Share your homesteading experiences and dreams.

LOL, who is Anna Nicole Smith, heheehee.

I would love to have my own and die there too. Just I love mt wife and her care comes first over my dreams. I have no doubt that we will get the land and lifestyle I want, it is just when and how much. Agian, Life will tell.

thank you for visiting with me.

calvin

Rather a sad discussion now, who will go first! Not that I don't think about that too since the SO is 16 years older, close to retirement, and yet I am the one who already needs that oil can for the joints. Anyway, don't forget about reverse mortgages. Not sure it's really a good deal for the family, since there may not be much to inherit, but you could probably stay put in your own house longer. And hiring someone to help might be less expensive and more comfortable than a nursing home. Although, having worked in a couple of nursing homes during college, they are good for some people - lots of other people to talk to. My house is kind of big for 2 of us so I may rent out rooms or something when I need more income. Or rent out space in the yard for people to store their boats, etc. I hope I remember my ideas when I really need them!

I am new to the house ownership and do not know about reverse mortgages.

calvin

I'm new to DG. I'm still reading all these homesteading posts and enjoying the heck out of them, but I find I'm wondering what are folks up to these days? Are any of the original posters still active here at DG?

I'll be turning 51 in a couple of months, and I'm finally starting to make progress in my dream of some degree of self-sufficiency. Our garden was bigger this year, allowing us to can, dry, and freeze enough for this winter. We got a wood heating stove put in this last summer, as energy prices were skyrocketing, so we'll be able to take advantage of the ample supply of inexpensive wood in this area. And last spring we got harness for all 4 mammoth donkeys we have, in hopes of getting them to do a little work around this place. Didn't get far with that idea, the garden overwhelmed us, but now that that's done for the year, maybe we can get to the donkeys and their training.

Anyway, as all this 'wild excitement' in the financial markets has been going down, I've just been very grateful for the food we were able to produce and enjoy.

So... what has everyone else been up to? I'd like to revive this forum and find out!
=) Jay

Jay, if you place your cursor over a poster's name, you will see if they are still on DG... most of us are, I think. I don't post much to this Forum anymore, but to the Sustainable Alternatives Forum instead.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/gogreen/all/

Thanks for the heads up, Darius. I checked out a few of the postings there, but so far I like this thread better. Folks talking about their dreams and the little steps towards realizing them, rather than folks reading, viewing, opinionating.

(I am sick to death of well-informed opinions from folks who have no dirt under their nails, and no sweat stains on their ballcap. I have yet to see the NYT in a rancher's house.)

Clicking on each member profile and then thread postings is tedious to the max. And it doesn't tell me in a nutshell how the folks in this particular discussion fared with their dreams.

I'm homesteading in the latter half of a life, finally beginning to realize my own youthful dream in a body that is beginning to argue with me and my fine ideas. Sounds like many of these folks are in the same place as myself.

Of course I'll keep looking around the sustainable forum, lots of ideas there. Even some real life experience. =)

Well said, although many of us on that forum have daily dirt under our nails and take baby steps towards our dreams.

You should try starting to fulfill your dreams in a 66 year old body.... female to boot! (That was me, 2 years ago.) However, I have made great progress, mainly in learning the best way to garden for healthy food. Next comes chickens and maybe a milk goat...

Yes, these little grumblings my body is giving me now I tend to think of as just warning that by the time I'm 66, we'll be having knock-down, drag-out fights! LOL

I've had chickens in the past, before I moved up here. It's a whole new game now, and I'll have to build Fort Knox to keep 'em alive, what with the local dogs, skunks, raccoons, and coyotes. It's on my list... my favorites are Buff Orpingtons, Golden Sebrights, and New Hampshire Reds. What have you got? I'd like to get a mixed run initially, and raise a bit of meat, but I've never solved the 'gut-bucket' issue.... what to do with all the guts from a dozen birds? I've considered hiking into the back country to dump it, but that's one of those ideas my body is starting to say things like.... you can do that OR you can turn the compost in, not both. LOL

I've got 14 acres of decent loamy clay; or would that be clayey loam? Anyway, it grows stuff easily with just a little compost to keep it alive. Composted donkey manure is in abundance here. But learning about short-season gardening is definitely a process. I had 25' of tomato plants this year, and it was too cool to ripen many of even the short-season varieties I selected. Not to mention the continual threat of hail. Now I'm thinking of greenhouses and high tunnels. Yikes, that's a project and a half.

