Homesteading is a journey. Some months you accomplish your goals by leaps and bounds. Other months, you fall back a few steps.
The important part is to keep working hard to progress forward in your goals. It doesn't happen overnight. Many websites make it seem easy, but it isn't. It takes baby steps to get to the big projects. So, I'm starting this monthly homesteading update to share our progress and setbacks. I hope that you find them useful in your journey of homesteading.
November
- We continued harvesting fiber from our french angora rabbits.
This is a simple process that is basically brushing them and saving the luxuriously soft hair. I find it a calming and enjoyable activity.
- A chicken chose to escape the fenced enclosure.
This hen wanted to learn what was beyond her boundaries. She discovered that the dog can, and will, chase her. The dog caught her and carried her limp body across the field. We assumed by the behavior of the chicken that she was dead.
Surprisingly, she survived. The dog was only playing and despite carrying the chicken in his mouth, he never clamped down on her. The dog relinquished his prize with a happy wag of his tail. The chicken played dead but "returned to life" when she was returned to the safety of her flock. She hasn't chosen to push her boundaries again.
- I continued to make butter from our fresh milk.
I have changed a bit of the procedures and seasonings in order to improve the process and taste. I think this may be a regular activity for me.
- I continued to make homemade mayo.
It is a pretty simple recipe. It is one cup of avocado oil, one egg, lemon juice, mustard and salt. Mix it together with an emersion blender and it's done! I transfer it to a mason jar and store it in the fridge.
- I started some lettuce in a mason jar Kratky system.
It failed.
I have been successful in growing lettuce indoors under grow lights with mason jars. I wanted the same results but decided to put the system in the greenhouse. I rushed the process. I didn't germinate the seeds prior to transplanting them into the jars. The seeds never germinated, and they dried out. I also became busy and forgot about them. To be completely honest, the remnants of my failed attempt are still in the way. I just left them. I will eventually fix this and try again because I miss my fresh green salads.
- I finished canning pears.
We discovered Asian pears from a local orchard. They are delicious! We purchased quite a lot of them and processing them continued from October into November. See Homestead Update - October – PJ's Projects (pjsprojects.com) for details on my process.
- I continued canning apple pie filling and dehydrating more apples.
This was also a continuation from October. See Homestead Update - October – PJ's Projects (pjsprojects.com) for details.
- I started fire cider.
Fire cider is a popular herbal folk remedy. It is used to boost the immune system during the cold and virus seasons of the year. The taste really isn't as bad as you would think when you consider the ingredients. There are many recipes for this concoction. I have taken portions from many different recipes and here is how I make mine:
I don't measure the ingredients. I throw in the amount that I have on hand. It turns out well and I appreciate not having to be exact.
In a mason jar, I add garlic (granules or cloves depending on what I have), jalapeno peppers, lemon juice, ginger root, horseradish (minced because I find it easier and I have it in my fridge). If I remember, I will sometimes add rosemary, tumeric and black pepper.
I pour raw apple cider vinegar over the ingredients and let the jar sit in a dark place on the counter for at least 2 weeks.
When needed, I strain out the solid ingredients and place the liquid in a separate jar. I place the liquid in our fridge, and we use it when we start feeling a bit ill.
- Our dog discovered that we have neighbors.
When the leaves fell, it revealed the neighbor's property and their horse. Our Great Pyrenees mix discovered that the world extended beyond our fence line. Our fence isn't in good shape, and we have plans to fix it, but just not at the moment. The dog decided to take advantage of this opportunity and introduce himself to the neighbor's horse. Luckily, he doesn't feel the need to chase the horse but wants to be friends (probably because they are roughly the same size!). Despite his good intentions, we need him to stay home.
We tried multiple ways to convince him to stay home but they all failed. Finally, the hubby set up an electric fence parallel to the broken one. This seems to be working for the moment.
- We planted garlic.
We took the opportunity with the mild weather to plant some late garlic in our front flower bed. Cross your fingers that it works out!
December
- We moved the rabbits into the greenhouse with the chickens.
We repurposed the smaller chicken coop to house the rabbits in the greenhouse. We let the rabbits out with the chickens during the day and they seemed to enjoy the interaction and new environment.
- We fixed the greenhouse door.
Again.
I mentioned the possibility of using plywood for the doors, but hubby is concerned about the amount and force of the winds that we get may cause more damage if the doors don't have any "room to give". I'm not convinced that this isn't an excuse to put this chore further down on the to-do list, but the tarp is holding for now.
- We struggled to contain our dog.
We moved the chickens and rabbits into the greenhouse for the winter. This change has been very tempting for our Australian Shephard. He wanted to see them and worked hard to get into them.
He tore a hole in the greenhouse plastic. We placed a piece of wood over the inside in hopes that this would be enough of a deterrent for him. It wasn't.
He tore a second hole in the plastic. The hubby built a makeshift fence around three-fourths of the greenhouse with chicken wire as a barrier. The dog jumped over it.
We lined the inside of the greenhouse with wood planks. This seems to be working.
