Why Can’t I Do It All?

When friends, family, or other folks stop by the farm and see all we have going on with house renovations, kennel projects, garden projects, etc., I usually get comments like

“Gee, you sure do have your work cut out for you.”

“Wow, this is a lot to take on.”

Or my favorite…

“Why don’t you <insert some well-meaning idea about how we could do things easier or how I should focus on one project at a time, etc.>”

They’re all spot-on in their comments and suggestions. I’m sure there are easier ways to do things.

But who wants easy? It takes all the satisfaction out of doing something.

Yes, we do have our work cut out for us and this farm is a lot to take on. All the more satisfaction when we’re done.

Now the focusing on one project at a time thing…oh geez, don’t I wish. There are days when I look around at the upteen million projects in various stages and I just want SOMETHING to be finished. Something. ANYTHING. I want one room that is completely re-wired, with pretty new sheetrock, and completely painted walls, finished floors, and furniture where it is meant to stay for good.

I would love to have that one room. I really, really would.

It just doesn’t work that way. We had to stop hanging the ceiling in my office to leave an opening to get to the electrical. The floor under my office is completely bricked in and concreted (it used to be a porch) so there’s only one way to run wiring – through the ceiling.

But, we can’t finish the wiring until I figure out how I’m going to get to the junction box under the house that currently feeds the office. I can’t just pull the old breaker, cut the wires, and drop them under the house. The office is on the same 20amp breaker as all three bedrooms, so first, I have to trace back to the main junction box and disconnect the main feed to the office without cutting power to the bedrooms.

But, I can’t do that until the guys finish the septic tank move, because the only access to that side of the crawlspace is…you guessed it. Right next to the old septic tank and all it’s leaking, puddling the yard splendor. I don’t mind getting dirty, but I draw the line at belly crawling through septic tank ooze, thank you.

So, we’ve been working on other things. Like wire moulding for the living room and dining room (since we can only fish wiring into certain walls in those rooms.)

This is just the way things go. Stop this project because you have to work on this before you can proceed. But, before you can work on this, you have to do that. It’s a neverending renovating circle of Hell.

I would love…really, really LOVE to focus on one project at a time. And I guess, in a way, you could say that I am. I’m focusing on the house and it’s 23,943 smaller projects required to make it a decent home again.

When I can’t STAND my lack of walls, or plethora of exposed subflooring, or lack of a real kitchen stove, or the Pepto pink bathroom that always looks like it needs a visit from a hazmat team no matter how much bleach I pour on everything…I go outside and work on outdoor projects.

Or I dive into my computer, researching everything farm-ish to learn all I don’t know about homesteading yet. And believe me, there’s soooo much I have to learn. So much, it’s overwhelming at times. Kind of like the house project gets overwhelming.

Today, I think, is one of those all around overwhelming days. I just want to scream “why can’t I do it all? Why am I limited to only 24 hours in a day? Why can’t I get these projects finished faster? How the holy Hell do contractors get whole house renovations done in a few weeks, yet I’ve been at this two years and still don’t have a barn, or fencing, or walls, or a single solitary finished room?” Then I remember…

…they have crews full of dozens of professionals that could do this stuff in their sleep. They don’t have to pull up a blog or DIY website somewhere to find out how to replace a kitchen sink. They don’t have to research how to install a new holding tank for a well system. They can just do it. And they have lots more manpower than an inexperienced Mom and 2 teenagers. They don’t have to work a full time job first, then do laundry, feed the kids, take out the trash, talk to the boys about their school work, pick up the grandbaby, THEN work on renovation projects if there’s any daylight left.

So, while some days I really think I might have bitten off more than I can chew (like today) it’s still not enough for me say “uncle” – not yet, anyway. I do hereby reserve the right to say uncle at some point in the future, just not today. Instead, today will be a work day. I’ll spend the day, holed up in my as yet unfinished office/craft room, working on writing projects.

I will ignore unfinished walls.

I will ignore miles of Romex coiled near virtually every wall in my house.

I will ignore the partially finished subflooring in my office.

I will ignore the garage wall that STILL does not have windows, or siding, or even a door…even though we started that project two years ago, before we even moved in.

