HOW WE AFFORD TO HOMESTEAD: Part Two

Hi all! I'm back to talk more homestead on a budget how tos.

With all of this talk about not spending money and saving, you may ask how we keep on task with money we actually get to spend. This was the hardest part.. learning to budget and learning to leave our money at home was the biggest hurdle to get over. 

If you were thinking we became this frugal overnight then I would laugh, we STILL impulse buy at times... But we're so lame our impulse buys are usually something like new socks or replacing something recently broken. So, for success on a homestead:

5. Keep track of your budget! 

Organization on a homestead is a huge part to keeping a farm. Creating some sort of binder or box we could store all our vital info in was crucial for us. We have so many tasks to complete and things to remember in a given day so we must have order! 

We keep it all together in our "High Desert Homestead" binder. Our production records for meat and eggs, each animals 'farm profile' which basically tracks their health and wellness, boarding lease agreements, owner/emergency and veterinarian info. I keep the "Homestead Fund" ledger, and all of our future ideas/designs for our farm here also. 

What is the 'Homestead Fund" you ask? This is where our whole farm budget lives. We track all expenses 'homestead' in this binder, in an effort to keep the farm budget separate from our day to day living expenses and Spencer's work income. 

So you guessed it, all the board money from the horses goes into the fund, is then delegated to animals' monthly feed costs, and then again to whatever other expenses are necessary. 

This also helps us track our inventory. We keep a tally of all supplies and farm essentials we have so if we need it for something we know it's been checked and stored.... Somewhere? But if we are to cut costs, holding onto useful items is always good for the next point in case we want to repurpose or get multiplied used out of an item. 

6. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. 

I repurpose everything possible that I can. In a world full of trash, transfer centers and pollution, I feel accomplished when I use anything more than once. Everything counts in the world of carbon foot prints, and ours gets smaller and smaller every year... at least I hope. I'm not saying you have to build your house out of 100% recycled material, although that would be rad, but even saving your bacon drippings counts! Side note: a while back I found a homemade bacon drippings mayonnaise recipe... uh yum. 

Moving on..

Heres a few examples of how/what we reuse on the farm:

-I wanted a warm rug for the bathroom in our chilly and humble double wide... So I cut up a dozen pairs of blue jeans and viola! chunky crocheted denim rug. 

-Spencer built our main rabbit hutch out of 100% free recycled parts from around our property, some was ours, some was literally just laying around when we got here. 

-We built our hog pens from free pallets.  Our compost bin, vegetable boxes, garden gates, tons of wedding decorations, all made from repurposed pallets.

- Had a thought about buying Ireland a school desk with the opening top for our new homeschooling adventure. Well Spencer came home with one last night! Granted it needs a face life, but what a great project! And? FREE! That will be a DIY video for another day. 

- Spencer just finished compiling all the parts to build our own chicken plucker! Instead of spendy retail ones, we are using all repurposed parts. A Whole post on that to come!!!

We find treasures in beat up items which are looked over everyday. We break them down, build them back up, and make them new again. Sometimes on the homestead we are able to go out and buy something, this is usually in the case of, 'we need it right now and can't live without it!'

Last year Spencer got a whole brand new set of power tools, a very very necessary expense since he uses them literally everyday. This was, like all things budgeted into our expenses responsibly. Something we like to refer to as a 'one time expense' meaning this isn't recurring. This way we can buy a nicer set that will last us longer.

Yes, sometimes we would love to grab our cash and head for.. somewhere you spend big amounts of money? 

But the future of our farm, family, and fulfilling our homestead dreams keeps us focused on the end result! One of the most sustainable things we can do to cut costs is to find purpose in something old like I said above. When funds are delegated better and you ditch the retail purchasing addiction, you can focus on other aspects of sustainability on the homestead, maybe like... a garden perhaps? Maybe some meat/dairy livestock??

7. Grow your own whenever possible. 

If you came to our house looking for what we grow ourselves you would find:

- Broiler chickens, we let a rooster and 3 hens live to try hatching our own red ranger broilers.

- Two pigs--- they live in freezer now...

- Meat Rabbits, one of which is pregnant!

- Some lamb in the deep freeze left over from moms ewes.

- Home canned and frozen veggies, some still from last years canning.

- I even grew some hops for us to try home brewing this fall.

- Organic nongmo vegetable and fruit garden 

- 14 egg laying hens

Growing our own meat and veggies wasn't exactly easy either. It took a great deal of time, patience, and lesson learning to get where we are. And believe me, we have a very long way to go. Our goal for next year is to grow ALL of our produce, and can enough to last through the winter.

In order to execute these skills I wish so fervently to teach my children I must first learn them myself. 

