Is Homesteading For You?

Before you pack up your boxes and head out to the range, I thought you might like to know some of the differences that I have observed....you know, a little help in making the decision to go from a city slicker to a country bumpkin!!  :)

1.  In the city dirt generally knows its place...outside!  On the homestead it thinks it is part of the family and is welcome in the house at all times.

2.  In the city an alarm clock woke me up each morning.  On the homestead a rooster has taken over that job!

3.  In the city we would go to the theater for entertainment.  On the homestead we watch the chickens or the goats run around and play.

4.  In the city when I talked about my kids everyone knew I was taking about my children.  On the homestead if I talk about a kid, everyone assumes I raise goats!  :)

5.  In the city my children would play in the backyard on our swing set.  On the homestead they play outside on the zip lines.

6.  In the city when we had a deep freeze we would bundle up and stay in the house and watch movies.  On the homestead we bundle up and head outside every couple of hours to unfreeze all of the animal water!

7.  In the city I would get annoyed when neighbors let their pets poop on my yard.  On the homestead I get super excited when my neighbor brings me bags of her pets' (cows and buffalo) poop! ( you don't want to see a picture of this one!!)

8.  In the city I styled my hair every day and put makeup on.  On the homestead I realized the other day that I had not had a haircut in over a year!!  Ponytails become the style to beat and makeup is obsolete!!  :)

9.  In the city I watched babies being born on Baby Story on the tv.  On the homestead I am expected to be the lead doctor in my own Baby Story when our goat gives birth next month.

10.  In the city I would not even recognize many of my neighbors if I passed them on the street.  On the homestead it is expected that not only will you know them, you will become a part of their lives.  (I must admit that this is one of my favorite differences as I have some awesome neighbors and new friends!!)  You find that you really NEED your neighbors as you begin to realize that we all depend on one another.

11. In the city we traveled to a lot of new places.  On the homestead we can't do that very much because we have to take care of the animals....I miss traveling.  On the flip side though, a lot of what we liked to do when we traveled we are able to do here.

So what is your final verdict?  Is homesteading for you?

If you would like to read what is going on at other's homesteads, take a look here at the
Homestead Barn Hop!

Day of Rest on a Farm?

Since moving out to our farm there seems to always be at least one or two projects that need completion.  Now that spring is approaching that number is rising!!

Farmer Willie works in the city during the week so the only times we have to really work on things are the weekends, yet we are pretty strong believers in taking a day of rest.  I have discovered that is hard on the farm.

Not only are there animal chores that must be done daily, but my desire to get things done and knowing that we have a day where we are both home is huge!  It has become really hard for us to continue taking a day off.

Yesterday was one of those days.  We worked on a couple of really neat projects on Saturday and I really, REALLY wanted to continue to work on them yesterday, but it was our day of rest.

So the day begins and there are a few things that had to be done such as taking care of the animals, we had previously scheduled a trip yesterday morning to look at some beehives we are purchasing, and there were some peach trees that had to be put into the ground, but other than that we rested.

I am so thankful that we did.  What I noticed yesterday was all that we would have missed had we not taken the time to rest.

Children playing on the zip line.

Lizards hanging out in the tree house!

Puppy dogs playing.

Sweet girls playing with kitty cats!

Sitting and enjoying being outside.

And time to enjoy being with my sweet family!

So the lesson I learned is this...The Lord told us to take a day of rest for a reason.  So that we can sit back, look at all He has given us and be able to say...It is good!



Take a look at the Homestead Barn Hop!

Dealing With Animal Life and Death on the Homestead

Life on our small farm is abundant.  Especially as spring approaches, the anticipation for new life builds!

Chicks are being born, goats are preparing to give birth, green sprouts appear on trees, and we all wait in excitement for the front pastures to make their transformation into glorious fields full of wildflowers. 

