GARDEN WOES. MISTAKES WE WON'T MAKE TWICE.

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Gardening is my favorite spring/summer past time.

I even get a little sad and dreary in the winter without my hands in the warm soil. I usually supplement my urge with buying a new house plant or cloning one of my existing ones over the winter, and I love to see the progress. Even in the winter house plants do amazing and I have quite a few. Just to keep me sane!

Just this month I was able to weed my raised beds and feel the radiant heat from the already warming soil, ah the promise of Spring! And then there's the occasional mornings waking up to snow.

I've been able to put out starts already; Scarlet Runners, Bush Beans, Sugar Pees, and a little Red leaf lettuce that I sprouted under our kitchen lights.

SEE these beans??? They're surviving!

Trays and trays of SSE seeds are sprouting inside the laundry room under lights as I type. Ok well the lights currently turned off for the night, you get what I'm saying.

There's something about the dirt under my fingernails that I just cannot resist. Being able to start seeds has been so therapeutic. Evening planting in a few of my garden beds these last couple days has been more than I could ask for this time of year.

Gardening is a love I've committed to for a few years now, my mom instilled a love for God's green thumb in my heart early in my childhood. I used to love picking the flowers from her garden and soaking in all the wonderful smells. Though gardening is a passion I have enjoyed my entire life, it is no easy task to find a technique or style that works consistently in our high desert climate. Up until last summer I thought I had it made and that I was a star gardener.... I was a little ahead of myself. When we moved to Tumalo I assumed I could take all the skills I thought I had learned and apply them to our new property...

I thought it would be easy... Fuh-get abad it! I'm an amateur to say the most!

In just the say 12 miles we moved from my home town where I had a successful garden to our new place, I had a disaster garden last year.

Here I will now breakdown every mislead path I followed... Just kidding but really, looking back I was so mislead...

1. WE RENTED A TILLER.

FYI if you want to spend all your days weeding and all your money on weed killers then sure use a tiller.

(normally I would never, but I was so far beyond annoyed, the weeds got so far away from me, I have already made a promise to myself, "no more weed killers," because using them totally ruins our whole purpose of growing organic produce in the first place)

Till that ground 6 inches deep and enjoy that wonderful smell of the fresh churned soil...

Just look at how beautiful it is....

Looking back at this beautiful dream I remember why I was so delusional to want to till. I wish I had been brave enough to take during/after photos, when the weeds made their first attack... 

And second...

Third, when I cut the garden perimeter in half because I just couldnt keep up...

Then the fourth.... Garden gets cut in half again....

Updated pics of this years garden (2015) to come! Stay tuned...

2. YOUR GARDEN DOES NOT NEED TO BE 1200 SQ FEET TO SUSTAIN YOUR VEGGIES.

It really didn't help that the main line for our property's irrigation ran right down the middle of this huge expanse, forever adding to the vitality off all those hellish weeds! (Side note: I found later that most of these "weeds" are actually edible and sustainable food sources!!! Like naturally growing salad greens! And weeds that can be used for healing ailments! Weeds that can be used for making natural paints, just like Native Americans! Holy cow! A whole post on that to come this spring!)

SECOND most important lesson learned.... bigger is not better when it comes to a garden, if its too big it will get away from you. Use only the space you need or you may end up like me, with a garden 1/5 the size it was to begin with. When in lack of space or trying to minimize, companion plant, companion plant, companion plant!!!

3. LISTEN TO THE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SECOND PLANTINGS AND SO ON.

I only planted once on many of our varieties, simply because I forgot or was just too busy WEEDING to even care about planting more. If you want a successful harvest keep on planting to your hearts content. Most root varieties tell you to replant every 2-3 weeks. The only veggie I did this with was radishes, what can I say? Mama loves her some radishes!

If you don't keep up on the soil and your planting this is just another way that weeds can infiltrate your beds. Another good recommendation is companion planting! 

4. LEAVING YOUR BEDS OPEN TO AIR, WATER, AND SUN. WEEDS WILL GROW!

The biggest mistake I made last year was leaving my beds unprotected and exposed to the elements. Well I learned my lesson, this year I will, without a doubt be MULCHING every one of my garden beds. Mulching is the most efficient way to prevent weeds, preserve water, and keep the ground warm. A full post on mulching yet to come! Stay tuned :)

5. HAVE FUN. DONT GET OVERWHELMED, BUT MAKE A PLAN!

I bet you, like myself and so many other gardeners our there do the same thing every spring. We get so dang excited about seeds and the coming harvest, that when it comes time to buy seeds we go completely insane, lose our self control, and end up with 50 or so little packs of seeds. With such promise and determination in those packets, we rarely think over the logistics.

Where will all these seeds make a home?

Do I have enough space?

Is the lighting in that area right for these varieties?

Will I have enough time to harvest them all when the time comes?

Will I have enough space to preserve and/or store the harvest?

Is supplying water to that location easy or painstaking?

Take some time before you splurge on seeds to write down some things about yourself and your garden set up that you already know. Here are a few examples:

- What you want to grow?

- Your families favorites/ most eaten?

- What you grows well in your region? What does not?

- What you're already experienced at growing?

- When can you start seeds?

- Is your growing season long enough?

- What you can fit in your spaces, do you need more garden space?