I've made a connection with some distant neighbors (they're on the way into town) and they're milking both goats and a cow, so we're set for fresh milk. Yum! We trade produce, fresh bread and seedlings for milk.

What's your set-up? Do you have land? And you're 5b too, so I'd like to hear about things you've learned, maybe they'll apply here where I am.

Tomorrow I tackle the corn patch!

No chickens yet. First, a chicken tractor. Well, second. First is really $$ for materials. Years ago I had Rhode Island Reds, not sure what this time, but probably will include some Buff Orpingtons.

I've learned about soil... far to much to talk about here. If you click on my name, it will take you to my page where all the articles I've written are listed. They are all live links and address a lot of what I have learned.

Good Luck!

re: gut bucket issue

Dig a series of shallow holes or a shallow trench and have handy a sheet of roofing metal or something large enough to more than cover your burial. Spread the offal including feathers and cover with the soil you dug out. The soil needs to be damp or you can water it. Cover and weight it down so marauding animals can't access it. In warm weather the soil microbes work quickly, no more than 6 weeks. I don't know about cold weather but several months should do it. It will be wonderful for whatever you wish to plant. I like to do the same with coffee grounds and peelings except they don't need protection from animals. Compost where you want it and no extra handling.

Thanks for that info. I would find that preferable to feeding the scavengers. Not that they don't need to eat. I just hate to have them associate me with food. They will be shopping at my house next. I have always buried inedible fish parts and it makes an excellent fertilizer.

No chickens at the moment but many in years past. I always had white leghorns. Good layers and I think I liked them as it is what I grew up with. Here, the chickens were a magnet for hawks, skunks, possums and SNAKES! Thinking of snakes makes me resist temptation although I'd still love a few.

Although we all follow different drummers, I too hope everyone that has posted here in the past has managed to move closer to attaining their dreams and goals.

Thanks for the idea about the metal roofing over the trench! I've buried before and indeed the scavengers were a problem. I ended up loading the gut bucket up and driving out to some remote BLM land and dumping it for the coyotes. But that doesn't work here, everything's ranchland and I'm pretty sure the rancher's wouldn't much like me feeding the coyotes, not to mention the drive. You're living in a much warmer area, so the 6 weeks probably wouldn't be long enough around here, but that's just a matter of timing.

Fortunately we don't have to worry much about snakes, most of ours are small or not very interested in chickens or eggs. But hawks are another matter all together. I've got a friend that built a chicken 'cathedral'... that's a head scratcher for me. It's a peaked PVC arch, probably 18' high, covered with bird netting. But chickens don't fly, so why all the head room?

I built a chicken tractor once... lots of scavenged materials. I think I wouldn't make it 8' x 4' again, but smaller. My new beds are going to be narrower too; the 4' wide is just too wide to be comfortable.

I tried white leghorns once, but as free range chickens, we just didn't get along. They kept jumping into the dog's yard... only took a week to kill themselves.

Jay, look into EM/Bokashi... there are folks here who compost meat scraps, bones, etc. with it. I don't know about large volumes, but I don't see why not, either.

What a great forum this is and just stumbled upon it this evening. Hope everyone is moving forward with their homesteads.

I am from Canada - married a wonderful Kansan man in April 2006. We are living in a rental in a tiny rural town while waiting out DH's retirement from the railroad - 4 yrs from now. At that time we plant to permanently return to Canada, sell my city house in southern Ontario and buy a country property as far north as we can reasonably move to. Self-sustenance will be the object and just like many of you....I wish we had met earlier in life while we had some youth on our sides to go at it with some gusto instead of with arthritis gel.

One blessing that we do have in our favour is Health Insurance. In Canada, all citizens are entitled to total Health Insur. and though the quality of it has gone downhill with time, it is still available and ongoing. My eldest sister had a quadruple bypass in 1995 and the only cost was the expensive meds that followed her surgery. Unable to afford the cost of the meds, she needed a second bypass 8 years later. The surgeon told her that he would NOT perform the operation unless she guaranteed him that she would find a way to get the required meds afterwards. The main arteries in both legs are now rerouted and used to do the bypasses with and she cannot stand for long periods of time or even sit for long. She is 69 yrs old and lives on Disability and Social Security, which doesnt provide a very large income but it does provide the necessary medications for her post-bypasses & her diabetes.

