The director opened the double doors, then went up front to make an announcement. Under my breath, I said “Forward, march.” We split ways and met again at the front, one on either side of the casket. Taps played, we Read more…
If you’ve never owned livestock, it would blow your mind how much water they drink. And when winter rolls around and you don’t have access to water outside, it would blow your shoulders out hauling it all out there in Read more…
I see these all over the place. People selling eggs on the side of the road reading ‘Eggs’ with everything from a cooler to a little hut. I truly respect the people who are growing an abundance of food and Read more…
This will all change, so it’s important to note, this article is written in June, 2018. Two potentially HUGE things are happening simultaneously. Americans (and probably most people in developed countries) are taking a second look at how their food Read more…
A short post on a routine deck refinishing job around the home with some commentary including why YOU should start a website. The Job I’m not going to overcomplicate this one. My deck was last treated at least three years Read more…
One of 4 things are going to happen when your kids turn into adults. They are either going to stay near you, or move away; and they will do so either by choice, or by force. Which one of the Read more…
In the spring of 2018 I installed gutters on my barn as part of a bigger rainwater harvesting irrigation project. I did enough research to know that the seamless gutters installed by a professional are the best choice, but since Read more…
After coming around to the idea of Personal Freedom, the next step is to purposefully design the path to get there. THIS is Lifestyle Design. Here I provide a process to determine a true problem, and then the process to Read more…
Personal freedom is having the means to live life in the most fulfilling way possible. A fulfilling life will be different for all of us, but dedication to the four following categories will point us all in the right direction. Read more…
While seizing the opportunity to turn some compost in the rain it occurred to me that it was a perfect analogy to life. Sometimes life gets hard. Real hard. It happens. When it does, confront the challenge. Turn the compost over Read more…
Soil texture improves dramatically when you remove all the rocks and roots. I built a rugged soil sifter to clean my compost before putting it on the garden, and now I find myself using it all the time. After building Read more…
Chickens can be the model for sustainability on the backyard farm and homestead. In addition to providing food and labor, they can make more chickens. Using chickens to make chickens, once figured out, is far superior than incubating and hatching Read more…
The spring of 2018 marks the finest looking soil with the easiest spring garden cleanup we’ve had after five years growing annuals in this garden. It would be naive to suggest that anyone can know everything about all the factors Read more…
Another in the Series on How To Raise Chickens, this time on the most under utilized energy source on the back yard farm. Chickens. Conventional methods of raising chickens provide highly restrained outside space due to the destructive nature of Read more…
To be personally free we need to work toward self-reliance and build resilience around the systems that enable our way of life. While explaining the basic operation of brakes and how to maintain them, I’ll draw a correlation to being Read more…
Another in the series on How To Raise Chickens. After lots of hard work and planning, your chickens will provide an abundance of eggs. In this article I’ll cover the how to collect, wash, eat and share the wonderful bounty. Read more…
Treating children as possessions is akin to slavery. Several sources of encouragement brought me around to the idea of treating my child as the true autonomous person that she is … and it was liberating. I can’t say anything better Read more…
Another in the ‘How To Raise Chickens’ Series is how to feed chickens. This article will cover what type of feed to provide at each stage of a chicken’s life, and then get into how to supplement commercial feed to Read more…
Even though the implementation of a town Skill Share Network didn’t work, I’m still convinced it’s a good idea. In the process of learning how to start programs within a town I realized that, in order for anything like this Read more…
Another in the series of How to Raise Chickens, this time a cursory review of chicken coops. There are a lot of chicken coop options out there, so only you can decide what is best for your property, but as Read more…