For me, as a fairly new farm gal, all of this new life also brings a bit of a worry about death.  Will everything go okay when our goat Nancy gives birth?  Will we be able to keep her kids protected from predators?  Are the new chicks staying warm...or are they too warm?  I still perk up at every noise I hear at night listening to make sure that nothing is getting into our chicken coop and hurting our chickens.

We had not been living here long when we experienced our first animal loss.  A pack of dogs got into our chicken coop and killed every hen that was in that coop. 

We were devastated.  We felt guilty for not being able to protect them better and we felt sad for the loss of life.  I hated farming at that point.  I was ready to move back to the city.

 

 

Over the next year we lost several other animals and each time we mourned. 

I kept thinking it would get easier for us but it never did. 

I was afraid to get any more farm animals.

I started to wonder if maybe we were not cut out for farm life.

 

But as I prayed about it and as I learned from other homesteaders and farmers I began to see a new reality emerge.

It should not get easier.

You see, by working on a farm and learning to homestead we learn the value of life as well as death.

We work each and every day with animals that give their all to provide milk, honey, and eggs to nourish our families.  We love on animals that eventually give their lives to bring us what we need to live.

Becoming a farmer does not mean that you should become hardened to death, it means that you become thankful for life.

I don't want to turn back into the girl that slapped some eggs on the table for breakfast never taking the time to think about the hens that worked so hard to lay them for me. 

And I don't want to turn back into the girl that grilled dinner and served it up never giving a thought to the animals whose ultimate job it was to feed me.

No. I will continue to feel sad when we lose animals. 

Because being a farmer is not just about what all I can take from the animals and the earth, it is also about what I can give.



We are super excited for the opportunity of participating in the Homestead Barn Hop #146!!

Chicken First Aid

We have some chickens here on Bumpkin Farm and we really enjoy them!  They were the first animal we brought onto the farm besides the dog, cat and fish that moved with us from the city.

To begin with we bought five Buff Orpingtons and they were so sweet!

(She totally showered after this picture and was lectured on the fact that chickens carry disease and having them on your head and this close to your face probably is NOT a good idea....but cute picture!!)

Unfortunately they were killed by some dogs that got into their coop early on.  We were so, so sad.

We had a rooster that apparently had a stroke or something similar and slowly lost his ability to walk.  We prayed for him and my daughter brought insects for him to eat and did "physical therapy" with him to keep his muscles moving.  Unfortunately, he eventually died as well.

Early on we found out that there are not many vets that will help with chicken issues, plus that could get really expensive, so we began to learn on our own. 

Recently we entered the henhouse to let the chickens out for the day and one of our chickens named Roadrunner (due to her resemblance of a roadrunner as well as her super-sonic speed!) was laying on her side completely unable to move.  Her wings were spread in a weird way and she could not move anything except her head.  I really thought that we would have to put her down when my husband came home that night.  I was also super worried that she was in a lot of pain and I might have to put her down before he came home.

We did a little research and could not find any clear disease that this resembled but we went ahead and separated her from the other hens.  This was not only for the safety of the other hens, but also for her own safety as they will tend to pick and peck on weaker, sickly chickens.

We gave her food and water and as long as we held it for her, she was able to eat and drink so we decided to wait until that evening.

Come that evening she was able to move her wings some, so we decided to wait until the next day.  Then she was able to sit and keep herself upright, but still not stand.  She could not move to go potty so we also had to keep her bum clean :)  Poor girl even laid an egg.....though we tossed it since we did not know what was going on with her!

Three days she could not move.  She just sat or laid and let us feed and water her.

Then my husband came upon a tip for giving sick chickens a little bit of Gatorade, so we started that and we began to see a big difference!

Three more days go by and she is hopping to come out of confinement so we stick her in with the other hens and they instantly began to harass her.  We gave it a little bit to settle down, but they would not stop picking on her so we pulled her out.  She was feeling a lot better, but still was not 100% and the other hens must have picked up on that.