8. We never stop learning!

As I've mentioned a hundred times over we do whatever we can ourselves. The world is our classroom and there couldn't be a better time to start learning than now. If you can't afford to hire someone to do a certain task, then its best to learn it yourself if possible. Things such as:

- repairing your own vehicles and equipment

- raising meat and egg birds

- butchering chickens

- butchering rabbits

- treating rabbits for mites 

- welphing puppies

- administering vaccinations/medications to livestock and companion animals.

- making homemade deodorant, shampoo, nipple balm, pomade, and beard oils  

- organic pest/ weed control 

- homeschooling versus expensive pre-school

- painting your own house

I could go on forever... maybe some day I'll just write a whole list for ya'll

These weren't all things we already knew how to do. We had to learn them at times, and at other times we chose to learn these skills. Having a few sets of skills on a homestead makes this lifestyle that much easier. And much much cheaper in the long run so you CAN save for your dream farm.

HOW WE AFFORD TO HOMESTEAD. Part One

Life on a homestead can be very expensive at times. But I don't want that to hinder your sight of how possible homesteading with minimal funds really is.

The money was never a worry to me, I know that sounds cliche, that I don't need money for happiness or we don't need money to feel secure. But honestly, I knew I wanted to expand my homesteading dreams and I was not going to let a trivial thing like money stop me. 

Frequently I am asked, "How the heck can you afford that?!" I just want you all to keep in mind that this lifestyle is possible on a budget, and I'm here to show you how. Here's a two-part peak into our homestead life and how we make it work.

Before I begin let me preface this by saying when we first began this venture last fall I was boarding 6 horses, not including my own mare. This was our start up (though we already had 6 laying hens). That money paid to feed my horse and all the other animals including our dogs, so we could then invest in other necessities.

I'm not saying to need to go out and find some horses or go gambling, I am simply setting the scene of our transformation. Don't mistake, we love this life and we chose it again everyday. That being said, what I am about to share with you is just a few things we do in our day to day life to live with a smaller foot print and afford to supervise the growth of our food. 

1. Don't let the money scare you!!!

Never let it stop you either, work hard, and your dream will be attainable. DON'T focus on what you can't afford, start with something sustainable that you CAN afford. I am confident that with time and determination, anyone can be a homesteader. 

Maybe your first sustainable act as a homesteader is a savings account, or starting your own sourdough. If you already have a garden save seeds from your harvest for next year. Go berry picking and preserve your loot. Maybe you do have a pasture and are entertaining the thought of boarders.

I know I know, not everyone can board horses. 

And that's ok. This is just one example of how we make extra money.

2. Create new streams of income wherever you can.

It doesn't matter what it is. The possibilities are endless. Here are a few things we do to make extra money on the homestead:

- We sell chicken and duck eggs

- Boarding horses 

- Spencer has numerous professional skills that he uses often for side jobs when we need extra income. Some include painting, landscaping, wood cutting, manual labor, auto mechanics and small engine repair etc..

- I sell Certified Therapeutic Grade Essential oils through my DoTERRA business for supplementary income. More about that to follow. Learn more or join my team here!

3. Don't spend unnecessary cash! 

If you don't absolutely need it, don't bother. Minimize purchases. Cut down clutter.

Personally I would rather dig through a thousand thrift stores and goodwills to find a hidden treasure, but I'm just a nerd like that. We also don't buy anything on credit. All large purchases are made in cash. Yes, it may take longer to save the money but the piece of mind is worth every minute in the long run. 

Never buy things brand new unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. And believe me there are necessary times, but when you save for it you can prepare to buy something of QUALITY. 

Try Craigslist.. there's always a plethora of farm essential and people with tons of it! Animals, tractors, tools, vehicles, you name it.

But Quincy I really have no money but want to do anything possible to change our diet, lifestyle, anything!? Help?

Yes I hear you. I to was in panic mode when we began and there was no way in sight to afford this life!!! 

But peeps... There totally is, which brings me to this...

4. Barter when ever possible! 

I love the barter system, countless exchanges with no paper green anywhere in sight. Its a beautiful thing people. Trading someone for something I already have? Heck yes I will! Like eggs, organic free-range chicken, organic pork, organic vegetable starts, babysitting, a hen and a rooster, or even beer... no really. 

I am a big supporter of giving something when you get something in the farm community. It just feels like the homestead way, and that fills my cup. So, occasionally I provide beer and food for garden/weeding help. Maybe you'll get some cuts of our homegrown pork for manual labor. When a friend brings me a plant for my garden, I send them with a dozen eggs.  

