Where muck boots meet ground.
Don’t be afraid to grow different seed varieties! Even if you have found the tomato of your dreams, there is always space for a new variety! If you think you don’t like a fruit or vegetable, try a different type OR way of cooking it!
Where do I buy my seeds? Well, everywhere but these are the ones I like the most:
If you have never heard of a brain dump, I HIGHLY suggest it. Especially, if you have ADD/ADHD or get overwhelmed easily. A brain dump list is extremely helpful when you have a bunch of things running around in your brain and you can’t figure out what to do next. A lot of times it can lead to paralysis and you end up getting absolutely nothing done.
The Ultimate Homesteader’s Starter Bundle – Only $47!
Get the tools you need to stay organized, track profits, and manage your homestead with ease!
Includes:
✅ Schedule F Tracker – Simplify tax prep
✅ Profit Calculator – Track earnings
✅ Hay Calculator – Plan livestock feed
✅ Garden Journal – Digital & printable
✅ Herd Health Tracker – Monitor animal care
✅ Simple Budget – Manage finances
✅ Backyard Homestead eBook – Essential tips
$99 value – now just $47! Start your homesteading journey today!
There are a ton of reasons to use a brain dump list, but my biggest reason is to put on paper the things that are overwhelming me. Whether it is because my brain is going a million miles an hour or because I know we have this huge list of things to do, setting up a brain dump is the first step to getting a plan together.
It’s also a great tool to use when you are transitioning from one project to another. When the animals got into the fall garden, I struggled to switch gears because that was my project for the rest of the year… Until there wasn’t a garden to work on. With my brain dump, I was able to switch gears easier because I knew I had other things I could work on.
Simply put, a brain dump is writing out all of the things that are running around in your brain. There is no order, rhyme or reason. It is simply trying to dump all of the things in your brain onto paper so that you can focus.
For those that struggle with stress and overwhelm, this is a great tool for dealing with it. Lately, I have been using it every time I come home from work. I’ve got 3 major projects in the works this winter. Plus work, running the homestead and fitting in the boys homeschool in there somewhere.
There is no bad time to use a brain dump. But if you are struggling to make decisions, pick a direction or dealing with decision fatigue, grab a sheet of paper and make a brain dump. I’m going to go over my brain dump below.
Even if you are not having any issues, a brain dump is great to just dump everything out and get it organized.
Yes! There are times when I am stressed, overwhelmed, exhausted and just mentally not able to do another thing. When that happens, I sit down and start my brain dump. Sometimes, I start my day with it. Especially, when we are dealing with a transition period. When there is a project that is coming to a close, or is done, I tend to feel stuck or struggle to switch gears into a new project.
I usually use a sharpie and blank piece of computer paper. I don’t want any distractions and if there are lines on the paper, I will make a list of things that need to be done vs a brain dump of all the things that are circling my brain. This is going to cause problems because when you are struggling to make decisions, prioritize, or dealing with overwhelm.
This can look very different for everyone. But for me, it means organizing this mess into columns or categories. Some of this stuff is clearly business related. Some is homesteading or personal. So I want to make sure it goes into the right categories.
Also, I want to make sure I’m not giving a ton of space and energy for things that just don’t matter right now. Or things that I WANT to do, but we all know isn’t going to actually happen. By making sure that we are being realistic with our time, it really does help us from becoming overwhelmed.
Making goals, steps, and all that is incredibly important and even satisfying, but if you can’t prioritize, you’re going to end up spinning your wheels. To be honest, before you start making your goals or steps, you should be prioritizing them anyways!
To give you an example from the Homesteading section, there are somethings that just aren’t that important. Blowing all of the leaves for example. I don’t really care if the leaves get moved into the compost. I would LOVE if it happened, but I’m not going to make it a huge priority. Having leaves covering the yard really isn’t on my radar of concern. Plus, it’s my favorite time of year, soooooo.
When we start working on our 2024 project list, we will use a brain dump list. We will also do this when it comes to finding sponsors for the podcasts or brainstorming content. A brain dump is so helpful for a ton of reasons and these are just a few
Comment below on how you stay organized and how you reduce stress!
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This podcast goes through how to do a goat assessment as well as what to do with the information you find during the assessment.
Resources:
Free Goat Assessment Page– Free This is the assessment that I created when I got into goats and realized that I needed to keep an eye on them. This is how you start learning how to do a good assessment
Herd Health Bundle-$20 Includes both the Herd Check Worksheet and the Herd Health Tracker
Goat 101– $47 Is the basics of goating course that I mentioned in this episode.
