Follow Us @soratemplates

20210308

Continue reading...
at No comments: quickedit quickedit
Labels:

20210302

Continue reading...
at No comments: quickedit quickedit
Labels: ,

20210209

The Bread Machine

February 09, 2021 0 Comments
My mom surprised me with a bread machine. I love to make homemade bread, and always wanted a bread machine. It isn't always easy to find time to make homemade bread the 'old-fashioned way.' I was so excited, and had to try it out right away. It was already late, so I tried out the "Quick Bread" cycle, with a simple white loaf. Turned out great! Looking forward to trying out more recipes!

 
Continue reading...
at No comments: quickedit quickedit
Labels: , ,

20210205

Continue reading...
at No comments: quickedit quickedit
Labels: ,

20210109

Could it be?

January 09, 2021 0 Comments

We have dreamed of owning a piece of off-the-grid property for years. We have looked at a few places periodically throughout that time, but nothing felt right. 

Earlier this week John messaged me and told me he felt like we needed to go look at a piece of property. I said, 'okay,' and he made an appointment with the real estate agent. 

It was a cold and dreary day. To be honest with you, I really didn't want to go today. But I am so glad I did. The moment we stepped out onto the property it just felt "right." But we are not the type of people to rush into things. We usually think about it, and talk ourselves out of most things. We took a moment to pray together, we submitted an offer, and before we had made it home we already had a call that the owner had accepted our offer.

Today is the beginning of a new journey...
Continue reading...
at No comments: quickedit quickedit
Labels: , , ,

20200413

Continue reading...
at No comments: quickedit quickedit

20191115

Continue reading...
at No comments: quickedit quickedit
Labels:

20180407

The Fruit Cocktail Tree

April 07, 2018 0 Comments

Adding fruit to our little homestead.


We would love to someday have a small orchard on our property. There are already a couple of large pear trees that need some care. We are working to figure out what we need to do to get them healthy and productive. 

Thursday we bought a couple of blueberry bushes (we will talk about the blueberries another day) and we also purchased a "fruit cocktail tree."


What is a "fruit cocktail tree"?

It is a fruit tree that has had branches [typically from the same species] grafted onto it. Our tree has peaches, plums, apricots, and nectarines. However, one of the limbs (nectarine) seems to be dead. Only time will tell for sure. This was the only one available at our local nursery with four possible fruits, so we figured we would try.


Why did we choose a "fruit cocktail tree" to begin our orchard?

Well, why not? ðŸ˜Š It will be pretty awesome and amazing to see different fruits growing on the same tree after all. But that is not the only reason. 

Since we are on a tight budget, we were not sure if we will be able to purchase any other trees this spring. This tree gives a variety of fruit within the one tree. It seemed to be a good idea as a start to our orchard. I am very excited to see this tree grow and produce.













For more information on planting and pruning fruit trees, we referred to: Storey's Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance and Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills
Continue reading...
at No comments: quickedit quickedit
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

20180404

How Things have Improved. Pros and Cons of Roosters

April 04, 2018 2 Comments

Recently we made the decision to eliminate the rooster from our flock. This was a good decision for our family. I realize that everyone's experiences with having roosters varies. This simply has been our experience so far.


Firstly, the pros of having a rooster:

*The biggest reason we liked having our rooster was the fact that he was protective of the hens so we worried a little less about attacks from predators. (However, the extreme protective behavior was also a downside to us actually enjoying our chickens, as our roo was also eager to attack us.)

*Our second reason we liked having the rooster was that he consistently alerted us to their location when they were free-ranging. If we were unable to see them, if we waited a moment and listened we could hear a crow from him and could tell their whereabouts.

*Lastly, we liked that we had the possibility to have chicks.


Now the pros of NOT having a rooster:

*Our hens are so much friendlier. All of them. We had one that was always friendly, but the others were skittish and tended to keep their distance mostly. It was hard to convince them to let us pet them, and extremely difficult to catch them and hold. Since the rooster is gone, all of our hens come to us freely, willingly and eagerly. In fact, they will line up at our door sometimes and wait on us. :)


*Since the chickens are friendlier, this leads to the next benefit. Since there is no aggressive [rooster] we can allow our children to play outside without fear. Our oldest daughter began to not like playing outside, come to find out, she was always worried the rooster would escape the coop/run. Since he is gone, she is excited to play outside again.


*The hens typically stay closer to home. It seemed with the rooster they roamed a bit further when free-ranging. Sometimes the hens still wander off, but usually not as far and/or for not as long.

*Lastly, our hens' eggs are not fertilized. This makes it easier to give them away or sell them. We have found that some people will not eat eggs that they believe may be fertilized.


What has your experience been?
Do you prefer having a rooster in your flock?
What have been your PROs and CONs?



 Linked to the Homestead Blog Hop
Continue reading...
at 2 comments: quickedit quickedit
Labels: ,

20180323

Planning Planting

March 23, 2018 0 Comments
A couple of weeks ago I shared our tentative plan for companion planting in our garden. Now it is time to decide just where in our yard we will place each of these sections of vegetable combinations, and to make preparations to actually start planting.

Time for a little more research... I learned which plants can and cannot be started indoors (mostly obvious) and which plants do not want their root systems disturbed. I also learned ideal timing for planting each vegetable. (It is important to note that we live in USDA Hardiness Zone 7, so depending upon where you live, timing could be different for you.) 


So far my journal has been extremely helpful to us. I am able to jot down notes quickly and scribble out plans, sit down for some research, keep it close by when we are outside working, and hopefully look back on it in the future-- to learn from what we have tried in the past. 


At the moment we have taken our companion planting notes and configured it into four main garden areas in our yard. We are preparing the ground and will begin planting soon.



Alright, we got lots of work to do now...see you later...
Continue reading...
at No comments: quickedit quickedit
Labels: , , ,