So...a few more days alone and then we stuck her in the coop after bedtime and the next morning they all woke up, she was able to fly up to the roosting bar and everyone was friendly again!

I was very thankful that we ended up being able to keep her.  She is back to laying eggs and picking on the younger chicks!!  I am also thankful for the internet enabling us to become chicken doctors!!

So my chicken first aid advice is this:

1.  First thing...separate the sick chicken.  Like I said, this not only protects your flock, but also the sick one.

2.  Make sure the sicky has food and water and is able to partake of both.  You don't want one injury to end up leading to death by dehydration.

3.  Use the internet!!  There are so many good sites out there for chicken owners and a lot of been there, done that information.

4.  Our two favorite chicken remedies are diatomaceous earth and Gatorade!!

5. When the sicky gets better, be careful of integrating her back into the flock.

6.  Sometimes nothing you can do works and they die.  We have lost a total of 8 hens over the last year.  We feel sad each time we lose one, but we also try our best to give them a great life while they are with us and that helps us feel a bit better when it is time to let one go.

We figure that Roadrunner must have pulled a muscle and just needed time to heal.  She did not like having to eat and drink with our help so her electrolytes became unbalanced and the Gatorade helped with that.  In the end we probably will never know for sure, but I am so thankful for our happy ending this time!!

Wood Pallets: A Farm Girls Best Friend

Rewind 10 months and you arrive at the time that I meet my new best friend......the wooden pallet.......

We have two goats coming and along with putting up a fence, we need a goat shed.  Fences are not cheap, goats are not cheap, nothing is cheap so we are out of money, almost out of time, and nearing panic state!

I take a look at pinterest to try and find any ideas for an inexpensive way to build our goat shed and I notice one that is made of wooden pallets.  You know, those wood slat thingies that businesses take shipments on?   There I have it!!  My solution!!

We head to various businesses and I discover that finding someone to give you wooden pallets is not quite as easy as the online articles I found led me to believe.  After a little driving around and phone calling we were able to obtain around 15.

Within one day my daughters and I were able to create this!!!

On the inside you can really see the pallets.  We bought the metal for the roof and added some other scrap pieces of wood, but this thing went up in one day and works perfectly!!

After that I was smitten!  So...what else can I make around here with pallets?

The previous owners left this table outside when they moved.  Though it is a cute table, it did not really go with our ideas of what we want the house to look like so we were going to get rid of it.

But NO!!  Pallets save the day!!!

Farmer Willie removed the top of the table frame....

Then we pulled off some of the wood on one of our trusty pallets, attached them to the table top and BAM!!!!

Beautiful table!!


Then we needed a bridge across the stream that runs through our property.  My daughter decided to build one for us using....you guessed it....PALLETS!!!

It works perfect and how much did it cost us????  Zilch!!  :)

Another view so you can see how she used a pallet base as the base of the bridge.

Now moving on to animal uses....yes, there are more!!

Farmer Willie built a double stanchion for our dairy goats out of pallets!!  Pretty awesome isn't it??

And finally, when you thought that there could be no more...a dog house!!!  See the pallet base there? Our farm dog, Tank, loves pallets too!!

We are in the middle of working on a sign to hang at the front of the property identifying us as Bumpkin Farm...wanna know what we are using for the actual sign portion?  Pallets!!!

Now, these wooden pallets will never laugh at my jokes or listen to my whining like my friends will, but try making a bridge using a 5 foot brown-head for the base!! 

If you have enjoyed reading this blog, you might enjoy some of the other ones participating in Homestead Barn Hop #145!!




Look for other DIY projects at DIY Accomplished!



Quick Start Morning on Bumpkin Farm!!

Wanna know the best way to start the day on the farm?


First you need some of this...

 

 

 

Then you mix up some of these pretty things!!

 

 



 

 

Sautee' some peppers, onions and potatoes to get this...

 

Then of course you need a few corn tortillas!!

