2016 Accomplishments

At the beginning of the year I sat out a list of things we were going to try to get done. You can find that here.

As I write this I recognize that I completely and utterly failed on getting gutters installed. Along with cisterns, ponds, and tree planting - though I did order in all the supplies and seeds, so we'll try that again in the spring. I was pretty pissed at what I didn't done until I sat down and wrote out what we did get finished. Overall we moved the ball forward quite a bit this year.

Here's a list of what we did get accomplished:

1. Moved Andrea and the Reds to Texas with possessions and Pug dog intact. A special thank you to Bill and Diane who were gracious enough to drive the Reds to a memorial service for their great grandparents in Michigan, and then on down to Texas.
2. Bill built two spa benches after arriving in Texas.
3. Built Andrea a Farm Table and bought the wood working tools to go with it as a Mother's Day/Birthday Present.
4. Built a kitchen island that turned out awesome.
5. Got a great deal on two top bar beehives and will try to add bees come spring.
6. Found a really good looking registerable, full blooded Belted Galloway Bull.
7. Went in halfsies on a shorthorn steer that will be in the freezer next fall.
8. Bought a Red Wattle barrow and a Red Wattle/Duroc cross barrow. Sold 2 halves and put the rest in the freezer.
9. Got 6 paddocks set up and working.
10. Figured out how to better ground the electric fence and had 0 breakouts this year.
11. 20+ broiler chickens put up.
12. 25+ laying hens raised and should start laying in March 2016
13. Bought and installed a pellet stove to keep the house Africa hot for Andrea during the winter.
14. Bought a large smoker.
15. Bought a tractor, shredder, disk, hay fork, blade, and plow.
16. Bought a cattle trailer.
17. Bought a car hauler to haul our vehicles as they age and inevitably break down. :-)
18. Bought a four wheeler.
19. Picked up a aerator, sprayer, and seed spreader from a generous co-worker.
20. Bought organically grown hay from two neighbors and put up 18 bales for winter.
21. Bought several new farms tools, pull ax, pitchfork, etc.
22. Andrea picked up a used washer and dryer.
23. Let a buddy use my Seqouia and got a small deep freeze in exchange.
24. Worm bin.
25. Put in a clothesline for Andrea.
26. Composted a ton of grass clippings.
27. Picked up a large deep freeze and filled it with meat we raised.
28. Added two additional garden beds for the 2017 garden.
29. Found a compost supplier locally and brought in and spread 8 inches of compost on all the beds.
30. Raised 2 hogs successfully and have greatly enjoyed reading them.

2017 Goals will go up soon.

60 Gallons of Gas as a Prep

This has proven to be one of the best investments I've made in the way of preps. It's a simple system that I first got turned onto by Jack Spirko.

Step one: Buy a good quality shelf system.

Each month moving forward on payday buy a 5 gallon gas can, fill it with gas, mark the month with letters and numbers on each can. After 12 months take the can filled up on payday the month you started, put it in your car, tractor, lawn mower, generator, molotov cocktails etc. Refill the can and repeat each month moving forward.

When you have a power outage, you won't be scrambling to keep your generator full and freezer cold.

If you want to see what you can do with that 60 gallons of gas take a look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8a7YDTTd28

Thoughts on Propane Tractors

So, I had the question posed tonight about my thoughts on Liquid Propane tractors from a "doomsday prepper" standpoint. For the record, I'm not much for the whole doomsday prepper movement. Self-reliance I'm all about, but trying to prepare for ever worst case scenario will leave you alienated, overwhelmed, and broke. I'm firmly in the modern survivalist camp that Jack Spirko has done much to define this way: doing things help you thrive if times get tough, or even if they don't. 

But I digress. For LP to make sense you already need to have one or more large LP tanks (500+ gallons) on your farm. You also have to be willing to not have all the horse power that you would get from the same model tractor in either gas or diesel. On the plus side LP is the cleanest burning fuel out there, and your engine will most likely last longer than the same gas or diesel model. 