I cant even fathom what those surgeries would have cost her in America. It would have been beyond belief I am sure.

Dentistry is not a social benefit but most dentists charge smaller fees to anyone who doesnt have group insur. and that helps.

Sooo, we are in a better position at least with health insur. coverage in Canada. Land/house/tax prices are astronomical by comparison to many places in the U.S. so I guess it all irons out in the wash?

In Ontario, what used to be affordable property along the various lakes has been gobbled up by the mainstream yuppies who have bought and built million dollar cottages & summer homes along their shores. What used to be get-away cabins have been replaced by these expensive, state of the art homes that have driven up the price of the land, taxes and overall cost of living in "the wilderness"

Further north are many many towns that have all but dried up from the shut down of the mines, lumbermills, pulp & paper industry. Working age people have moved out and left behind the elderly who stick close to their small town living lifestyles & cost of living.

There are still affordable places to live but they grow further and further north. The good part is that the lakes and rivers of the north remain somewhat pollution free, the fish are edible, the rural land untouched. That is where we will be heading. No doubt a house that is already built, well water because that is the way of the rural properties. Hopefully we can add on solar panels to supplement power, collect rain water, garden for food, compost, and enjoy life working for ourselves. Unto each other.

I guess it's a function of being a boomer? Still feeling the influence of the back-to-the-land movement. I'm continually surprised that there arent' more young adults doing this. They say that in the 90's for the first time more people lived in the city than the country; I wonder if that's why homesteading doesn't seem to show up on their radar screens much. I know there are some wonderful young market gardeners, and a few young homesteaders, but the bulk of us do seem to be a bit grey behind the ears.

As a matter of fact, one of my favorite blogs is by a young man who market gardens up your way...
http://tinyfarmblog.com/
He's a wonderful photographer, and I've learned quite a lot by just reading his blog. Unfortunately for me, my software is getting so old my computer tends to crash loading his site. That just means it's an especial treat to actually read it. =)

I'm so impressed that you're heading farther north and undertaking gardening.

One of the things I find so amazing is how much the weather is beginning to impact how I feel and what I manage to do. Today was a change from sunny and warm to a little cooler and mostly cloudy, and my mood just went blah on me. Snappish. =( Such a mild change didn't used to have this effect on me.

I did get into town and get some prices on some of the things I need to build my little greenhouse... a pvc and plastic affair for next spring early planting. I think I'll use that cheap corrugated fiberglass for the ends. We get some major spring winds here and it would just be a firmer structure.

Maybe once I get that up, I can run a couple of chickens next fall to clean it up? Hmmm, that's an idea...

We've spent the day cooking tomato sauce down for canning, and prepping the last of the green beans to can. The house smells marvelous!
Jay

Hi Jay

Sounds like you had a super busy day despite getting the blahs from the overcast weather. It certainly didnt hold you back....besides, we need days that slow us down and give us some respite from the go go go adrenalin rushes that motive us to work super hard ALL the time.

Thanks for the link to Stefans Farm market. I will give it a good read tonite after I settle down for the evening. I didnt see in the blog where he was in Ont. so Googled it and see that he is in Chatham Ontario? That is probably 3 hrs west of Toronto and my home is about an hour east of Toronto. Chatham is definately a farming/growing area. Kitchener/Waterloo, London, Chatham - that is a green belt with great farming land. Lots of Mennonites down that way and one of those towns is "The White Bean Capitol of the World"....cant remember which town.

There is also a very good Native plant nursery out that way. It is part of the Six Nations Reservation and the owner is native. He grows herbs, plants, ground covers, bushes, shrubs, trees etc. that are all "native" to southern Ontario. Funny story about that place. A few years ago before I moved to KS I picked up a friend in Toronto to drive to that nursery and as luck would have it the major hwy had all kinds of construction going on and we got a little lost and when we finally arrived there after being on the road all day.......they had literally just closed....it was 5 pm on the nose and as we came up the road to the nursery driveway....the owner was pulling out of the driveway in his pickup truck and heading in the opposite direction. I was sooo disheartened. All that way. All those miles and frustration of being lost, etc. and we missed them by a minute.