Unfortunately, it wasn't soon enough.
- Our rabbits were killed.
Our dog busted into our greenhouse where we were keeping our rabbits and chickens. He managed to kill all of our female rabbits. It was a sad day to bury the ladies that we have grown to love so much. We are now down to one buck. We are at a crossroads. Do we find a female and start over? Do we sell the buck and give up on rabbits? Do we keep the buck as a pet only? Do we consider changing over to raising meat rabbits? These questions require some pondering and discussion. I'll get back to you on our decision.
- I started fermenting feed.
I have tried this method in the past and found it cumbersome. I tried it again with the same results. I'm not saying that I will never do this again, but it may not be my go-to method to decrease feed costs and improve nutrition.
- I saved cushaw and pumpkin seeds.
We were gifted some squash and pumpkins to give to the chickens. As we dole them out, we are saving some of the seeds to plant in the spring.
- I canned chicken broth.
This has become a routine activity after cooking a whole chicken. We use the broth for many other dishes and enjoy the health benefits.
- Our son asked for and received a worm farm kit for his birthday.
He has a plan to use these worms to generate compost for the garden. So, I guess we are now amateur worm farmers.
- We started mixing our own feed for the chickens.
We expect our chickens to slow down in egg production during the winter, but we were down to nothing. Zero. Zilch.
This was unacceptable for the number of freeloaders that we have on the property. We decided that it was our fault for not providing the correct nutrition for their needs. After some research, we decided to change from the 16% protein, mixed feed that we were obtaining from our local mill and start mixing our own of whole grains.
We were inspired by this video:
https://youtu.be/l_5fNgHy-Qo?list=PLrUouAskiMhVdcadZTWi5eF8Qhq77F1MK
We purchased whole oats, wheat, corn, soybean meal and blackstrap molasses. We mixed them together in a ratio of 1:1:1:0.3 (oats, wheat, corn, soybean). We added the blackstrap molasses in a small amount. This mixture contains less dust than our ground feed and when calculated, contains much more protein. Not only does it look more appealing, but it is cutting down on the waste. I haven't completed the calculations on the total feed costs to determine if it is cheaper than our previous feed, but we are seeing better results. We have jumped to 7-8 eggs per day. For the winter season without supplemental lights, I consider this a win!
- We added grit, oyster shell and minerals to our chicken's diet.
We still provide our chickens with ample kitchen scraps and supplemental pumpkin treats, but we wanted to add more.
Since we changed from a ground meal to a whole diet, they required more grit. The chickens are currently housed indoors for the winter, so we need to provide this for them. The grit, or small rocks, are ingested by the chickens and stored in their gizzards. The chickens use these tiny rocks to break down the food that they consume in a similar fashion as to how we use our teeth (chickens don't have teeth).
The blackstrap molasses does contain minerals, but we wanted to ensure that we are providing more for our chickens. After referring to this book: Polyface Micro by Joel Salatin, we decided to add the poultry nutribalancer by Fertrell (Fertrell Company). This may be a bit much, but we do not mix it in the feed but simply offer it to them with the grit as a free choice mineral. They are eating it, so I am trusting that they know how much their little bodies need of these nutrients.
The package for the poultry nutribalancer states to add oyster shell for calcium. We add this to the mix.
As a summary, our new mineral mix contains grit, oyster shells and poultry nutribalancer. We place this in an old wildbird feeder and leave it for the chickens to eat freely as desired. So far, we are replenishing this mixture about every three days.
- We survived the cold snap.
We are not used to temperatures below zero in our area. It was an interesting test of our preparations. We were lucky that it happened during a time that the hubby was home to take over the outdoor responsibilities.
I was able to enjoy the view from the warm house for the majority of the weather event.
The strong winds did penetrate the greenhouse with snow. It was cold, but the animals were protected from the harshest wind, and we spread out more bedding to help them bundle together and stay warm.
- Our dog was hit by car on Christmas Day.
The boys received an ATV and were getting lessons on the flat area of our property. This area is the closest to the road and our Australian Shephard decided to herd a car. He lost. Luckily for him, he was travelling at such a speed that he bounced off the fender and didn't suffer any lasting damage. I just hope that he learned his lesson.
- We started weekly meetings.
The hubby and I discovered that our current system of communication was not working. Passing off crucial information as we handed off a baby among the normal household chaos only led to missed opportunities and extensive frustration for both of us. I am one that hates meetings. I found creative ways to avoid them in every one of my jobs, but I had to admit that we needed a solution.
We have instituted a weekly meeting where we discuss our goals and plans for the businesses, the family and the homestead. We are taking the time to prioritize and plan our responsibilities. The kids are given free screen time and baby duty as we try to establish uninterrupted time to talk. It has been a great thing for us. I guess not all meetings are inherently a waste of time.
We had our ups and downs, but we are moving along and have a lot of plans for our future here on our little piece of land.
*I have attached links to my Amazon affiliate account. As an Amazon associate, I will earn money from any qualifying purchases made by using these links.