I even got my hanging rabbit cage and 2 nest boxes from a friend's landlord, left behind by previous tenants! And for free? Score!! Just because you have no money doesn't mean you can't find it for free or maybe find something of yours you can trade. Its totally Dancing the Wolves, you should try it sometime. You can even come barter with me, I would love to help your farm ventures.

You can even become members of bartering groups that are looking to expand their contacts. This is a great way to find things you need on the homestead. I know some folks that trade fresh produce for farm fresh eggs. If you think long enough I bet there is a skill or something that you can create from within the home to barter with. 


We came to own our riding lawn mower, weed whacker, leaf blower, and chain saw from bartering auto mechanics and small engine repair. Even a free mower rental to cut our field. Boom. Barter baby! Everyone has some thing they can barter with. What is yours? 

When it's all said and don't we do this because this is how the homestead life calls to us. This is how I feel the Lord would want us to live. Of our own hand and of our own heart. And just because we don't make 6 figures in a year does not mean we don't deserve this life. 

We want more than anything to provide a healthy wholesome lifestyle and attitude for our children. To respect and feel secure in where their food came from. After all, this is why we do what we do, for the love of the food. 

I know I'm throwing a lot of words around. Like minimize, barter... sustainable...healthy 

I'm not asking you to change your life, unless you want to. Food for thought. 

Stay tuned for Part Two

Peace, Q

BUILDING A GARDEN BED: HOW MULCH DOES IT TAKE?

After the trials and errors of last years growing season I knew I had to make a change. I spent far too much time weeding and not nearly enough harvesting. I needed to find a natural way to combat weeds and the intense drought we experience at times. I wanted less maintenance! In order to spend my time better, not weeding all day, playing with my kiddo or planting those continuing crops. 

My whole world changed when I finally   listened to someone about mulching. That someone, a Mrs. Jill Winger changed my mind about pristine clean beds forever. When I read an ebook of hers expressing the secrets to winning my war with weeds... Btw y'all should ALL read that little book. 

If y'all are anything like me, there are a million and one things you would much rather be doing than weeding... 

Granted weeding is therapeutic in my mind.... 

What relieves more stress than taking the lives of overgrown and sometimes pointless plants...? Hey, sometimes destruction can be fun.. And lately thanks to those weeds many of my farm animals are eating all natural fresh greens daily. 

Due to the many resources available to help us beginner high desert gardeners I have decided that this year is dedicated to MULCH! Oh yeah baby my beds are covered in last years dead organic matter and all sorts of hay and straw... anything I can find to protect the ground. That is what its about after all... protecting the ground in order to grow amazing soil and harvest bountiful food. 

To find success in homestead gardening I have learned the hard way that the key is in the soil. Start whatever heirloom organic (yada yada) seeds that you want.. If you haven't invested in your soil, you are in for one disappointing harvest..

Trust me from my mistakes!

Unless you come from some voodoo magical place with perfect dirt, hours of work will need to be done to prepare your top soil. This is especially apparent where I live. Bend is....

Dry... Harsh... Fickle.... Central Oregon....

 A common rule of thumb for my region.... If you don't like the weather wait 15 minutes. In other words the whether can turn on a dime... at times with a vengeance!

I have completely changed my idea of gardening. I'm mulching my beds (avoiding my normal OCD clean garden needs), allowing useful weeds to invade (only in areas I allow), and I'm even debating letting my ducks in the garden (once the plants are established and properly netted/secured for their safety)...an extended post on this to come!

Bottom line, mulching is the bees knees of gardening and its so simple.. And such a natural way to combat weeds and bugs!!!

How mulch does it take you ask? Hardly anything! 

I simply pulled up weeds and whatever left over garden greens that had hardened off and left them to die and dry over the top of the beds all winter. Do not clean your beds completely! You don't want to leave your beds open to the elements, this will dry out and deplete the nutrients and integrity of your soil, especially if you've brought in special soil. Instead plant a cover crop, cover with compost/straw, or as I said pull all your weeds and use this as your mulch. 

Adding compost and manure to your beds through out winter is a very good idea. Although adding these in the spring is also fine. You can simply remove your top layer of mulch, add compost or manure, then replace the mulch. When it comes time for planting all you need to do is pull back the straw and plant your seeds directly into the soil. Once established and a couple inches tall you can bring the mulch back in lightly around the base even up to the plants stalk. 

Take this broccoli for example. 

Mulching will help to regulate soil temperature and moisture. In our dry and windy climate these two things are dire to almost any vegetable or fruiting plants. Wanna try another all natural mulching idea? 

Enter the Three Sisters Garden (3SG). Using plants to help other plants, what can be better? This Native American idea takes companion planting to a whole new level..

