion burning in our hearts and minds for years, and in the year 2010 when we purchased our home the journey began.
We started out by rehabbing as much as we could of the interior of the house. In the spring of 2011, we started an ambitious undertaking to plant fruit trees, landscape, plant many perennials, have a very small experimental garden, raise chickens, ducks and rabbits for eggs,
meat, fur and feathers. In the next few years we’ll be adding larger animals, although we find some pretty amazing deals and may end up getting them faster than anticipated.
That seems to be the way it happens around here.
I get easily side tracked by new projects and some of the other projects we started have fallen by the wayside.
I wouldn’t call us environmentalist and we don’t fall for every “green” gadget or product.
Actually we’re moving away from as much consumerism as possible.
Is it possible to live a life without needing to go the the grocery store each week?
I think so, and as we take baby steps, we’re eliminating old habits and replacing them with new ones.
Here are the things that we thought we couldn’t live without, and as we move away from these items, I’ll cross it off the list and show what replaced it.
I don’t think a person has to go cold turkey from everything all at once. It’s a process and we’re on a serious learning curve! I’ve learned a lot about myself this past year and I’ve even surprised myself a few times. Like when I said “I’m not drinking diet coke anymore” LOL that was in the fall 2010. Yes I did have a few, and I can count how many I had (four) but I did it. How about giving up smoking? Yup, Dom and I quit January 2011.
Now I’m adding to that list all soda since it comes in plastic containers.
We are slowly saying goodbye to plastic and hello to a more sustainable household. I’m using the word sustainable, but not in the sense that we’re all gonna die if I put more things into the landfill. I just don’t think plastic is healthy at all. Neither is the microwave, (update) as of January 2012 the microwave was unplugged and moved to the basement to be used for other purposes.
Okay, so here’s the list, and I’ll probably add more to it as we move forward:
- Coffee 10/23/11 Replaced with different teas (tea seeds purchased and we’ll be planting our own teas next year)
- Half and Half 10/23/11 Since there is no more coffee, no need for the half and half!
- Table Napkins 11/04/11 We purchased two yards of 100% linen which will last us forever…oh and they are classy too. Much better than any paper napkin!
- Paper Towels 11/04/11We replaced paper towels with more white wash cloths and white hand towels.
- Zip Lock bags 11/04/11Replaced with pyrex glass containers with lids.
- Other plastic baggies 11/04/11 See zip lock bags ^
- Plastic knives, forks and spoons 11/04/11 We have plenty of real stainless steel utensils, no need to buy the plastic.
- Paper plates 10/29/11 We have LOTS of regular dishes to use, no need to use paper.
- Diapers
- Baby Wipes
- Laundry Detergent 11/06/11Replaced Tide with our own homemade detergent…you can get the recipe here
- Deodorant 11/06/11 Replaced deodorant with our own recipe…you can get the recipe here
- Toilet Paper
- Sanitary Napkins
- Plastic Cups No more plastic cups, we have plenty of beautiful glasses to use.
Plastic Straws- Garbage Bags
12/05/11We’ve reduced our need for garbage bags to 50% and we now only need one outside garbage can instead of two.We’ve stopped buying garbage bags and stopped paying for garbage service…we just don’t create enough garbage! 10/01/12 - Wine
Rice MilkWe no longer purchase rice milk.Windex- Dish Detergent
- Soap
- Shampoo
Tooth PasteCleaning SuppliesWe now make our own cleaning supplies and glass cleanerEggs12/22/11 We now produce enough duck eggs each day to stop buying chicken eggs.- Milk
- Cheese
- Salad Dressings 12/05/11 We have become masters at making our own ranch, blue cheese dressings, and lots of other types of dressing. No need to ever buy commercially mass produced dressing ever again.
MayonnaiseMayonnaise is now made each week Feb 2012- Ketchup
- Mustard
- Chicken
Duck- Rabbit
- Lettuce
- Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Fish
- Razors
- Makeup
- Beets
PotatoesSweet PotatoesBreadWe now make our own no knead bread and sour dough bread as of Feb 2012- Soups We make our own soup now from scratch…right down to the stock.
