Let's try this again from Alabama - turned into a story

[BIggoMamma]

Hello!! I was on a pad and was not in the mood to "one finger" my intro after I started so I just bailed.

My name is John, I'm married to a great woman, Amy, who does her best to encourage and support me in my homestead/self-sustainability quest. We work together in the vegetable garden, blueberry patch and just keeping up with 13 acres. I am learning to can which is a story in itself! I'm 58 and my mother was a home economist and teacher. I also lived with my grandmother for a few years in Rockmills AL, a very small country town. Both of those women chased me around trying to teach me how to can and I avoided it like the plague.

Guess what I need to know now...

I waterbath canned for the first time last week, blueberry jam, and am in the market for a pressure canner. I wish I had listened to those two women but it's not too hard.

I had 10 hens a couple years ago but the hawks got them and due to some other things I just never got anymore but I missed them and always intended to get started again. So here I am. I have a lot of work to do to get the coop in shape, I'll probably take it down and rebuild somewhere else closer to the house and garden. I have some pics I'll post later in another thread.

I don't know what breeds I'll start with. It's late in the season so I don't have as many choices around here. Any ideas would be great. I want large eggs and hardy birds. I plan on different kinds of fowl, guinea fowl, ducks, chickens, things like that, and making this a big part of the farm.

I am also going to add a couple donkeys and some goats. I've done my time with goats but my neighbor wants some so the new baby can grow up learning all this stuff. I guess I'll start making soap again!

Anyway, that's mostly whats happening around here and in my life. It's good to be back and I look forward to getting to know you guys.