We've finally found it! Months of searching, who knows how many hundreds of ads looked at, various areas researched and debated, and several houses actually visited to and walked over, finally over. It's not exactly what we were hoping for when we started out, but this will still fit our needs without placing too many changes.
The actual land is about seven and a half acres, mostly wooded, with a stream running the length of the land. The woods are primarily hardwood, fairly typical for our area, with some pine mixed in, and of course is located in the mountains. The mountains, we realized on a trip to Kentucky, were really important to us, both of us just felt...safer in them. Fresh water was very important, granted the house came with a well but should the power go out there would be no way to get water out. With a stream on hand there will be water always available, now just to get a Big Berkey gravity filter.
That leads into the other aspect of getting a 'stead, all of a sudden there is a massive list of things to do! The house itself will take some work, it was a foreclosure, so of course there are no appliances with it, and the previous residents took the water heater with them. In some ways I kind of consider that to be a benefit, as I'm going to take the opportunity to install a propane tank, propane tankless water heater, and a propane stove. One thing that should be pointed out, those new en vogue electric stoves with the glass tops, while pretty, are actually very limited in their abilities. Those electric stoves cannot support a steam juicer or a canner on them and the exposed electric coil stoves waste energy by radiating the heat everywhere.
We are trying to work out our goals for this year, which seem to more revolve around trying to raise rabbits, chickens, and perhaps ducks. We would like to start two to three compost piles, and try to start building up the soil with a garden. I don't hold terribly much hope as it seems the land wasn't well taken care of by the previous owners so it will take a lot of work I think to get everything working well, but it will be worth it in the end.
Lots to do...hopefully it will spur me to post more often and to talk about what we are going through to put this together. Here's to new beginnings and a change of winds!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Updates
Well, I think at the least it can be said that I'm not that great at continuous updates, oh well :). Life, as always, has just been busy this time between learning how to can [water bath and pressure], steam juicing, and the constant search for our own slice of land. Unfortunately for me, but I guess fortunately for the blog I've come down with a pretty nasty cold so gives me time to put up an update. I will tell you what, having spent the last few months learning to can and everything else gives you a whole different perspective on the time that people like the Northern Farmer and his wife put into their blogs.
The biggest news is we think we've found a place that will work for us as a future homestead. It's only a little over seven and a half acres but it'll do. One of the big selling points is that one border is a creek that's strong enough to run all year round without freezing or drying up. Most of the land is still wooded and in dire need of being managed, but I think that's a major part of the reason why we'll be able to get it at the price we bid for it. Hopefully we'll find out tomorrow the results of the bid, and if so I'll try to get back on here and put in an actual full description of the place. :)
So we've spent the last couple of months learning to can, first with the water bath canner and more recently with a pressure canner. With the water bath canner, it's fairly self explanatory and very easy to use as well as time consuming. Fortunately for the two of us, it wasn't our first rodeo with water bath canners, DF's grandmother still cans and my mother used to can when I was young. It is a fairly exciting thing to see foods that you've made put up and aside in their jars, just waiting for whenever you desire to eat them. One of the first recipes we did was one that's been passed down in my moms family for a couple of generations, a variation on the ice pickles recipe in the Ball Blue Book [highly recommend if you wish to can] affectionately known in the family as "Aunt Judy's pickles". We ended up making three batches of them, and next year will have to make more than that as they are quite a hit with DF and I have requests to bring up a jar or two when we come to visit for Christmas. I'll post the recipe at the end of this post. Remember to always adjust times for altitude!
Pressure canning has been...interesting. I'll admit that it took us a long time before either of us was willing to try it, just concerns in regards to a high pressure item on the stove. Following the directions, it really isn't as bad as it seems, and in many ways we've found we prefer it to the water bath canner, if not just for using less water. Ours is an All American canner, which we chose because we didn't want to deal with replacing gaskets, instead this canner seals metal on metal. It's loud, but very effective, and we now have a stockpile of different broths, as well as some soups and baked beans. Be sure to check your altitude so you can use the correct pressure!