I emailed the nursery the next day and explained my disappointment at having missed him by a minute and that we had spent the entire day trying to find his nursery etc. and he wrote me back and felt so badly that he had missed us. He said he normally would have been there regardless of the time of day and would have gladly let us shop and not keep to business hours without hesitation but that day in particular, he had committed to help a friend plant some trees and that was why he had left at 5 pm on the dot when his nursery had closed. What a drag eh ? I never did get back there again.......waaaaa

We plan to move much further north than where Stefans market is.....waaay north and probably east. I am sure I will learn a lot when I read about his market and farm. Thanks for the heads up on it.

Looking forward to giving it a good read tonite. Now off to tend my pot roast and Yorkshire Pudding !!!

Have a relaxing evening. All the best

Georgina

Georgina,
Tiny Farm may not seem close to you, but it's a lot closer than I... I'm way down here by Mexico! Well, a days drive from it anyway. LOL

One of the things I learned is how to start carrots and lettuce outside. We have very drying winds here, and the soil crusts. I've always had very poor success with those little seeds. But I tried the burlap method they use at Tiny Farm and was wildly successful. And if a technique will transplant alllllll the way down here, just think what it will do for you! LOL

I have a lot of slow days, but one of the things about homesteading is there are times when that's not an option. Winter is coming, and there are things that need to get done before the ground freezes, before the snow flies. Because one is much closer to nature in the raw, and because one is much more dependent on advance preparation, putting something off or letting it slide can have VERY uncomfortable results.

But however driven I get around here, I always know it is in my own best interest, not the best interest of corporate headquarters, and it makes all the difference. I can really haul butt and at the end of the day take pride and satisfaction in that work.

Have you read any Wendell Berry? Or seen a Small Farmer's Journal? It's all about craftsmanship, caring for what's held in the hand and known in the heart, whether it's tomato sauce (finally in the water bath!) or a straight fence or a well trained donkey (my next big project, after the greenhouse? Maybe) Even when things don't go as planned (there are days when I work hard all day at something to find that the whole idea was flawed from the get-go), I can still revel in the knowledge that my whole being was fully engaged in this life, this world. Full contact with this moment.

It's that full contact that makes this lifestyle rewarding, the immersion in goldfinches and hawks and throwing hay, coming into a warm kitchen redolent with the smells of tomatoes, eating a fresh baked cookie and knowing.... well done, well done.

IMHO............... LOL
Jay

Jay
I know what you mean about seeing something thru....knowing you can make it work and maybe it doesnt always pan out exactly the way you planned but it was , if nothing else, a learning experience. My DH became the man of the house when he was just 12 yrs old. They were very poor and there was no money for repairmen or replacement of most things about the house so he learned how to fix things on his own volition.

Some of our greatest accomplishments are achieved when there is little to work with and no true knowledge of how to do something and then figuring it out and making it work. Then, the greater the need ie putting food by for the winter, all the more resolve from within to get the job done.

I cant tell you how many times I have tried to make things work and not been successful because I didnt think it thru in the true presence that was required. Usually I feel defeated temporarily and then I say "I can do this" and I plow my way thru it until I get where I need to be. haha. Stubborn and determined. Somehow it works.

Maybe that is the difference between people who choose homesteading vs city-slickers (for the sake of a label). City slickers or mainstream people dont give a thought to where food comes from, how to fix, repair, create from scratch. If they cant go out and buy it...they dont want it.

What do you think ?

Haha reading Stefans Farm blog on the subject of him getting chickens. One of the comments is from a guy named Kevin that says: "The best thing about chickens is that......they taste like chicken"

April,
Yeah, I agree that often it does seem that city slickers (labels work for me) really don't have a clue what it takes to support a life.

One story... visiting a city based spiritual center, and a woman says to me in a most scandalized voice... do you know that 75% of CA water goes to *gasp!* agriculture!!! So I gave her my best "you're an idiot" look, and said I was sure glad, because CA provided fruits and vegetables to the entire country, that it was my FOOD they were watering. Her weak rejoinder was that they could use the water more efficiently, to which I replied perhaps, but maybe it would be better to get rid of hot tubs, watered lawns, and daily showers first. I mean, why does someone with a desk job need to take a daily shower? Use a couple of wet wipes and deoderant, for Pete's sake. End of conversation. =)

I mean, really.

