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I built the greenhouse. It is 12' by 16' and I built it. I can still feel the weight of the ridgpole on my shoulder as I put it into place while I stood on a chair. I remember the stiffness that I felt every morning.
Then I looked up at the plastic over my head, and I saw it moving in the wind that I did not feel, and I KNEW that I had built it! |
We bought land on the river and built everything on it ourselves: cabin, 6 stall horse barn with big hayloft, outbuildings, etc. all powered by a solar system that my husband designed. We both get a lot of satisfaction when we realize all we've accomplished over the past 3 years. With a lot more still to be built!
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Last fall and this past spring I put up about 500' of fencing by myself. It is 2"x4" woven wire, 5' high, attached to metal fence posts and trees. Being a 60 year old woman, it was a job! :dance:
So far, the dogs haven't been able to get out of their area, and it seems to have kept out foxes and coyotes looking to dine on duck or goose. |
hmm. Purchasing the homestead would be a big one. Seeing it in person would be another. LOL thats about all I have for now.
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Setting up our homestead meant clearing our land for our horses, which was thick forest growth. It took some hard work, but we did it. Then building our barn, which is almost finished. And setting up our solar system so we could run our home business on our laptops. It is the most satisfying feeling, doing it on your own.
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I built our chicken house and the lean-to rabbit shed off the side of it. Not a bad job for a first project, built out of scrap wood, mostly.
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Milk Barn
Just finished my milk barn. I've been racing my cow is ready to drop her calf. GLAD it's done!
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Not much of an accomplishment other than longevity, but if I make it to next April, I can say I've spent 70 years on the home farm. "Growing" four great kids on this land has been the most satisfying accomplishment. Making a go of it all these years and then building my herd of Registered Holsteins are significant doin's as well.
When we moved on to the place, there was a small barn and the pump house. Now, we have 28 buildings, four silos and six grain bins. We've got one wall in the front room covered with a family picture each year at Christmas, and another wall that has an aerial picture of the farm every year from 1957 on. Probably spent more than we should on those pictures, but I don't get to look at the place that way and you can trace all of the building and improvements this way. |
Greenhouse, hoophouse and raised beds. And all of those pretty jars in the pantry and cabinets. That salsa is going to be real good this winter!
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Reworked 50ft of rusty T.V. tower!
and Cleaned the house! :clap: |
Mine involve the animals we've raised, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens. I'd love to get a milk animal but as I get older I find there's only so much energy to go around! (I work full-time) Of course, there's also putting in the garden, making apple sause and juice etc. I think that the things that give one the most pleasure are the things you're able to do for your family and others!
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I'm amazed all we've been able to get done in 7 years. A 8kw diesel generator for emergency power backup (installed & wired to our power pole), a 300 gal fuel barrel of diesel, a nice Case diesel tractor, a backhoe/loader; we dug a 2 acre pond and stocked it with fish, build a chicken house & pen and have a thriving flock, got bows & arrows and have become fairly proficient with our target practicing, paid our farm off and bought another 80 adjoining acres which has another well on it.
Now if we can get solar & wind power installed along with a battery bank, we'll be pretty set. Oh! And a milk goat or two. |
Rebuilding An Old Log Cabin, Rechinking Inside And Out, Cooking Eggs, Sausage, Pancakes And Coffee ... Watching The Snow Drift In On The Continental Divide ... All Last Week.
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We are just starting our homesteading adventure on our new property But our accomplishments to date include clearing about 175+ white pines for our home spot - logs up to be used for garage next year Plus, we had a pretty nice garden for not even living there this summer! Looking forward to many more accomplishments to come - I'm enjoying reading what everyone has done - We've got some energetic people on this board! |
getting our orchard planted (cut down by someone 2 yrs later)
learning how to catch wild bees (our hive didn't stay but we learned a lot) working out our "Hanging system" for our rabbit cages using tee posts and welded "hangers" - works real well! |
One thing I failed to mention that is probably on the list of 'most satisfying' developments for this property is the planting of about 3 thousand tree seedlings on the north side which are mostly about 15 to 20 ft. tall now. These are red pine, scots pine, white spruce, and against the back woodlot a row of jackpine. All were 2 year transplants from the forest service except the scot pine that were bought from a private nursery (french stock for this zone) and the jackpine seedlings were 'throwaways' from the local nursery (500 of them) that grew just fine, thank you. .....and a great windbreak along with the few norway spruce and siberian pear trees closer to the house making great additions for the song birds also.
