Homesteading: A weekly account of our journey to becoming off grid homesteaders. Our path will be long as we are only paying in cash and our funds are very limited. Mike and I have no idea what we're doing so we'll be learning as we go. I know we'll make mistakes and that's ok. It's all part of the process.
We would love to read about your homesteading experiences, so if you'd like to share your favorite resources, tips, funny stories, recipes, books, website or even just a photo from the week, please leave a link in the comments.
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We haven't been able to make it up to the land since the poison ivy outbreak, but we have been busy researching hand pumps and sand point wells vs a professionally drilled well. For sure we are going to install a sand point well, so we can start planting trees and gardens in the spring. I really missed having a garden this year and can't wait to get my hands in the dirt again! Also, we can install a sand point well ourselves for the cost of materials; about $250 at the hardware store. We're planning to install a hand pump very similar to the one shown in the photo above. We found this one on a property we walked two years ago.
I've also been knitting like crazy. After tonight, the nights are going to get much cooler. Which is fine when we're snuggled up in our warm house, but camping is a whole other story. We're going to be much more prepared for the weather than we were this spring! Socks, hats, and sweater's are high priority on the list right now.
What projects are you planning for the fall?
p.s. I forgot to mention that the yellow is the tansy yarn I dyed a few weeks ago. I love how it pops against the warm brown!
nice work -- your knitting is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI second it -- your knitting is absolutely gorgeous. I wish I could knit that well. As for homesteading, I am extremely interested, because I want to do this or at least live off-the-grid in the future. When your family decided to become homesteaders, besides finding land, what was the first thing you did? Was it removing all debt? Begin gathering supplies (to live off-grid)? Or something else?
ReplyDeleteThese are such great questions! I think I'll do a longer post about it next week, if you don't mind waiting for the whole story. ;) I have a feeling several others may be interested too.
DeleteI so enjoy your homesteading posts, Liz. Thank you for sharing about this kind of pump - we are not sure where our journey will take us and this may come in handy. I downloaded the video at the library right now.
ReplyDeleteLove your knitting too.
Warm wishes,
Tonya
Thanks, Tonya. Don't you just love the sweet little girl in the video and the way they work together!
DeleteI look forward to hearing more of your story too. And oh, that tansy yarn is just lovely! I just found a big clump on our property and am getting excited about giving some more plant dyeing a try!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. Like you, we are new homesteaders also. We recently moved from the big city of Austin to 10 acres outside a tiny town in East Texas.
ReplyDeleteI started a new blog also. Topics include salvage mining of old houses, reusing old building materials, antiquing, design, DIY, and of course, homesteading. Here's one of our recent projects that we completed: http://livingvintageco.com/category/homesteading/rainwater-harvesting/.
I subscribed to your blog and look forward to reading more.
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I'm so glad you found us! I'm fascinated with your cistern, and am looking forward to seeing how it works for you.
ReplyDelete