Gas made the most sense to me, as I keep at least 60 gallons of gas on hand. My tractor doesn't see real frequent use, so gas makes more sense than diesel based on ease of starting after sitting for long stretches. LP is also easy starting due to how clean it is. Parts availability would be the next thing I'd think about for any tractor. Does the local NAPA carry all your parts or are you limited to 1-3 online retailers. 

In the event of mass disruptions of fuel to most of America, we'll have bigger things to worry about than how long you can get your tractor to run for. :-) As a wise man once said, after 3 days without food the thin veneer of civilization starts to peel off pretty quick.

Heating the House; Two is One - One is None

Providence protects children and idiots. I know because I've been both. -Mark Twain-

My wife enjoys being warm in the winter. Make that Africa hot, she's happiest when the house is above 75 and pushing 80. She's easy on the thermostat during the summer, so the least I can do is make her happy during our brief winter here in Texas.

The selection of pellet stoves in Texas is not what you have up North, to say the least. So after much research I found a model that worked for us from Tractor Supply, it was delivered to the front door back in September and sat collecting dust waiting for a free weekend to be installed.

As luck would have it FreezePocalypse 2016 found the daytime high on the Snow Compound at 77 followed by a nighttime high of 24. 53 degree drop in a matter of hours. The house came with a heater in the master bath and a very small propane fireplace that is great for knocking the chill off of 45 degree nights, but can't keep up when it's in the teens or 20's outside.

As with most of my projects this one was motivated by sheer panic. To quote Twain again, "If it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done." Fueled by the impending Freezemageddon, I started measuring once and cutting twice. Through sheer luck of the height of the pallet and floor protector, the hole for the 3 inch pipe ended up in the only section of the wall that it could have gone through, again it's better to be lucky than good.

It's going to be in the teens tonight, and the pellet stove, while rated to heat 2200 square feet is doing a fair job of keeping the house relatively toasty. There's no way the propane stove would have the main living area at 76 degrees.

The project was pretty straight forward, order the insulated pipe, high temperature silicone, and for the first time in my life I had every tool needed in my possession and didn't have to go into town. I finally feel like an adult.

The Case for Small Government

My friends on the left have spent the last eight years basking in charisma of President Obama, oblivious to the folks on the right who came to view him with fear and loathing. My friends on the right did much the same thing during the Presidency of George Bush, not able to understand the disdain the Americans on the left felt for Bush. It's interesting to watch the same feelings of doom and abhorrence fill the left again with the impending inauguration of President Trump.

Here's the libertarian argument for making government smaller, in an effective Republic the ability of any person that occupies the Oval Office to affect the average American should be almost impossible. The smaller government is, the less reach it has into American homes, wallets, and psyches, the safer everyone feels. The arguments that folks on the left made about Bush being a warmonger, and spendthrift were quickly forgotten once President Obama came into office. 8 years later, we're still dropping warheads on foreheads in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, added Syria, along with a hundred other little wars that no one that lives in a city of significance cares about, because their kids aren't there. Name the last anti-war protest you saw against President Obama, the man won a Nobel Peace Prize for heck's sake.

The national debt doubled again, and while the right spent the last 8 years moaning about the out of control spending, Republicans are currently putting together spending plans that would make FDR blush. In my humble opinion either common sense will win out or we'll continue to play screw your neighbor into bankruptcy (best case) or civil war (worst case). Only time will tell, but the joy of my little compound is doing our utmost to become self reliant and remove ourselves as best we can from the pendulum swings of national politics.

Testosterone is a Heckuva Drug

In the pictures above and below are all the earthly remains of my two Ideal 236 roosters. Testosterone will allow you to grow big and strong. Testosterone will give you the hubris to fight the established cock of the walk and challenge him for mates. Testosterone will give you the confidence to explore, face danger, and expand your empire. It will also make you feel bullet proof, which outside of Luke Cage, none of us are. 