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Resources:
Sign up for our newsletter: Steel Raven Farms Newsletter
Find our blog here: www.steelravenfarms.com
Our Patreon here: Steel Raven Farms Patreon
Follow us on Instagram: Steel Raven Farms Instagram
Shop our Amazon Store: Steel Raven Farms Amazon Store
Welcome to the homestead!
This podcast is an extension of our blog Steel Raven Farms and we will be talking about all things homesteading with a focus on gardening and goats.
We started the podcast for those that are interested in homesteading, but don’t have the time or energy to read blog posts.
I feel like December is really the only month I truly get to rest in the garden. That doesn’t mean I don’t do anything, but my chore list is much smaller. My December garden chores look more like clearing, building, mulching and waiting for spring. But there are some things that have to get done in the gardens.
My December garden chores look more like a prep list. This is the time where I am prepping beds, securing compost and generally planning for the rest of winter and spring. Sometimes, if the weather is nice, I go ahead and plant some things that I know are frost hardy.
We live in the foothills Appalachian Mountains in Northeast Georgia. That means that we are in zone 7B and usually we end up with a frost around November 1st. The thing about living in the southeast is that while it may be December, it is not uncommon for us to have 80* days and 40* nights.
Where we are, we don’t usually get snow but we could get an ice storm. This makes gardening a challenge because we are never really sure what weather we are going to end up with.
I mentioned in the November Garden Chores post that mulching is so underrated but probably the most important thing you could do. And I’m going to say it again. Make sure you mulch your garden beds! This is so important for putting organic matter back into your soil, feeding soil microbes and so many other amazing things for your soil. These are just some of the tips that I picked up from Diane Miessler in her book Grow Your Soil.
Mulching will also help make your job easier in the spring because mulching helps to suppress weed growth.
Depending on where you live or the stage of your garden, this may look different for you. For us, since our soil never really freezes, we are able to keep working our beds almost year round. What I usually do to prep my beds is making sure that I have added a ton of organic matter and then covered it. So again, mulching. But I will also all of our leave litter to the beds.
Some people say to leave the leaf litter where it falls to allow for native insects to have a place to live. And I TOTALLY agree. Except, we live in the south. We have tons of spiders, snakes and other creatures that I don’t necessarily want my dogs, kids, chickens or goats to run into. So we pick up all that leave litter and put it in our beds or compost. Those creatures can go live in my garden beds for the winter.
This is going to look a little different for everyone, but for us, this is making sure that we have plenty of animal bedding in the coops and barn. I talked in depth about using animal bedding as compost here. I practice the deep litter method in my barns and coops to ensure that there is plenty of compost for spring. I also make sure that we are adding to our compost bin. But since most of our kitchen scraps go to the chickens or the pigs, that’s not really a lot.
We’ve also found that because we don’t till our raised beds, or in ground spaces, we actually can add various organic matters straight to the beds and the beds have enough life to break it down without affecting the plants.
Another way that we secure compost is by contacting various neighbors. We have several horse, cow and chicken farmers around us. We tend to stay away from the chicken farmers because they don’t usually practice organics and we don’t want that on our gardens. But we will reach out to several neighbors and see if they have what we are looking for.
For you, that may look like asking if you can have their leaf litter. If your neighbors are bagging up their leaves? Go grab that from them!
I am a planner by nature and I have a whole category where I talk about planning your homestead. But I go a little overboard when it comes to the garden. Especially considering that I am a Chaotic Gardener. During December, I really go through all my garden prompts and journal for that year and try to figure out where I can improve.
Since our goal is to grow 75% of our, and our animals food, we really need to make sure to dial in our gardens as much as possible. This means ensuring that what we start in January is working, that we are putting in bumper crops, and getting us closer and closer to that goal.
We also make sure to plan any infrastructure that we need for the gardens. Things like irrigation, building or replacing beds, and sourcing soil, compost, mulch, etc.
This is also the time to figure out where we are going to put things in the garden. We want to make sure that we have plenty of space but also plants. For example, we can a ton of tomato sauce every year. We also make ketchup and BBQ sauce. Then we dehydrate a ton for tomato powder. That’s a ton of tomatoes that we need to grow. We are talking on average we need about 1,000 pounds of tomatoes or 200+ tomato plants.
We also want to make sure that we are rotating what we plant. We don’t want to put heavy feeders in the same place two years in a row. Sometimes, it’s necessary and that means that we need to make sure that we support the soil as much as possible.
Another part to making sure that we are planning the garden “correctly” is that we prioritize our plantings. This means that we need to look at what we NEED vs what we want to try. Now, we have 15,000 sqft of garden space, so the chances of us running out of room is slim but it is possible. But more to the point, those 200+ tomato plants are more important for our food security than cut flowers for the table.