I will ignore the odd placed furniture (because I can’t put it “there” until we finish the wall, which I can’t do until we finish the wiring, which I can’t do until we find the junction box, which I can’t crawl under the house to find until the septic guys drain the mud field that has become my backyard…)

I will ignore all these things today and hide out in my favorite place…the written word. I have plenty of work-related deadlines to meet and writing projects I CAN finish today.

Tomorrow I can be Farmer Jane, the Do It All Gal. Today, I’m just going to be Hermit Me with a pen, my reference books, and some article ideas.

The Most Embarrassing Family in Homesteading History

Imagine my surprise yesterday, when a fellow writer brought it to my attention that some self-rightious family in Pasadena has trademarked the terms “urban homestead” and “urban homesteading!”

What?? Are you serious? How can you trademark a lifestyle term? That’s like trying to trademark terms like “running water” or “urban sprawl.”

So, I did some digging, like dozens of other bloggers yesterday. Yup, these people registered trademarks for “urban homestead” in Sept. 2008, and “urban homesteading” in Nov. 2007.

How do you trademark a phrase that has been in use, in local, regional, and national publications since the mid 1970s that I know of? Mother Earth News talked about urban homesteading in 1976! The Rotarian talked about examples of an urban homestead in 1978! (Thanks to the folks who commented on other blogs and articles…ya’ll helped me find the references I needed!) Where do these people get off trying to convince the world they are the “original modern urban homestead?”

Yeah, so the Dervaes family are owners of the Dervaes Institute, and trademark holders of terms like urban homestead, urban homesteading, and get this…Freedom Gardens!?! (Really, they now own the trademark to something started during World War II? I’m sure the guys who fought and died for American freedom, whose wives, mothers, sisters, and sweethearts were over here planting freedom gardens would be real proud.) Yeah. They’re definitely a shoe-in for the Absolute Most Embarrassing Homesteading Family on the Planet! Shame, shame, shame on you Dervaes!

This is an organization that was not formed until 2006? (The Derveas Institute was, according to the Derveas family, formed in 2006.) But they’re the “original” urban homestead? Um, I don’t think so. These folks were still in diapers when the ORIGINAL urban homesteads began.

The outrage over the selfishness of trying such a greedy move isn’t so much over the words themselves, but the way in which the family has taken to expecting anyone using the terms to cite THEM and THEIR works as the source.

The source of what? The single biggest example of grass roots corporate-style GREED and getting too damn big for your own britches I’ve seen in years?

Here’s the “family’s” own words regarding using the terms urban homestead and urban homesteading:

Please find the “cease & desist” phrase in this normal, professional and informative letter. It’s a false, made up claim that people are jumping over themselves to make us look bad.

DERVAES INSTITUTE
Jules Dervaes, Presiding Officer
631 Cypress Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) 795-8400
dervaes@dervaesinstitute.org

To Whom It May Concern:

This notice is to inform you of important matters regarding the published works and/or brand names of Jules Dervaes and Dervaes Institute. We are extremely supportive of members of our online communities; fans of our websites, writings and photographs; and others who help to spread information regarding sustainable living. However, we must also guard against the unauthorized use or exploitation of our intellectual property for commercial gain. From the beginning, our work published online and in other media has been copyrighted and trademarked. We have now secured registered trademarks for certain unique names and images. By protecting our intellectual property we are better able to ensure that our work is presented accurately and contributes to our sustainable living projects and educational initiatives.

As you may know, the Dervaes family has been practicing sustainable living in Pasadena, Calif., since 1985. Our work has been documented and shared online at www.urbanhomestead.org and other websites since 2001, receiving national and international media attention. Additionally, we produced an award-winning short documentary film about our project, called Homegrown Revolution, which has been featured at film festivals around the world and on Oprah’s 2009 Earth Day television special. Over the last 25 years, our family has created a wealth of intellectual property in the field of sustainable living. Through the Dervaes Institute, we have been committed to freely educating others about the practices and benefits of self-sufficiency.

We realize that your use of Dervaes published words and/or trademarks may have been inadvertent. We are generally able to resolve any such uses without involving our legal counsel. This would require that you update your websites and articles to properly cite our works. For example, the writings of Jules Dervaes about sustainable living are original protected works in which Dervaes owns exclusive rights. Content from the Dervaes websites, including text and photographs, are also protected works.