If you're going to go this route, do yourself a favor, get a steam juicer! Wow are they ever handy and sooooo easy to use! We picked up ours in August and have made grape juice, apple juice, peach juice, plan to make a cranberry apple juice, and have used the pulp left behind to make jams and butters. It's so easy...fill the bottom with water, assemble, add items to be juiced and let the juicer do all the work. Considering that a lot of juices on store shelves these days are made with high fructose corn syrup, or basically high amounts of sugar, using the steam juicer can be a lot healthier for a person. Know whats in your food...control what goes in your body.
So I've kinda ranted, I blame the cold :) but I hope you enjoyed the post and found some things a bit helpful with it. Maybe, with any luck, I'll actually post on a more regular basis, but for now, the promised recipe:
The biggest news is we think we've found a place that will work for us as a future homestead. It's only a little over seven and a half acres but it'll do. One of the big selling points is that one border is a creek that's strong enough to run all year round without freezing or drying up. Most of the land is still wooded and in dire need of being managed, but I think that's a major part of the reason why we'll be able to get it at the price we bid for it. Hopefully we'll find out tomorrow the results of the bid, and if so I'll try to get back on here and put in an actual full description of the place. :)
So we've spent the last couple of months learning to can, first with the water bath canner and more recently with a pressure canner. With the water bath canner, it's fairly self explanatory and very easy to use as well as time consuming. Fortunately for the two of us, it wasn't our first rodeo with water bath canners, DF's grandmother still cans and my mother used to can when I was young. It is a fairly exciting thing to see foods that you've made put up and aside in their jars, just waiting for whenever you desire to eat them. One of the first recipes we did was one that's been passed down in my moms family for a couple of generations, a variation on the ice pickles recipe in the Ball Blue Book [highly recommend if you wish to can] affectionately known in the family as "Aunt Judy's pickles". We ended up making three batches of them, and next year will have to make more than that as they are quite a hit with DF and I have requests to bring up a jar or two when we come to visit for Christmas. I'll post the recipe at the end of this post. Remember to always adjust times for altitude!
Pressure canning has been...interesting. I'll admit that it took us a long time before either of us was willing to try it, just concerns in regards to a high pressure item on the stove. Following the directions, it really isn't as bad as it seems, and in many ways we've found we prefer it to the water bath canner, if not just for using less water. Ours is an All American canner, which we chose because we didn't want to deal with replacing gaskets, instead this canner seals metal on metal. It's loud, but very effective, and we now have a stockpile of different broths, as well as some soups and baked beans. Be sure to check your altitude so you can use the correct pressure!
If you're going to go this route, do yourself a favor, get a steam juicer! Wow are they ever handy and sooooo easy to use! We picked up ours in August and have made grape juice, apple juice, peach juice, plan to make a cranberry apple juice, and have used the pulp left behind to make jams and butters. It's so easy...fill the bottom with water, assemble, add items to be juiced and let the juicer do all the work. Considering that a lot of juices on store shelves these days are made with high fructose corn syrup, or basically high amounts of sugar, using the steam juicer can be a lot healthier for a person. Know whats in your food...control what goes in your body.
So I've kinda ranted, I blame the cold :) but I hope you enjoyed the post and found some things a bit helpful with it. Maybe, with any luck, I'll actually post on a more regular basis, but for now, the promised recipe:
4 quarts of sliced cucumbers
8 small or 2-3 larger sliced onions
2 green peppers chopped
Mix the above with 1/2 cup of non-iodized salt.
Add a quart of cracked ice. Let sit for 3 hours.
Drain the water off after 3 hours.
Syrup:
5 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons mustard seed
1 teaspoon celery seed
3 cups vinegar
2 cups water
Heat syrup almost to boiling
Add drained pickles/onions/peppers and bring to a boil.
Pack & seal
10 minutes in hot water bath
Makes approximately eight pints.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Trying to get back on track
Wow it's been a busy past few months so I haven't posted, have meant to, but haven't posted. Also, I realized I just didn't feel right posting until I was doing more that would be worthwhile posting about. More on that later, this post will be mostly just a catchup to life and a brief explanation as to why so long between posts. Don't worry, this blog will get back on track by the next post, which granted I can figure out how to do it, should hopefully contain photos.