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I've got to say, raising our own food, then processing it for storage, whether it is frozen meat, canned beans & berries and raising chicks/poults we hatched in our incubator. Plus, keeping the fencing sound to keep all these critters alive and healthy, that is the MOST satisfying to me!
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All Time and Now
Of All Time
Leaving the City, building our log cabin, breaking and getting under cultivation at first 34 acres, and then getting title to our home quarter -- homesteading. http://www.abceltd.com/pics/Web/CabinAndOatsCut600.jpg Our Log Cabin Today, well . . . last month, with cut oat and hay crop -- just before baling. Recently Skidding two 16' x 16' x 8' high, plus peaked roof sheds 3/4 of a mile down the road to our quarter, from the neighbor's quarter, who gave them to us. We are going to join the two of these they gave us together, cut out the backs of each, put in a big door, and have a 32'x 16' garage-shop-shed -- just for the fun of doing it. http://www.abceltd.com/pics/Web/ShedSkidding.jpg Me in F150 in 4WL and low skidding 16 x16 shed back, two weeks ago -- we loaded the back full with that pine and spruce we got -- for extra traction -- it worked like a charm -- only wore out two skidding cables. Oh and growing our garden, with no-till, and drip irrigation – though we didn’t need that much extra water this year. And we got a decent crop and our garden was nice. http://www.abceltd.com/pics/Web/PotatoesPeasFlowers.jpg Potatoes, peas, and wild flowers last month, no till – third year, drip irrigation, gone for three weeks in July. That’s it for now – more to come, hopefully. Alex |
You guuuuys! (That's me whining), I am SO jealous!!! Boy, I thought canning peaches for the first time was a major accomplishment. I have a looong way to go.
Very inspirational, all of you, thank you! Beaux |
As Ms. Beaux states, there are lots of success stories that inspire the rest of us to keep going. I've got the house and garage built, but the barn, orchards, and garden are all works in progress. However, they are started. The orchard sites are mostly cleared and much of the wood that was felled in the clearing of them is being sawed to construct the barn. I'm trying to narrow the list of apple trees now and hope to begin planting this Spring. The barn footings should be in before a hard freeze hits this far south, and we oftentimes can build in the winter months here. The nut orchard will be the last to go in (which is unfortunate given the time it takes to get them to harvest), but I've got three huge brush piles in the way just now. The garden is on it's "umpteenth" green manure planting, and the sandy soil is getting blacker with each planting/turning. A brother and I are clearing some fence lines, and that is likely to get more attention once the weather moderates. Bees are also in the plan, but that is likely the last project on the list right now. Darn list just keeps growing, and I've/we've only got the weekends to work on it.
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LOL
Yes, we knew Alex would answer & put us all to shame!! ha! Impressive.....and THANKS for the pics - I always enjoy your pics |
Congratulations to us all
Heather,
Thanks, it is only the pictures you like. I probably shouldn't post them, since they seem to make our accomplishments more than they are. I am blown-away by the accomplishments of members of this group -- proud to be a part of it all, and thankful for the forum being here. Congratulations to us all, Alex |
Yes, Alex, you are right -
We should ALL be proud of what we have accomplished - For some, a little accomplishment is BIG and to others big accomplishments seem SMALL - it's all relative depending on your situation. |
Let's see - finally got my goats, chickens, ducks and geese that I've been wanting for years. Built a chicken coop out of skids, scrap wood and scrounged roofing metal - only thing it cost me was the hardware cloth to bury under the footings to varmint-proof. I did all the work myself except for the roof. Also, built a milking parlour in the barn, again out of scrap lumber, myself - and put up all the stalls for the goats.