When using Dervaes materials, the proper way to go about it is as follows:

Only use a small sample of our work in any single instance;

Copy the portion used in its entirety – do not paraphrase or extract portions of images or paragraphs;

Make it clear – by using quotation marks or different font size or color – that the Dervaes materials referenced are from another source;

Include a prominent link or reference to the original source of the content used on a Dervaes website.

In addition, Dervaes Institute owns numerous trademarks which should be properly acknowledged if used. These protected names and images include the following registered trademarks:

URBAN HOMESTEAD®

URBAN HOMESTEADING®

PATH TO FREEDOM®

GROW THE FUTURE®

HOMEGROWN REVOLUTION®

FREEDOM GARDENS®

LITTLE HOMESTEAD IN THE CITY® (pending)

Also, THE TEN ELEMENTS OF URBAN HOMSTEADING copyright has been filed with the Library of Congress.

If your use of one of these phrases is not to specifically identify products or services from the Dervaes Institute, then it would be proper to use generic terms to replace the registered trademark you are using. For example, when discussing general homesteading or other people’s projects, they should be referred to using terms such as ‘modern homesteading,’ ‘urban sustainability projects,’ or similar descriptions.

When using a phrase listed above to refer to the work of the Dervaes Institute, proper trademark usage should include the proper trademark notice [®], use the protected phrase in all capital letters, and note in close proximity that the term is a protected trademark of Dervaes Institute.

Thank you in advance for respecting our legally protected intellectual property rights. If you have been supportive of our ten-year online work in the past, we appreciate very much your continued support.

If you have any questions regarding the use of Dervaes materials or trademarks, please contact us at (626) 795-8400. We would be glad to provide you with more details.

Regards,

Jules Dervaes
Dervaes Institute

Here are just a few of the blog posts and news stories written in the last day or so since the issue exploded:

http://www.thecrunchychicken.com/2011/02/urban-homesteaders-cease-and-desist.html

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/2011/02/pasadena_family_trademarks_the.php

http://champagnewishesandcoupondreams.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-am-urban-homesteader.html

You can follow the #urbanhomestead hashtag on Twitter and you’ll see even more outrage.

There’s now even a Take Back Urban Homesteading page on Facebook. They’ve got a cool little graphic for my city-dwelling, urban homestead enthusiast friends, free to share amongst the urban homesteader community.

Anyone who knows me, who knows I’m a professional writer, knows I have the utmost respect for intellectual property rights – copyrights, trademarks, patents, etc. I don’t even like to use free images without letting the photographer know and giving credit. It’s a professional integrity thing.

But these folks? This is nothing but flat out, unadulterated greed.

These are some the quotes from the Devreas family’s website. (I’m not linking to anything they have online…they ain’t getting none of my link juice, thank you very much!)

If you aren’t using it to make money and are simply documenting your life or sharing your information, this would only require that you update your websites and articles to properly cite our works and properly acknowledge if used.

When using these trademarked terms, the proper way to go about it is as follows:

Proper trademark usage should include the proper trademark notice [®], and note in close proximity that the term is a protected trademark of Dervaes Institute or link to the site.

URBAN HOMESTEAD®

URBAN HOMESTEADING®

That’s it! If you want to label a for-profit endeavor with the term, we ask that you contact us first.

Thank you in advance for respecting our legally protected intellectual property rights. If you have been supportive of our ten-year online work in the past, we appreciate very much your continued support.

If you have any questions regarding the use of Dervaes materials or trademarks, please contact us at (626) 795-8400. We would be glad to provide you with more details.

So, let me get this straight…if I want to use the terms urban homestead or urban homesteading, I have to cite these people, tell the world it’s their trademark, and/or link to their site?

Yeah. Right. Like that’s going to happen. NOT!!

I got news for them…I will use the terms urban homestead and urban homesteading any doggone time I feel like it, just like everyone has since the movement first began decades and decades ago. I will NOT cite any greedy little gooberhead who thinks they own the words or concept, nor give them credit for a darn thing. You cannot…I repeat CANNOT trademark a lifestyle!!!

Sue me! I dare ya! Sue me, please! I really, really want you to sue me. Send me cease and desist letters. I’d love to get you folks in front of a judge and see what he or she has to say about this trademark nonsense!

