Homesteading Questions and Tips

[BigBlueHen53]

That was a great video! Now I know what to do with my extra eggs! I have wondered about water glassing! Thanks, @jerryse !

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Not the most "off grid" sort but I am a firm believer in repurposing and responsibility. We collect alot of whats considered post-hunt waste and make things to sell. When little Poplar saplings are cleared, they become walking sticks. We cut firewood, we log to take them to the sawmill we invested in and mill our own lumber. Scrap wood cut offs get used for all sorts of things. Getting into heirloom seeds more and more and we do a bit of canning. Homesteading/self-sufficiency is a great way to test yourself to learn new skills and get out of the comfort zone, improvise, and grow.

 

[karenerwin]

I don't consider myself to be a homesteader, I just try to be more self sufficient. I have chickens and turkeys, a decent sized garden but I'm hoping to make it bigger this year. Plus I am getting honey bees in April or May. I have already ordered them. I used to raise meat rabbits (New Zealand whites) and am trying to convince my hubby I should get some more, if for nothing else than the wonderful rabbit poop fertilizer! I think I have him convinced that I can get 2 or 3! I have also slowly been planting nut trees, and fruit trees along with berry bushes. We have just over 2 acres, with most of it being woods. We have a root cellar but we haven't tried to store anything in it. It seems like it is too damp.
I do a lot of canning and some freezing. I butcher as much of my own meat as I can (but by no means is that a lot!). I don't buy chicken as I process our own and a friend gave me a deer this year ( I traded him some eggs for it!) and I processed that myself (thanks YouTube!! ).
Oh, and I know how to sew and make quilts. ( and crochet). I also have some small rain buckets out that I use to water the chickens and turkeys with as often as I can. I also use rain water to water the blueberries because they are supposed to do better with rain water than with treated water.

 

[DellaMyDarling]

I hear from my BIL, who's reading a book on it, that root cellars should be around 80% humidity. Mind you, only certain foods should be stored in one.
I didn't ask him too many questions though, since we don't have the means of a root cellar here. He's looking toward living the way we do, more rural and off the land, supported by his small business.

I'm on goat baby watch here.
Hoping she won't go when I'm unable to be home. Expecting a less than ideal delivery. All my own fault, but it is what it is.


Anyone use a garden planning app?
I tried one, it was glitchy, and didn't alert me to bad companions like the description said it would. Hoping for MUCH better garden this year. Don't know my ass from my elbow out there and this land gave us lovely clay soil. This will be year 4 working the same plot. Did a few rounds of tilling and sand and cover crops. During our January thaw I emptied the chicken coop deep litter. 21 wheelbarrows of composted shavings and poo now spread atop the fall leaf dump.
I'm thinking a much higher success rate shall follow now!

 

[karenerwin]

I have seen several garden planning apps out there. That being said, the only thing I use is one that alerts me to when I should be planting things according to my location. It tells me what I can start inside and what I can plant outside.
Sorry that isn't more helpful. I did buy a book that has a section about companion planting but I think I have only read it the year I bought it, so I don't think it is doing me much good. I should probably go back and reread it this winter!

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Does anyone in here actually live a homesteading lifestyle?
I’m very eager to learn more and hopefully, eventually, live it myself.
We’re no where near “off the grid”, busy suburbia actually, I just want to do as much as I can now to live more self sufficiently. Hopefully in a few years, when our kids are done with school, move somewhere with more land, and have everything we really want

I call my home a "homestead", but I don't feel I am homesteading to my own standards yet. We currently growing most of a years supply of produce, including potatoes, sweet and dent corn, and amaranth, and herbs. I have a flock of chickens that pay for their own feed via eggs. I have a thriving batch of raspberries, blackberries, elderberries, and strawberries. I have two thriving honeybee hives. I recently planted four apple trees. I have a greenhouse giving me an early and low-energy means to jumpstart and extend the growing season. We aren't off grid, but it is my intention to eventually save our own water (we have a 500 gallon storage basin, but have yet to hook it all up). I'd like to start raising rabbits and goats for meat and dairy in addition to any meat chickens, and I'd like install a wood burning stove with an oven attachment and convert to solar power. Homesteading is a marathon and not a sprint and it is an amazing journey indeed.