Something Has Got To Go

Grandpa Ott's Morning Glory from Seed Savers

There have been several times when I sit down to do a post here and I'm fresh out of thoughts, imagine that, or I have other things that require my attention. If I had my way this is what my life would be:

• Turn off my alarm and wake up anytime I want.
• Go for a run or a ride.
• Take care of the critters.
• Nap.
• Plan all of my gardening adventures as the year goes on.
• Play in the garden and make the yard and surrounding areas pretty.
• Cook Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
• Go to bed whenever I feel like it.

Looks like a life without working away from home right? It's a dream for me at this point. 

As it is I spend 40 hours out of my week away from home. Actually more because lunch breaks and travel time don't count into those 40 hours. Depending on the time of year and how my morning starts off as I wake up for the day I will either head out after coffee and bible reading. Lately I have not been going outside to help with the chores. I have been known to head outside for morning chores on the weekends though, so I'm not a total deadbeat "mom." 

Gus & Greta checking out the home improvement project

The evenings are fairly enjoyable - arrive home and eat dinner then head outside to give the feathered creatures a treat or just sit and watch them be who they are. The Magpie Squad and the Geese are usually penned up by 7 or 7:30 and the two Magpie Babies get some extra time to play in the pool before it's time for them to go to bed. 

If I want the routine of a person who doesn't go to work everyday I'll take vacation to get away from the crazy. I took vacation time during the first full week of this month and boy I did not want to go back to work. Especially since my supervisor would be on vacation when my vacation time was over.

sigh.

The past two weeks I have been back to the regular work routine and now the weekend is upon us again and this weekend I have even less time to hang out at home. It's all good though. We'll be heading out to the Swan Island Dahlia Festival tomorrow with some friends and then Sunday I have a couple of responsibilities at church that I will need to do before we have home time. Although I have a feeling that my afternoon will involve going to a local building center to pick up some decking materials that are on discount.

oh well.

This is the life of a full-time office assistant/part-time farmer-homesteader. One day I'll leave work and never return.

one day.

First Spookie sugar pumpkin

Making a Difference

Here's another video from the Great American Farm Tour - I liked this one a lot, this guy had a lot of different things growing in his front and back yards. Granted, this was in Florida and it was also one year ago. One year ago today we had a VERY NICE DAY. After several days of rain, showers, downpours...we had sunshine! 

I want a food forest...(she said in a whiny voice)

Yesterday I was cruising through YouTube checking out what videos were recently uploaded and I came across this title: Can One Family Make a Difference? Once I read that and saw whose video it was attached to, the only family I could think that the family would be the Rhodes family.

We started watching their YouTube channel a couple of years ago...back when they were doing their 100 Days of Growing Food challenge. The truth of the matter is that Tom is the one who had discovered them. At first I wasn't impressed...homesteaders? I don't know. I kept with it though and after awhile watching their videos was part of the evening routine and I loved the family! Seriously their Chiddlers are pretty cute!

It's because of those early videos that my dream to do something more with our property started to percolate. So much so, that soon after we started watching their vlogs I promptly visited their website and signed up to receive emails and also saw that we could get the plans for the chick-shaw. The plan was to get some chickens sooner than later...as it turns out it was after they started on the GAFT when we got 10 chicks from the feed store and started on our own journey ourselves. Before the chicks came I took a staycation and we worked on building the coop. Let me tell you - there are about a million pieces that go into making that thing! We used Justin's model of having a guard goose and since we were told he would need a pal then the duckling happened too.

Then things got a little crazy with watching all of the really cool farms that were on the tour. The one that really stood out was John Suscovich - you may have read about him in an earlier post. He's all about the chickens so that was a no brainer...I got the book, then a sweatshirt for Tom and a mug and another sweatshirt for me.

Anyway - back to the original question: Can one Family Make a Difference?

Yes, they can and boy did they ever. This tour really opened up my eyes to the different types of farms that are out there and just how many people are homesteading. The bottom line is that all of these people are really no different than me. They had a vision and they went with it...and that is an encouragement to me. There were a couple of people that actually got into a homesteading lifestyle a little later in life, so that was good for me to see. Not that I'm that terribly old, but I'm not in my 30s or 40s and getting started on my dream. My dream did start a few years back, but the timing is just right now.

So, if you want to check out the series of videos that were created as a tribute to the Rhodes start with this one:

From this one I believe that you will see the other ones.

As of this moment, I am in vacation mode! Bring on the projects!

Supporting Strangers

It's one thing to support someone you know when they are raising funds for a mission trip or a project or a community group. It's especially easy when you believe in the cause. However, when it comes to supporting someone you don't know...that's something a little different.

We watch several different YouTube channels regularly: Justin Rhodes, Art & Bri, Sow the Land and John Suscovich to name a few. I don't know any of these people personally. Sure I've sent emails or commented on their videos, but that's as far as the relationship goes.

Many of these YouTuber's have different ways of making a buck whether it's by people watching their videos or offering literature of sorts that is related to farming in one way or another on their personal websites. Or if you are particularly business savvy, by setting up a nifty online store and offering things like Apparel, Books, Mugs etc.

Stepping outside of the box that we live in - we supported The Great American Farm Tour on Kickstarter and by doing so we received a stainless steel mug as well as a GAFT sticker. In addition to those two things, we'll also get the GAFT documentary that will be released next month. Fun Stuff!!

Another YouTuber that we have supported would be John Suscovich and his hashtag one million chickens project -

Tom is modeling the latest of Farm  Marketing Solutions

More recently I have supported The Elliot Homestead by buying a "How To" book:

If you don't care to do an actual farm get this book for the photos alone!

In an effort to continue supporting the Elliott Homestead I have preordered her next cookbook...

This will release on April 1

This book will be a good one. She uses a lot of food that she and her family grow on their farm...in the Wenatchee, Washington area - she's a local for me! Which really means being in the same state!

My latest purchase in support of a YouTuber is this sweet handmade kitchen spoon made out of  walnut -

This measures just about 13.5"

 

Check out Sow the Land - Jason, Lorraine and daughter Penelope - they left Southern California to follow their dreams to live a better life through self sufficiency. They are living out their dream in North Carolina. Check out their website HERE. You can get to their store, blog and YouTube channel via the website.

It's a beautiful day in the Pacific NW - time to get outside!