Geez. The whole thing just goes against everything homesteading (urban or rural) stands for in the eyes of so many, for so many years. I’m tempted to rename my blog Urban Homesteading for Urban Homestead Owners, even though we’re out in the country. Their arrogance just steams me that much!

How dare they?!? They give us all a bad name with this kind of behavior. They even had the nerve to post this as part of their explanation for why they trademarked the terms:

You tell us. . . . Who would you rather own the trademarks? Us or a big business corporation?

They’ve since taken that little statement out of their site copy. Guess they didn’t like so many folks telling them what they thought about the whole sordid mess.

And so it begins…cordwood dog kennel Day 1

Josh (my youngest son) and I had a few hours to spare Friday afternoon, so we decided to get started on the kennels. He’s already brought several of the larger pine logs up from the back property, and I already bought some starter supplies, so we figured why wait?

As you can see from the picture, we only had enough daylight to site the exact spot for the kennels and sink two posts. Man, did it ever feel good to break a sweat! And now that we got the first two posts in, and could actually measure out where the walls would go, we’ve already made some modifications. Five feet wide is going to be a little narrower than I’d like, but not enough to warrant a change.

The length, however, is just not long enough for our active dogs. So we’re adding another 5 feet to the length of the kennels for a finished size of 5 ft by 15 ft per dog. I think that will give them a more comfortable space to call home.

The weather guy says it’s going to be nice and sunny, with highs in the high 60s to low 70s this week. If that holds true, I hope to at least have all the posts in before next weekend. We only have a few hours a day once I finish writing work, so we definitely won’t be speed building. That’s okay…we’re in no huge rush to move the dogs. There’s still lots of septic work to do before I’ll be ready to get the garden started.

In the meantime, I think I’m going to plan my seed starting and get that going in the laundry room. It would be nice to have sprouts and seedlings to transfer to the garden once it’s ready. Hopefully I don’t kill them off this year.

A Cordwood Dog Kennel

Spring is coming. We’re moving the old septic system for the house to upgrade for an additional bathroom and as part of re-plumbing the whole house. That means the area just off my kitchen door will open up for use as a kitchen garden. That is, once we move the dog.

My Loveable Idiots

We have four dogs. Two live inside, two live outside. The two outside are nothing short of idiots. I love our dogs and all their quirky splendor, but they’re idiots. No denying it. Pure idiots with fur. We definitely don’t love them for their intellectual prowess. They have doghouses and such, but when the weather gets nasty? These two morons won’t go in them. They’ll sit outside, in the pouring rain, whining and wimpering to come inside. It’s pathetic. Really.

In order to have my kitchen garden, I have to move Ollie, our backyard outside dog. Unfortunately, there’s nowhere out back that offers him any kind of cover from the weather. So, we started working on kennel plans…something to give him an enclosed area to roam, with a covered end to keep him warm and dry. Naturally, if we’re going to find him a solution, we should do something for Stripe, the front yard outside dog.

Enter the idea of dog kennels with a shared wall, so we don’t spend quite so much on kennel construction.

The Problem with Standard Kennel Designs

There’s just one problem with standard chainlink and other kennel designs. My outside dogs don’t like each other. An open shared wall is probably not such a good idea, especially when my inside dog, Zeeva goes into heat and all the dogs act like idiots. There’s also another problem. Ollie barks at everything that moves. The loveable, cuddly, uber-friendly, dummy sits under his little lean-to and barks at the rain, for cryin’ out loud. The leaves on the tree next to his tie out fall, he barks at them.

The solution? Cordwood walls. I designed a shared wall double dog kennel with partial cordwood walls. Each kennel measures 5ft wide and 10 feet long. Not big kennels, but big enough for a medium sized dog that only spends 80% of his time in it. (We’re big suckers and routinely bring the outside dogs inside for however long we can tolerate their poor indoor behavior.)

The back wall is 10 ft long, with a middle wall (also 10 ft long) splitting it into two 5ft sections. Basically, two cordwood walls forming a “T.” Add two 4ft cordwood sections to either end of the back wall, and you have a fancy “T” that gives the dogs a completely walled-in area we can cover with tin roofing. Think horse stalls, but for a dog. Using cordwood means the dogs can’t see each other, or what’s going on back in the woods behind them. They can, however, see toward the house, via the gate and a long section of fencing on the side of each kennel.

