It’s Crunch Time!
Hello Friends! My schedule has become unpredictable as I've been taking trips to go to our property to begin preparations for our move to full time, off grid life. We will be moving soon and there is a lot that needs to be done. It’s getting to be crunch time so I’m going to cut back to posting once per week. Here is a look at some of the things I’ve been up to, adventures had, and lessons learned!
Stop Throwing Away Bones After Making Broth!
Meat can be a controversial subject. Some people claim that humans were never meant to eat meat and that they are healthier now that they only eat a plant based diet, others swear by the carnivore diet. Most homesteaders raise some kind of meat animal but there are some vegan homesteaders. I can respect whatever food decisions you make! We choose to eat meat, but we do eat it in moderation. We prefer to eat meat that we know where it comes from and had a good, fulfilling life. Lastly, we try to use as much of the animal as we can. That can be difficult! One part of the animal that I grew up throwing away is the bone. However, bone broth has made a come back, and for good reason! Bone broth is one of those super foods that not only gives you a ton of nutrients, but also ads good flavor to foods. We like soup, especially in the winter so it’s nice to have a lot of bone broth on hand. In fact, chicken isn’t my favorite type of meat, but we plan to raise meat chickens mostly so we can have their bones for broth! We have struggled a bit with making bone broth in the past and have only made it when we have enough bones to make a good batch. However, we’ve developed a good system that works well for us and I want to share how we get multiple uses out of those bones instead of just tossing them!
Off Grid Fight!
Our plans are shifting… again. If you’re new here, we have recently moved from our home in Southern Utah and are temporarily house sitting in Southern Missouri for the winter. We will be moving onto our own off grid property in May. We purchased raw land more than a year ago. It had no home, no water, no electricity. We even had to build an access road! We had plans for a temporary shelter while we built a home, but those plans got shattered. We shifted and found the opportunity to live in the home we are in now. It has been a blessing! A gnarly car crash during our move made us shift gears again. Recently, storm system moved through the East/Midwest and Missouri had several tornadoes touch down and cause significant damage. We were safely out of the path, but it was too close for comfort. This was honestly one of our fears before moving hear but we looked at the data and it appeared that while there are plenty of tornado warnings, actual damage causing tornadoes were not super common in the Ozark region. This storm system is supposedly a 100 year event. However, in Southern Utah we had a 100 year flood. It caused lots of damage. Then it happened again several years later, then again not too long after that! Natural disasters seem to be increasing all over. Our long term home plans include plans for this, but not our temporary shelter. So, here we are. Shifting our plans again. I am not going to tell you what we are planning exactly, because nothing has solidified yet, and honestly, it might change again! This whole process reminds me of what it feels like to fight. Let me explain:
The Goat Milk Rodeo!
In the last post, I wrote about a great system for keeping the goats from stepping in, or spilling their milk when I’m milking them. You can read it here. This system has worked well for me since I adopted it. In fact, it hasn’t failed once. However, I HAVE failed! It’s happened a few times now and while it doesn’t usually result in spilled milk, it has resulted in stress on animals and myself. Although, it has made for a very entertaining story! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the goat milk event at the Growing Freedom Homestead Rodeo!
Efficient Homestead: Goat Stand Tiedown Stystem
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been working on getting my milking routine more efficient. I’ve decided to just do a series of posts to show the changes instead of trying to cram it all in one post. The unique system I want to share today is something I came up with a few years ago. I see pictures of cows, and even some goats who will just stand still while they are milked. In all the years I’ve been doing this, I haven’t had a single goat that will do that! We put their head in a stanchion, give them treats, sing lullabies, etc., but no matter how well behaved they may be most of the time, it only takes one stamp of the foot to put their poopy, dirty hooves in the milk bucket! It usually happens close to the end of the milking session too so it ruins even more of the milk! Because of this, I’ve just decided
Efficient Homestead: A More Efficient Milking Routine
Today I want to talk about efficiency. Efficiency is something that I can geek out over! It is something that is becoming a bigger part of our homestead and will be a common topic on this blog. While I was working on making my shoe business more efficient in order to compete with much larger companies, I had to really focus in on getting my process as efficient as possible. I found that the areas that you can really save time and energy are the things that you do every day, over and over. If you decide to get dairy animals of any kind, you will find that it is a daily commitment.
Into the Fire
One of the things we’re learning the hard way is that if you heat your home with wood, it is very important to get it cut and drying long before cold weather hits. This is not new information for us, but unfortunately, we didn’t really have that opportunity because we moved in the late fall/early winter. The weather was nice here but it had been cool and the house needed heating. There was a little bit of wood available but we needed to obtain more wood. We’re farm sitting for the winter and this property is mostly pasture. There isn’t a lot of dead wood available. Luckily there is public land close by and I’ve been able to get a permit to cut dead wood there.
Property Update
I’ve learned since moving to Missouri that I need to be a little bit more proactive about checking the weather forecast. We got rain so infrequently in Utah and I learned to see the signs of rain coming. In Missouri, rain comes more often and I haven’t yet learned to see the signs so sometimes it surprises me and my plans for the day get washed away. I decided to check the weather last week and was surprised to see one day with a high of 72 degrees! I thought maybe that would be a good day for us to visit our property again. I checked the forecast for that location and it was showing a high of 74. I couldn’t ask for better conditions! We had to make some decisions regarding infrastructure and building plans but we needed some information first. So we made plans and headed out for the day.
