In order to get back to a more consistent posting, we are bringing back the Monday Update From The Homestead. And folks, the homestead has been busy.As you all know, Rob moved in about six weeks ago. This has been a huge adjustment on everyone’s part and we are still working out the kinks. However, he is quite handy and I love that about him. He has fixed the upstairs bathroom sink, is fixing the sump pump in the basement,…
The Great Depression was a time of lean years for many in the United States and all over the world. Many people learned valuable lessons on making food stretch and taking advantage of cheaper processed food that came out during this time. Many people learned to survive on less and some people went hungry. When World War II came around, many of these lessons were needed to survive the war and stretch their rationing coupons. People were encouraged to start…
Ahhh…winter. Love it or hate it, winter happens every year. Some of you have much milder winters than we do in Iowa and can still garden year-round. That is not happening here! I can barely see where my garden should be at!I don’t know about you all, but I lose hope Spring is coming when Winter is here. Winter is just so cold and so harsh. We have had it easy this winter until January came. January brought some really…
One of the ways we have tried to be more self-sufficient to live a more self-sustainable life. We try to produce our own food, raise chickens, recycle, reuse what we can, and generally live life without being consumer-driven. It is not an easy life to live all the time, but the pay off is great!One of the things I hate is how much trash we throw away. I know we throw away less trash than most households, but all the…
One day this last Spring, I saw sweet potato slips at the local greenhouse. I wanted them. I love sweet potatoes and thought it would be a great addition to my winter food supply.However, I have planted sweet potatoes before. They looked like they did really well until I went to dig them and couldn’t find them. I found a never ending system of roots, but no tubers. I wasn’t a happy camper.Then I heard about planting sweet potatoes in…
Fall has come and now it is time to get those projects done! Time to button up the homestead, secure the buildings, and make sure all the peoples and animals are going to be warm and safe for the winter.This could be the time for panic or you can just simply do what you can do in the time that you have. I choose the second one. I know I have at least one good month left to do what…