And this...
...and I think we can keep on keepin on.
Posted on 12/30/2012 6:33:21 PM PST by teenyelliott
So, I'm sure at least one person here on FR has wondered what happened to me, maybe two of you. Before I really really stopped posting, many of us had discussed the possibility, and or the desire, to get out of the city to our own little homesteads and try to grow some food, for security, for peace of mind, for whatever reason.
Well, my family did it.
Two years ago we made the jump. We bought a place in the country, and have spent the past couple of years setting up our little homestead. We have a big garden, many chickens, some ducks, some guineas, some sheep, some goats, and a barn for all of them. A woodstove, a hand pump well, even a solar chicken coop.
Any of my old pals, and any new ones, come check us out! Would be pleased to hear from you, and share what we are learning.
Please ping any of my old buddies that you know of; I seem to have misplaced my old ping list!
Lovely idea with the mason jars and herbs. I LOVE mason jars, for some reason. Love growing herbs -although I just have parsley and basil right now because the others died.
So I’ll see if hubby wants to create the holders for me on the kitchen walls when he gets home...
And this...
...and I think we can keep on keepin on.
Lovely idea with the mason jars and herbs. I LOVE mason jars, for some reason. Love growing herbs -although I just have parsley and basil right now because the others died.
So I’ll see if hubby wants to create the holders for me on the kitchen walls when he gets home...oh, wait, I have NO kitchen walls to speak of.
Well, I’ll save the picture and the idea for when I get my dream house, with a rustic country kitchen. They’d fit perfect in it.
Well, I only posted this twice. And added something while waiting for the SLOW connection. I’m doing better ;)
Did it to me too, just kid of thinks and thinks, next thing you know I have identical posts showing up. I wish there was a delete/edit option here at FR.
As you know your posts are most helpful to me but thought I was going on the ping list? As you were a few years ago I recently decided “just to do it”.
Ten forested acres at about 1200 foot elevation in the Ozarks. Abundant wildlife and nothing but a whole lot of learning before me.
Thanks for all the info! Big help and a big motivator.
And I hear you about a whole lot of learning to be done; I have so many irons in the fire, there is just no way to be good at everything.
But the learning part is lifelong, and rewarding. I figure if I can be removed from the grocery store 100% within five years, I'm doing okay.
I know a lot of people make this jump, and then get so overwhelemed and discouraged that they are back to the city after a year or two.
The most important thing for me to remember is that it took me forty years to get as entrenched in the mass-produced food wheel as I was; I'll be lucky if I can extricate myself from that way of thinking/living within ten years. It's not all or nothing, and it's not fast; it is a way of life that takes years and years to build.
Good luck, jeff, and I look forward to hearing about your latest projects!
If you like to use ginger, buy several, dehydrate two and plant one. You can grow it in a pot (usually inside), and keep your own supply indefinitely.
Liberals who don't know me think I am a gun-toting bigot, and conservatives who don't know me think I am a tree-hugging hippie.
Great homesteading blog I found today.
This spring I'll put a grape vine or elderberry bush here, and transplant the horseradish to it's permanent home.
Using this method to turn a hard, burmuda covered area into something that is ready to be planted takes at least a year. But now I have really great soil, really great mulch, and a very healthy horseradish to transplant.
My article about using dehydrated orange peels in my tea, for the vitamin C, got me looking for other uses for citrus peels. They smell great, but I don't like wasting them in a garbage disposal, and though I do have a mulch pile for composting, it has become more and more rare that I put kitchen scraps in it.
Not only can can you dehydrate almost any fruit scraps for tea, but vegetable scraps can be used in soups and stocks, and some can be regrown (see Growing Celery From Scraps).
The article excerpt below is from wikihow.com, and has several links to recipes and how-to's for candied peels, brandy, etc...
Citrus peels can be used in myriad ways instead of simply tossing them out or composting them. In a household that consumes many oranges, lemons, grapefruit, tangelo, and other citrus, making use of the peels can save you money and produce some wonderful results. This article presents a few suggestions to get you started.
Always wash the peel extremely well before use. If possible, prefer organic sources rather than those which have been sprayed, especially for any food or internal use. If you can't get organic fruit, use a very good fruit and vegetable scrub to remove chemical traces.
There are many types of citrus, including orange, mandarin, kumquat, grapefruit, lemon, lime, pummelo, citron (citrus apple), tangerines, etc.
LEMON - There are so many potential lemon peel uses that entire chapters in books have been devoted to it.
- Peel a lemon and use it to bathe yourself in the shower. It leaves your body and hair smelling fresh and clean.
- Citrus peels such as peel of lemon work well for roasting chicken. Put peel into the chicken and roast. You will find a great smelling and good tasting chicken.
ORANGE - •-Use the peel to keep your brown sugar soft by putting it in the packaging with the brown sugar.
-Make candied orange peel. -Make preserved orange peel. (Of course my contribution here is to dehydrate them and use in medicinal teas)
OTHER USES FOR CITRUS PEELS:
-Use to flavor water. Add any citrus peels to a pitcher of water and put in the refrigerator. Now you can enjoy the taste of water even more.
-Use any type of citrus peel and candy it. It is very sweet and a great snack for the kids.
-Make marmalade, chutney, jam, and savory sauces using citrus peel.
-Add a slice of citrus peel to brown sugar to stop the sugar from going hard.
Read the entire article here... Citrus Peel Uses
Some of you may have been on the old NW Granny survival thread ping list; if you would like to be removed from this one, please let me know. I will only ping to this thread once a week.
Many new posts, please add your own posts about all things homesteading; recipes, animal care, gardening, preserving, etc.
I am also rooting some carrot tops; my celery from scraps experiment has inspired me to see what else I can grow from what formerly would have gone to the chickens.
thanks for the posts and pings
Today I experimented with canning citrus fruit. I canned half-pints of grapefruit, and pints of oranges and lemons. I used orange juice for the liquid and processed them in a boiling bath for 30 minutes. Can’t wait to taste them to see how they turned out.
Has anyone ever used a chainsaw mill for milling lumber?
We have one, but have never used it. We got it because my Dad is a woodworker, and was telling us how well they CAN work if you don’t have a regular mill. They do work.
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