- What you want to grow for preservation vs. fresh produce?

- Will I even have time to harvest all this produce???

Really taking a few minutes to sit down and decide what works well for you, you family, and your homestead can be such a life/time saving task. Making sure to include those heavy yielders in categories of favorite foods is a must for us. For example, green beans, I cannot say enough about how much my family loves them. We eat green beans A LOT! So, justly we have 2 varieties of bush green beans, and 2 varieties of pole green beans. Of course that is in addition to the 4 storage varieties of dry bush beans we've already started. What can I say? We love us some legumes here at the homestead.

Next, try to lay out a plan of where everything will go. This way you'll have a better idea of how much space you actually have when it comes time to execute planting in the coming weeks. I love rearranging and designing where every special wonderful plant should go. It's even better if you're familiar with the ground you're working. Last year we were new to Tumalo, so we winged it, improvised, and made due. This year, we can use our knowledge from all those previous trial and errors. 

Above all this should be fun. I myself enjoy very much drawing pictures of what I want my garden to look like. I love involving my family in my planting plans as well, making this into a family affair is important for any homesteader, after all this food will be feeding our family come fall. I find it a huge priority that my children have a desire to participate from an early age, in planting and harvesting our food.  I am a nerd for gardening through and through! I only hope Ireland remains as excited and intrigued as she is right now, always wanting to help mama whenever the chance arises. 

The fulfillment of successfully raising a garden, from planting to harvest, invigorates the spirit and connects us to a practice centuries old. I am proud to say that I have been invigorating my soul full as of late. Just today I transplanted the first of my bush bean starts. I planted oh so many seeds! dwarf blue curled Kale, dragon carrots, chiogga beets, red leaf lettuce, Grandpa Admire's lettuce, and the SSE lettuce mixture. We also have broccoli, corn, cucumber, pole bean, black bush bean, sunflower, MORE lettuce, a few pepper, a Bunch of tomato, and some cilantro starts waiting for transplanting into larger containers for now or to go outside. Much of it will be going outside to our gardens come Monday. Yeesh! Lots of baby plants! 

Not to mention the two goslings, four ducklings, 20 broiler chicks, and 7 pullets... I would say we've got a lot on our hands. I know, I know no self control to be had on the homestead in the bird department this Spring.

Did I mention the newest homestead babies??? Hey guys they're built in mouse deterrent!

Those pesky rodents can start packing their bags now, these two barn babies will be seeing you in a few weeks!

Happy Gardening! 

Q

PASTURED CHICKENS: WEEK 3

It has been a hustlin' bustlin' last two weeks on the homestead! We checked a few things off the task list and are happy to say were making progress early this Spring! The most exciting of which was getting the rangers outside into their new pasture pen!

When we began this portion of our meat project it was our dream to pasture the broilers. In order to provide them with the most natural and peaceful habitat in their short lives this was non-negotiable. It is imperative that they are safe, well fed/watered, and provided enough space to grow, flourish, and play. The latter of which they wasted no time beginning, the second we released them into their new pen it was an immediate frenzy of pecking, flapping, and hopping about.

These littles will be roughly 4 weeks tomorrow! I admit in my excitement I forgot which day I actually purchased these kiddos, my pregnant brain just can't remember. So rough estimates it is!!! This month flew past me, especially these dudes first two weeks on the stead. Glad to say they have settled in well and now that they're past the funny fluffy phase and into the ugly feathering phase, we don't have to spend as much time caring for them. By now they're fine with their daily water/feedings, a heat lamp at night, and of course my mama bird checks every 5 minutes. Seriously, I check on them A LOT! Honestly sometimes in the morning I stand by the window, coffee in hand, just admiring them, one reason I demanded the pasture be visible from the house. Ok, I'm not obsessed and before you warn me not to get attached let me tell ya something.

Broilers are for meat, no one knows this better than me and the homestead fund. Case and point as to why I check on them so darn much! These birds are an investment, not some hobby backyard flock. My family is grateful for their presence and purpose on our farm. We show them thanks by caring and watching over them for about 11 weeks. They have roughly 8 weeks left. At that time, we will again give them thanks by showing them a peaceful and quick exit. Which reminds me! I need to get to work on making some home made kill cones for that day when it comes.

For now these feathered fellas are plumping up on natural organic diet provided from a local feed company, running around like crazy, and thank god I haven't seen a hawk in months! Luckily my fab farming friend Lexi put together an awesome roof to protect our little investments!

Shopping for a butcher kit!

Q

2015 -- GOALS FOR THE STEAD

Not that I don't love winter, it used to be one of my favorite seasons. But as of the last 5 years my little high desert haven has been a stranger to the real winter season to which myself and many others were used to as kids. No more white Christmas' for us Central Oregonians, unfortunate for a desert climate with such high fire risk.

This inefficient winter only feeds my anticipation and gives way to the all of my dreams of spring! So I have begun making the necessary preparations and lists for this years homestead projects--- granted I did start this list a couple weeks ago.... I kept adding more and finding new to dos so naturally I put off posting until now. I have listed future projects and to do's as well as addressed all of our current and already progressing responsibilities(**).