Here’s a diagram of our proposed dog kennel project:

The heavy lines indicate where we’ll build cordwood walls. The dashed lines indicate fencing. The dotted lines show where we’ll fit in 4ft gate panels.

What Are Cordwood Walls?

If you’ve never heard of cordwood construction, you’re probably sitting there, scratching your head thinking “what the heck is a cordwood wall?” The easiest explaination is this: have you ever seen a stack of firewood? Of course you have. Now imagine that same stack of firewood made permanent with concrete poured in between the layers. That’s a cordwood wall.

Homesteaders have built barns, sheds, retaining walls, even entire homes from cordwood construction. Our little cordwood dog kennel actually serves two purposes. First, it gives our outside dogs a warm, dry place to call home…saving them from the rain and their own stupidity, and saving me from worry over if they’ll try to attack each other, or bark at leaves falling until 4am. Second, it gives us a chance to experiment with an inexpensive, sustainable building method.

Experimenting for Future Builds

If all goes well with the dog kennel, I plan to build a shed behind the house using cordwood construction. Granted, we have plans to build a large barn, but I want a shed closer to the house. Someplace to store my everyday household tools, lawnmowers, and that sort of thing. I’d also like to have some space for a workbench for when I’m working on house projects. The idea of dragging things all the way back and forth, to and from the barn just doesn’t sound like fun.

We’ll see how the project goes. I’ll update in the next few days with pictures and commentary on any design changes we have to make. Keep your fingers crossed! I just spent $130 at the hardware store on tin roofing and concrete supplies. I figure another $50-75 for the supplies to build the gates, and maybe more concrete…but what I bought is enough to get us started. I think $200 for two custom-built dog kennels ain’t such a bad price. (Plus it gives us a use for all these leftover pine logs and tree tops from clearing the land.)

Chickens are Chickens, Dammit

A question every Mom knows, and usually dreads: “What’s for dinner?”

If chicken is on the menu, you’re most pressing decision is most likely something along the lines of grilled or fried, herb or bar-b-que. At the grocery store, your most pressing decision is white or dark, boneless or bone-in.

Chicken is chicken, after all. What more would you have to choose anyway, right?

When the thought of raising chickens first crossed my mind, my biggest concerns where what do I feed them and where do I keep them. I was blissfully unaware of the major decisions awaiting me.

Do I want chickens for eggs or meat? Or both?

Do I want males, females, or both?

Do I want hatching eggs, day old chicks, or older poults?

Not terribly difficult decisions, right?

If chickens really were just chickens these questions wouldn’t be so difficult at all. What really throws a monkey wrench into the stew are the umpteen dozen or more BREEDS of chickens. Grits’ Guide to Backyard Chickens, for example, lists a sampling of 25 different breeds of chickens. There are Andalusians, Australorps, Brahmas, Catalanas, Dominiques, Hamburgs, and Lakenvelders. There are Langshans, and Minorcas, Polish and Redcaps. Oh, and let’s not forget Bantams and Wyandottes. Call a hatchery and you’ll find even more options.

Some are newer breeds developed specifically for egg laying or for meat. Others are heritage breeds, the original breeds from which other breeds were developed. And then, of course, there are ornamental breeds.

Ornamental chickens? What is the point of an ornamental chicken? Do you hang them from your rear view mirror? On the Christmas tree? I really don’t get it. I simply do not understand the point of poultry that serves no other purpose but to look pretty. I’m sorry, but unless those birds poop holiday decorations or pine scented car air fresheners, they seem pretty useless to me. I guess I just don’t do the “just to look at” stuff.

But then again, I’m looking at all this from a different perspective. I don’t know a thing about chicken breeds (yet.) I just know I want chickens. Plain, old, ordinary, run-of-the-mill chickens that lay eggs and taste good on the grill. No designer label needed. Just a simple chicken.

I mean, seriously now, do you care what breed of chicken laid the eggs you buy? Do you look for chicken breed information when picking out a package of leg quarters? No.

Chickens are chickens, dammit. I thought this homesteading thing was supposed to be simple? I didn’t know I’d have to pick a specific brand of chicken. Don’t they have generic versions? If I’m going to have to pick a specific breed, is there a tester somewhere at the hatchery – some little old retired lady walking around with a platter full of plastic cups of chicken to sample?