I was hoping that one of the two roosters would survive into adulthood to help meet our goal of a self sustaining flock. Alas, 'tis not to be. They survived almost 4 months free ranging in Texas, that in itself is no easy feat. If only they'd believed me when I told them everything in Texas is trying to kill you. 

The Case for Paddocks

Winter in Texas is so much easier than what I had grown used to in Idaho. That said, things do slow down here with the lack of sunlight and cooler days. Last year I went through 10 round bales of hay with 5 head of cattle, this year we've doubled the herd to 10, but since 4 of them are calves I only bought 18 rounds to try and make it through the winter.

In the interim I'll run the cattle through each paddock for 1-2 days, versus the week or so they cattle get to spend there during the growing months. It's not a real supplement, since the grass is only 6-8 inches tall, but based on their reaction they enjoy the change of pace from hay, and I'm sure there are nutrients available in fresh grass lacking in the baled hay.

Depending on how hard the next two months of winter are I might be able to cycle the cattle through twice. My focus is on taking care of the soil in the paddocks and the main pasture. The main pasture will get turned in to paddocks soon, if the time affords itself.

Everyday Skills - Polishing Shoes

 

I think it's easy to get lost in all the high speed low drag things that are out there and forget that some of the simplest skills can make our lives much better.

How does polishing boots make your life better? Well your boots last longer, thus prolonging the time those two Benjamins you'll have to spend on a new pair of boots can stay in your wallet. You don't look like a homeless guy when you're wearing well polished boots. Your wife will appreciate you not being mistaken for the homeless when you're in public, that's another plus.

Don't be intimidated if you didn't have an angry Marine teach you how to properly polish boots (or dress shoes for that matter). You'll need some polish that's close to the color of your shoes, it doesn't have to be perfect, believe it or not it'll work itself out just fine. Get yourself a horsehair polish applicator brush, run in a circle clockwise and counter clockwise in your polish. Apply that polish to your shoes lightly, evenly in circles if you desire. Take your horsehair shine brush and brush it back and forth, up and down until it's shiny. Repeat polish application if all your leather isn't covered.

You can keep any pair of shoes looking respectable for decades.

Sour Cream Lemon Pie

Christmas at its core is about family and family traditions. This recipe came from the Reds' paternal grandmother, and is one of their favorite desserts. As a blended family it's fun to find our own traditions. This lemon pie is definitely going to be one moving forward. It's easy to make, pretty to look at, unique, and unbelievably tasty.




1 cup sugar 1/4 cup lemon juice
Mix sugar & cornstarch together in a saucepan.

Add egg yolks, milk, butter, lemon juice, and peel.


Cook over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly to avoid scorching.

Cool in refrigerator for about a half hour.
When cooled stir in sour cream and pour into baked pie shell.

Chill at least 2 hours. Serve with whipped cream.






1/4 c. Cornstarch. 1 T. Grated lemon peel

3 egg yolks. 1 cup sour cream1 cup milk. 1 9inch baked pie shell1/4 cup butter. 1 cup whipping cream, whipped

If I use a 10' pie plate I  one and a half times the recipe....  Using 5 egg yolks.

Crushed Egg Shells

With my latest garden was a mixed bag. The onions grew great. Lots of cucumbers before it got hot, the okra did well, but then I remembered why I didn't like okra (the taste), and the peppers did really well-so well in fact that I just gave another twenty away the first week of December. That said it was another atrocious year of failure for tomatoes in the garden. The watermelons yielded a single misshapen melon that found it's way to the hogs. I had a Celebrity tomato plant that did pretty well in a pot. So during the calm of winter it's time to get serious about next years garden.

We eat a ton of eggs, and I've been saving egg shells since last late summer. If you want a new way to annoy your wife, trying having all your broken eggshells just chilling in your fridge for months. I promise, it'll work. Anyway, I finally got around to processing them in the food processor. What you see above is roughly 100 egg shells, about 4 cups worth that will be part of the amendments in next year's tomato transplants. I think we'll probably be able to add another 100 or so egg shells to the cause by March planting time.