PIGS**-- If we decide to stay in Tumalo one more year, creating a more permanent hog enclosure is a must! Don't get me wrong my handsome other half is pretty crafty and fashioned an awesome and well thought out recycled pallet enclosure, but alas our last pig broke some panels and escaped numerous times... Not an issue since we're fenced all round our 5 acres with a great front gate, and we simply replace the boards or the whole pallet. But coming home and being bum rushed by a 200 lb hog last year scared the bejeezus right outta me! We will be slaughtering our two current hogs the first week of June to freeze, preserve, and accommodate our annual Sisters Rodeo Kick-off party. In our attempt to be self sufficient we would love to perform the whole process ourselves but as we have never done this before we have much to learn and many tools/supplies to gather to make this possible. In previous years we'd simply call our local mobile slaughter man and he comes to do the dirty work then takes the meat directly to our local Redmond Smokehouse for processing and smoking if wanted. We hope to avoid that wait and cost of that option. We need to acquire proper cutlery and a scraping bell of course then will come the issue of how we preserve it. Another task to get under my belt! Woo! A knowledgable coworker and friend of Spencer's has graciously offered his services in exchange for a a small portion of the meat and a few dozen of our free-range eggs. I don't know about y'all but mama loves to barter and exchange on this homestead, it's an old practice sadly forgotten by our culture. I seriously DIGRESS! More about our homestead hogs later.

RABBITS**-- slaughter first litter of kits(mid April), learn to treat hides for selling furs. Buy new rabbit cages and build new tables. Build more nesting boxes. Incorporate free range foods (build rabbit tractor) and homemade sourced feeds.

HORSES**--rotate pastures to the front of the property, transfer manure to garden, hang hay feeder, set up two more boarding pastures.

LAYERS**-- set up brooding room, buy a rooster in hopes of broody hens, buy 6 more laying hens, build sand bath

BROILERS-- set up brooder, build chicken tractors, order 60 broilers, buy chicken plucker, buy hanging waterers/feeders.

DUCKS**-- order 4 Cayuga ducks, create house near pond, buy egg incubator.

TURKEYS- buy 3 turkeys (one to eat, two to breed)

BEES- research bee growers, build hives, buy bee suit, miscellaneous supplies, bee keeping books

GARDEN**-- gather cardboard boxes, begin making mulch, rebuild garden fence, create bed along backside of garage and under kitchen window, transplant hops away from house/ secure ladder in ground for hops to climb,

PASTURE MANAGEMENT**-- see horses above, buy a harrow for field, clean/move horse manure

GENERAL FARM**-- get on a consistent hay purchase schedule (at least a ton/ month), buy more trash cans (feed storage), buy bulk feeds and bulk dry pantry goods(Azure Standard)

As you can see there are a great many tasks that need to be done. And so many more that we yearn to tackle in the coming year. As Ive said in this and earlier posts, we want to learn, and grow in 2015. I want to earn more notches on my homestead belt! There's so much we are capable of with the privelage of our property, and if we might be moving this fall we had better get the most of it. Come let's get started!

Headed out to the barn,

QB

YOU USE BAKING SODA TO BRUSH YOUR TEETH...? And SO MUCH MORE!!!

Call me crazy but for a while now I have been brushing my teeth with baking soda!

Say what???

Oh yeah and I'm loving it!

I don't know about ya'll but here on the HD homestead we try to be as frugal as we can, and that usually means mama cuts out the simple consumer pleasures and goes for some DIY homemade ones! And in this case its homemade tooth paste. Not that paying $4 a tube isn't much easier and a way of instant satisfaction not to mention the vast flavors, textures, and brands available just down the road at your local store. I feel I can use that $4 more efficiently somewhere else, don't you?

But wanna know my secret?

I rarely go to the store, aside from our once monthly big shop for food, our others necessities are usually shopped in once a month. I have eliminated those "runs" to the store that turn into a $50 exchange. I know myself way too well, well enough to know once mama is in the store all bets are off and there's no telling what might end up in my cart when I only went because I needed deodorant.... 

Instead I leave with the deodorant, (if I wasn't too distracted to remember) a jalapeno cheese round, because girlfriend simply cannot resist jalapenos, some treat I knew Ireland would have to have, I'll usually stumble on some fruit to snack on throughout my shop (low blood sugar pregnancy problems), and maybe my favorite salad dressing! I go through it so fast and have yet to find a recipe that replicates it perfectly, ole Newman really knew what he was doing! 

I can use that $4 better somewhere else... Yesterday I spent $.96/ syringe on 4 syringes to vaccinate/de-worm our pigs, once each this month and then once each a month before slaughter.... See! And I always try to buy more than I need when it comes to the homestead animals giving me less to think about later. Indefinitely re-purposed money in our household goes in our homestead fund, and saved for something more important than a tube of toothpaste. 

Now that I'm done rambling!!! 

There are so so so many DIY tooth paste recipes on the web these days! Take your pick! Personally I chose to simply store a pint mason jar full on my bathroom vanity. I just wet my brush and dip the brissels in the soda and go to brushing. Once I got past the initial tasteless grit I really began to enjoy it, especially the cheapness of that whole idea! We already have baking soda in our house. 

