Guest blogger; Flaming Chutney

Thanks so much Phelan for inviting me to be your guest blogger this week. There are so many things I am interested in, that I struggled to decide what to write about, and threw the choice open to a poll in my Livejournal. From several options, a clear winner emerged, and that was making condiment preserves; home made chutney, jam, and marmalade.

I am what you might call an urban fantasy homesteader. Whilst my early life was spent deep in the English countryside, learning to write in the dirt and learning the names of edible plants and field foods on long walks with my granny whilst she kept one eye peeled for mushrooms; life has very firmly replanted me in the middle of London, England.

This could hardly be a more urban context - and yet, I still have a very strong urge to grow and create and make things for myself. My hand made cards and gifts business, my interest in the preservation of allotments, my knitting, and my involvement with a gardening charity,Thatu, which helps to create organic permaculture food gardens in areas of South Africa that are challenged by inhospitable environment, poverty, and AIDS; I suppose the common thread to these is a Marxist style notion that when man owns the means of production (in my case – these two hands!) and employs them to his own benefit, he is engaging in labour for himself which will provide him a sense of self worth and satisfaction.

Without wandering off too much into philosophy, my point is that whether or not engaging in 'home made' and 'DIY' activities is thrifty or saves you money, it is good for you. It is satisfying to the inner person, and for that reason alone, activities that promote self reliance (the homesteading ideal, if you will) are just as worthwhile whether you live in a high rise in Tokyo or on a homestead in Kansas.

I suppose I became interested in preserves because my late aunt and father always made lemon curd, and chutney, and wild bramble jam. For many years I was put off even trying, because it always seemed an arcane art that involved thermometers, setting points, and all manner of special equipment.

Then one day I came across a recipe for Grapefruit marmalade, which was so straightforward that literally anyone could do it. I refer you to Nigella Lawson's Book How to be a Domestic Goddess, for her ‘Pink Grapefruit Marmalade’ . In spite of having a title that feminism seems to have passed by, it is in fact an invaluable book filled with excellent recipes including several wonderful jams, jellies, chutneys and preserves. The results of this recipe are delicious with some lovely crusty bread,

Once the fallacy of difficulty had been shattered, nothing could stop me. I tried all sorts of preserves! I have even ended up selling them, because the flavour and texture of homemade marmalade, jam and chutney is so vastly superior to anything you might find in the supermarket, that if you make the mistake of giving some away early in your preserve making career, you will soon find a path being beaten to you door and demand outstripping supply!

And so, it is my very great pleasure to present to you the secret recipe for my 'Flaming Chutney'. Don't tell ANYONE!

Flaming Chutney
Makes about a litre.

INGREDIENTS:
1kg Sharp cooking apples {2 lbs}
125g Sultanas {4 oz}
2 Medium onions
4 Bird's eye chillies (red for preference)
500g Demerara (brown sugar with coarse, large granules) {17 oz}
2 Teaspoons Ground Allspice
2 Teaspoons Ground Cloves
1 Teaspoon salt
1/2 Teaspoon ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 Teaspoons turmeric
700ml cider vinegar 5% acidity {23 oz}

YOU ALSO NEED:
Rubber Gloves
Very large metal or enamel saucepan - I use one that can hold 4 litres - you need room to stir!
4 x 1/2 litre jars or equivalent
Ladle

METHOD
Core, peel and roughly chop apples.
Finely chop onion.
Seed the chillies and chop finely WEARING RUBBER GLOVES to prevent burns.
Put all ingredients into the pan and bring to boil.
Cook over medium heat for 40 minutes, and until the mixture is thick and evenly brown.
Spoon into clean sterilized jars.
Re-using glass Jars
Re using glass jars is economically sensible and environmentally sound. According to Recycling-Revolution.com, the energy saved from recycling one glass bottle can run a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. It also causes 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than when a new bottle is made from raw materials. So, it's worth saving your old pasta sauce jars and giving them another use. {editorial from Phelan, if re-using pasta sauce jars to can, do not use them in a pressure cooker. In the US, the USDA says they shouldn't be used to can at all. They are weaker than jars bought for home canning and can break in a pressure canner}

Sterilizing them for home use is much simpler than you might think. Turn the oven to 140 degrees C / Gas Mark 1 {284f}. Wash your jars and lids thoroughly in very hot soapy water and rinse, and then put them on a baking sheet in the hot oven until you need them. This sterilizes the jars - they should be still warm when you are filling them later. Some people place waxed paper circles onto the preserve before sealing the lids - this prevents air coming into contact with the food. If you are only making small quantities you are likely to have eaten it all before there is any danger of it having gone off, but if you are planning to make a large quantity you can buy waxed circles and polythene circles (to replace lost lids) from justpreserving.com, or your local store. My only caution would be to say that hot jars and preserves, and kids and animals do not mix, so please keep them elsewhere whilst you are doing this. I like to clear an afternoon, and turn the radio up, so I can get on with it undisturbed.