Our winters are usually pretty wet, so getting out into the garden can be challenging. There is a lot of time spent in the greenhouse or inside because it is chilly and wet.
Make sure that if you are working outside in the winter, you are properly layered. Again, it’s not abnormal for us to have 70-80* days in December. But at 730 in the morning, it could be 34*. So make sure that whatever your weather, you’ve got enough layers or just wait until the sun is out and you can enjoy the warmth.
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So you’re interested in getting some chickens. I warn you now, you will become a victim of chicken math if your not careful. But one of the ways to keep that from happening is to really understand what you’re getting yourself into. It’s not as easy as going to Tractor Supply or your local feed store and picking up a batch of chicks. How much do chickens cost? A lot.
The Ultimate Homesteader’s Starter Bundle – Only $47!
Get the tools you need to stay organized, track profits, and manage your homestead with ease!
Includes:
✅ Schedule F Tracker – Simplify tax prep
✅ Profit Calculator – Track earnings
✅ Hay Calculator – Plan livestock feed
✅ Garden Journal – Digital & printable
✅ Herd Health Tracker – Monitor animal care
✅ Simple Budget – Manage finances
✅ Backyard Homestead eBook – Essential tips
$99 value – now just $47! Start your homesteading journey today!
If you are looking for an audio version of this post, check out our podcast below
I feel like I should start every single blog post about livestock by reminding you that you should not get ANY livestock, including chickens until you have a garden set up. I also fully expect you to not listen. It’s just the nature of homesteaders.
In all seriousness, you should be prepared for chicks or chickens WAY before they ever show up on your property.
You have a couple options here when it comes to your chicken coop. You can go as cheap or as expensive as you want. But there are some hard fast rules that you should follow. It should be secure from predators and this includes the human variety, too.
You should make sure that it is draft free, but with good ventilation. There should be roosting bars and nesting boxes. But after that, sky is the limit. We have a metal shed that we use and we like it for the most part, but I’m not a huge fan. The metal has started to rust in less than a year and it’s very drafty in the winter and BOILING hot in the summer. We normally use it for brooding chicks since it is more secure and stays pretty warm when we’ve got the lamps on.
I would stay away from anything that isn’t made from real wood. There’s a bunch on the internet that are composite and unless it is a good quality like the decking boards. There are also a ton of places that shell really nice shed/ coops. If you can build it, that would probably be a better option because at $8,000? My girls are just find in their metal shed, outside or in a tree.
You can absolutely cut corners here, but remember, the more corners you cut, the more issues you can have. For example, I would not get a tiny seven pound chick feeder for your chicks. The reality is that you are going to be filling that thing twice a day depending on the amount of chicks you have. I would get one like this, that is going last them for at least a day but preferably several days.
The same thing goes for waterers. Don’t get a tiny one. You will be refilling it all the time. We have several of these, and absolutely love them. Chicks are able to drink from them with no problems. And we don’t have to worry as much about them running out of water.
Buckets and pans are as needed but you will eventually need them. Pans for oyster shell or buckets for hauling feed. You will eventually need them.
Let’s start with the coop. A decent middle of the road coop shouldn’t cost you much more than $500. I would recommend getting one with a run attached to it so that on days that they can’t free range, they have a way to get outside.
If you want a bigger run, I would recommend poultry netting. You can get the netting and a solar charger for under $600 for GOOD netting. Don’t try to save money here by getting cheap. Cheap means less protection from predators, chickens getting loose, and more. This is the netting we have and it works great.
Your feeders, waterers, buckets, and feed will all depend on your location but should run you about $100 for good feeders and waterers. Feed should be about $15-35 depending on where you get it. I am able to get Non-GMO feed at my local feed store for about $17/ 50# bag.
Supplements will also depend on your area but for a different reason. If you have high parasite loads on your property, you’re going to want to get something for that. We use Corrid for our chicks. We also give them electrolytes in the summer because it gets so hot and humid here in Georgia.
Grand total you are looking at about $1200 before you even get your chicks. Again, this will depend on which coop and supplies you get.
Before you get your chicks, you need to have a brooder that is ready to go. I talk in depth about brooding in this blog post. This could look like a large tub with a heat lamp in your living room, like the picture below. Or a metal shed and a bunch of lights. Everyone will brood their chicks differently. If we only have a few chicks, we will brood in the house in a large tub. If we have a ton of chicks, like when we bring home our meat chickens, we will brood in the metal shed.
I would make sure that you have the coop, brooder, and supplies BEFORE getting your chicks.
