My wife makes everything from scratch. If we're going to have burgers - she makes the buns. If we're going to have pizza she makes the crust, grates the cheese, etc.

We cook on gas, but also use our woodstove for cooking during the heating months.

This winter was harsh and expended our wood supply. I had procrastinated on getting a chain saw and it cost us dearly. Our propane tank is at about 15% and propane costs are up due to the winter induced shortages.

I bought a Stihl 291 and we spent several 10 hour days culling dead trees from our timbered areas. Our wooded areas have EXTREMELY STEEP hills in them and as "organic farmsteaders" we don't own or use a tractor / four wheeler, etc. We carried, by hand, 24" rounds out of the hilly woods for days. I have a good supply of rounds stored under the roof on my barn (my barn has a covered porch attached), but it isn't enough. We ran out of time because the poison ivy bloomed and I'm allergic. This is one of the lessons we learned: firewood is a full time job. If you have a spare hour - go cut some wood.

Another valuable lesson:

People have lost basic knowledge on homesteading. We have read countless books (as in every night), went to lectures, watched documentaries, visit markets, etc but still make mistakes everyday.

Example: we don't have enough time to make mulch so our fruit trees and brambles are constantly being over taken by grass.

Our garden is a NIGHTMARE this year. We bought a tiller last year, but it had constant problems this year. Combined with the late snows and earlier rains we planted too late in improperly prepared soils. As our first year to "really have a garden" it looks terrible but has TONS of food growing in it. Our strawberries, asparagus, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, beans, peas, radishes, lettuces, sunflowers, turnips, etc are all growing. I'll post a list later after I find it on my computer.

Our garden lesson is: don't go too big too fast.

Forgot we also have planted Almond and Hazelnut trees.

We have tons of plans in various stages of development as well:

* Build a green house. This is a PRIORITY!

* Build a sheep shed. We held off on getting sheep this year, because we don't have time to build a shed.

* Build a wood shed. I want more wood than will fit on our Barn Porch so I need to build this.

* Build a fence around the 2.5 acres of scrub adjacent to our tillable land and turn goats out on it to clean it up.

* Buy a chipper and start making mulch. LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of mulch.

* Improve our land by improving our chicken manure collection and composting operation.

* Improve our land by having sheep and goats poop on it.

* Finish our rain water collection system.

* Cut our last grid-tied utility by installing a 100% solar system.

* Build an irrigation system for our garden (my wife has been spending four hours a day 2x a week pulling 450 feet of hose around).

* Install a solar powered back up well pump.

* Improve our canning operation.

* Start our wine making operation.

* Plant more fruit and nut trees.

* Plant mulberry trees in the protected free range animal pastures.

* Improve our hay growing and manual cutting / storage operation.

* Build up our manual tool collection.

I think this is a good stopping point. My head is hurting, I have work to do and I'm getting cross eyed.

You're free to ask questions and I'll expand on areas as I think of them.

Pictures of the farm house model...

The road to our house...



The finished interior...

If anyone knows how to make the links show the pictures...feel free to make that happen!

Forgot to mention this about the fence project:

* We bought and hauled over 400 six and eight foot metal t-posts
* We bought and hauled 7 rolls of 330ft sheep and goat fence. Each roll weighs 291 pounds.

* We drove, by hand, over 325 of the t-posts.
* Stretched and hung over four rolls of the 291 pound fencing.
* We installed over 7280 linear feet of polywire electric fencing.
* Built three gates with electrical conduit buried under them to allow continuous multi-loop electric fencing.

We did all of this without a single mechanical device. ETA FOR CLARIFICATION: We used a truck to haul the products from the store to our barn, but it was by hand from there on.

Here's the list of what we're trying to produce. If there's a * next to it we haven't started it yet.

Berries & Raisins

Blackberries (4 varieties)
Blueberries (5 varieties)
Grapes (3 varieties)
Raisins
Raspberries (3 varieties)
Strawberries (5 varieties)

Eggs & Meat

Eggs
* Lamb

Fruit

Apples (4 varieties)
Apricots (2 varieties)
Cherries, Baking (2 varieties)
Cherries, Sweet (2 varieties)
Peaches (4 varieties)
Plums (3 varieties)
Nectarines (2 varieties)

Greens

Arugula
Beet Greens
Chard
Kale
Lettuce
Mesclun Mix
Spinach
Turnip Greens

Herbs & Spices

Basil
Chives
Cilantro
Dill
Garlic
Oregano
Parsley
Sage
Thyme

Melons

Cantaloupe
Honeydew
Watermelon

Nuts & Seeds

Almonds
Hazelnuts (Filberts)
Peanuts
Pumpkin Seeds
Sunflower Seeds

Vegetables

Asparagus
Beets
Beans, Green & Purple Snap
Broccoli
Cabbage, Green & Red
Cauliflower
Carrots
Corn, Flour & Ornamental
Corn, Sweet
Cucumbers, Pickling & Slicing
Onions, Green
Onions, Red & Yellow
Peas, Shelling
Peas, Snap
Peas, Snow
Peppers, Hot
Peppers, Sweet
Potatoes, Red & Yellow
Potatoes, Sweet
Pumpkins, Carving & Pie
Radishes
Squash, Butternut
Squash, Spaghetti
Squash, Yellow
Tomatillo
Tomatoes, Canning
Tomatoes, Cherry
Tomatoes, Slicing
Turnips
Zucchini

Gary, this is more than I ever imagined. THANK YOU for the journey through your life. I am so glad that you and the "Young lady" seemingly haven't suffered from burn out. You BOTH have done a lot, lot of work, work that one day will give you a satisfaction many of us only dream about.

Thank you sir for sharing your journey.

Randy,
Thanks for making the pictures live.

This thread is a great example of "be careful for what you wish for, because you might get it"!

I felt it was important to give a brief overview of the influences and personalities that lead us to where we are. Our journey has been a hard one, and there are a lot of miles ahead. However, every night when I pull upon MY LAND and see MY CHICKENS on MY FARM and MY WIFE standing at the door with a smile waving to me as I pull up I realize those jobs I turned down in big cities making REAL money would have never made me happy, because what I have now makes me happier than I could have ever imagined.

There aren't too many things more rewarding than building something with someone you love.