I hope I have tempted you to give the chutney a whirl, and I would be really pleased to hear about your results.

Thanks for having me, Phelan, and if you ever fancy dropping by for a cheese and chutney sandwich and some jam scones and cream, the door is always open.

~Ali

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And thank you! I have yet to make any Flaming Chutney. Looks wonderful! I am asking Ali to be a semi regular guest blogger, as she has a few other things she wants to talk about, things that I am indeed interested in knowing and learning.

There is a lot of details in her post, if you have any questions for her about what you have read above, please leave a comment. She is a regular reader of my blog, and will be around to answer any of your questions.

Ali is also the owner and creator of Farley Heath Designs, The same store I bought my wonderful hand socks, a.k.a. wrist warmers, from.

As soon as I am done with that hike through Ireland I have been promised by another, I will stop by for some of that delicious looking chutney.

Want to be a guest blogger? Have something to teach me, or a neophyte story of your own? Please e-mail me at eirennaigh at juno dot com. Please keep it on topic to do-it-yourself.

Saturday BlogRoll call

Deliberate Life has many stories and links helpful to the modern homesteader

Howling hill, is a blog from a fellow homesteader.

Hunna's Happenings, is a personal blog from a girl that says "When you think your day can't get any worse a bird craps on your head!"

Meloncutter Musings, A blog I found through the Bestest blog. The writer of this blog is very funny.

Those are my blogs for today. If you noticed that I am a little bland in describing them, it's not because I don't like these blogs. I'm still not feeling very well, and it has gotten to me. So off with you, and visit my fellow bloggers.

I'm Just Nuts About Corn

As well as being a tad sick of them.
My very first attempt at making the elusive corn nut was a disaster. I found 2 recipes online for corn nuts. Both talked about using and soaking pre dried store bought corn. Since mine wasn't dry, I skipped that staged. And they came out burnt hollow shells. Then I happened to stumble on some information about Parched Corn, and it described what sounded like corn nuts. It said that one needed to soak the corn for 18 hours. The soaking began. My mind said that the corn would swell up with the water, not so, fresh corn is as swelled as it's going to get. Though the ones floating did sink to the bottom, they had taken on some of that water.

Next I was to place them in a single layer on a baking sheet, and bake in low temperature oven for a few hours. What temperature? Didn't say. I turned the oven on to 350f {176c} degrees and stirred them every ten minutes. Once they were slightly browned, I tossed them with a little oil and salt.

I now have parched corn.
Tastes nothing like the Planters corn nuts. My husband says that these crack instead of crunch, and mine taste like corn with some salt. Well, that is what they are. I didn't expect that my first non-burning of said corn snack was going to be perfect. They are not bad, but not what I would encourage my friends to eat. They do have that same jaw soreness that the store bought corn nuts induce. I have another recipe that calls for some frying. I will try that one next to see what kind of difference it makes.


My last rose of the season.


I thought you might like to see something that was not food {though you can make candy from rose petals} and not brown.

The turkey, I am ready to eat him. I thought he was cool, felt bad about not being able to save him, but after last night. . . it's time. I was trying to get feed for the chickens and he was literally climbing up my back. I have to yell for a wind deaf husband. Then I just ran out of the pen. My husband went and fed everyone, and of course the turkey was all cool with him. So I got laughed at.