Somewhere on this site, someone was asking about what kind of chicken was grown by Tyson (I think) because they wanted a chicken that tasted just like what they got in the store. LOL That is soooo sad... have they looked at the label of that chicken recently? I'll bet it's got 'natural flavor' added. Whatever the hell that is... pumped up with up to 10% broth, no doubt. No wonder their homegrown chickens didn't taste like the store bought.

I'll tell you what, I've had so many 'learning experiences' I'm a walking egghead. LOL I've been amazed at the number of folks I've met that don't even know how to operate a shovel, let alone what to do with the dirt... boy, I hate having to track down the dirt after they've flung it about. My favorite thing is to ask what they're going to fill that post hole with and watch the look on their faces when they say 'the dirt' and I say 'what dirt?' and they look around and see they've scattered it all to hell and gone.

Teaching people to dig post holes is a hoot. There's the ones that start the hole just a little bit wider than the post and find that about a foot down you can't open the posthole digger anymore. Then there's the ones that make a hole big enough to roast a pig in...

and I'm only laughing because although I'm a veritable expert on post holes, I'm sure I cause a vast amount of amusement when I start messing with hitching my donkeys and trying to train them to work. I figure I'm a real side-splitter! LOL

Got get to it...
Jay

Jay I am cracking up at your description of people here. hahahahha

The emoticon with the big wide eyes and dumb facial expression comes to mind. haha

Let me tell you that in Ontario Canada we have access to every possible fruit & vegetable all year long in our grocery stores and guess what ? They mostly come from CA. I was shocked to find that in KS there is very little fruit available in our small towns....mostly just apples & oranges & they are often combined together in plastic bags. Extremely expensive by comparison to Ontario. Mind you, we are huge growers of apples & they are climatically stored all year for year round availability. People dont give a thought to the idea that we should be eating what is locally available seasonally and support local growers. If everyone grew their own food they would grasp the concept & either put food down for the winter or do withou and learn how to plan in a hurry.

One of the funniest dumb#$ things I heard while living in Toronto was at a fine dining restaurant one night. I barely noticed the other diners around us but when my DH went to the restroom I heard a well suited dapper looking business man - who was obviously on a date with the woman at his table, based on his polite, enquiring conversation with her.....
The menu offered a 6 oz and a 10 oz filet mignon and the businessman called the waiter over to ask what the difference in the steaks were ? The waiter, after a moment of hesitation said "well, one is 6 ozs and the other is 10 ozs, depending on your appetite". I swear ! This is the truth ! The blue suit said "OK, now, 6 ozs....is that WITH or WITHOUT the bacon??" The waiter said "I'm sorry ...?" The suit said "does the 6 or 10 ozs INCLUDE the bacon or is the weight of the bacon extra?".......Need the dumbstruck emoticon here - All I could think was: "RUN LADY RUN!!! You DO NOT want to date this guy !!!"

Homegrown chickens are probably one of the paramount reasons to live in the country and grown your own. What they sell in the stores is just sad and pathetic - white, scrawny, tasteless, meatless blaaaaaaaaaaaaa. People are sheep and go along with whatever nasty excuse of a food product or anything else for that matter is being offered. It's amazing. Absolutely amazing !

Food here at our local diners is what I refer to as "Road Kill". It is all "product" that has been brought in and heated either in a deep fryer or maybe a microwave by large. Mashed potatoes are either canned, instant or frozen. French fries are always frozen. Veg accompaniaments with dinner always canned and soggy. Spread for bread or rolls comes in plastic tubs and is either margarine or sometimes, "dairy spread". Coffee comes with packets of powdered dairy creamer....not a drop of butter or cream to be had. Salads always come out of a bag and have been prewashed, prechopped and limp. I guess the fresh stuff goes to Canada? This is the heart of farm country and there isnt a sniff of real potatoes, real butter, real cream or real salad to be had? And the locals fill the diners every night at dinner time because nobody cooks or bakes from scratch anymore. If they do, it comes out of a box, a dairy case roll that you whack on the counter, or a frozen box or bag. Geez !!