 

And no day should be started without a cup of coffee!!

And there you have the recipe for a perfect start to the day!!

Cold Weather on the Farm

Brrrrrr.....it's cold outside! 

Well, at least for us Texans!!  :)

When I milked the goats yesterday the cleaning cloths froze before I was done milking!  Poor April was so cold.  She seems to be more sensitive to the cold than her sister Nancy.

When it is below freezing outside we have to be extra careful to make sure the goats have access to water....not ice!  So about every two hours we carry out a pot of boiling water to keep ice from forming on the top of the water bucket. 


Luckily Farmer Willie is working from home today, so he gets to help with that job!!  :)

Their water already has a film of ice on top so we break that up with a shovel and then add the hot water.

April was super excited to have some warm water to warm her up!!

And that's how it's done!!  :)

Saving Money on Bumpkin Farm

One thing that I have noticed since moving to the farm is that we waste a lot!  We waste food, we waste time, we waste money, and we waste things. 

I am a throw it away kinda gal.  I do not feel a need to hang on to things so I usually throw it away.  Several years ago a friend pointed out that throwing so much away was not being a good steward with my money. 

At first I balked at her statement thinking that I was simplifying things by not keeping much, but then I began to see she was correct.  I was throwing away things that other could use, thus I began to donate.

Living out here has taught me another lesson in being a good steward with our money...I don't need that much to begin with!  And boy howdy do we waste a ton!

So what have we done to help? 

1.  Recycle:  Believe it or not, the trash service we use also offers recycling pickup.  So we have bins where we save our recyclables and have them picked up.  This not only cuts down on our contribution to the dump site, but it also saves money on trash bags!

2.  Ditch paper towels!:  We were spending almost $30 per month on paper towels.  Not only did we use them in the house, but we used several rolls a week when we milked the goats.  Now we have spend about $6 a month. 
 
     Instead of paper towels, I invested in a large quantity of dish towels and dish cloths.  Instead of drying our hands on paper, we use the cloth towels.  When I milk the goats we use dish cloths marked especially for that purpose. 

 

     We have also ditched paper napkins and instead have started using cloth napkins.  We never spent a ton on napkins, but every little bit helps!!

     The only con I have found is that I have to make sure each evening to put on a load of towels and cloths, but this has not been a huge deal.  Our washer does not use much water so there really is no con with extra water usage.

3.  Laundry Detergent:  Very simple solution here, we started making our own!  There are a gazillion recipes online for various detergents.  We have made liquid and powder.  I prefer the powder, but both worked well.  The cost for our detergent for 6 people is around $30 per year.

4.  Dish Detergent:  We make that too!  First we switched from using a store-bought rinse aid to using vinegar.  Let me tell you, that works wayyyy better on our dishes!!  Now we make our detergent too.  Easy-Peasy!!  We use 1 TB of Borax and 1 TB of baking soda.  This with the vinegar as the rinse aid work great!

5.  Freezing Pizza Dough!:  We eat pizza every Friday night and we used to order it out.  Come Friday evening, I am just ready to chill and spend time with the fam....not really in the mood to spank some dough!  But, if I make the dough earlier in the week and double or triple the recipe, let it rise the first time and spank it and freeze it, it is soooo easy!!  I just pull it out in the morning, it thaws during the day and wah-lah, we have yummy pizza that evening!

6.  Chicken:  I used to be a chicken breast only kinda gal.  Not really keen on sticking my hands inside a carcass to season it.  Best tip ever....throw it in the crockpot with some spices on top, cook it all day and that evening you have a perfectly cooked, tender chicken!  I always throw it in frozen even!

Then that night after you have pulled all of the meat off, add some spices, onion, and garlic, cook it all and you have wonderful chicken broth the next day!



Now I have gone and made myself hungry!!!

I have learned that though I might not have a job outside of the home that brings in money, I can make money for our family by saving money.  Added benefit....it's kinda fun too!!  :)