Last night I just happened to be online when Julie tagged me for that meme I did. I was filling it out, and getting ready to post it when I heard the emergency broadcast system alert go off over the cartoon my kids were watching. "THIS IS THE EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM" do you see what word is missing from that line. "THERE HAS BEEN AN EMERGENCY ISSUED FOR THIS AREA." Sure it's raining, but I have never heard a broadcast like this, the emergency being storm related didn't even cross my mind until I turned around to look at the screen and the word TORNADO came scrolling by. Never and I mean never has the emergency broadcast system sent out this type of broadcast for weather over a cable channel in the 20 odd years I have lived in this state. Immediately I jumped up and ran to change the channel to local news. My kids didn't protest because they were just as freaked out as I was. I flipped the news on and the first thing I see is this giant red blob and a massive, and I do mean massive hook echo. Another thing I have never seen, a hook echo that big! And it was right over downtown Wichita! My husband works downtown, my mother lives close. ACK! I grabbed the youngest child's diaper bag, and started telling the kids to get shoes on, don't argue with me, no, the animals will be fine. I have no idea which direction this thing is going. Where it was at that point, it could have easily continued it's way north and nailed us. Instead it moved off slightly to our east. I ran outside to see what I could, and actually heard the tornado sirens going off in the closest town, the wind would catch it just right. By now my kids are all hype about being sucked up by a tornado, but a little upset that they would have to leave there things in the house. I watch the storm pass and waited for my husband. He was fifteen minutes late coming home. But safe. He left work shortly before it had hit Wichita, but got caught in it at the farm store. He said he ran through the parking lot against horizontal rains. No tornado came from that storm, but other's in the state did. Haven't heard of any deaths, but there is rural damage.

And that's my adventure for the next month.

My first tagging on blogger

I have been tagged by Julie over on Flip this Body. Hey, It's my first time.

A book meme;

1. One book that changed your life - hardest question first.

The Fall by Albert Camus

I was 10 years old when I first read this book. It introduced me to existentialism, yep that was something I needed in my life at that age.

2. One book that you've read more than once.
The Catcher in the Rye


First time was because I wanted to know why it was banned from my middle school library, the second time was for freshman English

3. One book that you'd want on a desert island.

Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival

Why you think?

4. One book that made you laugh.

There’s a Wocket in my Pocket ~how can you not laugh at that~.

5. One book that made you cry.

Cry? Um... none. Upset? Lovely Bones

6. One book that you wish you had written.

As I am a struggling novelist with my own lofty ideals, I would have to say none, because I could not have written them in the same manner as they were already.

7. One book you wish had never been written.

I don’t think there is one that I could honestly say I wish was never written, But there are I few that I wish I had never read.

8. One book that you are reading at the moment.

Mile of Post and Wire

9. One book that you've been meaning to read.

All of them I haven’t got to yet.



10. Tag five others that you’d like to do this meme..

Normally I don't tag people, but as that would spoil the fun. . .

Cheryl, Tammie, Justin, Lisa and Andrew

Staring blankly at the screen

There were a few different things that I had wanted to talk about this morning, but alas, I seem to have come down with an illness and am functioning well below par. I woke late and struggling a bit through my chores. Several years ago, I managed to dislocate one of my shoulders, and in another instance I tore the tendon in the other shoulder. My husband knew immediately what had happened {he was in sports medicine and trained to be a surgeon in his former life} he had a hard time convincing the ER Doctor what was wrong, as torn tendons don't show up on x-rays. This lead to it healing incorrectly and now there are times when my shoulder aches, today is one of those days.
OH WOE IS ME!
Ha! I will get over it, the whining that is, I might just keel over from my unease.

2am I was woken by a storm. Straight line winds rocked the house and thunder rumbled beneath my feet. Wonderful. Dressed and out the door, I made sure that the windows of the car were up, the motorcycle garaged, then out into the pen. The goats were roaming around the backyard. Another Wonderful! Herding them up wasn't easy. They were enjoying their escape. Arrow was the easiest as he is not that fond of humans, and knew that safety from me was in the barn.


Trina wasn't sure what she should do. She would turn toward the yard and trotted out a bit, then back to the gate. Lightening struck rather close and that made her decision for her.


Smoky is the mischievous one. Very playful, and very loving. He wanted me to scratch him between the horns as the rain beat down on us. I am not as sure footed as goats are, and I was being knocked around a bit by the wind. I ended up using my mom voice on him. "GO!" That did the trick and he hurried back into the pen. I went to secure the gate and discovered that the chain was broke. No wonder the winds got it open. Sigh. I grabbed a cinder block from in front of the barn and secured the gate with it. Seems to have held. Once back in the house, soaked and shivering, I was greeted by my smiling husband. "Cold?" I responded with an icy stare. I think the shivering was answer enough. He then asked why had I been outside. I told him about the goats, his goats. "Oh." ugh! Sometimes I wish I could sleep through anything so I won't have to be responsible for things that happen in the middle of the night. But he did say he would fix the gate tonight so I won't have to do it today. It’s still raining. He did say that next time I should wake him up. Did I mention he can sleep through just about anything, and that includes me trying to wake him up?

I am going to try to answer some of your responses, then finish up chores before curling up on the couch with my boys and sulk in my sick induced misery. OH WOE IS ME! HA!