The way of the world is "instant" - no muss, no fuss and no messing up those designer stainless steel kitchens. Heaven forbid !

I guess if you are a city slicker you are entertained by mainstream television shows, motivated by TV commercials & satisfied with fast food, frozen product & life in the plastic world? Full steam ahead ! Thus the credit crazy society we have today where everyone is sinking beneath the debt loads that are burying them? But, thats another chapter altogether.

Georginia... you are not far from my maternal family homes, near Concordia and Clay Center. I haven't been back to KS since 1954.

Hi Darius

I was born in 54 and this year I am 54. I havent made it to Concordia yet but have been to Clay Center on several occasions. Its a neat town. Love their Rays Apple Market. Great produce that isnt limp, more selection and their bakery dept is great. Unfortunately its about an hour south west of us and I dont get down there very often. We tend to go to Manhattan more often because they have more stores and a great Mexican restaurant. Its about 45 mins. straight south of us.

Speaking of food: I received this email this morning from a friend back home and just have to post it here to share. Think you will get a kick out of it. I know I did !
Oh to be this quick witted!

Yesterday I was at my local Wal-Mart buying a large bag of Purina dog chow for my loyal
pet, Sheriff, the Wonder Dog and was in the checkout line when a woman behind me asked
if I had a dog.

What did she think I had, an elephant? So since I'm retired and have little to do, on impulse
I told her that no, I didn't have a dog I was starting the Purina Diet again. I added that I probably shouldn't, because I ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices
and IVs in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry.
The food is nutritionally complete so it works well and I was going to try it again. (I have
to mention here that practically everyone in line was now enthralled with my story.)

Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned me. I told her no, I stepped off a curb to sniff an Irish Setter's a@s and a car hit us both.

I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack he was laughing so hard.

Wal-Mart won't let me shop there anymore. Better watch what you ask retired people. They have all the time in the world to think of crazy things to say.

Thanks, I needed a good laugh!

I could never be a waitress... that urbanite would have gotten my famous Look... too stupid to waste a bullet on, as my dad would say. I'da said something like, "4 ounces, what? did you forget your calculator?"

I think we ought to legalize stupidity and tax it into oblivion. It'd take care of this mah-velous new trillion dollar bail-out debt. The regulations would stifle any growth of it. Folks'd just have to get smarter to avoid paperwork. LOL

And now the world is rejoicing that credit is loosening up again? Does anybody here remember the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing again expecting different results?

I was in a bookstore last week that had post cards of the Dalai Lama sitting next to post cards of Obama. Two 50-something ladies walked in and one nearly swooned, "Oh look! They have Obama next to His Holiness. Isn't that just soooo true? I really feel Obama is such a spiritual man." WHAT!? Is she out of her tiny little mind?

I'll be straight here and say I'm voting for Obama, but to even think of putting him anywhere near the same level as the Dalai Lama is outrageous. Is that what sniffing city air does to brain cells? I mean, I've known chickens with more sense. OK, maybe not Leghorns... but New Hampshire Reds are way smarter than that lady. Obama is just another well-packaged politician who happens to say a few things I agree with and that's it. I don't even think I'd enjoy his company over dinner.

Which around here is basically 6 different Mexican restaurants. And one truck stop, with the same menu you mentioned. >=P

The produce here is about like what you describe where you're at, definitely not A quality, and still expensive. It's a shame too, because you can still find old timers who remember when this area grew a lot of its own food. There's the remnants of old orchards all over, gone to ruin. Old water driven flour mills. Now we don't even have a local butcher, and it's the middle of ranching country.

When I was in college in Iowa, I remember hearing that farm families were receiving food stamps... they had turned everything over to mono-cropping, and weren't raising their own food anymore, and when the corn market tanked, they were flat broke. That just blew my little college mind... in Iowa, with the best dirt in the world, the farmers didn't even have a vegetable garden! There is something deeply, deeply wrong with that picture...

I just really like homesteading, the little I do manage to pull off, because it reminds me that I am part of a fabric, or as I was reading last night "...a net of interlocking ripples [that] extends far beyond our capacity for understanding or absolute knowledge." It IS about connection and place and staying put and making do. Some of it is very hard, harsh, and tough to take. And it's blessed by moments so quiet and tender and ephemeral...