Corn. Beans. Squash.

Corn eats nitrogen, beans replace nitrogen.

Corn provides a trellis for the beans which help to further stronghold the corn. 

Squash needs minimal shade, the beans and corn provide this.

The squash acts as a natural mulch, covering the roots and bases of the corn and beans to retain moisture. 

These three plants accompany and assist each other in their grow cycle. Simply plant corn after danger of frost. Once they are about 3-5 inches tall plant the beans. 

If you live in a high desert climate like myself I strongly suggest not wasting your time starting corn indoors unless you have a fan on them 24 hours a day. If corn isn't planted outside and taught to withstand our elements, namely the high winds and temp drops of the HD, then you can forget about it....

Once the beans are sprouted and established, about two weeks, you can then plant the squash. There is pattern after pattern on the internet depicting how best to plant these gardens. We chose to plant our corn in a circle, spaced accordingly. The beans are then planted 1:1 in a larger circle outside the corn circle, spaced a few inches from each corn stalk. Then two squashes will be planted in the center. 

There you have it. I'm a little behind schedule bit the beans should be sorouting anyway now! 

Have fun mulching! And harvesting not weeding...

Cheers folks. 

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

THE PIGS OUTTA THE BARN.... NO SERIOUSLY...

So there I was standing between a pig and the back door...

She jived to the left so I jumped in front of her.....

She goes the right, the dogs about pooped themselves....

Sometimes the pigs get out.... Its just a fact of life...

An entertaining one at that....

Did I mention this pig trapping occurred in my dining room??? O ya! I said it! the other night our female pig ran three laps through my house...

In through the sliding glass door into the living room through the kitchen and dining room... lap.... and again..... and again....

All the while I'm laughing hysterically and trying to forget how small my bladder feels with this pregnancy.... Not existent.... I practically have to drink my fluids on the toilet... too much?? But so so true... Ha!

Mind you, this all started with Dexter.... Yes the Showtime series which Spencer and I are sucked into this winter. There we are sitting watching, biting our fingernails, anticipating his next move when.....

What is that?

Do you hear that?

I look over at Spencer as he simply sighs and says, "Oh, babe..."

He paused the show and then I heard..... Pleasantly loud oinks coming from the back porch. We stood up walked into the dining room and there they were, standing calmly at our sliding glass window.

For whatever reason once the pigs had made it up on the deck they couldn't get back down. What you can go up stairs and not down?!?! Well apparently they couldn't, so around and around the deck we went trying to block them so as to push them towards the stairs....

Well right about that time little farm girl hears the commotion and comes to try and help mom and dad. She had good intentions which let to the great pig chase in the house. She opened the sliding glass door to see the commotion and right as I turn around to tell her to go back inside.... In darts the pig right past Ireland and into the house. At this point she so excited by the frenzy that she almost let the other one in!

Well we finally got everyone safely penned up for the night.... After a goat tying rope made it around the gilt so we could get a hand on her.... And boy was that a loud affair!

The horses must have been intrigued by the commotion as all 6 came over to stand in a perfect line and watch the show!

Let me just make it clear... if you're looking for entertainment just let a pig loose.... no grease necessary....

You see sometimes in the life we run into some not-so favorable situations. We could have panicked and argued about who checked on the pigs last instead we found this to be hilarious. This wasn't our first rodeo... Or better yet pig wrangling... In these times of stress it is best to just laugh...

The bottom-line is pigs escape. They're crafty, smart, and love testing the limits of their pens. The saving grace is that though they may escape from time to time, they're 100% food driven. They don't get out to escape and run away, they get out to explore and EAT! They're not wanders which I am so glad for.

Alas with a worry wart control freak like myself there is no rest! I simply couldn't stand the risk of something happening to our precious bacon or dealing with an angered neighbor whose garden was ruined. So, we rebuilt their new enclosure out in the barn near the other livestock. They aren't tiny babies anymore and need room to run, so yesterday they were moved from their baby brooder pen into the pig boy pig pen which was oinkers' humble abode last year.

Safely tucked away in their pen with no gate they will happily await their fate. After all we are raising these hogs to feed our family and a multitude of guests we will host throughout the summer season. They will be slaughtered the first week of June, humbly by our own hands, here on our homestead. We will give them thanks and not an ounce will go to waste.

I cannot wait to incorporate scraps and head cheese into our dogs diet to supplement their regular dog food diet as I slowly transition to feeding the dogs solely from our homestead meat projects or making all their food from within the homestead. This is a great way to use what we won't (or Spencer WILL NOT eat, namely headcheese) eat and leave nothing to waste!

As they say.... Waste Not Want Not!

So it goes!

Q