So first, I've completed work at a junior college I was at and received an Associates in Business Admin, yay! Yeah, it's a BAU type degree, but I figure no matter what economics and accounting are always necessary, even in a post-collapse world so it's not entirely without merit. Added bonus that I got to take quite a few fun courses, learn a lot about the world, and learn some more about how the geology and oceans of this planet function. All useful things to know. Current plans are to change over to an agricultural major in the coming year.
The plan all along was to move to the mountains, away from the shoreline, and settle down there. I had resided in the Tidewater area of Virginia for over five and a half years and it was long overdue that I left there. Not that I don't enjoy the beach, and not that the area doesn't have anything of interest to me, but it's just too darned crowded out there, and the mountains are better suited for my hobbies. With that in mind we had reserved an apartment out where we are now, on the western side of VA, and with almost two months in between our old lease and the new apartment, stored our belongings away and headed up to spend time with my folks. Thankfully it worked out that way, as in late June my father passed away suddenly of a heart event [full report not yet done] and I was needed to put his estate in order. The focus of the blog doesn't cover this, so I won't go into detail, but do bear with me if I reminisce later down the line. He and I were very close, he is the one who taught me to cook, as well as to enjoy the outdoors. Dad, you'll be missed! 1954-2011.
In mid-July we moved into our apartment, now a bit more crowded than we had initially expected and are slowly getting into the lifestyle that we've always wanted. Last week we canned 4 pints of tomato sauce, and today the kitchen is in full order as the area really begins to bring in the harvests. More on that the next post, stay tuned!
So first, I've completed work at a junior college I was at and received an Associates in Business Admin, yay! Yeah, it's a BAU type degree, but I figure no matter what economics and accounting are always necessary, even in a post-collapse world so it's not entirely without merit. Added bonus that I got to take quite a few fun courses, learn a lot about the world, and learn some more about how the geology and oceans of this planet function. All useful things to know. Current plans are to change over to an agricultural major in the coming year.
The plan all along was to move to the mountains, away from the shoreline, and settle down there. I had resided in the Tidewater area of Virginia for over five and a half years and it was long overdue that I left there. Not that I don't enjoy the beach, and not that the area doesn't have anything of interest to me, but it's just too darned crowded out there, and the mountains are better suited for my hobbies. With that in mind we had reserved an apartment out where we are now, on the western side of VA, and with almost two months in between our old lease and the new apartment, stored our belongings away and headed up to spend time with my folks. Thankfully it worked out that way, as in late June my father passed away suddenly of a heart event [full report not yet done] and I was needed to put his estate in order. The focus of the blog doesn't cover this, so I won't go into detail, but do bear with me if I reminisce later down the line. He and I were very close, he is the one who taught me to cook, as well as to enjoy the outdoors. Dad, you'll be missed! 1954-2011.
In mid-July we moved into our apartment, now a bit more crowded than we had initially expected and are slowly getting into the lifestyle that we've always wanted. Last week we canned 4 pints of tomato sauce, and today the kitchen is in full order as the area really begins to bring in the harvests. More on that the next post, stay tuned!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Kitchen Knives
Well first, I want to apologize to everyone for not having posted in almost two months, we've been very busy with school. Even now, this is just a little distraction away from an online assignment I'm working on, so this will be somewhat short.
I have a major pet peeve with the Wal-mart effect, as in people are now buying loads more cheaply made goods and trying to substitute them in for quality products, which in the long run costs them loads more than shelling out the money for quality in the first place. This post will be in reference to this pet peeve, crappy kitchen knife sets.
We've all seen them, shiny new kitchen knives often displayed in a cheaply made wooden block with untold numbers of matching "steak knives". They line shelves at stores like Kohls, Target, Walmart, etc. just awaiting their first victim. When a consumer price compares them to a higher brand knife, like Wustoff or Shun, they reel back at the difference, wondering how those companies could think of charging that much, grab the cheap set and run off thinking they've found themselves a killer deal. At home they'll setup this pretty little set upon the countertop and perhaps begin to chop vegetables, only to find the going slow down halfway through and by the time they're done with a half pound of mushrooms, it's like pushing a spoon into a frozen solid ice cream cake. Ah, the curse and danger of the cheap knife.