ButterWe’ll never go back to store bought butter again. As of March 15, 2012 Homemade butter tastes too good!
- Onions
- Strawberries
- Beef
- Lamb
- Pasta
- Yogurt
KefirFeb 2012 We purchased kefir grains and now make our own kefir.
- Mushrooms
- Lotions
- Clothing for the family
That’s a good start!
Goals for 2012
- Set up a facility for milking goats
- Get milking goats
- Learn how to make cheeses and yogurts
- Make our own soaps
Make a gel laundry detergent that will last even longer than what we make right nowFeb 2012Plant out two very large gardensPlant 5 medicinal gardensBuild a seed starting greenhouseCompleted Feb 2012- Finish the pond
- Build the new permanent duck house
- Stock pond
- Build the new large chicken coop to house 50 new chickens and 10 turkeys
Add 15 muscovy ducks to our mix in the spring15 Muscovy ducklings are added on March 21, 2012- Add 3 female and 1 male angora goat
- Finish rabbitry and coop in courtyard with decorative trim and paint
- Finish new rabbitry for meat rabbits
- Add meat rabbits
Finish me and Dom’s bedroomFinished 6/16/2012 tentatively.- Finish the girls/guest bedroom
Finish the work room- Can everything we will need to get through the winter
- Cut our grocery bill by 90%
Cut our garbage output by another 50%- Get rid of WIFI and work internet from a landline
End our cable connection6/12/12- Make all gifts for holidays, birthdays and other celebrations instead of buying them
Begin to form our business modelStarted in March 2012- Work on our aquaponic business plan for 2013
- Extend the growing season with hoop cold frames in main gardens
- Save all our seeds
- Dry all the herbs we produce
- Work on completing Simone’s bedroom
Stay on GAPS Diet with Simone (just me) and continue to track her healing and progressPlant 12 Crab apple trees in front of houseWe planted eight crab apple trees January 2012Plant 4 Paulownias3/12- Plant a major container garden in courtyard
- 30 espaliered fruit trees around our car area to create the wall around the chicken pasture
- 30 espaliered fruit trees in courtyard along the wall by Simone’s swing set
6 Elderberries planted (two in courtyard and four in chicken pasture)
25 golden current bushes25 indigo bush25 gooseberry100 tea plants along the front of the house- 10 cherry trees-( 6 cherry tree so far Feb-March 2012)
- 10 raspberry bushes
- 10 blueberry bushes
- 10 blackberry bushes (3 planted)
- Get deck built on front of house (pergola too)
- Plant wine grapes all along the pergola
- Paint trim of house new color
- Add gutters and rain barrels
- Add two new access points on our property
- Enclose front side porch (screened in)
- Give a face lift to our bathrooms
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
For feminine hygiene products you should try: http://www.divacup.com/. The liturature says to buy anew one fairly frequently, but its made out of medican grade sylicone (same as breast implants) so I don’t see why it can’t last a lifetime. Almost all my friends use one and we’ve never bought a second one. Unless it was for a gift!
For toilet paper at home I cut up old t-shirts, discard the painted parts and use for pee rags. Urine is sterile and I just have a bucket next to the toilet. No one has ever even noticed it before. Wash as usual. I still use TP for the rest.
Vinegar is a great cleaner-way better than windex for clear surfaces. Just mix with about equal parts water.
Why would you want to give up things that you can provide yourself with? Eggs, small meats, veggies, etc?
Hi Mary,
Thank you for the wonder feedback. I’m always looking for great wisdom from those who are seasoned pros!
Maybe I need to clarify the ‘giving up things’, because what I mean is that we’re giving up store bought eggs, small meats and veggies and replacing them with something better…our own.
We started using our own cleaners a seven years ago when I first got pneumonia. My husband didn’t want to use chemicals around me while I was recuperating, but I feel that the solutions we use need a little more tweaking before we put up the recipes. Dom has become a pro at gorgeous smelling cleaning products that are all natural.