Seriously, do I have to study just to buy chickens? Yikes.

They’re CHICKENS, dammit – not Rhodes Scholars.

10 Key Components of Organic Gardening

Organic gardening is much more then just avoiding the use of chemicals on your garden. For many people it is an outlook on living using nature’s laws to grow their fruits, vegetables, and other plants naturally. This is usually a personal choice made in light of much research done into the importance of diet as it relates to our health and longevity.

Studies have shown that organically grown foods have higher concentrations of vitamins and minerals then those grown using chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. Organically grown fruits and vegetables are not only better health wise but they also avoid the accidental exposure to those chemical agents that are used in large scale commercial farming that is so common in today’s world.

Here are 10 key components that are a fundamental part of organic gardening.

1. Healthy Soil – This is probably the most fundamental aspect of any organic garden. Healthy soil that is replenished naturally will grow healthy food stuffs year after year. Organic fertilizers such as manure and composted garden, yard, and kitchen waste are easily recycled back into the earth creating nutrient rich soil that will grow all manner of healthy plants.

2. Avoid all chemical or synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. This will not only ensure that your soil stays naturally organic but it also relieves the worry of harm to your family and pets should they come in contact with these dangerous chemicals.

3. Sustainable gardening practices allow your garden to become self sustaining. As nutrients are used by plants they are replaced through the use of natural fertilizers and compost. Done properly organic gardens rely on natural organic cycles to remain healthy each and every year.

4. Stewardship of the environment – The natural environment benefits from organic gardening practices in that it reduces the environmental contamination associated with chemical dependent farming practices.

5. Creating friendly habitats for beneficial wildlife. There are a wide variety of beneficial animals and insects that will be drawn to your garden. Protecting them from the dangers associated with hazardous chemicals is not only beneficial to them but also to your gardening efforts as they will eat large amounts of destructive insects, controlling them in a natural manner.

6. Use intensive planting practices to conserve water usage and help retard to growth of undesirable weeds. Intensive planting is simple spacing your plants close to together. This helps to shield the soil from the sun slowing evaporation and weed seed germination.

7. Use the concept of plant biodiversity to ensure that changes in growing conditions or plant disease does not lead to crop failure. Planting a variety of different plants will ensure that the loss of one plant will not jeopardize the overall garden food supply.

8. Rotate crops – controlling soil borne pests and disease is the primary reason to rotate crops each year and throughout the growing season. Crop rotation can keep any garden healthy and producing bountiful harvests.

9. Use good watering and weeding practices. Capture and store rain water where possible to water the garden. Use soaker hoses, drip irrigation, or water by hand to minimize water loss. Hand weed and avoid the use of harmful pesticides and herbicides. And be sure to lay down a thick layer of mulch to hold in moisture and keep weeds from germinating.

10. Save seeds from your best crops for future use. Imagine being able to create a self sustaining garden that requires no outside help. From planting in the spring until fall harvest an organic garden is truly a part of it natural environment.

To learn how to make an all natural Organic Weed Killer and protect your family and pets from toxic chemicals please Click Here.

Article Source: Andrew Bicknell

Farmer Hat, Writer Hat

If you’ve read more than one post here at Hexemaus Farms, then you probably know I’m a writer. I work out of a home office, writing for a living full time. The boys and I work on the farm during our spare time, when I’m not writing & they aren’t doing chores, schoolwork (I’m an undercover homeschooler, but we’ll talk about that in another post) or sleeping.

In my life, it’s quite normal to have writing and farming cohabiting in the same household. In fact, I wear many hats. I’m a farmer. I’m a writer. I’m a mom. I’m a teacher (an undercover one, at that…surely that counts for some sort of secret agent-type hat.) I’m a driver. I’m a ranch hand. I’m an electrician. I’m a roofer. I’m a plumber. I’m a cook. I’m a dog trainer. Just imagine if I had an actual hat on the wall for each of the duties I assume on a daily basis. But most often, I’m wearing either my writer hat or my farmer hat. Those are my favorite jobs. To someone else, they may not sound like compatible bedfellows, but around here? It’s just daily life.