Hint: to liven up your brushing add a drop of your favorite essential oil to the BS once you've gotten some on your brush!!! I use evergreen or peppermint :D

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Aside from the small box residing in my fridge for deodorization, I keep one of these bad boys on hand! It is such a multi-use product that you cannot go wrong with, not to mention the work it did on some major stains on my carpet , with this recipe:

In your own or borrowed (in our case) carpet deep cleaner, we used this one, combine 1 Tbsp baking soda, 1/3 cup vinegar, and hot-boiling water....

I doubled up on the portions since I had some really bad set in animal stains and it worked like charm and it deodorized better than any carpet shampoo I have ever used without leaving that wet carpet yucky smell!

Boom there's my baking soda tangent ended!

Seriously try your hand at some baking soda magic.

Finding new ways to be frugal,

QB

KICKING OFF 2015: PART II

In 2015 I want to learn.

I want to try things I have never tried before.

This year I want to begin slowly expanding our homestead.

So this January I will take you through our 2015 Homestead plan. This plan will show all of current projects with their tasks and any updates or additions they need. As well as new tasks or skills we want to incorporate on the farm. This month is one of brainststorming, planning, and preparing, for there is much to be done before spring!

Lets get started!

So If it isn't already obvious I love animals. Spencer, my fiance, refers to it as my animal addiction.... He might be right! I'm not sure when/if I'll ever hit that point where I feel I have too many. My poor parents painstakinly endured many many of my animal experiments and projects, praise the Lord for their patience. I look at my little managerie as a privelage that I am so grateful for. My animals rely on me for all of their basic needs, somehting any animal enthusiast, or horder ;, never takes lightly. For ifI were to see anyone mistreating my fur babies, girlfriend would be one amgry mama. For one, ok, two main reasons I feel this way. 1) my animals all serve some purpose or provide some service, from my bull dog Dixie to my horse Sweet Pea, every breathing animal serves their divine purpose in the grand scheme of our stead. And we could not be more blessed to receive the gifts they give us of all sahpes, sizes, and forms. Spencer would say he is most grateful for those animals whose purpose is so feed our family. Currently these animals consist of our laying hens, laying ducks, 2 pigs, and our meat rabbits.

In the spirit of prepping and my anxious excite about animals I jumped the gun when a little extra money came in and invested in our rabbit program, this is where our intro to 2015 begins..... rabbits. Following the reccommendtaion of a fellow blogger, Shaye, at The Elliot Homestead, we decided to begin our breeding program with 5 rabbits. So, mid December 4 does and 1 buck came home to the farm. Though I may jump head first into my projects and sometimes a bit hap hazardly, I always do my research.

(A side note to anyone looking to trade urban for rural: Be ready for a lot of reading, the wealth of information available to the modern homesteader via book or internet is limitless, and is the easiest and quickest way to learn a new skill or research one you want to learn, which at the end of the day is the whole point of our endeavor... To learn to cultivate and preserve a humble healthy lifestyle to pass onto our children in the the spirit of getting back to basics and living a wholesome life.)

So, I spent weeks and weeks fawning over homestead magazines with nest box blueprints and webiste after website of how to's and facts for the meat rabbit raiser....have I said this is my first time over seeing an animal husbandry project? Holy cow I've only dreamed of baby animals my whole life and what better to start with than fuzzy kits! Gah! This mama is so ready for babies!

Firstly, I had no idea where to begin... So when in doubt sister simply typed meat rabbit into Pinterest... watch out! You'll be enthralled for hourss just like I was... Eventually I found so much great information that I setttled on 5 breeds that seemed to be the best for meat breeding. New Zealand, Californian, Silver Fox, Satins, and Standard Rex are the most commonly bred meat rabbits. Alas I knew what to look for as my plans began to come together, so I set a budget according to what I thought I needed for housing them and how much it would be per rabbit. When looking for my rabbits I did not bother to care about pedigree and registered status as these rabbits will never be shown, they're simply our little farm bunnes.... Although wouldnt it be fun to start a rabbitry for farm baby when she is a little older? I'm entertaining the idea, this would be a great way to incorporate her into the farm as she grows and teach her some valuable lessons along the way.

Secondly, we at The High Desert Homestead are working on a conrnerstone of homesteading and micro farming, frugality.... Not that I ever spend money unneccessarily on myself or material things, I just tend to over anticiape additions to the homestead and at times may jump the gun when money might be better spent somewhere else. Granted it usually works out in our favor. Becoming more frugal and saving more is a serious goal for this farm mama this year! So... when it comes to purchasing animals, equipment, or farm materials I rarely have to look past another of my daily addictions.... Craigslist. I dont care who you are or where you are, there are always a plethora of animals and equipment floading this oh so wonderful black market network.

Back to the drawing board....

Where will the rabbits be housed..... Next to the chickens underneath the eve of our barn....

And in what.... A homemade rabbit hutch that cost... wait for it.... Nothing! We were able to build it completly costless from recycled materials and some gifted supplies from my unlce... Who by the way gave me the courage to start this rabbit endeavor after he told me about all of his rabbit experiences, and he even said he would help show Spencer and I the whole butchering process! Another homestead lesson in the bag... in about 11 weeks...more on that later!

How much will each rabbit cost..... In central Oregon rabbits prices vary but here's a breakdown of our rabbits cost:

Chester - New Zealand buck (6 mos): $20
Ariel - New Zealand doe (9 wks): $10
Fiona - New Zealand doe (9 wks): $10
Snow - California cross doe (2 yrs): $15
Belle - New Zealand cross doe (1.5 yrs): $15 (with these two does I also recieved 1 rabbit transport cage, 2 water bottle, 2 feeders absolutely free from the breeder who was liquidating his commerical breeding program, homestead win!!!)