You see, the reason other companies charge so much is the quality of the steel, and of construction. Makers like Henckels proudly state "German made steel" upon their higher quality lines [4 and 5 star for example] for a reason. The knives hold an edge longer and will take more abuse than their cheap counterparts. I've had a mixed set of Henckels International and 4 star knives for 10+ years now and have never once regretted the price.
It saddens me to see people waste their hard earned money away on these cheap sets, then struggle in the kitchen to make those knives work. Instead, I honestly think that everyone should start a set of good knives. You don't need to blow a ton of money to start with, instead you can start with just two knives; a 10" chefs knife and a 6" utility [also known as cooks] knife. These two knives are the all around, general purpose knives of the set. Like a jack of all trades, they handle all tasks thrown at them, some better than others. Down the line you can customize your set, perhaps a slicer if you deal with a lot of meat, or a santoku if you chop a ton of vegetables. Either way, do yourself a favor, stop using those cheap sets and get yourself something that you'll be proud to own and to use!
As a side note, ALWAYS HANDWASH GOOD KNIVES. Yes, they are dishwasher safe, but it's better for the knife edges to not be exposed to being slammed around in a dishwasher and safer than sticking your hand into a dishwasher only to find that the knife got moved around.
I have a major pet peeve with the Wal-mart effect, as in people are now buying loads more cheaply made goods and trying to substitute them in for quality products, which in the long run costs them loads more than shelling out the money for quality in the first place. This post will be in reference to this pet peeve, crappy kitchen knife sets.
We've all seen them, shiny new kitchen knives often displayed in a cheaply made wooden block with untold numbers of matching "steak knives". They line shelves at stores like Kohls, Target, Walmart, etc. just awaiting their first victim. When a consumer price compares them to a higher brand knife, like Wustoff or Shun, they reel back at the difference, wondering how those companies could think of charging that much, grab the cheap set and run off thinking they've found themselves a killer deal. At home they'll setup this pretty little set upon the countertop and perhaps begin to chop vegetables, only to find the going slow down halfway through and by the time they're done with a half pound of mushrooms, it's like pushing a spoon into a frozen solid ice cream cake. Ah, the curse and danger of the cheap knife.
You see, the reason other companies charge so much is the quality of the steel, and of construction. Makers like Henckels proudly state "German made steel" upon their higher quality lines [4 and 5 star for example] for a reason. The knives hold an edge longer and will take more abuse than their cheap counterparts. I've had a mixed set of Henckels International and 4 star knives for 10+ years now and have never once regretted the price.
It saddens me to see people waste their hard earned money away on these cheap sets, then struggle in the kitchen to make those knives work. Instead, I honestly think that everyone should start a set of good knives. You don't need to blow a ton of money to start with, instead you can start with just two knives; a 10" chefs knife and a 6" utility [also known as cooks] knife. These two knives are the all around, general purpose knives of the set. Like a jack of all trades, they handle all tasks thrown at them, some better than others. Down the line you can customize your set, perhaps a slicer if you deal with a lot of meat, or a santoku if you chop a ton of vegetables. Either way, do yourself a favor, stop using those cheap sets and get yourself something that you'll be proud to own and to use!
As a side note, ALWAYS HANDWASH GOOD KNIVES. Yes, they are dishwasher safe, but it's better for the knife edges to not be exposed to being slammed around in a dishwasher and safer than sticking your hand into a dishwasher only to find that the knife got moved around.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Mmmmm ham
Happened in one of the local grocers yesterday and discovered that the leftover mega sized Smithfield hams were on a managers special. We're talking about the 18+lb hams that well, honestly I regularly only saw at this size at this particular store out of the Lord only knows how many other stores there are in this area. Anyways, price was good enough that even though we already had a similar sized ham [late December purchase] in the freezer, we decided to snag one up and cook it off today. With the after results, I decided to write up this blog, as we were pleasantly surprised with what we found once we'd cooked and carved it.