I could definitely see making a set of cloths for urine, but I’m with you on using toilet paper for the rest of our private business. LOL
I have heard really good things about the diva cup and I think I’m gonna also give that a try. I wanted to try everything first before I write an article about it.
Thank you again Mary for your input! It is very much appreciated.
Mary, I just went to your website. Really great information. I wanted to leave a comment but your comments are turned off. I thought I’d tell you here that your recipe for feed is awesome. I’ve seen a few different recipes and I like yours the best so far. I also like that you keep the grit and oyster shell and/or egg shells separate for the girls to choose what they may want.
I’m so glad I found your website. Your dirty electricity post was linked on The Healthy Home Economist’s most recent post about smart meters because of the two videos you have linked on there. Anyway I have subscribed and am excited to follow your progress. We are walking in the same shoes, albeit you’re a few years ahead of me.
I have been thoroughly researching everything I can about homesteading and within a year, max two, I will be purchasing 5 acres. I have a few comments and questions for you and forgive me if you’ve already answered them somewhere else on your site, I have yet to catch up on all of it!
How many acres do you own? What are your reasons for giving up wine, makeup and razors? Do you plan on replacing them? What books have you read for guides and information? Or have you been mainly researching on the internet? Do you have future plans for ever doing any beekeeping? I see that you are interested in raising your own beef as well, what kind of cattle have you looked into? Since you already are getting goats for milk, would the cows just be for meat? Lastly, if you have had to already, how is it raising and then slaughtering your own animals? I am such an animal lover, but have no qualms in theory about raising my own animals for food… However I am having doubts I will actually be able to do the killing myself, and it’s something I need to conquer because I know it would be humane and the animals would have a good life while they were alive, etc.
I have quite a few good books I would like to recommend, but am guessing you probably already own them, or are on a wish list perhaps. This spring I am setting up a garden in the back of my home with cinder blocks. I will be growing cabbage, lettuce, garlic, onions, runner beans, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and potatoes, bell peppers, zucchini and yellow squash, asparagus, carrots, beets, and cucumbers. As well as I will be planting 2 ornamental trees, a White Kousa Dogwood and a Paulownia, and 12 super dwarf fruit trees. Four apples, cherries and peaches, and I already have 2 crab apples.
I am also going on the GAPS diet here shortly. Just need to get all my ducks in a row if you know what I mean. I am assuming you have read Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell? I still have to get through all of it myself, but I am learning so much!
Your 2012 TO DO list is quite hefty! I wish you all the luck in accomplishing as much as possible. I have so many more comments but I’ll wait to add them.
Hi Meagan,
I’m so glad you found us here, and I’m happy to answer questions.
How many acres do you own?
We own 1.2 acres. Not very much at all but more than enough to grow food and to maintain as we grow older.
What are your reasons for giving up wine, makeup and razors? Do you plan on replacing them?
We won’t be giving up wine or anything else…just replacing it with something homemade. We haven’t learned to make wine yet, but we’re eager to learn. Our first wine will probably be an elderberry, although we do have a grape wine grower down here that will sell us lots of grapes relatively cheap. We want to be self sufficient and make it ourselves. I don’t wear make up all that often, but I know that can be made as well. And razors…well, I’ve heard you can actually resharpen disposables.
What books have you read for guides and information? Or have you been mainly researching on the internet??
Our biggest go to books have been John Seymour’s “The Self Sufficient Life”, Storey’s Guide to Country Living, and most of all getting to know other homesteaders through their websites. We’ve done a lot of research before we took the step forward in actually working towards having a homestead. This July will be our two year anniversary here, and I feel we have so many more years to go before we are independent and self sufficient. The work of planting trees and growing fruits and veggies started one year ago March. I’m so amazed by that. Back about five or six years ago Dom and I also studied permaculture and helped plaster a straw bale house in Maryland and that really solidified our passion and desire to have a homestead. I also worked on a dairy farm in PA and I absolutely loved getting them up in the morning and milking them.