I also built raised beds and fenced in the garden area, but the garden didn't do much. We're on very wet soil (hence the raised beds) and I suspect it may be very acidic so I will get the soil tested before planting next year. We grow lots of skunk cabbage! |
This year...
... it's been tough (1st year on this homestead)
0. Marriage Any time you move, start again, remodel, etc and STAY MARRIED, that's got to be the major accomplishment! 1. The new garden Never was a garden in this section of land. First year went well for everything but peppers. Now we have a 60x120 garden carved from "nothing" with raised beds, stone walls and fencing, etc. 2. Horse Paddock After buying the barn building, we had zero money for much else. I bought old ginseng poles (white cedar) for $0.50 each and got 14' rails for free (I disassembled them) and built an 80x120 three rail paddock out of them. Dug the postholes by hand in Wisconsin blue slate, tamped them in, cut, positioned and nailed all the rails, etc. A huge horse paddock for $50.00!!! Add to this two round bale feeders built from cedar along with 2 lean-to's built similarly... 3. Barn There was no barn, and now the new barn is almost done. It's a wood pole building with metal sheathing, but it sure is nice! 4. House remodeling We took a house with one downstairs toilet and no vent stack and turned it into a house with 2.5 baths, a new vent stack, and a clawfoot tub! All we had to do was tear out 4-5 walls, remove a 3 story brick chimney, build 3 new walls... etc etc. 5. Septic New septic system. Admittedly I didn't have a lot to do with this, but one day of work and some FRNs got us a new system. 6. Canning and Freezing Put back 40 lbs of green beans and 40-50 lbs of corn (both frozen). Dried 300 onions, canned 40-50 pints of tomatoes and various tomato-based "things", 40 jars of strawberry rhubarb jam, 20 pints of strawberry jam, 8 pints of mint jelly, 56 qts of peaches, 12 qts of applesauce... I am sure I'm missing something... ah yes, honey... we'll get a bit of that from 25 beehives we've got going 100%! 7. Animals Went from 1 dog and 2 cats to 3 dogs, 5 cats (only 1 indoors), 2 goats (does, for milk), 2 Rex rabbits (one male and one female), and 6 horses. 8. Woodpile Felled (dead standing), cut, and stacked 6 cords of elm and red oak. Plans for next year: 1. Improve relationship (it's great, but only because we keep it in this position!) 2. Improve the horse operation (better pasture fencing, round pen, automated water system, add electric to barn, etc) 3. Dredge all three ponds and put a stone/sand beach in for the horses 4. Re-cut waterway to reclaim some farmland and pasture 5. Breed and show rabbits at the fair (kids) 6. Add a chicken coop and chickens |
We've been planting a fruit tree orchard - a minimum of 2 new trees a year. We now have 3 apple, 3 pear, 3 plum, 2 cherry, 2 peach, 1 apricot and 1 nectarine trees. There's wild black raspberry bushes all over our land, so we've started transplanting some in rows for ease of harvesting, and have been planting just a few grape vines (altho I'd like a lot more). We have some wild grapes here and wild plum trees.