Hopefully between the horse compost, the chicken compost, rabbit manure, and the soil amendments I'll get more than a handful of tomatoes in return.

Homestead Tools - Kitchen Aid Food Processor

I'm over 40, so in my mind I'm officially old. If I've learned anything during my short time on this planet it's that quality is worth paying for. I would never tell you to buy the most expensive version of anything. Rather do your research and try to make a lifetime purchase, especially if it's going to be something that makes your life easier and allows you to get more done.

I'd never owned a food processor prior to buying the behemoth pictured above. Heck, to be honest, I didn't even know what they did. I was dating a girl who cooked, and taught me to enjoy cooking in the process. She walked me through all the things this Kitchen Aid could do and after buying it I couldn't go back.

I make a paleo meatloaf that consists of 6 eggs, 1 pound of ground beef, one pound of spicy italian sausage, a cup of parmesan cheese, a little minced garlic, a minced jalapeno, salt, pepper, and seasoned salt. All of that goes into the food processor at one time and it turns the ingredients into a really smooth, evenly mixed loaf in no time.

I use it to grind up eggshells into a fine consistency, make our laundry detergent for pennies on the dollar, make butter, grind up graham crackers for pie crusts (or Oreos), make butter, peanut butter, almond butter, humus, pesto, mayo, the list goes on and on.

How We Built Our Hog Pen

We went as barebones and cheap as we could with our pig pen. We bought the hog panels at Tractor Supply for $21 each, we had 4 T Posts on hand that I placed in the center of the 4 panels (on the outside of the panels). I connected the panels to the posts with a roll of heavy gauge wire that had been left behind by the previous owner, by simply tying solid square knots in three places, low, center, and high. The panels themselves were connected with both the wire, in the same three places, and then I also bought some cheap securable carabiners from Amazon that gave me the ability to securely join the panels on the ends, and allow me one corner to not use wire and be able to get in and out easily.

I made the mistake of using a half of a boiler as a feeder. It was heavy enough that for the first several months they couldn't move it, but looking back we were lucky that they didn't cut themselves on it. Next time we'll use a half of a 55 gallon plastic barrel. The water dish was the heavy flexible type and worked well.

Our next foray into hogs will be with grazing hogs, either kunekune or Guinea Hogs that graze. We have a ton of extra grass, might as well make it into bacon. I've got to do more research into the kunekune, what little I read today said they can be run in orchards as they won't gnaw on trees. We'll see.

Garden Beds Ready for Spring

The picture above does not do justice to all the laying out of cardboard, shoveling, and raking it took to get ready for next spring. I'm hoping to put another two beds down this winter to quadruple the size of the garden and perhaps actually get more than a dozen cucumbers and ten thousand jalapenos. I'll be adding red wriggler worms to the piles as they outgrow the vermicompost bin to get the horse compost jump started with worms.

I'm still torn between bringing in a tiller for a one time jump-start and digging in each of the transplants with a post hole digger and backfilling the hole with compost, egg shell, epson salt, etc. Don't be surprised if I do a bit of both to see what works best. I'm also going to mulch with paper like I did on everything in Idaho to keep the weeds down. Another project just waiting for spring.

I left a path between the two beds, we'll have to see if the we can keep it bare. 

I also have a hundred yearling fruit trees coming for the Missouri Extension Service that are going to go into 4 gallon pots, somehow we're going to work that into the garden to maximize water usage.

Don't Tell Me Your Plans, Show Me Your Results

When I was coaching men I heard all the things they were going to do. Rarely did their visions of grandeur match up to the reality. It seemed the ones who told you least about what they were going to do were the ones who accomplished the most.

In my old age I've come to realize that I can't affect much outside of my family and maybe 20 friends. That's it. That's all I can try to help, save, change, influence, call it what you want. All I can do is take care of my family and do my best to plan for them to be taken care of them.