Usually, you can get chicks for about $3-7 each. This is going to depend on your breed and if you get straight run. I highly recommend getting sexed chicks. This will help you avoid getting roosters and then figuring out what to do with them.
I also recommend getting from a reputable hatchery. We use McMurray Hatchery and have for years. We love them and will probably always go with them unless we don’t have a choice.
The biggest problem about getting chicks is not falling victim to chicken math. I wrote a whole blog post about chicken math and how to avoid it here. But some quick points that I forgot to mention is making sure that you get a chicken coop that will only fit so many chickens. Then making the decision, and sticking to it, that you will only have THIS many chickens. I wish you the best of luck with it.
I can’t tell you exactly how much chickens cost. There are too many variables. But the biggest thing to remember is that a good coop, feeders and waterers, feed and the chickens themselves are not cheap. You will end up spending at least $1200-$2000 before you ever get that first egg. That’s if you do it “right”. You can go cheaper and you ca go more expensive. But your eggs will never be free.
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Have the chickens taken over your farm? Because I know they have on mine. Chicken math is a legit phenomenon that every single chicken owner deals with. It starts out as a couple of chickens and ends with an unknown number of chickens and you answering, “I have no idea how many chickens I have.” That’s Chicken Math.
If you are looking for an audio version of this post, check out our podcast episode below
Once you get “bitten” by the chicken bug, you are going to end up with a million chickens. While that may seem like an exaggeration, it’s really not.
It’s actually pretty simple to fall victim to chicken math. It starts with your first box of chickens. You’ve gone to Tractor Supply or ordered them online (Ps: We use McMurray Hatchery and LOVE them). You brood them inside and fall in love with them.
Then you have some die on you, or maybe all but one. Then you decide that you need a few more to meet your egg needs. So you order another box of chickens.
Then you realize that you can get different colored eggs! You want the blue, green or pink eggs. Or better yet, you decide that you are going to get the Copper Marans that lay deep chocolate colored eggs.
You go to Tractor Supply to get feed and see that they have chicks and you decide you HAVE to have them. Only to realize that 60% of them are all roosters.
Or, in my case, you decide to start incubating eggs and end up with 20 chicks. Then your kids re-set up the up the incubator while you’re at work…. now you’ve got 40 chicks.
You do a quick head count and realize you have 100 chickens.
After doing your head count, you’ll say NO MORE! I’m drowning in eggs! You’ve water glassed a million eggs, you’ve got a bunch in the freezer and you are SO OVER eggs of all kinds. You’ve Googled and Pinterest-ed ALL of the egg recipes.
So you think , “I’ll just sell the eggs!” And after selling a couple dozen to friends and family, you think, “I need more eggs to keep up with this!”
You know it can take up to 8 months to get those first eggs so you go ahead and purchase more chicks….
Your feed bill is now several hundred dollars a month and you’re trying to figure out exactly how that happened. You start to figure out how to reduce your feed bill because you’ve got a ton of people that buy eggs from you!
But your girls aren’t laying in the winter and now, you have to feed these girls through winter with no income from the eggs. You’ve got to start looking for ways to trim the budget because this is ridiculous.
You don’t produce enough kitchen scraps to feed them so you start a collection bucket at work or the local potluck.
If any of this sounds familiar, or you are just looking into chickens, keep reading. I can help you right the ship and become a chicken math survivor!
So the obvious answer is don’t get more chickens than you need. But the reality is that isn’t going to happen, or didn’t happen. Every chicken owner KNOWS that we don’t need this many chickens. But we still buy chickens every spring because….insanity.
When you make the decision that you are going to get chickens, you need to be prepared for the reality that you will end up with more than you need. The goal is to keep that number manageable.
If you are an avid egg eater, and consume 2 eggs per day, you should have 3 chickens. If you’re entire family is an avid egg eater, you should have 3 chickens per person.
The Ultimate Homesteader’s Starter Bundle – Only $47!
Get the tools you need to stay organized, track profits, and manage your homestead with ease!
Includes:
✅ Schedule F Tracker – Simplify tax prep
✅ Profit Calculator – Track earnings
✅ Hay Calculator – Plan livestock feed
✅ Garden Journal – Digital & printable
✅ Herd Health Tracker – Monitor animal care
✅ Simple Budget – Manage finances
✅ Backyard Homestead eBook – Essential tips
$99 value – now just $47! Start your homesteading journey today!
If you only eat a couple eggs a week, I wouldn’t even get chickens. I would find someone local and support their chicken habit. The reason is the cost of keeping chickens is so high that it’s not worth it. Because those eggs are not free. While you may think that keeping chickens is a must for a homestead, it’s really not.
