A lot has happened in the six months since we moved into our house back in October – November of 2020! It took until the end of the year to finish moving everything and get our house set up for the holidays, but we had a good Thanksgiving with friends and an equally pleasant Christmas … Continue reading Our first holiday in the new house!
Category: Homemade
Homemade is about creating things at home. You’ll find posts here on getting new skills, working with fiber and wood, and recycling materials. Also, being able to make things yourself can save money and reduce the amount you throw away. We like being able to say, “I made this.” The less things you have to buy, the more self-sufficient you can become. Therefore, creating homemade items is definitely part of our homestead journey towards self-sufficiency.
Banana Overload and Ways To Handle
My friend, Abbas, has a banana grove in his front yard which is very productive. Last fall, he had a huge number of bananas. In a stroke of genius, he decided to have a spur-of-the-moment Banana Sundae Party for some friends and make the ice cream from bananas also. With eight people eating up frozen … Continue reading Banana Overload and Ways To Handle
Making Clothing – An Important Survival Skill
My mother always enjoyed making clothing for herself and her family. To get me started, she taught me how to make pot holders with a loop loom. At eight or nine years old, I was making them for my mom's kitchen and then asked the neighbors if they wanted some. I let them pick the … Continue reading Making Clothing – An Important Survival Skill
Using Recycled Materials on Our Homestead
Wooden pallets and other recycled materials are everywhere and can be useful in reducing costs to build things. This is about how and why we used them for some of the first projects on our property. Waste Streams When I did the Permaculture Design Course I became very excited about using waste streams. No, those … Continue reading Using Recycled Materials on Our Homestead
Homestead Skills and How to Get Them
People who grow up on farms, or live in rural areas, pick up many homestead skills that are very useful. Knowing how to milk a cow; fix a tractor; butcher a pig; put up a fence; repair a chicken coop; ride a horse; sew and mend clothes with a machine or by hand; and others … Continue reading Homestead Skills and How to Get Them
Mother Earth Fair Experiences
Shortly after we decided to create our own homestead, we also subscribed to the Mother Earth News magazine. They publish six times a year and we often read the entire magazine to see what other people are doing. Another activity that the magazine sponsors is the Mother Earth Fair all over the U.S., where you … Continue reading Mother Earth Fair Experiences