But maybe it doesn’t sound so abnormal for a nonfiction writer to also be a farmer…a homesteader-wanna-be, at that…

Imagine my pleasant surprise when, as I was researching post ideas last night, I stumbled on a site for homesteaders…(no, stumbling on a homesteading site was not the surprising part) Under a tab labeled “Home Jobs” on this homesteading site, I found articles about freelance writing as a way to make an income on the side.

Hey! Freelance writing! That’s what I do!

I was tickled. Someone else does what I do, or has thought of doing what I do. Peggy Deland, the writer, even gave a lot of the same advice I gave writer wannabes over on the Blue Inkwell earlier this month. That’s cool. You can read the article on freelancing I found on the homesteading site at Life Unplugged.

Now I know there are other quirky writer-types out there who like to stick their hands in the dirt.

That’s a good feeling – to be validated like that.

Sometimes, when you choose a lifestyle that’s not exactly mainstream, getting validated now & again can be a good thing. I love this lifestyle and I am very fortunate in that my family supports me in my decisions and choices. (Not just my kids, but my parents, in-laws, sibling, etc.) However, I do have some friends who don’t really “get it.” They get that I want to live on a farm; it’s the other stuff they don’t get. They equate sustainable living, low-carbon farming, and homesteading as still a little too far out of the mainstream for their tastes. They are the types who tend to view us homesteaders as some variety of tree-hugging fanatical hippies, or just general fruit cakes. (But they’re usually too polite to say it out loud.)

I don’t mind that some people don’t “get” what we’re trying to do out here. I don’t mind that some folks think we’re a little odd. I don’t mind people who think perhaps I might have a few screws loose, or use the term “eccentric” to describe me. I get that way of thinking, because before I came out here to this old farm, I felt that way too. I thought people who went “off the grid” were already a little off the grid. That is, until I moved out here. Until I started playing in the dirt. Until I felt what it feels like to really know a piece of land…and then realized I wanted to make sure it was just as beautiful when my granddaughters are my age.

That’s perfectly fine that some folks out there don’t get it. This life isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s not a choice that’s good for everyone.

But it’s nice to feel validated sometimes & realize that there are other people in this world who not only get it, but get your particular brand of “it,” especially when those times come around where you’ve had a larger-than-normal serving of folks who don’t “get it.” Finding Peggy’s article was the perfect little bit of validation I needed.

Now I know I’m not the only possibly eccentric, but most definitely happy writer/farmer.

Changing of the Seasons – The Betting Pool

If there is one thing I have learned in the two years since we moved to the Farm, its that the changing of the seasons is far more noticeable. Perhaps that’s because we’re not living in the city, wrapped up in the hustle & bustle of urban life. Perhaps its because life on a farm means, by default, you spend more time outside. Whatever the reason, living here means paying more attention to cold weather coming.

While we haven’t even started putting up summer clothes or dragging down the boxes of blankets & quilts from the attic yet, we have started thinking about winter prep work we need to do. Since our old farmhouse does not have central heat & air, the fireplace is our primary home heating. That means firewood…lots of firewood. It’s a good thing Josh, my youngest son, LOVES cutting fire wood.

He won’t touch my chainsaw with a ten foot pole, but he’ll spend several hours a day out in the yard chopping and splitting logs for the fireplace. Given that we go through more than 3 cords of wood each winter, Josh spends a LOT of time cutting and splitting. You would think he’d be overjoyed at the idea of Mom buying a hydraulic log splitter, right?

Nope. Not this kid. He prefers to go at it with just his axes and a splitting maul. For hours. And hours. And hours. He’s actually excited to feel the nip in the air early in the morning these last few days. Cold weather means he gets to chop wood. He’s already got his axes & his maul sharpened & at the ready. All I have to do is say “when.”

The funny thing? His big brother, Mike, gets aggravated because Josh won’t let ANYONE uses his axes or his maul. (For those who don’t know…like me, until we moved out here…a splitting maul is part ax, part sledgehammer. Think of a sledgehammer with a really, really sharp axehead on one end.) So my boys actually argue over who gets to cut & split wood. Josh says its his job, his tools. Mike says he wants to help. Josh says no. Before you know it, I have two teenagers yelling “MOM! Tell ___ to _____”

Seriously now…what NORMAL family has teenagers arguing about who gets to do the heavy manual labor??? Should I be concerned that they’re arguing over working with large, heavy, and very sharp tools often associated with teen horror movies & psychopaths? Hmmm…

Actually, when it comes to stuff like that, I have to say…my boys definitely have moxie, but they’re really responsible and conscientious when it comes to tools, equipment, and machinery. They have a healthy respect for that kind of thing. Probably because they’ve seen how many times I’ve wound up in the ER for “oops” moments.