Just woke my oldest child up {again} this morning. He too is ill.

I even Dreamed about Corn.

Corn, it's mornings like these that I could live out my remaining days and be happy to never lay my eyes on an ear of corn again. My hands are very sore this morning after almost a full day of harvesting, shucking and de-kernelizing corn. I pulled in a full bushel, and still have a least one more bushel out in the garden.

I have also recently learned that corn nuts equals parched corn. { I tried to find a link on how to make parched corn, but none of them are the same as what one of my books says, I will write it up later} I had no idea what they were call besides corn nuts. Now that I have discovered this little tidbit of information, I feel more confident in moving forward with this project. {The hominy will have to wait as I am a little uncomfortable about working with lye, maybe during the winter I will try my hand at lye soaps, just to have the experience with it}
My sweet hickory corn is soaking in water for 18 hours. Once that is completed, they will be dried in a low heat oven until slightly brown, tossed with a little oil and salt. If this first batch works out, I will play with the flavorings.

We have a serious problem with corn earworms. Covering the tips of the forming corn with mineral oil or cutting the exposed silk is suppose to help. It did not help that much. Maybe with a little more research I can find another way to deal with them. As it is now, I could not save any whole cobs.

The chicks spent their first full night out in the nursery. They were very happy to see me this morning. Though the geese and the turkey seem to bother them. The geese are very protective when it comes to any chicks in the nursery. Which is fine, as they keep predators away.

Speaking of turkeys, ours has been making me uneasy lately. I know he is in desperate need of a female as he is now coming into his own. Every time he sees me, he goes about displaying his feathers and strutting around. Of course I am very flattered, but if he decides he is just going to attempt to make a move on me, I could end up hurt. He is very large, and very strong. He jumped off the feed storage bin and hit me with a wing one day. Took me a moment to catch my breath. But last night as I was feeding the chicks, he sat in the corner just staring at me, it was slightly unnerving

I wrote a letter a month ago, asking things. . .

like, where my State Senator stood on NAIS. And about forcing the Amish and other religious communities to use the GPS Chips in their cattle/livestock/horses and pets. And what about use homesteaders that can't afford to pay this soon to be mandatory program, and who's livestock never leaves the farm, the response. . .


Dear Ms. Phelan,

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Animal Identification System (NAIS). I genuinely appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts with me on the important issue.

Growing up near Parker, Kansas, I participated in the day-to-day operations of our family farm and learned how the livestock industry contributes to a safe food supply and a robust economy for the State of Kansas and for the nation. Like my own family, farmers and ranchers in the United States today are among our most innovative citizens. They understand that technology can be harnessed to raise our standards and production to even higher levels of excellence, allowing the U.S. to compete in new markets, facilitate domestic growth, and create new jobs.

Currently a voluntary program, the NAIS is a cooperative State-Federal-industry partnership to standardize and expand animal identification programs and practices to all livestock species and poultry. The NAIS integrates three components-premises identification, animal identification and animal tracking. The long-term goal of the NAIS is o provide animal health officials with the capability to identify all live stock and premises that have had direct contact with a disease of concern within 48 hours after discovery.

It is important that we protect our food supply, but equally important that we protect the privacy to those who work hard to produce our food supply. Guaranteeing this privacy and ensuring effective dialog between producers, consumers, lawmakers and regulators will be critical for the continued growth of the agriculture industry. As I continue to monitor the progress of the NAIS, I assure you that I will keep your concerns in mind.

You are the reason that I am here, and I appreciate your contacting me regarding this important issue. I encourage you to visit my website brownback.senate.gov for information on the issues on which I am working. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future.