As you can see rabbits aren't initially very expensive as far as start up goes and its free to breed them to your hearts content as long as you are prepared for a lot of babies and are sensitive to the mamas' needs throughout gestation, nursing, and weaning. Aside from the cost of the rabbits ($70... Which I might add I won in a game at Spencer's company christmas party!), one large water bottle ($10), and one large feeder ($12) our start up was virtually free. The costs associated with feed are recuring at $11.75/ bag/ month from our local feed company, HayStack Naturals, (20 miles from our house!!! Making Local Habit!) which is sold throughout the county.

Ok, ok wanna see the fur babies???

Pretty dang cute huh?!? The top picture is my main man Chester! He is a broken red New Zealand and boy is he frisky. He always thumps his feet at me when I'm trying to catch him. The second picture shows Snow on the left with the Californian black ears/ nose and Belle on the right with black spots, she is a broken black New Zealand. Last but not least little Ariel the broken red and Fiona the chesnut. As you can see from the picture the two little girls are living in a temporary home until the finishing touches are put on their side of the hutch that the other older girls are sharing. More about out choice to colonize our rabbits instead of individually house them latet!!!

So there you have it!

This is my first step toward a more sustainable food source.

AND... my first new homesteading task to master this year! With the help of Spencer who built my amzing huthces (pics to come later) and always completes my ridiculous requests, and my unle who has experience with meat rabbit raising( and who also happend to be a custom knife maker.... oh ya he said he would make me some of my own processing knives!) we will be well on the road to baby rabbits without stress...

By the way... Snow is expecting her first litter by Chester at the end of this month! Soon we shall seperate her from Belle and give her a nest box this weekend to begin making her nest.

Follow here and the other girls progress her at The High Desert Homestead

Overly excited!
QB

KICKING OFF 2015: PART I

In the spirit of this New Year and my resolution I thought it only fitting to give my family and myself credit where credit was due. Yes, we still have a few unfinished projects and others we never got to. But we still achieved a great deal in 2014. Here's a sneak peak at a couple of highlights from our year here at The High Desert Homestead. 

Let me just begin by saying how lucky we are to live where we do. In early November 2013 we stumbled upon this 5 acre slice of heaven in Tumalo, Ore.(we used to be sad that we don't own, but after a year here we are glad we don't, more on that later...) and have had great opportunities in this wide open space. Ill give you a tour!!! Shown is a view of our property from the gate. The first building you see is the barn and the house is tucked all the way in the back. 3.5 acres is all pasture space that has since been fenced. Back left corner before the tree line you'll find my attempt at a garden.

We spent a great deal of time tilling and preparing a piece of land for our garden..... Long story short the garden ended up a 1/4 that size by July as it was too much for my family and I (mostly myself as the gardening is something I mostly tend to) to maintain.Both Spencer I and worked full time jobs all summer.... I so wish I had a photo of how bad the weeds became but I was so ashamed I never would have photographed it... But it was a lesson learned and I will never be embarrassed about learning something new! Here's a view of how the garden began... 

As you can see it looked really great to begin with.... Wanna know what else looked really good in there??? My horses eating all the weeds after I put up a fence around the salvageable veggies and let them have a free for all, like I said before I couldn't keep up with the weeds at all. It was terrible......

Ever seen the movie Jumamji??? When the vines take over his house and it became unrecognizable?

Yeah that was my garden last year...

This was some of the most fertile ground on our whole property last summer, literally it was a breeze getting things to grow, getting other things not to grow was the problem. I can't wait to try a new gardening techniques.Let's just say this past season put Mama's gardening skills to the test. Don't get me wrong the season wasn't a total bust as I did bring in quite a good harvest. The garden looks much much different from this now.... updated photos to come this spring!

One vegetable that grew fantastically was ONIONS! And let me tell ya this woman loves onions. I wasn't able to let them fully mature so they were on the small side. Conveniently our irrigation mainline had to be run right through what I had proclaimed as my onion patch! Thus I harvested half the patch early in the season. My root vegetable of choice, radishes, always has large real estate in my gardens and grows so well in our desert climate. I have had a few years to play with watering to get them to that sweet spicy stage. Love love love!

One of my goals this year is to hone in on squash and cucumber gardening. I haven't figured it out for whatever reason and I always end up with puny veggies or the plants freeze before they have had time to fully mature to harvest. Which was the case in this pretty plant that I was so proud of! I believe I also had a minor rabbit problem :(

Aside from my love for eating onions, the ease and experience of radishes, one other veggie takes the cake this year. BEANS!!! Green Beans to be exact. I harvested pound after pound of green beans this summer and fall. They had the highest yield in my garden along side mt scarlet runner beans. Just wait until you see how I grew them!

I built my own bean tee pee.... well I really built if for Ireland and she loved it!

I was lucky enough to build this tee pee for free using saplings and limbs that I have previously removed from some of our aspen trees. 

There are about 2 dozen giant aspens surrounding our house and garage...