"It is in man's nature to want to understand--to know more-- to try to find where processes may be enhanced or improved. So with farming's simple contract we have always tried 'to do better'. Individually this has resulted in marvelous advances, not in nature, but in man's working relationship with nature. It has been a good partnership, that one between individual humans and the biological world, because a natural balance has tempered inquiry. It is, and has been, in individual man's nature to stand in awe and wonder of the majesty, mystery, complexity and power of the biological world, God's creation, our nest, this mind-boggling beautiful world."
Lynn Miller, from "Farmer Pirates and Dancing Cows"

For me, this really points to why I want to live this way, and why I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't. I LIKE being awestruck by beauty and wonder every day. =)

Actually Jay, you may be pleasantly surprised to find that there are many urbanites who really do have a clue as what it takes to support life. Urban homesteading has been around for some time and is becoming increasingly popular.

Here is a sample of some urban homesteading sites. It's not just limited to California.
http://urbanhomestead.org/journal/2008/10/15/urban-homesteading/

http://www.urban-homesteading.com/

http://theurbanhomesteader.com/

http://yardstead.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45&Itemid=28

http://www.cityfarmer.org/

Well, I think that lady in the bookstore should go for dinner with the blue suit bacon weighing cheapskate and they could admire the postcards together in Toronto!

So sad to know that the farmers have been reduced to food stamps in Iowa. It is like that in Canada on the east coast, Newfoundland where the livliehood has always been fishing.

It says a lot when butchers, bakers and candlestick makers cannot exist any more. Todays bakeries are known in the business as "fakeries" because everyone serve the same "product" that comes frozen in the back door and is merely thawed, proofed and baked to look like the real thing. Its just not cost effective to try to make anything from scratch on a commercial scale.

Even funeral homes have become national corporations and takeovers are commonplace. The big fish eating up the little fish and obliterating individual businesses. McDonalds and of course Walmart are experts at it. It's titled "Progress" and even your leghorns can attest to that. Haha Foghorn Leghorn is probably my favourite cartoon !

Garden-maiden
Thanks for the links to the sites on urban homesteading. I have heard many stories of urbanites trying to convert to solar and being forced to remove their systems because they are viewed as an eyesore and not acceptable. I cant speak for other places but Ontario is fast becoming a hub for condo type living with townhouse complexes and condo bldgs that are anything but earth friendly. Occupants/owners are forbidden to alter the outside of their units with anything that is not part of the complexes "tasteful facade" No changes in paint colour, no clotheslines, no barbeques or real personalized decor. All must stay within the confines of mgmt control.

I would think it's a tough challenge that is ongoing to try to be self sustaining at all in an urban environment but look forward to checking out the links you have provided.

Back to my oxtail soup making.

No, I'm not surprised, CA. It's a ray of hope and I wish you and yours all the best. Urban homesteading has its own challenges. And I expect you'd have given that lady the same 'you're an idiot' look when she was so horrified over the use of water.

But urban homesteading is a good bit different from living a mile away from your nearest neighbor. Having to mail order everything, because the nearest mall/greenhouse/bookstore is 2 hours away, and having to drive that same two hours to find a decent apple.

Whereever you grow a tomato and put by a chicken or two...
every mouthful of food raised is money stolen from the hands of corporate agriculture and I applaud your effort. But almost by definition that means you're NOT a city slicker.

If you can dig a post hole and find the dirt later, and your post doesn't lean over in a month, you're not a city slicker.

If you even WISH to be able to put in a good solid fence post, you're not a city slicker.

If you have no quibble with someone shooting a dog threatening their goats, you're not a city slicker.

If you're more impressed by your neighbor's efforts to honestly make do and get by than by whether their place detracts from your property value, you're not a city slicker.

And if you think the gov't had better keep their microchip out of your cow, pig, goat, sheep, chicken, you're not a city slicker. (If you know what I'm talking about, you HAVE been paying attention to what they're up to! xoxo)

So just don't consider yourself a city slicker and you won't have to take any of this personal. Unless you like running around gettin' your feelings hurt; that's between you and your therapist. (Seems to take the place of alcohol for a lot of folks these days, gettin' feelings hurt. Well, it's cheaper and about as annoying. But that's a whole 'nother topic.)