Sincerely,

Sam

Sam Brownback
United States Senator

~~~~~~
I have a few thoughts about this letter, but first, tell me what you think. Does any one here speak newspeak?

if you want to call him and ask why his form letter did not acknowledge any of the issues I brought up, the number is {202} 224-6521

Blimey!

Today be Talk like a Pirate day. Many o' me buckos will be talkin' like this throughout t' day.

Last night my husband and I sat around discussing and working out some of the details to our new home. We are looking at 5 bedrooms, 2 baths, a very large kitchen, an open living room with fireplace, and a library/office. 2,400sf, plenty of room for the 6 of us. Add on's include a mud room that will also double as a canning room and a dirt root cellar with earth coolers. Everything will be underground, so we will have a sunken patio {yard}, that we can later convert into a greenhouse if we choose to. The whole "complex" will be water cooled {If that's even needed as the average temp is between 70f-75f in an underground home all year round, so we are not dead set on getting a water cooling system.} My mother has two wood burning stoves that she is giving to us. My parents-in-law are keeping their eyes out for barn shutters and other things that we can use for the home at the small town auctions they go to. We figured up the price if we had someone else do build it for us and place all new doors, nothing green into the house, and then we figured up what it would cost if we did most of the labor, went green and recycled, we will save 75% of the costs! Of course this is just preliminary, but still. . .

We also find a company up north that sells turbines and solar panels that we are going to visit. Maybe they are slightly cheaper {at least we will save on the cost of shipping it in}. Can you tell I am excited about this? Our current home is a 1984 trailer {mobile home} that is falling apart. It's one of those buyer beware stories. Many lies and truth's with held when we bought this place. It is 1,200 sq feet, so we will be doubling our space. The house we lived in, while playing the suburbanite, was 1,000 sq feet, and that was only if you included the front porch! 2,400 sq feet will be roomy for us indeed. Excavation of the site will begin after the rains next spring.

We also named the kitten that we are keeping, Tomato Paste. We discovered that he will stalk, kill and devoir tomatoes whenever he catches a whiff of them. He stole one off my husband's plate the other night, growling and hissing the whole time.

Phelan, your pirate name is
Bertha the Gold

What is YOUR pirate name?

Swing Season is freaking me out.

According to my schedule I should be working on my novel. Just not feeling it this morning. So I am posting what is officially my second post of the day, even if I have slept in between posting.

Preparations have begun for winterizing the homestead. The final corn harvest comes in today, one sweet potato plant must be over turned, and soon the peanuts will have to come up. I am interested in knowing why my Brussel sprouts have not produced anything. Usually by now I have harvested many of those miniature cabbages that smell so bad and turn children into stone. My tomatoes will have to deal with the weather changes, as I do not want to up root them until after the first hard freeze of winter.

I am also concerned with my layers. I found 3 banny eggs yesterday, all from the same hen. Everyone else seems to be molting and have ceased egg production. I have heard that many other homesteaders are concerned because molting has started early this year for chickens in Canada to South Texas. And this can only mean one thing. . . a very hard winter. The farmers almanac does say that it will be colder here then usual, but not that bad. My area has not had a blizzard since 1988, maybe we are due for one. Though I hope it isn't for another year at least. back in January 2005, we had an ice storm that pulled trees down onto power lines. We went without electricity for 3 days. And it was below zero at noon during that time. We hope to be off the grid by this time next year, we will at least have a fireplace then. I digress, the egg situation has caused me to buy eggs for the first time in 2 years. They do not taste the same.

We have started doing repairs to the home for winter. We will need to buy more propane soon as well. Sometime this week I will need to work on the garage, for we have motorcycles coming in for their winter work.

Funny, I posted earlier about worthless time, and now I feel a slacker type day ahead of me. But today should be an easy day. I have more ketchup to can and some hickory corn to soak {will try corn nuts again} other than that, I see plenty of playing with children time a head of me. This is just a preview of winter. No worries though, I will start some new projects very soon, and I will be right back to hurting myself and making silly mistakes. Strange, that makes me happy.

My Time is Worthless

This is an editorial, please notice the abundant use of the words, me and I. Remember, editorial about mememe.


A comment was made on the article that was published yesterday that stated “This article assumes your time is worth nothing”. Of course that statement means that my time is worth nothing. I do get paid that same amount for all the work I do. So why on Earth would I want to waste my precious time? Because I am not wasting anything. I work and play daily. Yes, there are some days were I feel overwhelmed, but that is due to my poor timing, too many veggies come into harvest at the same time can really get to you. So, why don’t we break down my worthless time.

530am wake, get coffee going. Check e-mails, and try not to respond to something in my semi conscience state.
6am start breakfast and make sure the alarm goes off so my husband can go to his full time job {a job he loves by the bye}
630am write up this blog after seeing my husband off. Now that I am awake, I respond to e-mails in a sane manner.
7am wake oldest son, feed him and remind him he has to get dressed for school
