It was a huge week on the farm, so I’m not going wax poetic – I’ll just get right into it:
Energy Independence
Usually this category comes last – while just as significant a goal as the others, it’s not something I typically work towards on a day-to-day basis. In fact, one of these days I will begin to omit it from the weekly updates entirely, because I will have essentially accomplished all of the goals in the category. I never intended to go off the grid – I only ever wanted the security of a low electric bill, a large stack of firewood, and enough water stored to get me through a few days in a power outage.
This week, in just one morning, a major item got checked off the list: solar panels! I started this process with an initial consultation that took place just three days after I closed on the property – so, all-in, it’s taken over three months to get to this point. They are not running yet – that will come soon, after permit inspections – but the panels are there on the barn, already blending in to the landscape as if they’ve been there forever. And I’ve fully paid for them, which was a cost that had been looming over me for the entirety of the time I’ve been here. With the significant costs of buying the property and making those initial improvements now fully behind me, I finally feel like I can breathe and start to think about what comes next.
My solar panels will be on a net-metering system, which means that the electricity I produce will go to the electric company, and I will essentially have a ‘balance’ of electricity that I can then draw from. In high production months, I will produce far more than I use. In low production months, if I use more than I produce, I will draw from my ‘bank’. If I ever far exceed this, I will just pay an electric bill – but this is unlikely, as the size of the system was chosen with my needs in mind. In lieu of that, my electric bill will consist of a ~$10 monthly service charge – a bit annoying, but still a huge savings!
If you’re wondering, I forwent battery storage because the cost was astronomical – it was about $16,000 for the 12 solar panels I had installed, and in the range of $50,000 for the same system with battery storage.
Food Production
It’s a little sad to realize that gardening is requiring less of my focus as autumn settles in. I watered my fruit trees, harvested some radishes and herbs, and continued to spread wood chips to slowly carve a gardening space from the former unruly field.
Resource Acquisition & Preparedness
Since beginning my homesteading life, I’ve been trying to cook beans from dry rather than buying cans – it’s a lot less expensive and feels a whole lot more ‘self-reliant’. It’s also very easy in a pressure cooker. This week, I cooked a big vat of black beans but wound up not eating as much as I meant to. Instead of letting them go bad, I froze them. Not only did this reduce food waste, but keeping some beans in the freezer at all times is a good way to make sure I always have some available without needing to run the pressure cooker for 1.5 hours.
I also pickled the radishes that I had harvested last week. I had never pickled radishes before, but I figured this was a good way to extend their lives – even refrigerator pickles will last months in the fridge. I’ve also used this brine for cucumbers and carrots with great success:
- 3 cups water
- 6 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- generous sprig of dill
- 1-2 cloves of garlic, smashed
This made about 3 pints, packed tight. I used homegrown garlic and dill, which is about as satisfying as it gets. I’ve made vinegar before, so it’s cool to know that I could do this without any store-bought inputs in the future.
I’ve used this recipe to great success with cucumbers. Please note: this recipe is NOT for use with a water-bath canner! This is for refrigerator pickles, which in my experience last several months in the fridge. To make shelf-stable canned pickles, you should use an approved recipe to ensure safety.
Aesthetic Utility
I decided to host a little housewarming party; I’ve been putting off having people over because I felt the house wasn’t ready yet. It’s still not ready, but the party isn’t for a few weeks; having this event on the calendar has refreshed my motivation to keep making progress.
I’ve been surprised by how easily I got used to the unfinished tasks – boxes that didn’t get unpacked, art that ended up stacked in a corner, plants that wound up cluttered in one windowsill. I figured these things would bother me, but with enough other things to do, I became blind to them very quickly.
With the party on the horizon, I’ve been slowly tackling these piles by hanging art and placing plants. I’ve had to accept that some of my mom’s art, while sentimental, is not my style and I’d rather not hang it in my house at this time. It makes me feel guilty to put them into basement storage, but this home has to be my style.
I’ve also started fall clean-up in the landscaping around the property. Many of the bushes are overgrown, and all of the beds are filled with weeds. I’m doing my best to trim down anything that I can. I haven’t bothered to research whether this is an appropriate time to prune these bushes – I frankly would rather they not survive than live with scraggly branches blocking my window views for the entire winter. I did feel bad about hacking back an enormous hydrangea, which almost guarantees it will have lackluster at best blooms next year, but my view of my family’s farm is the whole reason I bought this house – I can’t let a giant bush stand in the way of that!
I also tackled a job that has been on my to-do list since I moved here: I hauled the world’s largest window A/C unit out of the basement! The previous owners left it here along with all the others, but the others were small enough for me to haul out to the curb on my own. I had hoped I could sucker someone into helping me with this one, but my town’s free annual bulk pick-up was coming up, and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to get rid of it for free. I must say, I’m pretty proud of myself – I used a hand truck and ratchet straps to get it to the cellar doors, and then a series of deadlifts to ‘flip’ it up the stairs, one step at a time. Then, it was back to the hand truck and ratchet straps to get it out to the curb. I really wish I had a video of the whole endeavor. I can now finish organizing the food storage area of my basement.
Moving Forward
I would have more time to relish in gratitude for how amazing my life is right now if my amazing life did not require so much work. I am tired, but I am happy. Next week looks similarly busy. And the week after that. I suppose that’s fine – although I must admit, the idea of a quiet winter’s night with too much snow outside to do any real work is sounding pretty nice, too.
Until next time,
KC