I simply cleaned them up with a hand saw to remove any pokeys (yes that's a word in our house)

 I dug a few holes for the poles. As you'll see I didn't use anything to reinforce these poles. You never want to permanently place and structure for your beans as it needs to be moved annually to avoid the spread of disease and a ruined crop!!! So, I want to be able to pull the whole structure down this spring and reset it at an opposite corner of the garden and continue to rotate corners in that fashion.

AND ta da!!! Looks a little shabby still but it worked fantastic. I put each pole 6-8 inches into the ground and its more than sturdy enough to hold the weight of the plants that will be climbing up it. I wound string around the lower half of the structure in order to provide more surfaces for holding and grabbing by the plants. Below you'll see how it turned out! 

It was great to see such success out of this project even though it was started late in the season. After such a disastrous start to our gardening season I was relieved to finally see some fruits.... Or shall I say vegetables from our labor. Another "fruit" we have had the pleasure of beginning to enjoy this year has been our duck eggs and free range chicken eggs.

Sadly, the luxury of our duck eggs was short lived. Another learning experience I have had to learn is that things aren't always going to go as I hopped on this homestead journey. I don't claim to be an expert at anything, I'm basically novice at all things I do. I look to you readers and my loved one's for guidance, but one subject that I know all too well is loss. Life on the homestead as anywhere comes with death, they go hand in hand. We lost 3 of our laying ducks to hawks this summer. One lesson I have learned is that unlike chickens, ducks do not always come home to roost. <<<< See duck eggs!!!!!!! <<<<  Side note: (If ya'll haven't raised ducks for eggs or used them for cooking you are missing out! I love duck eggs they changed my life in regards to baked goods, and never have pancakes tasted better or been fluffier. We can just say that Q and duck eggs together forever.)

My birds are all let to free range the daylight hours 90% of days weather permitting. What I love so much about my chickens is that I know going out to the coop after dark that all the girls will already be roosted up cozied in for the night.....I should only have to close the door... And where are the ducks you may ask?? Splashing away in their kiddy pool making all sorts of racket. Now I don't know if anyone else has had this problem but if there isn't shelter 2 feet from any water they're playing.... 

My ducks are sitting if you know what I mean.......

 Maybe this is just my ducks or the fact that they are domesticated that they lack the instinct to find cover, namely the one that was erected specifically for them..... So naturally after losing my 3 girls I adapted and make sure to usher them inside endearingly every night after the chickens have logically made their ascent to the roost. Naturally I am left with my 1 duck and 2 drakes. I'll purchase a few more with our next order or laying chicks this spring. 

The biggest accomplishment was Oinkers! He came to us at a perfect time and screaming deal from friend just down the road. We couldn't have been happier for it. We slaughtered him this fall and came home with more pork than we knew what to do with. Ha! Yeah right we knew exactly what to do with it! I had BLTs for days and cooked smoked ham with eggs in the morning far more mornings than I could have dreamed of! Raising our own pork has always been something we wanted and we finally did it! 

Now we have two more little oinkers out in the barn (more about them later... 

All in all 2014 was a great year and there will be so much more to come!!! This mama will have a full plate planning a wedding and getting ready for a new baby! I can't wait.... Did I tell you the baby is a girl??? Crazy news and little Miss Ireland will have a baby sister all her own come May.....

May.... A month that will be full of baby prepping, baby chicks and ducks, seedling sprouting, Rodeo kick-off prep, butchering pigs, brainstorming about dairy goats, breeding rabbits, butchering rabbits, watching my Irish princess chase the chickens and I could go on

 yada, yada, yada....

What a busy and fun filled spring it will be!

Phew that felt good! Giving ourselves credit for our accomplished tasks is a requirement here on the homestead. And well folks I think I did a pretty good job, I left some out (not to mention the rabbits, we will dive way into that later!) but no need to give it all away at once. Being the jumper of the gun that I am I already want to start planting, I love to watch plants sprout and grow and I can never wait until spring is here!!!

Melt SNOW Melt!

Perusing seed savers as I type

Quincy

                  

SOMETIMES MY EGGS FREEZE....

I am not perfect.

Seriously though I am not perfect. I would love to go on and on about how I always rise with the sun and have breakfast on the table on time..... but I so don't...Sometimes I sleep in just a few extra minutes, and sometimes breakfast is coffee.

Except in the case of my little Emerald, she usually asks for fresh laid eggs for breakfast! Usually accompanied by a bit of yogurt and an appearance by a ripened avocado... My little princess is one thing I can say her dad and I did do perfectly. And such a great eater to!

I was saying.... Right I am not perfect. Though this lifestyle maybe perfect for us, we don't bother with the stress of perfection. Sometimes I get up with the sun and have everyone fed, watered, and have breakfast begun all on time..... And sometimes I don't get out to the coop early enough (Or like a logical person, check the forecast and expect negative temps), sometimes my eggs freeze. In a tizzy of frozen hoses, buried stock tanks, and subzero temps, I recall my resolution. My resolve to not be afraid, not be so hard on myself, and to let it flow a little more this year, all will come in due time. So I took a breathe and muttered a phrase my mother ingrained in me years ago, "this to will pass" and as I picked myself up by my bootstraps I felt renewed as I went about bucket after bucket to fill my hens water.