7am-8am, write 1,000 words in my novel {with interuptions}
745am, school for the kiddo
8am start research for new article or work on present article while eating
9am wake two small children and feed them.
930am after everyone is dressed, go feed animals, look for eggs, wonder the garden looking for what is ready for harvest or pulling the stray weed.
1030am playtime until lunch
12pm make lunch
1230 nap time for the two youngest, start the quiet portion of my food preservation.
130pm wake kids and have a short playtime
2pm start the loud part of food preservation while cleaning up kitchen
3pm clean up my mess and children’s messes. Vacuuming.
4pm start dinner
5pm eat
530 hang out with my family, catching up on everyone’s day.
6pm watch local news
630pm help oldest with homework
7pm-830pm free time {here is when I take on some extra projects, or play with kids}
830pm bath time for children.
9pm bedtime for children {reading to them}
930pm alone time with husband
sometimes 10pm husband goes to bed, I turn on the news and check e-mail
1030pm-1130pm I read. If it’s a good book I can be up reading until 1 am and still get up between 5am and 530 am.

these times can be off by 15 minutes do to things I am unable to control. And are controlled by weather and season.

What’s that!?! You have a paying job? Yes, I do have a paying job. I love my paying job, and I love my other jobs.

Now my weekend schedule is a lot different. I get to sleep in! Weekends are when we go outside of the homestead, go to the farmer's market or a U-pick it farm, butcher, and hang out with our friends. And I get more time to read. { I like that} Also in my free time {as when there is no food to can} I make chainmaille jewelry and armor. Or start a new project. This winter when we spend more time indoors I will start my wattle fencing.

Modern homesteading is not something everyone will be willing to do. I don’t expect that. Most of you that read my blog do not live in a rural area. I doubt most of you would really want to. And that is your choice, as this is mine. I work for rewards just as hard as most people with jobs outside the home. {This reminds me of the argument between stay at home moms and working moms, I am both}

I am unclear on how someone defines worthless time. To me that is unproductive time. Am I unproductive? To me, making my own noodles is more rewarding then having the money to spend on buying pre-made ones. I spend my time teaching my children math and science by cooking with them. My rewards for making pasta are important to me, I now have a useful skill, and need not fear going hungry, as I have in the past. I have pride with this new skill, and yes, I do save a bit o’ money. It does add up in the long run. {this isn't just about the noodles!}

I love not having to rely on other’s for my source of eating, or entertainment. Yes, I do have convenient and modern things in my life that I readily use, such as the internet and television, telephones, books and chocolate {and olives, ~drool~ black olives} But if all those things were to vanish because of finances, I would be fine with it {though I might have book withdrawals} My life success does not depend on how much money I do have. So why do I read a blog like Get rich Slowly? Not so much about finances as I like the author of the blog, I like the way he writes and interacts in his posts. I like his personality that comes through in his articles. I enjoy reading the readers responses and even include my own at times.

As I write this, there was only 2 comments to the posted article, the one that assumed that I assumed that people had time to waste, and my response. So either I did such an awe inspiring job that people were struck speechless, or many just didn’t care. Either way, homesteading is not about being frugal or saving money {though it does do that} it’s about being true to myself, to build a different type of pride in a modern age, in my boys. It’s about my pride and self worth. It’s about being “the salt of the Earth” This is a lifestyle that now-a-days can be chosen. It might seem extreme now, but without people like the micro-farmer or the organic gardener, the homesteaders and family farms, you would only have factory farms, pesticide laden vegetables and over processed foods to choose from. With these “extremists” around you get to have a choice in what you put in your body. And I for one thank every single one of my homesteading friends, those I know and those I have yet to meet. I am grateful to the men and women I buy from at the farmers market, and to my future raw goat milk hook-up. {whomever that may be}

Yes, I did say I had some good news on the green shelter front. We happened to find a owner/builder program that specializes in green buildings. Happy dance! I am not going to tell you who at this time. Once we have gone through the process and had an outcome, I will tell you all the pro’s and con’s. But the project is now a go, and I couldn’t be happier. OFF THE GRID. . . here I come.

Have a homesteading article up.

If you guys haven't yet, hop over to Get Rich Slowly.

And welcome to the readers that have found their way here via Get Rich Slowly. Have a look around and if you have any questions, please, feel free to ask.

I will be back tomorrow. I have some great news on the green shelter front.

Sunday Guest Blogger; Why I like Living out here

We have a storm brewing, and as we tend to lose electricity with storms, this is being posted early.

I like to live here because you get more room to do stuff and to play.


I look at the stars and clouds.

I work in the garden and with chickens.

I catch toads, frogs, chickens and bugs.

mom says he needs to trim those nails!

I get to watch air planes go by and camp and dig a hole.

It isn’t noisy or bright at night.

~gormdragan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gormdragan is 9 years old and wants to be an marine life photographer when he grows up.

Have as story you want to share about homesteading, or being a neophyte? E-mail me at eirennaigh at juno dot com. I will post pics and the links you want.