DIY/Homesteading/Life on a budget

[nayeli]

As we get closer to moving in I think I'm getting more realistic about what I can and cannot do and time frames! I don't want 50 projects going at once but I am looking forward to remodeling and building animal cages, coops, hutches, etc. gardening, building dog houses. I will have so much to do =)

 

[Jess172]

Do you mind if I feature you on my blog? For your countertops and backsplash?

I wouldn't mind at all I like the bigger tiles and thin grout lines because its easier to clean and I like the way it looks. Just my personal preference though. Also, if you decide to go with a tile counter top be sure to buy some grout sealer. This way you won't get stains in your grout lines.

 

[nayeli]

I like it too! I'm thinking I might have a winner for how I'mma do my kitchen countertops!

 

[MoonShadows]

http://thenewdaybringshope.blogspot.com/

Thanks for sharing the URL. I found your article entitled: "Chemerical Documentary review" very interesting. We became more aware of what we were putting on our skin and now make our own shampoo, laundry soap, body soap and body lotion. The shampoo is basically baking soda and water, but it cleans our hair well, as well as any shampoo we ever used. The laundry soap is a combination of washing soda, borax, and fels naptha. And, the body soaps and lotions are 100% plant based.

Two other documentaries you might find interesting if you haven't seen them...they both knocked our socks off are:

King Corn

Gas Land

If you have cable or a ROKU box, you can find both for free or low rental. You might even find them at your local library.

 

[nayeli]

I haven't seen either of those! I have a few documentary reviews on their, similar to this one.

 

[MoonShadows]

These are a "must watch" to see what is happening to our food supply and this whole fracking controversy. There are a lot more out there, but these two are good ones to start off with, and look like they would fit well into your blog.

Jim

 

[amber t]

We bought a trailer house and 9 acres back on taxes last year. I was empty for six years. Borrowed against the house in town to fix the farm house up. No one is buying so it looks like we will be renting it.

We already had chickens and goats in town so we scrambled to build a 1/4 acre pen for the goats. Before we got moved out there, the neighbors dogs plowed under and over the fence, killed 5 goats (two were expecting). I photographed the bodies and wrote them off as "loss of Livestock."

With out goats I got carried away with chickens. We went from 3 hens and a rooster to 30 plus. And production went down and the feed bill went up. Now I am approaching this more like a business. Sold enough chickens to build a smaller pen, and production went up. Guess they were using all that feed to run laps instead of making eggs. Don't give your chickens too much room. That is the best advice I can offer.

I recommend having a gun handy to protect your livestock, and yourselves.

Get an Ag Sale and Use tax number, as long as you are selling to the public

. That will help save you from paying sales tax on most farm purchases.
Also, claim your millage for anything farm related.
Then file 1040F farm profit & loss. I can email you a spreadsheet. [email protected]
Reinvest your tax return into the farm.

Start small. Get the chickens producing where they do not cost you, rather they benefit you. Sell or trade the eggs. Sell or trade hens after they are about two years old, they start slowing down. Keep a good momma and let her hatch the new generation of chicks to sell. Sew the feed sacks into shopping bags and sell them to buy more feed.

Turkeys eat 5lbs of food a week. Not worth it to me to raise and breed for meat. Getting rid of mine since they eat eggs.

Goats a blast. Get a couple of does, borrow a buck.

I used to have rabbits as a kid. I would show and sell butchered meat rabbits. We are planning on doing again, maybe this year.
We would also like to get quail.

We are gardening in free tractor tires with the sidewalls cut out. Also have a spot to garden for the farmers' market.

You might want to try canning. We use free local wild fruit to make jelly and sell.

Learn to make and sell bread and rolls. People crave home-cooking, and you don't have to be inspected to sell baked goods.

The best way to repurpose something is to look at it from every angel and study how it moves and woks. We used a futon for a hay feeder, a bunkbed rail for a gate, a mailbox to hold shovels... Dumpster diving pays off.


Run it like a business. If you are losing money or groceries, find the problem and fix it.

 

[nayeli]

Thanks! Ours will be much smaller than yours but the same principal I think applies. Didn't you make your neighbor pay for the goats? I would have, being a dog owner I take responsibility for my dog and expect the same from others!

 

[surfingirl]

Keeping goats has been one of the most economical and rewarding homesteading practices - they make milk, meat, and produce pounds of fertilizer for the garden every day. If you are lucky enough and have enough land to range them, you don't even need to feed them much hay, just in the depths of winter.

I hear you about operating on a budget. My best advice would be to start an easy vegetable garden - potatoes, garlic, cabbage, beets, parsnips, lettuce and kale, maybe some berry bushes and fruit trees. Nothing like fresh organic produce from your own yard. And I compost EVERYTHING, every little scrap of food goes into the composter, and I layer it with grass clippings, leaves, seaweed, whatever is available. Make those food scraps work for you and give you more food in return.

I just started with chickens so we'll see how it goes... I just did a bit of math and figured up how much $ we were spending on eggs, and buying chicken feed is cheaper. Plus they also are making amazing manure to feed the garden.

Good luck!

Emily

backtothecraft.blogspot.ca

 

[nayeli]

I will have to check out your blog =)
We just started with rabbits. We are getting a privacy fence put up (for the dogs), but it has an additional benefit of protecting additional livestock. I'm getting ducks and quail. We really don't have much room for goats, we would be paying to feed them, so not super economical.