Our forrested area is mostly oak, walnut and some cottonwood. We have tons of walnuts but don't know anything about the equipment we'd need to harvest them from the shells yet. And I'm not sure if there's anything we could do with all the acorns. |
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In Minnesota, black walnut trees are usually ready for nut harvest from August through September. Follow the tips in this message to learn how to harvest them. Allow nuts to ripen on the tree. The husk changes from solid green to yellowish green when ripe. Press on the skin of the walnut with your thumb. Ripe nuts show an indentation. Walnuts discolor when stored with husks attached and their flavor is ruined. Wear gloves when removing husks because dye from the husks stains. Remove husks by applying pressure to the nut's ends. Pound side to side with a hammer while wearing safety glasses. Husks also can be softened in a container of water, then peeled. A third alternative is to place nuts in a hand-operated corn sheller. After hulling, rinse the nuts, preferably outdoors since nuts stain. Next, check for insect feeding by placing the nuts in water. Nuts without injury will sink. Do not compost walnut husks. Juglone, a chemical released by walnut trees, is toxic to some vegetables and plants, such as tomatoes. Curing--The nuts must be cured. This prepares them for storage and allows flavor to develop. Stack the clean, hulled nuts in layers two or three nuts deep. Place them in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area, out of direct sunlight for two weeks. When nuts are dry enough to store, kernels break with a sharp snap. If cured improperly, mold forms. Storage--After curing, store unshelled nuts in a well-ventilated area at 60 degrees Fahrenheit or less. Cloth bags or wire baskets discourage mold. Keep the relative humidity fairly high, about 70 percent. To shell nuts, soak them in hot water for 24 hours. Drain and soak again for two more hours. Cover the nuts with moist cloths until you're ready to crack the shells. Bake nuts at 215 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. If stored at room temperature, use within a few weeks. Shelled nuts can be refrigerated up to nine months. They can be frozen for up to two years. HERE'S ANOTHER: How to Harvest and Store Walnuts Walnuts come in two types: the familiar English walnut and the native American black walnut. While the English walnut gives up its hull fairly easily, removing a black walnut's hull takes some doing - so much so that some hardy souls have been known to drive over the hulls with a car. Steps: 1. Harvest walnuts in early fall, from September to October. 2. Knock or shake hulls from the tree once the shells are full but while the hulls are still intact, or gather them off the ground as soon as they fall. 3. Remove the hulls, protecting your hands from stains using rubber gloves. Rinse with water to remove the tannin. 4. Spread the shells in the sun to dry and cure for two to three weeks. Kernels will break cleanly when bent if completely dry. 5. Keep nuts in the shell in a cool, dry area for several months. You can also shell nuts and refrigerate them for several months, or freeze them for longer storage. Tips: Walnuts are delicious when eaten raw, tossed into salads, added to prepared dishes or used in baking. English walnuts are milder; black walnuts have a stronger, distinctive flavor. AND FOR ACORNS: Here is some information about eating acorns or rather acorn meal. The tannins have to be removed to avoid the bitterness. I don't know what your grandfather might have done to remove the tannins in whole acorns unless the type of acorn had less tannins to begin with and could have been removed by soaking the whole acorn. ACORN PANCAKES from Sharon Hendricks Break an egg into a bowl. Add: 1 teaspoon salad oil 1 teaspoon of honey or sugar 1/2 cup of ground and leached acorns 1/2 cup of corn meal 1/2 cup of whole wheat or white flour 2 teaspoons of double action baking powder 1/2 teaspoon of salt 1/2 cup of milk Beak all together. If the batter is too thick to pour, thin it with milk. Pour pancakes into a hot, greased griddle and cook slowly until brown on both sides. Serve with butter and syrup or wild blackberry jam. Delicious!! PREPARATION OF GROUND ACORN MEAL Pick up several cupfuls of acorns. All kinds of oaks have edible acorns. Some have more tannin than others, but leaching will remove the tannin from all of them. Shell the acorns with a nutcracker, a hammer, or a rock. Grind them. If you are in the woods, smash them, a few at a time on a hard boulder with a smaller stone, Indian style. Do this until all the acorns are ground into a crumbly paste. If you are at home, it's faster and easier to use your mom's blender. Put the shelled acorns in the blender, fill it up with water, and grind at high speed for a minute or two. You will get a thick, cream-colored goo. It looks yummy, but tastes terrible. Leach (wash) them. Line a big sieve with a dish towel and pour in the ground acorns. Hold the sieve under a faucet and slowly pour water through, stirring with one hand, for about five minutes. A lot of creamy stuff will come out. This is the tannin. When the water runs clear, stop and taste a little. When the meal is not bitter, you have washed it enough. Or, in camp, tie the meal up in a towel and swish it in several bucketfuls of clean drinking water, until it passes the taste test. Squeeze out as much water as you can, with your hands. Use the ground acorn mash right away, because it turns dark when it is left around. Or store in plastic for freezing if you want to make the pancakes later. JUST SOME IDEAS |
All of you have great accomplishments.