I have confidence that all will work out. I am confident that we will get the pen for the pigs set up before the pigs arrive :/ yeesh, I am confident that I can find a boarder to move in a new horse to outweigh the cost of on boarder were losing this month, I am confident that we will find one day of unfrozen ground to put up that section of fence we put off too long, and I know we will get around to building chicken tractors for the meat chickens that will show up mid March. The list goes on and on, one reason that homestead lifestyle is not for the fainthearted. There will always be one more task, one more job, one more repair. Granted at times I have wanted to just breakdown and cry. But its the life we chose and would always chose it. And those times I want to cry are times to learn and grow and prevent whatever catastrophe it was from repeating. If I'm learning a new lesson or skill everyday then I'm fulfilling the dream I set out to!

And that is all I can ask for :D stay warm out there!!!

Thawing my hose in my kitchen
Quincy

I CAN SEE THE LIGHT!

I'm done....



I'm done I say! Done, done, done



done with what you may ask?



I am done living the life I thought I should be living.



I am done devoting most of my time working a demanding job in a field I have grown apart from.


Hold the phone! If you're thinking I just quite my job you're a little ahead of me, not that I didn't seriously consider it that Christmas morning 2014..... this mama just needed a serious attitude adjustment.


What I really mean to say is I am done lying to myself.... Spending 12 hours a day away from my precious little munchkin, my bearded man, and our little homestead slice of paradise (not that it looks like much of a paradise at this point....) to instead be in a hospital is just not something I am willing to lie and say I love anymore.....

A little back story??? I'll quit assuming ya'll already know me!


Since I was a little kid I have always been amazed by the medical field, more the human anatomy and physiology than anything. I knew I didn't have the patience for medical school or even veterinary school, although I like to think in another life I would have made a dang good surgeon! And in another life time I would have been the next Marty Stouffer... Wildlife journalism, heck ya! I could be great at that. Alas, these are stories for another time. So in high school I stood at a crossroads, what can I do that will make be extremely happy and equally as financially stable. Mind you, before I hit the real world after high school, making the most money was the most important aspect of a career choice, or so I thought.


So I set out, down the path to RN-dom. And luckily, I say with much foresight and hindsight, I am so grateful for the many speed bumps that so timely landed in my way. For had those speed bump not arisen, there's no saying what my life would look like this day. Through a random set of twists and turns from leaving my home to reside Eastern Washington and not so long after the move back to my home. Awe the Central Oregon air....


Along this path I became a CNA, the usual first step into the clinical setting for future RNs. And up until Fall 2012 I was a full time student speeding down the road, knocking out classes left and right! Now remember those speed bumps I was talking about? Well with the help of my man Spencer we welcomed our first child into the world December 11th 2012.....

My little girl, Ireland Violet, is now two and just had her first enjoyable Christmas..... And where was mommy you ask?



Work :(



Granted I have worked many a Christmas in my past, so I am not sure why this year hit me so hard....



Maybe its the fact that I love Christmas more than any other day of the year...



Or that Ireland got to open presents all by her self like a big girl, and I missed it...



Maybe its that I barely see my family (father, mother, brother) as it is with juggling work schedules and different zip codes, Spencer and I barely find time for just the two of us to share....

Or the kicker, this mama is 19 weeks pregnant...... unpredictably emotional as all get out! Not lying when I say tears have been shed today....



Mostly I yearned to have this one more Christmas with my girl before the siblings keep coming and mommy isn't just hers anymore.



And where am I? Not with my family that's where!



Somewhere along my busy and crazy path, I realized, this isn't what I want....


Don't get me wrong, I love the personal interaction, the confidence in knowing my patients are well cared for, and the chance to help someone ona medical level, but I just find so much more joy in my family and farmstead life than I ever thought possible. Really! I had wanted to be ab RN since like 5th grade... little did I know my true passion lay in my moms garden and out in our barn. Forever being told I needed to decide and make a career. Much like my dad I find myself now to be an entrepreneur who wished to dabble in everything possible, to acquire many skiils in many fields.


Self fulfillment in the work place has found its way to the top of my priorities, pushing the desire for money far from my mind. I am not so diluted to think I don't need money, since sadly Americans must have it to survive..... or do they?????


I have learned to live frugally, to make better financial decisions for my family. I want my job to be sustained from within the home. I want to see my babies grow and live my normal routine everyday! Instead of juggling a few days of the week with 12 hour shifts and child care struggles. During a time of financial struggle I have tools now, more than I had last year when I took the job. I have learned so much this year I know that we are ready. I hope soon, maybe after baby girl Gardner #2 arrives I will be able to leave my job full time.


We are ready to start living the lifestyle we have only been dreaming about. With the help of new streams of income generated from within our homestead we have been able to make big steps towards the life we want and our family deserves. Our new rabbit additions for example :D!!! A life that is full of organic garden vegetables and fruits, homegrown organic meats, and one day fresh cows milk will accompany every breakfast. With this new year will come big changes for our family and many adventures and memories await, 2015 will be a busy year with a new baby and a wedding to be planned this homesteader will have a full plate! But as a resolution to my self in order to make sure we keep our plans on track, I vow not to be afraid in 2015. Even when it gets scary and I may end up with poop in my hair..... (has happened to me more than once and I dare say different varieties of poop) even if my strawberries get swarmed by bugs, or the pig gets out this year, I vow not to be afraid or give up. When all hell breaks loose take a deep breath, this is all worth it in the end! Wanna know why? Even though my strawberries were attacked, I had an amazing potato harvest this year. Though I may get poop in my hair, the chicken coop looked amazing after fall cleaning. And yes the pig did escape.... But he has fed my family and other families as well. This life, I wouldn't trade it for a thing. Cultivating a sustainable lifestyle is the most fulfilling job I could ever possess and I am so lucky for the opportunity.