I didn't see Andrea put it into the oven, as I was busy with homework, but helped her take it out and unwrap it. Just to clarify, it's a Smithfield foil wrapped spiral cut ham. Upon unwrapping it, you see instead of the normal half of a ham that so many of the others come as, one of this size is a complete from shoulder to foreleg ham. On each end is a chunk of meat that was not spiral cut, we like to use these chunks for soups and omelets. I cut off the smaller of the two chunks and began to make my way down the slices when I noticed some wiggling in the bone. Honestly, we had thought that it might be one solid bone, but nope, there was the knee! Popped off the foreleg and chucked that into a freezer bag with the chunks to make soup later on. Layer after layer after layer of tender slices of ham. Most of that was freezer bagged, a bunch of it went to dinner for us and one of our roommates tonight, and some is awaiting being used in various meals over the weekend. This took me up to the second chunk, the larger of the two, and after removing a fist sized piece of meat, we found...the shoulder bone! :D This gave us three bones to boil down for broth, I'm sure the rejoicing would be a bit strange to some people, as I've found quite a few sadly throw out the bones and even throw out the large chunk of meat attached to the bone. Woe is for them, but that sure made us happy! The shoulder bone and chunks quickly found their way into the freezer, and the thigh bone found itself in a big stock pot, which has been boiling for the last couple of hours.
So maybe we're the only one's excited about this, but this is part of changing the habits of people. We'll use the entire ham, and figure we'll turn that 20lb ham into a dozen or more meals for 2-3 people. For the broth being made now, it's going into a ham and potato soup, the two bones in the freezer will meet with various types of beans, and the rest of the ham will be portioned out here and there.
I didn't see Andrea put it into the oven, as I was busy with homework, but helped her take it out and unwrap it. Just to clarify, it's a Smithfield foil wrapped spiral cut ham. Upon unwrapping it, you see instead of the normal half of a ham that so many of the others come as, one of this size is a complete from shoulder to foreleg ham. On each end is a chunk of meat that was not spiral cut, we like to use these chunks for soups and omelets. I cut off the smaller of the two chunks and began to make my way down the slices when I noticed some wiggling in the bone. Honestly, we had thought that it might be one solid bone, but nope, there was the knee! Popped off the foreleg and chucked that into a freezer bag with the chunks to make soup later on. Layer after layer after layer of tender slices of ham. Most of that was freezer bagged, a bunch of it went to dinner for us and one of our roommates tonight, and some is awaiting being used in various meals over the weekend. This took me up to the second chunk, the larger of the two, and after removing a fist sized piece of meat, we found...the shoulder bone! :D This gave us three bones to boil down for broth, I'm sure the rejoicing would be a bit strange to some people, as I've found quite a few sadly throw out the bones and even throw out the large chunk of meat attached to the bone. Woe is for them, but that sure made us happy! The shoulder bone and chunks quickly found their way into the freezer, and the thigh bone found itself in a big stock pot, which has been boiling for the last couple of hours.
So maybe we're the only one's excited about this, but this is part of changing the habits of people. We'll use the entire ham, and figure we'll turn that 20lb ham into a dozen or more meals for 2-3 people. For the broth being made now, it's going into a ham and potato soup, the two bones in the freezer will meet with various types of beans, and the rest of the ham will be portioned out here and there.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
What is the goal?
Sustainable is defined by Farlex as: capable of being maintained at a steady level without exhausting natural resources or causing severe ecological damage.
No matter what you believe, the truth is bluntly in front of you, we cannot sustain the drain upon the natural resources that this world has placed upon Earth. Every day I see wasteful habits, small changes that could be made by individuals that, if even half the population made, would vastly reduce waste. Our goal is to reduce our own impact upon this planet, making slow steps, of which we hope to reap benefits not only in emotionally feeling that we've done our part, but in helping our health, saving us some money, and providing a sense of satisfaction each day.
Waste is all around us, just open your eyes. Every day my roommates shower twice each, both spending at least a half hour each time in the shower. With the average flow rate for a shower head at 2.5gpm, that's 150 gallons of water per hour, at two people, that's 300 gallons of water a day, just to shower. Doesn't even take into account the electricity necessary to keep all of that water hot.