Irascibly,
Jay

Please don't tell me you have a picture of Obama on your altar....
or McCain for that matter.
LOL

LOL! Jay, I certainly was not taking any of your rants personally. I was trying to cheer you up by showing you that there is at least some hope for the urban environment.
The links I posted are from urban homesteading sites across the country, not just here.

(Jay elbows chickens and says "Can you believe this? You better behave yerself or yer off to an "Urban" yard Missy!)

Hey CA,
Glad you weren't taking it personal. I think urban homesteaders are just 'hicks in transition', on their way out of over-civilization.
You've given us a new pasttime down at the feedstore...
You're not a city slicker if....

someone dressed up looks a little odd to you.
none of your shoes have tassles on them.
you have to remind yourself that camo and plaid really doesn't go together.
your 'dress' shoes have more dust on them than your daily shoes (and that's saying something around here!)
that used to be your 'good' ball cap until you pulled over to help a neighbor pull a calf, foal, lamb...
you know what I mean by a 'good' ball cap.

And you ARE a city slicker if...

you try and buck hay in shorts and birkenstocks.
your shoes have tassles on 'em.
you wouldn't think of wearing a ball cap because it would give you hat head.

LOL, we'll be playing this one for weeks! What's everyone else think?

Grinnin' from ear to ear...
Jay

HAHAHA

You are NOT a city slicker if you know:

* That it is possible to lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs (get off my foot ya big lug)

* Turtles can breathe thru their butts ( I know some people like that too )

* You consider your least stained plaid flannel shirt as your "Dinner Jacket"


You ARE a city slicker if:

You get out of your SUV after gently navigating a speed bump and dust your tires off with your hanky

Your idea of "roughing it" is a Holiday Inn with no swimming pool

So......are you telling me you don't own any "dress clothes" for special occaisions?
What do where to a wedding?

I take my Carharts to the cleaners! LOL

My good black jeans and a denim shirt

OK, I gotta hear about leading cows up and down stairs. AND why ANYONE would know that turtles can breathe through their butt.

I'm very worried I might be a city slicker... LOL

Oh, holy cow, it's snowing outside! Not much, but there's something falling out of the sky and it sure ain't rain. Crud. I am so not ready for this.

You are a city slicker if...
you call deer meat 'venison'.

You are not a city slicker if...
you've ever made your breakfast using the horse's rolled oats (It's a looong way into town sometimes).

you grew up throwing horse apples at your little sister with your BARE HANDS!!! (Mothers grab ears over that one)

Got 14 pints and 2 quarts of tomato sauce put up Monday, started blanching and peeling 12 gallons (feed buckets) more for crushed tomatoes today, will finish tomorrow.

First winter storm may wreak havoc with my plans...
Jay

Picking up horse apples with your bare hands? What about making dung cakes from the horse, ox and cow manure with your bare hands. There is a technique to that you know. If you don't make them right the dung cakes won't burn properly.

Way to go with the tomato canning!

Wedding atire? mmmm something gauzy ......cheesemaking butter cloth perhaps........oh and beaded leg hair and armpits.....that way, when you waive bon voyage to the departing bride and groom.....they not only get a visual but an audio as well.......click click click click

Men, why of course.they tie their unruly homesteading hair back with a conduit clamp and hope that if it rains at the wedding.....there is at least no lightning ! ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzap

Breakfast with the cows oats? HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHA

And I am liking the dung cakes & horse apple tossing thing......I MUST be a hick. yippeeeeee

You are NOT a city slicker if you put an ad in the newspaper that reads:

WANTED; One good man with a horse
Please send picture of the horse

You are NOT a city slicker if...

you keep your brand new chain saw in the living room.

You're also not much of a housekeeper, but all your friends are much more interested in the chain saw, so who cares!

I just got a new Stihl, and -- oh gosh-- it's dreamy!

Not that I've had a chance to use it yet; we've been too busy canning! I'm working on the crushed tomatoes today (I hope, there's also a truck in town I have to go get and stew to fix for dinner... not sure I can fit it all in today) and there's still salsa and crock pickles to go... we've run out of jars, again! We've run out of places to put everything. Things are a little out of control right now. %-)

But I longingly cast my eye over in the direction of the chain saw as I wash the jars...
Jay

This message was edited Oct 23, 2008 12:22 PM