Do you have future plans for ever doing any beekeeping?
Yes, oh yes! LOL We’ll be building our top bar bee hives this coming month. We are so excited about keeping bees. I’m so fascinated by them.
I see that you are interested in raising your own beef as well, what kind of cattle have you looked into?
We’ve looked into getting some Scottish Highland cattle. We don’t have a lot of land so at most we would probably get a female and cull her offspring when it gets to be market size. One female can bear offspring for 30 years. They also don’t have difficulty calving and are great foragers. Highlanders have very high milk fat but I’ve heard they don’t milk as easily, so I’d consider getting a cross breed of Highland and Dexter, since the Dexter is also a smaller cow, with duel purpose of milk and meat.
Since you already are getting goats for milk, would the cows just be for meat?
The cows would be for milk and meat. Goats have a lower amount of butter fat, and since we want to make butter and cheeses, I’d love to have that variety available to us.
If you have had to already, how is it raising and then slaughtering your own animals?
It was a little bit difficult for me to handle slaughtering some of our drakes, but I took it a lot better than I thought I would. They are so beautiful, precious, soft and amazing. Raising them from day old ducklings peeping, to full grown ducks and drakes has been a great pleasure of mine. We did get them though for their eggs as well as for meat. What we found out about Magpie ducks however, is that there isn’t much meat on their bones. But they do render quite a bit of fat…two cups each. Also their bones make a great bone broth, so slaughtering them wasn’t a waste. We’ll be getting Muscovy ducks instead for meat and fat, and the Magpies will be specifically for fat and bones. I truly didn’t know how I would handle their death, but after watching many videos on slaughter, it kind of prepared us for it. I do feel they have a great life here and that they are able to do what natural animals do. You can see the video here :
http://www.highdesertchronicles.com/2011/11/our-first-drake-slaugher-part-one/
You’re off to a great start with everything you’ll be planting this year Meagan. The one thing I really want to learn is how to root cuttings from other trees. We planted 35 fruit trees last year, and I want to learn how to make more trees from what we already have. We also have 7 grape vines that I want to take cuttings from. If you’re planning on moving in the next few years, take cuttings from your new fruit trees so that you can take them with you when you move.
I think you’ll love the GAPS Diet. I’ve read the whole book, but I feel that I could go back and read it again because there is so much information in it. Because I’m still transitioning, we decided not to grow potatoes this year. I’ll be planting corn, but Dom and the rest of the family will be eating that. The grains I’ll be planting are for our animals.
I’m not sure how much of our goals we’ll accomplish, but its worth a shot.
I look forward to more comments and questions. Where are you looking to buy land? Will you be building your house or buying a land with a house?
Angela,
Thank you so much for your prompt reply! I too own a copy of John Seymour’s “The Self Sufficient Life” and it’s been an invaluable guide in helping me plan my dream homestead. I have also read “The Backyard Orchardist”, “The Backyard Berry Book”, “Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web ” and many others including books about traditional cooking, soapmaking and home fermentation. I still need to learn better how to bake bread and make cheese though!
I have looked into Scottish Highland cattle and Dexters as well. I adore the shaggy fur of the Highland cattle, and did not ever consider cross-breeding them with Dexters, although I guess with many of their similar qualities it could work out quite wonderfully. I know for the Dexters you only need about 1/2 an acre of grass to feed one throughout the season. I myself plan on having around 2-3 for both milk and meat, while using my other space for growing them hay throughout winter. I also plan on having a couple sows and a boar, and will rotate my winter grain crops with root and legume crops for their feed. I hope to be able to mimic Joel Salatin’s (Polyface Farm) animal and crop rotations in order to be as efficient and sustainable as possible.
I appreciate the link about your first slaughter. I will watch the videos when I get home. I already am feeling a bit more confident about the process from reading your story. I will probably attempt to keep ducks, chickens and rabbits like you for meat and eggs. I am still considering whether or not I want to bother with sheep. I think perhaps I could find a nearby farmer that would be interested in trading meat so I could relish an occasional bit of lamb.
