If we’re being honest, I’m treading water. My heart is on the homestead, but my body still needs to be at work for another month. I chip away at various tasks with every spare moment, well aware that soon I’ll…
Weeks 43 & 44 at Farm 96: Orchard Expansion
Spring break often feels like a ‘preview’ of summer. Last year, around this time, I was buzzing with excitement and nerves – I was under contract on my dream homestead, I had a decent plan for moving, and there was…
Week 40 at Farm 96: Potato Towers & Starting Seeds
As frustrating as it is to have so little time for homesteading during the week, it does shed light on how lucky I am for most of the rest of the year. A typical homesteader with a full time job…
Week 36 at Farm 96: Blizzards & Books
This has been by far the most snow-packed winter that I can remember. There might have been years that technically rivaled this one – 2011 and 2013 come to mind – but the impacts of the snow really amplify when…
Week 30 at Farm 96: Spring Orchard Expansion & Planning a Cold Frame
As a reminder, I organize my week’s accomplishments according to my ultimate goals for this homestead property. Here’s what I got done this week: Food Production I placed a very exciting order for spring permaculture additions from Stark Bro’s Nursery. I was…
Weeks 20 & 21 at Farm 96: Winterizing Fruit Trees and Planting Garlic
I consider myself relatively intelligent and a decently handy person. My dad made it a point to familiarize me with the basic functioning of my childhood home and involved me in basic tasks like changing filters and completing repairs. I…
Week 11: Planting the Orchard & Blueberry Patch
This week was a perfect storm of non-farm responsibilities: daily after-school meetings throughout the week and lots of time spent on call as an EMT over the weekend. When I’m on call, I try to limit how dirty I get….
Designing An Orchard for a (Semi) Self Sufficient Homestead
In approximately 4.5 months, I will close on my new 10 acre farm, and the race will be on to get as much done as possible before summer comes to an end. I’m excited to hit the ground running, but…
6 Months from the Homestead Dream: 6 Tasks to Complete
In just under 6 months, I will receive the keys to a 10 acre farm – a blank slate on which I can build my dream semi self sufficient homestead 🙂 Because this is an off market sale, I was…