Really, we only need 12 chickens. That’s it. We currently have approximately 40 chickens and 12 ducks. We will be culling the older hens because they just aren’t laying much anymore. We also plan on selling a bunch of them. Again, we really don’t need that many chickens and they have caused more headache over the years than I really want.
If you have too many chickens, I would recommend really looking at your flock. If you have some that aren’t laying, and haven’t been laying, I would go ahead and put them in the freezer. If you have no need for roosters, make sure to get them in the freezer too.
Just remember that chickens don’t usually lay eggs in the winter! There was a huge hype a couple years ago about chickens not laying in winter and I wanted to scream, “They’re NOT SUPPOSED TO!” But I kept my cool and minded my own business.
I know that this sounds harsh and maybe a little cruel, but you have to really think about where your money is going and if you are okay with that. Sometimes that means culling animals.
My chickens are not pets. They have one purpose….Okay, they have several but at the end of the day, their purpose is to give us food. That could be in the form of eggs or meat. If they aren’t doing that, they have to go.
If you got chickens for eggs, and they aren’t laying eggs, you need to figure out if you want to spend the money on feed, shelter and other supplies on a chicken not pulling her weight. If you’re okay with that? Then by all means.
I talked in depth about putting chickens to work on your homestead here. If you’ve got a few favorites that are going to live their life on your farm, look at putting them to work. I’ve got a couple that I do actually like, and they will live their life out on our farm. Mostly, because they won’t make good stew hens either.
I will never tell you, at least seriously, that you HAVE to do something. There are things that you SHOULD do, but at the end of the day, it’s your farm, your kitchen, your rules. But livestock (chickens, ducks, goats, cows, etc) are all a lot of work. There’s fencing, shelter, feed, buckets, waterers, medications, and more.
I’m not saying that I would never have chickens again. But dollar for dollar and work hour per work hour, they are absolutely not worth it FOR OUR FARM. So surviving chicken math isn’t too hard for us.
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I’ve told y’all many times that I am a soil nerd. I find it absolutely fascinating that you can go from poor soil to dark, rich soil in a season or two just by caring for the soil! The problem with a lot of books about soil is that they are DRY. If you aren’t interested in or have a decent foundational knowledge of biology and chemistry, you will struggle reading most books about soil. But Diane Miessler NAILED IT in her book Grow Your Soil.
Are you getting overwhelmed in the garden? Stressed? Or just not enjoying the garden like you used to? Check out our garden prompts! We send out weekly emails that get you back in the garden and out of your head! Turn the garden back into a place of love and joy instead of frustration and headache!
First things first, the way that Diane writes is very similar to how I write, and therefore read. I was able to finish this book in about 2 days of completely uninterrupted reading. Well, except for sleeping. This book was a VERY easy read with a ton of really helpful tips and tricks for you to try in your own garden.
The ease of reading makes this book not only an easy read, but allows you fully capture what she’s trying to tell you. As you’re reading, it really feels like you are hanging out talking to her. She has a sense of humor that comes through in her writing.
Also, she doesn’t use big, huge concepts and hard to understand words. While I’m not saying that it’s “simple”, this book is formatted for ANY gardener to enjoy it. I think this is very important when it comes to getting people to understand that building soil isn’t a complicated topic.
I don’t want to ruin the book for anyone, but I feel like hitting the high points would be beneficial if you are looking to purchase the book. Diane’s main points are:
Bring organic matter to the soil
Stop or limit use of inputs like pesticides and fertilizers
Cover crops are our friends
This is something that is echoed through every single book that I have read in regards to bringing your soil back to life. But one of the things that I really liked about Diane’s book, and her message was that it is more geared to the home gardener than Gabe Brown’s book Dirt to Soil, you can read my review on his book here.
While I really enjoyed Gabe’s book, it was harder to figure out how that works on a small scale farm or homestead. While we have acreage here, most of my garden space is in raised beds. I am able to put his teachings to work on my pastures with more success.
In Diane’s book, I feel like the information is actually geared to my garden space and what I am able to accomplish, which was great.
I purchased my copy from Amazon, linked below. I’ve mentioned in the past that we don’t have a fantastic book selection in my town so I get most of my books from Amazon. You can also purchase from Barnes and Noble at $16.95 as of this writing.
I’m sure you could buy this book at a second hand store, but I can’t tell you that for sure.
Let me know below what you have found that works well for building your soil!
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It’s frustrating to me when I see Instagram or TikTok videos were homesteaders show their perfect homestead. I want to scream IT’S NOT REAL! to any person who is looking to start a homestead.
The reality is that when you homestead, sometimes you’ve got to really think about what you are wanting and what you can actually get.