Why we decided to blog
Some of you may be wondering why we decided to start a blog in favor of something more cutting edge like an exclusive YouTube channel or TikTok. Don’t we know that blogging is dead? It’s a thing of the past??? Youtube is the new blogging! Tiktok is the new Youtube!
Technology is always changing. I love to watch Youtube videos! They have become an integral part of my life. Especially when we have a vehicle issue! Youtube mechanics to the rescue!!! We actually talked about starting a Youtube channel. We talked about it for a long time. I imagined what kind of videos we’d make and different camera angles, etc. I took note of what was working well for different channels that I liked to watch and what didn’t do so well.
The Great Off Grid Ozark Adventure: part 13
So far in this journey I had learned about the importance of not allowing myself to stress out so much before a trip, how to repair/rebuild a trailer, and a lot about how to take-in apart and reassemble the intake manifold on my truck. The next part of the journey was an opportunity to learn about tires. Trailer tires in particular.
The Great Off Grid Ozark Adventure: part 12
In one day, our move went from being just around the corner, to covered in fog with no sign of when or how it would happen. Our truck was demolished… The front of the trailer wall hit the tailgate of the truck and bent in the trailer wall about 2 feet. It was obvious that some of our things inside were going to be broken. Of most concern was our heirloom piano which was loaded right up against the front of the trailer.
The Great Off Grid Ozark Adventure: part 11
Finally the day came. We were leaving that day no matter what! Especially since all our bedding and everything was packed already. Unfortunately, by the time we got it all packed up and were 100% ready to go, it was already dark. Our plan was only to go a few hours to Kanab and spend the night with family then get on the road for good. Unfortunately, by this time, I was exhausted, stressed, and hadn’t had nearly enough sleep.
The Great Off Grid Ozark Adventure: part 10
One of the systems I wanted to work on was water. We planned to buy a gas powered pump and a water tank that would fit in a truck or trailer to get water from the creek. I was frustrated when I drove a good distance to buy a pump and they were out of stock. They were also more expensive than I expected. Electric pumps were cheaper. I started looking into 12 volt DC systems that can run directly off solar but it started to get a little complex. I wanted a simple solution. I looked at AC pumps and they were way cheaper and had more selection. Then it hit me! We had a portable power station!
The Great Off Grid Ozark Adventure: part 9
It was clouding up and we could hear thunder in the distance so we figured we would go grab something quick like a peanut butter sandwich and keep working until the rain came. We headed back to the trailer and just as we started getting food, I heard a few rain drops hitting the trailer roof. I told Ethan I was going to go back to get the tools put away while he made food for us. By the time I got back to the build site, a large storm had rolled in. It was thundering, pouring, and blowing like crazy. I got the tools gathered but was 100% soaked by the time I got back. Water was already running on the ground and the heavens unleashed!
The Great Off Grid Ozark Adventure: part 8
Then it happened. The one difficult neighbor pulled up. She had a nasty look on her face and she pointed at me and signaled for me to come over. My first reaction was to totally ignore her. I didn’t really want to talk to her and I had set my boundaries through text. I didn’t want her to think that she could just summon me at her whim and I would obey like a dog. However, something happened that I wasn’t expecting. It was like a fierce lion sleeping deep inside me woke up and roared. I felt a strange power well up from within. Something told me to go deal with that woman.
The Great Off Grid Ozark Adventure: part 7
At this point, I felt like I had removed the obstacles needed to finally get some work done on the road. However, there was one more. This obstacle was a little more complex.
The Great Off Grid Ozark Adventure: part 6
… I felt like I had all these tools and they were all rebelling against me. It was another big disappointment. Finally, I sat down and I just prayed. I asked God what I needed to do to fix the tractor. The answer that came surprised me.
The Great Off Grid Ozark Adventure: part 5
After returning home, we had finally started getting some good momentum on our house projects in Utah. There is always a lot to do, but we were feeling better about many of them. We continued to work toward that and selling our businesses. However, time waits for no one and the deadline for our road was approaching quickly. The old easement was expiring soon and the new one was not yet in a condition that was navigable.
The Great Off Grid Ozark Adventure: part 4
As time drew on, we knew we’d need to find our way out there and start working on this road project. We have a time limit, so while funds are limited, time is even more limited. I tried getting our new neighbor on the phone to discuss details but she wouldn’t reply to me. Finally, I told her that we are coming to work on the road and that they are liable for half the cost so if they want any input, to call me back or I’d just send them the bill.
The Great Off Grid Ozark Adventure: part 3
…we very much underestimated how much more gas money we would spend hauling 7 people, lots of gear, and a 25 foot trailer across the country. Then, the other thing we didn’t expect was that we would have car problems all the way there. It was intense, and stressful. We were having issues in the barren desert of Northern AZ in the middle of nowhere. We were just pushing to try to make it to the nearest city.