The root cuttings are a great idea. However, I don’t plan on moving for at least 5 years, probably 10, which is why I made the big investment with all the trees. The super dwarf trees don’t produce as long as the standards or even the regular dwarfs so unfortunately I will more than likely have to buy more fruit trees when the time comes. To answer your question about my future land purchase I will be buying in Tooele County, Utah. It is right by the Great Salt Lake. The best part about it is that downtown Salt Lake City is only 30mins away. I will post a picture sometime of the plot and the view!
I know this may be confusing since I mentioned you’re only a few years ahead of me, but I’ll fill you in a bit on my personal story. I am only 26 and have struggled many years to become financially stable. I made some rash decisions at a young age by jumping into college and purchasing a new vehicle and all kinds of toys/decorations for my first rental that I lived in by myself. Some of that I am still paying for… The college I went to was a small privately owned school that specialized in monetary theft over education. /sigh – I have come a LONG way in the last 10 years and had to learn things the hard way.
Luckily I’ve gained some well-earned common sense and am striving to live a better life where money is not such an issue. As well as I’ve finally found my future partner who shares many of the same dreams and goals. After we purchase this land, we will sit on it for the next 5-10 years while we save up money to build. My darling already has a small home that we are currently living in and since we are not in need of the extra space, we are not in a rush to build and move yet. Not to mention, I would rather have a nice hefty down payment and some equity in our current home than try to rush things and end up strapped like I have in the past.
Even though we won’t be building a new home for quite a while, I still plan on utilizing the land and getting things done as I can afford to. Our current home is only about 8-10mins away from the land we want so I will be planting privacy/ornamental trees and other things each year. It’s going to be a lot of work, but I’ve never felt so good and so excited about something before! I have absolutely no fears about making the wrong decision either. I know this is what I want to do with my life and it will be a worthwhile investment any way you try to look at it.
Hi Meagan,
I’m impressed! Even though your road had a rocky start, at least you learned young. In my book you’re way ahead of me by light years.
It took until I was in my mid thirties to figure out my life was going the wrong way. I empowered myself self to finally have permission to walk away from a really bad relationship, and start living the kind of life I really wanted. It definitely helps to have someone in your life that shares your same passions and desires. I don’t think there is anything worse than being in relationship with someone who doesn’t support what you want to do. Add insult to injury when that person acts interested in what you’re doing, but when you want to proceed, they act like you’re crazy and you don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve had more than my share of unsupportive people, and keeping my eyes on the prize of self sufficiency has allowed me to stand strong and keep to my course in life. There have definitely been bumps along the way. Losing everything we owned was a huge bump for us, but when you lose everything all you can do is start to rebuild. (we lost everything due to mold contamination about four years ago)
You have a great plan for your future. Have you thought of putting a website together to start sharing your thoughts and plans? I would definitely be a regular reader. I’m really glad I put our website up because I’ve met so many awesome people. I can also go back through our archives and see what the hell I was thinking a few years ago and compare it to who I’ve become. We all change, we just don’t realize it until we look back.
When I have some spare time (yeah right, what’s that?) I’ll be putting together a network for homesteaders and future homesteaders. Its a place where we can all get together online and throw ideas out, share experiences, sell products and so on. When I have everything up and running I’ll send you an email so you can join if you’d like.
That would be wonderful Angela! And it would be a huge well of information for me that I most definitely need and appreciate.
I have considered starting a blog as well, but don’t feel like I have enough to write about yet! I will be taking pictures and documenting all the steps I will be taking as I prepare and plant my garden this spring. As well new discoveries in the kitchen and making my own cosmetics. Probably in another year or two I’ll have plenty to write and talk about and I’ll absolutely let you know. Take care!
I think what you wrote is blog worthy. I never think I have anything to say and then before I know it, I’ve written well over 1,000 words and I have to try and edit it to make it shorter. LOL
This is a wonderful list and has inspired me to make my own!
Hi Kelly,
Let me know when you make your list…I’ll pop by and check it out!
Thanks for stopping by.