I have friends that span the gamut politically, as I'm sure everyone does. I find the wailing and gnashing of teeth about the only person elected to nationwide office just as useless this time as the last two time the current President was elected. The day to day effect of the Obama administration on my life was almost negligible, as I'm sure President's Trump will be. Do I feel less threatened by the upcoming Trump administration? Yes, but government, at it's core, is political power exercised at the end of a gun.

The F-You vote that was Trump will be fun to watch, that I can't dispute, but how much it's going to change my life I just don't know. It looks to be a reprieve, a few years to continue to finish getting out of debt, pay off the house, install solar, the ponds dug, a well put in, and the food production ramped up enough to feed us and have a bit to sell and give away.

I hope your family is striving each day to be more independent, more self reliant, and more loving to one another.

Graduation Day

No plan survives first contact with the enemy. All of our Thanksgiving leftovers were placed in a feeder, along with their normal ration of feed. Bacon jumped right into the trailer, Chorizo on the other hand wasn't having any of it. As we tried to coax him into the trailer, he figured out that the hog panels were no longer secured to the posts, and made his way under the panels in short order. Chorizo apparently is much more of a salad connoisseur than a lover of stuffing and cranberry sauce.

Much swearing ensued. I was a jerk to my sweet wife, honestly at times I don't know what she sees in me, but I digress. The 4 wheeler once again proved invaluable, that and Chorizo's lack of focus on cardio. I was worried I was going to have to shoot him if he made it out of the pasture. Disaster was averted as we got him back into his old pen. After a few more minutes of swearing and trying to coax Chorizo into the trailer, he finally made his way in. There was much rejoicing. And much apologizing to Andrea.

I picked up the Red Wattle hogs back on August 13th when they were about 10 weeks old. So the 28th of November puts them just shy of 6 months old. They've proven easy to raise. Happy in both the heat of summer, pouring rain, and coolness of early fall.

Raising them really couldn't have gone better, the pen was cheap to build, and they didn't escape until their last day on the Snow Compound. The last thing we have to do is load them and take them to the butcher. I'll let you know how much they end up weighing.

Obligatory Thanksgiving Post

Flash Fried Beltie

If there is another job that makes you realize how little control you have, try homesteading. Outside of being donated to the Army in the middle of a war, it'll make you Thankful like few other occupations.

I'm Thankful for my Wife. I couldn't get half of what I get done without her. She's an amazing woman. She's kind. She understands me. She's beautiful. She loves being a teacher and works her booty off at it. She's a wonderful mom. I won the lottery when she chose me.

 I'm Thankful for rain after it's been dry. I'm Thankful after the thunderstorm has passed that I don't find Belted Galloways that have rode the lightning. I Thankful that all my cows' calves lived and seem to be thriving this year.

I'm Thankful that there wasn't a late frost this year and that we got to have a really good second year harvest.

I'm Thankful for a freezer full of FrankenChickens that turned out better than I could have ever have asked for.

I'm Thankful for the hogs that have been healthy and easy to raise.

I'm Thankful for wonderful eggs from the 2 chicken survivors of the roving gang of feral dogs

As I told my players every year, I'm Thankful for flush toilets. I'm Thankful for ice. I'm Thankful no one is trying to kill me on a daily basis.

I'm Thankful for this outlet, and the half dozen people in the world that actually read my tripe on a semi-regular basis. Thank you.

Everyday Carry - Kershaw Westin 3460

I've been looking for a replacement for my Benchmade Infidel that I lost when I rolled my Civic, after hitting a horse. All things considered, I still came out ahead in that deal. 

Aside from stabbing ISIS in the face, quickly, easily, and repeatedly, the Infidel wasn't much for practicality. Cool? Absolutely. Practical? Not so much.

I've rotated through a really big Gerber Tanto blade, it was too big. I went back an older, shorter and smaller Kershaw, but it was just too small. I was living with the big Gerber, but I watched a few minutes of a Nutnfancy review and took a flier on the Westin. It came sharp as all get out, though the one side being textured black plastic and the other side metal is odd.

