As many of my readers may know by now, I am in love with old homesteads. There is something captivating about coming across the remnants of someone's hard work and dreams from days long gone by. I always wonder who they were and what their life must have been like. Did they sit on these front steps at the end of a long, hard day's work and dream about all the possibilities of their land? I ...
Homesteading
With a Little Help From my Friends
Faced with the daunting task of weeding our vegetable garden and field, we decided to call in the chickens for support! My husband built a mini chicken tractor, just the right size for a bantam or two, that fits in between the garden rows. They get a meal of some nice tender green grass and weeds, and we get weed removal. It's good for everyone!. We put one chicken out there at a time for a ...
Greenhouse Turned Hothouse
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Springtime in the Country: A Tour in Photographs
Spring sunrise over the back field Our garden An apple branch we trimmed this Winter becomes a living garden fence post! Roses dripping with rainwater Spring chickens Ms. Frizzle the bantam frizzle rooster (any Magic Schoolbus fans out there?) The neighbor's field to the East, in bloom with native camas Birds nests from my craft room Birdhouse in the old apple tree ...
Happiness is a Steaming Pile of Woodchips
Have you ever noticed how when you decide on something you really want, I mean really decide on it down in your bones, the thing you asked for often comes your way? Call it abundance, or call it what you will, I have been fantasizing about having yards and yards of wood chips and all the things I would do with them since we bought our place. I have really strong feelings about ...
The Lilac and the Apple
Have you ever come across some blossoming fruit trees or lilac bushes in a field or the woods and realized it was the remnants of an old homestead from days gone by? This is one of my favorite old homesteads along Highway 126, and I love visiting at different times of year to see what is growing there. I especially love going there in the fall when the apples are ripe! In honor of the first ...
A Field of Dreams
This weekend, our neighbor came over with his tractor to till our garden cover crop under, and, as a huge bonus, he plowed our South field! Our neighbor, who is uneasy about heights, is happy to do work trades with my husband to help do things up on ladders in exchange for tractor work. It's a beautiful arrangement! And, we now have a field! I always imagined that one day I would grow fields of ...
How Free My Garden Grows
At the root of every homesteading dream lie the seeds of self sufficiency. That good feeling you get deep down in your soul when you do something for yourself by hand, from scratch and without paying someone for it or to do it for you is what I'm talking about. Doing something directly that contributes to your sustenance as a human being is a feeling that cannot be bought or sold. It's honest ...
The Resourceful Greenhouse
This Spring, we finally built our first greenhouse. With all the other projects to do during our first year on our property, starting small seemed wise. In spite of limited monetary resources, my very resourceful husband managed to build our greenhouse for around 30 dollars with scraps and salvaged materials we had around our place. Some extra panels of heavy duty livestock fencing made the 12 ...
Rainy Morning Daydreams
Some people have amazing vivid dreams that they are able to recall and retell like stories. My children are like this. My friend Taryn is like this. I am not like this, but I am a daydreamer. Sometimes I'll realize that many minutes have passed while I was lost in a stream of thought. Sometimes I like to entertain "winning the lottery and what I would do with the money" daydreams. I have noticed a ...