Realistically, neither of us is wealthy, in fact we're a pair of college students, albeit in our late 20's. However, there are things that we can do now including canning our own foods, buying locally, and growing some of our food.
No matter what you believe, the truth is bluntly in front of you, we cannot sustain the drain upon the natural resources that this world has placed upon Earth. Every day I see wasteful habits, small changes that could be made by individuals that, if even half the population made, would vastly reduce waste. Our goal is to reduce our own impact upon this planet, making slow steps, of which we hope to reap benefits not only in emotionally feeling that we've done our part, but in helping our health, saving us some money, and providing a sense of satisfaction each day.
Waste is all around us, just open your eyes. Every day my roommates shower twice each, both spending at least a half hour each time in the shower. With the average flow rate for a shower head at 2.5gpm, that's 150 gallons of water per hour, at two people, that's 300 gallons of water a day, just to shower. Doesn't even take into account the electricity necessary to keep all of that water hot.
Realistically, neither of us is wealthy, in fact we're a pair of college students, albeit in our late 20's. However, there are things that we can do now including canning our own foods, buying locally, and growing some of our food.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Introduction
Greetings and welcome to my blog! Here I'm going to be attempting to keep up with and put down my thoughts on various topics in regards to the sustainability of our world, as well as my own efforts to slowly cut the umbilical cord to the consumer driven society we now live in.
A little bit about me: I'm just shy of 30, male, military vet, current college student, born and raised in the northeast US but now residing in the southeast, living with my girlfriend Ande, and currently living in an apt in an urban setting, but with high hopes of moving to a more suburban/closer to rural setting before the years end.
For the most part, we are just starting down the path to sustainability, at least as far as actually putting it in play. Fortunately, for the both of us, our families affording a wealth of knowledge when Ande and I were kids. Mom exposed me to canning foods, gardening, and needlework. Dad passed on a multitude of skills, from cooking [he was a chef], to auto repair, to woodworking, hunting, fishing, shooting, and so on. On Ande's side, she was raised by both sets of grandparents, whom all agreed on basic concepts of running a farm, canning, owning livestock, gardening, and so on.
A side note should be pointed here: this is not a decision, should you choose to make it as well, that should be taken lightly. For us, it was fairly easy as realistically sustainability fits right on in with the lives we wish to lead anyways, but it's still not going to be an easy task for us.
For anyone curious about the path of sustainability, I'd recommended reading over "Farewell, my Subaru". It's an entertaining, light read that gives a glimpse of the authors journey, though he is fortunate in that he had the money set aside to go full bore into the lifestyle. For us, and for many others, it's a long path, but very rewarding in the end. Each person has their own path, and their own circumstances, but something to keep in mind is that you don't have to do everything. Any little bit helps!
A little bit about me: I'm just shy of 30, male, military vet, current college student, born and raised in the northeast US but now residing in the southeast, living with my girlfriend Ande, and currently living in an apt in an urban setting, but with high hopes of moving to a more suburban/closer to rural setting before the years end.
For the most part, we are just starting down the path to sustainability, at least as far as actually putting it in play. Fortunately, for the both of us, our families affording a wealth of knowledge when Ande and I were kids. Mom exposed me to canning foods, gardening, and needlework. Dad passed on a multitude of skills, from cooking [he was a chef], to auto repair, to woodworking, hunting, fishing, shooting, and so on. On Ande's side, she was raised by both sets of grandparents, whom all agreed on basic concepts of running a farm, canning, owning livestock, gardening, and so on.
A side note should be pointed here: this is not a decision, should you choose to make it as well, that should be taken lightly. For us, it was fairly easy as realistically sustainability fits right on in with the lives we wish to lead anyways, but it's still not going to be an easy task for us.
For anyone curious about the path of sustainability, I'd recommended reading over "Farewell, my Subaru". It's an entertaining, light read that gives a glimpse of the authors journey, though he is fortunate in that he had the money set aside to go full bore into the lifestyle. For us, and for many others, it's a long path, but very rewarding in the end. Each person has their own path, and their own circumstances, but something to keep in mind is that you don't have to do everything. Any little bit helps!
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