Update: Much to my desire, after 3 weeks off, in early January I left my full time benefited posotion for a non- benefits releif position. This has changed my entire outlook and attidute about my job. I get to make my own schedule and only work 4-8 hours a day, leaving more than enough time for my homestead mama tasks and more one on one with my little Irish gem. This has made me rethink my desire to leave my job and find something new. Instead I feel invigorated, maybe rejuvinated is a better word. Since my negative attitude has worn off I'm enjoying my job much more and I dont feel as exhausted now that I work shorter shifts.

No longer will I feel rode hard and put away wet from this demanding job, sorry for the crude reference but that is how it used to make me feel. And in the mind of this homesteader I dont prefer a job that takes more out of me than my homestead does.

Seems I may have found my happy medium, and I can't deny the gratitude that flows over me everytime I have the extra money I need for my family and our little farm managerie.


Happy Homesteading!
Q

SO IT BEGINS...

In a way I stumbled upon homesteading. I have always loved animals and filling my plate too full with them! When I began to realize this lifestyle, this idea, could actually be mine, I was addicted. For years I was under the impression I needed to have a certain cookie cutter lifestyle, the degree and the good job would come with that. For years I was slave to the idea that I NEEDED grocery stores, where else would I buy our meats and dairy goods. A milk cow? That is an idea my parents never would have entertained, and in the last years, this option was never in my mind or let alone possible...

(And now look at me, I can't get dairy cows off my mind. My hunky and ever so patient fiance continues to encourage me that all will come in due time.... I promptly stomp my foot and shout NO!!!! Ok..... ok,,,, just kidding, that may be how our 2 year old daughter would have reacted but he was lucky that I came down from my dream barn yard in the sky. Truth is, my dairy dream is completely real and possible, so don't come back down to reality quite yet folks!) back to business...

Until! A few months ago I decided that's it! I'm tired, nay bored of the way we were living our life, and knew we could do so much more! I have dabbled in gardening for years but never truly succeeded, I have raised many 4-H animals but never for personal consumption or slaughtered by my own hand, I excel in a few homestead crafts and skills but lack many more important sets of skills or knowledge; this my friends is my goal.

Over the past couple months I have immersed myself with thoughts of my future homestead.

The greatest part is..... I can start now! I already have started! I feel confidently that our sustainable lifestyle is just beginning to pick up speed.

My family and I are lucky to rent 5 acres in Central Oregon where we have great opportunities for all the things we love most. We acquired our chickens as hatch lings, in late March of this year. These 8 hens are now laying around 4 eggs a day.(Some are not laying yet as they are a bit younger, sadly we lost a few chicks early on, and one later to a dog,,,,,,, sniff sniff.... So we replaced them accordingly. Hence the younger hens.) 2 ducks and 3 drakes accompany the girls in their spacious coop. Right next door to the birds we have our newest farmstead addition, RABBITS! These fluffy little buddies are my Christmas present to myself..... Yes I said it..... So I won $60 at my fiance`'s company party, then 4 does and 1 buck came home last night. The perfect set up I wanted for our new meat project!!!
(So so so much about those little critters later) A short walk down the drive we have two quarter horse mares, Sweet Pea and Soleil, whom share our pasture with 4 horses a few of our friends board here. Under the barn right next to those kiddos is a now vacant lot where our ole pig Oinkers used to reside... Did I say how much I love pigs? Well I totally do! Anywho.....

One guess where he is now.....

This time of year makes us recall how grateful I truly am for all I have been given, and I am extremely grateful to Oinkers for providing for my family in all the ways he has and continues to daily. I am so grateful for the opportunity my family has been given to raise our own meat, and for a short while avoid the bustle of the grocery stores with high meat prices. Why not have organic meat from my own back yard? There's simply no reason why not. Another reason why rabbits.... SELF SUSTAINABILITY!!! The lifeblood and driving force behind all that are my homestead dreams, a self sustainable life. I am grateful for the skills I am learning to become more self sustainable, such as....

Skills I have learned in the last 6 months:

- Pressure canning
- How to pluck/disembowel a duck
- How to make pumpkin puree from a whole pumpkin
- Sexing ducks, chickens, rabbits
- Deep mulching
- How to make homemade cleaners
- Knitting in the round on double pointed needles (Yes, I am a crazy knitter and yes it counts as a homestead skill!)

My new mission is to share my love of this lifestyle with as many as I can and to learn as much as possible along the way, and I would love it if you would join me on what looks like a wild and bumpy ride! hopefully its longer than 8 seconds, yikes!


Well enough about that there will be so much time to talk all things High Desert Homestead later on..... There's another, I am grateful that my crazy life allows me time to blog and that today my little girl let mommy get a post in! Woo!


Ever grateful to the first person to read this blog,
Q