After all we've done and been through I still think actually pulling off our first six months was our biggest accomplishment. During the last week of May 02 we moved our family of my wife and I, our five kids including a 2 y/o, and our dogs onto a raw piece of land. We had a small airstream and two tents and of course no power, water and phone. Building was slow since we were doing it ourselves with no bank loan. The first day of school for that year was on August 17. The temperature was 17 degrees when the kids crawled out of the tents to get ready for school. We were running out of time. We used every penny we could scape up for the next month and got every one in the unfinished and uninsulated bottom floor of the house. Sometime in early November we bought insulation and insulated the first floor. That night the temperature plummeted to -40. |
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Do you happen to have any photos you could share?? |
wel despite all the renovating and building we have done (you are never done fixing a house or old barn!!) the thousands of animals that have called here home or we were thier second home, our greatest accomplishment are the kids. our own four plus the ones that have visited and grown up here . had one boy travel up our lane at about 4 years old wanting to learn how to drive tractors ,that grew up here learning about farming ,dogs,welding etc. grew up to be a useful guy and though he moved away has moved back with his wife and child to a house near us. our own guys are growing up way to quick !! seem to have level heads and know where milk comes from ,what grows on what and how and why animals are born. can fix what they break and create new invetions out of just a bout anything!!
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Our Camp http://www.hipgallery.com/photopost2.../airstream.JPG http://www.hipgallery.com/photopost2.../girlstent.JPG Kitchen http://www.hipgallery.com/photopost2...0/kitchen1.JPG Beginning of the house http://www.hipgallery.com/photopost2...500/house1.JPG Getting There http://www.hipgallery.com/photopost2...500/house2.JPG Getting Cold http://www.hipgallery.com/photopost2.../housesnow.JPG http://www.hipgallery.com/photopost2/data/500/cold1.JPG |
All of you do so much!! Me, I'm just proud to almost have my place paid for. I owe a little over 1400 on it. It's 40 acres surrounded by 900+ acres of national forest. Another accomplishment, at least I think it is.... I've lived out there 10 years without running water and electricity. I love this life style. :)
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Our house
The most monumental accomplishment would have to be our house which we built ourselves over a 3 year span. Neither my husband nor I had ever taken on anything like this and we were only able to work on it on the weekends since we lived an hour and a half from where we were building and we both worked full time. Thanks to my dad who knew a lot about electrical wiring and heating and cooling. The only other one that helped us besides my dad was my husband's dad. And thank goodness we got the job done just before our 4th child was born!
Our other accomplishment has been raising the kids and homeschooling away from all the drugs, violence and all the other wonderful things that seem to be in the large cities. They make us proud. |
Lots of accomplishments on the homestead in a physical sense...barn, pasture, greenhouse but none holds a candle to the feeling of watching my children grow in such a wonderful place.
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Heather, thank you so much for the info on nuts. I'd forgotten I'd heard something about using acorns for a flour. I wonder if all acorns are edible.
FreeinAlaska - I am definitely impressed... -40 and sleeping in a tent - oh my gosh! I can't imagine that. MtnWomanAR congratulations you're about to have your place paid off - what a glorious feeling! I love hearing from all of you about your dreams, plans and accomplishments. What a neat 'family' we all are. |
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What a great topic!
We've been here... hubby since mid June, me since mid August. So 2 months and 1 month, respectively. Hubby fixed a *bunch* of broken water pipes that had frozen, and replaced a gas heater. We've begun putting up a new ceiling in the upstairs living room (needs better insulation). We have some new windows on order (these old ones are so loose you can literally put your hand from the inside to the outside of the house while they're closed :eek: ) We've begun stocking the pantry (this year it's Sam's Club bulk purchases, next year some will be home canned). I've started preparing a small garden plot for next spring. "Discovered" a couple of cherry trees and some apple trees which desperately need pruning but which bore enough apples for me to make three pies. :goodjob: Daughter has researched rabbits and is preparing to build a hutch with our help. She's into sports at her new school and I'm selling concessions at the games. So we're becoming familiar with our community. Still unpacking boxes, vacuuming up spiders, trapping mice... I *love* it here!! :dance: |
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