Homesteading Honesty

Happy Birthday Mel!!!! Yes, today is her birthday.

We approach, mentally and emotionally, with the reality of what is on the homestead. Although we are not off the grid, we are trying to get there or live as self reliant as possible. Honestly, we may never truly be off grid. We love our tech stuff like cell phones, video cameras, and computers too much. Modern convenience like an electric well pump which allows for running water inside the house is a no brainer for us also. We use our modern washing machine/dryer. We have no problem running the dishwasher for sterilizing canning jars.  And the microwave for those quick meals. It's not that we can't live without these things. We have and can do it again.

We don't buy into the romanticized versions of homesteading either. We know it takes lots of hard work.

Some misconceptions in response to "It's a simpler life."
 WRONG!
It's a simplistic or simplified life because you are doing it all with less. You are thinking outside the box more to repurpose and reuse instead of going out and buying what you need or want. You are mostly thumbing your nose at commercialism and the instant gratification that the world has become. Not that we are totally against instance gratification. We are harkening back to a time when saving for large cash items was the normal. There isn't the same satisfaction owning something you charge on a card as something you scrimped and saved for.

Sure, we could go out and purchase everything we need or want for this homestead spending thousands of dollars on it too. I see quite a few homestead start ups that do that very thing. Would we like to have everything spanking new? Yeah! Wouldn't every one. Well I did title this "Homesteading Honesty" so that's not entirely true. Think about a baseball mitt for a second. Brand, spanking new isn't the greatest mitt you can own. It hasn't been broken in yet. It will take time and work to make it a great mitt. Now, take a look at homesteading tools. A brand new scythe. Has a smooth finished wood and a shiny blade. You can ooh and ahh over it because its pretty. Compare the same scythe that farmer Brown used to cut hay with for a decade. It ain't pretty but it slices through the gay like a hot knife through butter. Why? Because the handle is worn down to exactly where it needs to be. Repeated sharpening has made the edge sharp where it needs to be. There is no awkward breaking in period.

The building is actually level

Yes, we purchased a  ready built shed for our angora rabbitry. But it was a repoed model so it was wired and almost fully insulated saving us several hundred dollars in the conversion.  We couldn't gave built it for cheaper. It allowed us to spend the savings on the rabbit poop disposal system.

We had talked about purchasing another building for the chicken coop. We hemmed hawed around in discussion. We always do the pros and the cons of every purchase. A gift  from a neighbor of free pallets and a YouTube subscriber (now our Wwoofer/helper) made the new chicken run and coop area a reality for cheep cheep cheep. While it is still not complete, it's usable. The chickens have been turned loose into our garden area and new areas to scratch it up for spring planting. Meanwhile, I've been planning the garden and new orchard. I plan on buying 6' fencing before spring but I haven't decided whether to use it for the chicken run or the garden. I'm leaning more towards the garden area. I've got an idea the chickens will get out of any area we put them in unless it's electrified. I've has an aversion to electric fence since I was 5 years old and gotten shocked by one. Although I've been intrigued by the likes of Justin Rhodes and The Grass fed homestead and their mobile pastures.

Well that's it for this week. Y'all have a blessed day.