It showed up in the mail about a week ago, and for me it's the most "right" knife I've owned. It feels right in the hand, the blade size is right for me, and the length, both opened and closed is exactly right for me. I really like how it opens with just a bit of pressure on the back of the knife. If you're looking for a good size knife, ruggedly built, take a long look at this knife.

A New Pup for the Homestead

I'll be honest, my wife is pretty amazing. What she sees in me, I don't know, but everyday I'm thankful she chose to fall in love with me. I've told her, more than few times, how much I miss Katniss, and she was listening. I think my wife may know me better than myself.

Sophia's dog Bear, has been awesome to work with. He's kind, patient, and a really a big cuddler. In short order he's learned to sit, shake, lay down, roll over, and wait to be released outside. Yet, as well as he and I get along, he's Sophia's dog. His temperament has really impressed me though and I've said as much to my wife several times.

I sent her a link on a German Shepherd and Great Pyrenees puppy that popped up on my local Facebook feed. Little did I know that she had already contacted the family and made arrangements to pick up the puppy prior to me sending the link. I come home to an empty home last night, assuming she stayed late at school or stopped by the store on the way home, only to be surprised with a new pup. He's around 9 weeks old, black as midnight, minus a tiny white streak on his chest, and like all puppies cute as a cow's ear.

In less than 24 hours he's already taken a shine to Bear, and vice versa. Benji on the other hand does not seem to appreciate a puppy bigger than himself. Right now I'm basically serving as a shuttle service to try to get him outside before he relieves himself on the tile, but when he plays with myself or Bear he is quite cute. I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more posts about him here in the future.

Wildflowers on the Homestead

If you're read this blog, and I know at least 3 of you personally, you've probably seen more pictures of wildflowers than any sane person would post... Why? We're growing soil here, and to do that successfully we need bees to pollinate everything. That means that we let the wildflowers grow everywhere we find them. 

It was 84 degrees on the 16th of November here on the homestead, so the flowers are still blooming and the bees are still hungry. All the wild sunflowers are still covered in bees and butterflies, as are the basil plants, and peppers that are still producing heavily the week before Thanksgiving. 

I hope we've done our part to feed the bees, and trust they've put enough honey away to have a comfortable winter here in Texas.

Prepping the Spring Garden Beds

You thought your job was crappy....

Part of homesteading for me has been simply returning to natural rhythms. The farm revolves around the seasons, not arbitrary dates on the calendar. I put down grass seed after a rain, not on a certain day. There's a lot of work, there's always 10 projects that I'd like to have done, but the beauty of the farm is things can also wait. 

On Veteran's Day I had to work in the morning, but took the afternoon to go pick-up a load of compost. The joy of finally finding a compost supplier is beyond words! Compost, loads of really high quality compost, are what have really been missing the last two years in the garden. Due to the recent rains, I only brought home about half of what I could have, I didn't want to get stuck! A full trailer will grace the trees next February, if not sooner.

Saturday we spent down in Waco watching the Baylor Women's Volleyball team dominate West Virginia, followed by dinner with some great friends at Catfish Plantation over in Waxahachie. It was amazing, if you ever get close, you have to eat there. Split a cajun plate with someone you love.

This also meant that the compost didn't get touched. Strangely enough it was still waiting for me.

Sunday morning I finished cleaning out the grass clippings that I'd used as deep litter bedding in the chicken coops. I put it on top of cardboard (the theory being that it'll help kill the grass underneath, yet break down by next spring). I spent the rest of Sunday, with the trusty scoop shovel pictured above, putting down about six inches of horse manure on top of the 3 inches or so of chicken manure composted with grass clippings and nitrogen rich feathers. 

We're going to double the size of the garden space for next year, and I'm hoping that the addition of the compost will help increase our yields. I'm also really excited for the asparagus beds. Next year marks the third year they've been in, and will also mark our first harvest.

It was well after dark before I finished, but I'm sure I'll post the final product along with my vermiculture experiment soon.