How many people do YOU know who have gone to the ER for pillow fighting injuries or attempting to chop wood with their index finger? Or had an ER doc tell them “Gee, Ms. Johnson. I would normally see your boys for these kinds of injuries.” Well, I guess I’m just that kind of Mom, then. I am the example for my boys. Through me, they learn valuable life lessons about what NOT to do.

So as we move farm chores from summer stuff to winterizing, I wonder which of us will end up in the ER this winter? Care to place a bet?

Yeah, me neither. I already know. It will be me.

I’ll drop a log on my big toe.

I’ll fall out of a tree trying to cut down a dead limb.

I’ll roughhouse with the boys and break something…a finger, a toe, a rib, a wrist. Or maybe one of each.

I’ll try to split a log & slam my hand into the side of it instead. Oh wait, no. I did that last year. Okay, so maybe this year it will be a foot.

Perhaps we’ll start a betting pool. Instead of betting on point spreads or which team will make it to the Super Bowl, we’ll bet on what kind of injury I’ll get first, how long it will take before I hit the ER this year, or perhaps how many times I wind up there this year. Oh wait! I know…we can choose the most off-the-wall, you-did-what?, freak accidents we can come up with, then bet on which ones I’ll fall victim to!

That would probably be more interesting.

Or better yet…we can bet on what off-the-wall comment the doc will make to me this year!

Last year it was “Ms. Johnson, I’ve never seen a pillow do that before” (as I sat getting my wrist x-rayed.) and the “I normally would see your boys” comment. I wonder what he’ll say this year?

Yes folks, winter & the cold weather are approaching. Time to start winterizing the farm and saving up from my ER costs.

How do you mark the changing of the seasons?

Clearing Land for Pastures

When we first got the house, over half of the eight acre lot it sits on (there’s another 172 acres out back, but it’s a separate lot than the house property) was planted in pine trees. I had nowhere to keep horses or build the barn, unless I wanted to give up some front yard.

Instead, I sold the timber to clear the other half of the property. For more than two years, the leftovers from clearing the timber sat rotting, building up good topsoil for pasture grass while we worked on the house.

My thinking in the beginning was we would need a year for the house, then we could start on fencing, barn building, and other renovations to get this place up and functioning as a real farm again.

As the house renovations slowed, I think the growth of the under brush where pine trees once stood (and 20 years ago peach trees grew) picked up its pace. The longer we waited, the higher the brush got. Over the last two years, I’ve inched it back here and there with lawnmowers, yard fires, and plain old hand-to-hand combat. For every inch I gained back, 3 more inches grew over night.

I was really in over my head without heavy equipment, or at least a decent tractor. It took me until this year to admit I was outmatched in terms of keeping the side yard cleared until we could fence it in and build a barn. So this year, I bowed down to the grass and hired a local company to come clear everything and push what was left of the pine debris into piles for burning.

Dan and Charlie, from Savannah River Trading Company, have done wonders for my side yard. After breaking a valve stem on one of the back tractor tires the first day, then pulling out wiring for the baler attachment on the third day, the side yard is ready for a little fire. (Now I don’t feel so bad that the yard was kicking my little lawnmower’s butt. This land even kicked a utility tractor’s butt!)

Over the winter we plan to run 5 strand, high tensile fencing with a couple of strands of electric fencing. Come spring, I plan to put a half dozen pigmy goats over in the side yard to keep it under control while we build the barn. The hope is to have the barn finished before summer heat sets in next year. By fall, I want horses tromping all over that side yard.

In the Beginning…

When we first started on our farm adventure, also known as the Great Family Adventure, we started out with a real mess.

The house had been neglected for years.

We definitely had our work cut out for us. Take a look at the video we shot the first time I ever laid eyes on the property or the house.

Hexemaus Farms

Adventures in Homesteading

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